Due to expected Royal Mail strike action and related disruption to delivery services across the UK, Amazon will be extending customer facing promises for all seller-fulfilled and seller-fulfilled prime offers during the impacted period. Amazon Protections will also cover Selling Partners from late shipment defects during this time.
Amazon Protections
The dates covered by Amazon Protections include shipments from Thursday and Friday last week, and those shipping on Wednesday and Thursday this week – the latest round of Royal Mail strikes.
Given the delivery of shipments might take longer and exceed the delivery date Amazon promises to the customer, to maintain reliable delivery promises, Amazon may temporarily increase the standard transit time for shipments. These adjustments will lead to an extension of delivery promises that customers see on the Amazon website.
Any customer facing delivery promises Amazon increases will not change the handling and transit time settings in your Seller Central account that Amazon request our sellers to set as reliably as possible to reflect the expected time. Please bear in mind the following best practices when managing your operations:
- Inform your carrier(s) of volume forecasts and demand changes in advance. If possible, you could consider using multiple carriers to ensure you can ship products out on time.
- Provide Valid Tracking: Knowing the status of a shipment is key for customers. Ensure you provide correct tracking information and provide regular updates if an order is delayed beyond the expected delivery date.
If you are not able to process customer orders at all, Amazon suggest that you activate the “on holiday” feature in your Seller Central account in ‘Settings’ under ‘Listing Status’. This will de-activate all your seller-fulfilled offers. Note that you must still process and ship all orders you have received up until you activate the “on holiday” feature.
After the expected strikes this Wednesday and Thursday, the next Royal Mail strike dates are scheduled for the 9th, 11th, 14th, 15th, 23rd and 24th December.
