Amazon Account Health Metrics split into contractual and nice to have

Amazon have split account health metrics into Contractual performance criteria and Additional indicators. It would appear that Amazon may no longer suspend your account if you fail to meet the additional indicators. It was only in March that we noted the six metrics Amazon measure your account on but Valid Tracking Rate and On-Time Delivery Rate are now nice to have but specifically not contractual obligations.

Interestingly, from the UK version the Return Dissatisfaction Rate has now disappeared entirely.

“The Account Health page provides you with visibility into your seller account’s adherence to the targets for various product policies as well as the below performance metrics.”
– Old text from the Account Health Page

“Contractual performance criteria that you must adhere to are (1) Order Defect Rate,(2) Cancellation Rate and (3) Late Dispatch Rate. The other indicators are nice to have indicators and there are no consequences for not meeting them.”
– New text from the Account Health Page

Contractual performance criteria

Order Defect Rate

The Order Defect Rate (ODR) is a key measure of your ability to provide a good customer experience. It includes all orders with one or more defects (defined below) represented as a percentage of total orders during a given 60-day time period.

An order has a defect if it results in negative feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee claim that is not denied or a credit card chargeback.

Our policy is that sellers maintain an ODR under 1% in order to sell on Amazon. An ODR above 1% may result in account deactivation.

Cancellation Rate

The Cancellation Rate (CR) is all seller-cancelled orders represented as a percentage of total orders during a given 7-day time period. CR only applies to seller-fulfilled orders.

This metric includes all order cancellations initiated by the seller, with the exception of those requested by the customer using the order-cancellation options in their Amazon account. Pending orders that are cancelled by the customer directly on Amazon are not included.

Our policy is that sellers maintain a CR under 2.5% in order to sell on Amazon. A CR above 2.5% may result in account deactivation.

Late Dispatch Rate

The Late Dispatch Rate includes all orders with a dispatch confirmation that is completed after the expected dispatch date. Late Dispatch Rate is represented as a percentage of total orders over both a 10-day or 30-day period. Late Dispatch Rate only applies to seller-fulfilled orders.

It is important to confirm the dispatch of orders by the expected dispatch date so that customers can see the status of their dispatched orders online. Orders that are dispatch confirmed late might lead to increased claims and negative feedback and/or customer contacts, and could negatively impact customer experience.

Our policy is that sellers maintain a Late Dispatch Rate under 4% in order to sell on Amazon. An LSR above 4% can result in account deactivation.

Our policy is that sellers maintain a Late Dispatch Rate under 4% in order to sell on Amazon. A Late Dispatch Rate above 4% can result in account deactivation.

Additional indicators

Valid Tracking Rate

The Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) includes all shipments with a valid tracking number represented as a percentage of total shipments during a given 30-day time period. VTR only applies to seller-fulfilled orders.

Amazon customers depend on tracking numbers to find out where their orders are and when they can expect to receive them. The Valid Tracking Rate is a performance metric that reflects those expectations. All major carriers, including USPS, FedEx, UPS and DHL, now offer free tracking.

There is no consequence for not meeting the VTR target.

On-Time Delivery Rate

The On-Time Delivery Rate (OTDR) includes all shipments delivered by their estimated delivery dates represented as a percentage of total tracked shipments. OTDR only applies to seller-fulfilled orders.

We consider OTDR performance when determining which Transit Times you are eligible to set, which may enable you to promise faster delivery times and improve your conversion.

We recommend that sellers maintain an OTDR greater than 97% in order to provide a good customer experience; however, there is no consequence for not meeting the OTDR target.

Additionally on the Amazon.com version of the Monitor your account health page

RDR is now no longer detailed on the UK version of the account health page.

Return Dissatisfaction Rate

The Return Dissatisfaction Rate (RDR) measures your customers’ satisfaction with their return experience. The return experience is negative when a return request has negative buyer feedback (Negative Return Feedback Rate), is not responded to within 48 hours (Late Response Rate), or is incorrectly denied (Invalid Rejection Rate). Your Return Dissatisfaction Rate is all negative return requests represented as a percentage of total return requests.Our policy is that sellers maintain an RDR under 10%. There is no consequence for not meeting the RDR target, although customers with unresolved problems are more likely to submit negative feedback and A-to-z Guarantee claims.

Many thanks to Tamebay reader Serban for spotting these changes which are fully detailed in a redlined version of the Amazon.com Monitor your account health page.