Today, Wednesday the 21st of June, the EU will wake up to a different Amazon Prime eligibility as they adjust search criteria to keep the European Commission happy. The changes will take place in Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and Belgium.
The criteria for Amazon Prime eligibility and the Prime badge apply equally to offers from all sellers and the various shipping channels (FBA or seller-fulfilled) as well as Amazon Retail. They are based on indicators of the shopping experience that customers expect from Amazon Prime.
The big change here is that previously only FBA or Seller Fulfilled Prime offers were met the Amazon Prime eligibility to display the Prime badge to customers. From Wednesday it will be possible to qualify for the Prime badge and greater search visibility if you ship products from your own warehouse. Plus as an added bonus, you can use any carrier – you’re not limited to those Amazon Shipping supports.
Amazon aren’t particularly happy with the changes, which came as a conclusion from the European Commission that competition on the marketplace for seller fulfilled offers was impacted.
While we disagree with the European Commission’s preliminary conclusions in these cases, we have worked closely with the Commission to address its concerns and ensure we can continue to serve customers across Europe, as well as support European small and medium-sized businesses and others selling through our stores.
– Amazon
As well as displaying offers from seller fulfilled offers with the Prime badge, Amazon say that they will also present a “Second Displayed Offer” for some products where there are third-party sellers with offers that differ from the Featured Offer but might be compelling to some customers – for example a slower delivery speed but lower price. As has always been the case, all offers from other third-party sellers will also continue to be available when a customer is considering a product.
EU Amazon Prime eligibility
To be eligible for Prime, an offer must:
- Be available nationwide
- Be available to order with free shipping, and
- Offer free returns for Prime members (with limited exceptions related to product weight and cross-border shipping).
To be eligible for Prime, sellers must consistently meet the below requirements for the relevant product category. For details on product categories and their respective thresholds, check the Seller Prime Programs.
Seller Operations Requirements
Delivery Promise
Prime listings must meet delivery promise requirements based on product category and storage location type.
On-Time Delivery
Prime orders must be delivered to the customer on or before the promised delivery date. On-time delivery rate must be at least 90%.
Tracking
You must provide valid tracking information when confirming shipment of Prime orders. You must maintain a tracking number (valid) rate of at least 99%.
Cancellation rate
The rate of cancellations of Prime orders that you have initiated prior to shipment must not exceed 0.5%.
Amazon Prime Eligible Offers
A Prime eligible offer will appear in the Amazon Store with the Prime badge if it meets certain shipping speed thresholds. The sending speed threshold is calculated dynamically (hourly) at the store level. This ensures that only the 90% of Prime eligible offers with the fastest actual delivery speeds receive the Prime badge.
You may want to consider marking orders shipped regularly throughout the day rather than one update at the end of the day when they physically leave your premises.
All carriers now qualify for Prime
Sellers can use any carrier for their Seller Fulfilled Prime orders. There is no longer a requirement to purchase shipping labels through the Amazon Buy Shipping feature.
Amazon Customer Support
All listings that participate in Prime benefit from Amazon’s world-class customer service and they won’t be charging you as a retailer for providing this service.
2 Responses
It’s difficult enough to filter out the rubbish on Amazon, and now every seller could potentially have the prime badge!
As Amazon’s product catalogue is such a mess and it’s hard to filter out the scam sellers selling cheap unbranded Chinese made junk, I tend to avoid buying on Amazon now, especially from their third party sellers.
So says everyone else, but sales seem to be growing YoY
Amazon love the Chinese as they provide great advert revenue, shop and fulfillment fees.