2021 PROGRAM CHANGES:
Metrics Required to Remain in the Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime Program (SFP):
- 99% on-time shipment rate
- 99% of orders use Buy Shipping
- 0.5% or lower order cancellation rate
- 97% on-time delivery rate for Prime orders when shipping is purchased outside of Buy Shipping Services
- Nationwide delivery coverage for all standard size products on Prime-enabled shipping templates
- Must operate six days a week, so this means including either a Saturday or Sunday operation
- Must deliver standard-size Prime products six days a week, so this means you must include either a Saturday or Sunday delivery
- Hit Delivery Speed targets for one-day and two-day delivery promises
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM CHANGES:
- SFP is operating under seven calendar days (must operate/deliver six days a week) VS the previous five business days operation…this means you must pick up and deliver on Saturday or Sunday
- Regional Prime templates for standard size products are no longer in use, SFP is moving to nationwide delivery coverage
- Must hit one or two-day delivery speed targets
BREAKING DOWN THE METRICS:
Note* Packages are NOT considered shipped when you confirm shipment. The package MUST be scanned by the carrier for the first time to count as shipped.
Note* If your package ships late but still gets delivered on time, it will count as on time.
How to watch this metric:
Use your defects report and look for X’s in the “Shipped Late” and “Delivered Late” columns for orders.
Note* If a customer wants to change their shipping address, be sure to direct them to customer service to make the change. Meaning, do not cancel the order yourself.
How to watch this metric:
Use your defects report and look for X’s in the “Shipped Outside Buy Shipping Services” column for orders.
Note* All cancellations made by you for any reason count here.
Note* If a customer cancels an order within 30 minutes of purchase, no action is needed from the seller. If 30 minutes have passed, direct them to customer service to cancel an order. Do not cancel it yourself. (this will help keep you below that .5%)
How to watch this metric:
Use your defects report and look for X’s in the “Order Cancelled by Seller” column.
Note* This rate is extremely important to the customer experience. On-time delivery can help prevent bad reviews or refund requests.
Note* Amazon does show all late-delivery information (whether it affects your on-time delivery rate or not), so that you can work with your carriers on any issues.
Note* If the first delivery attempt was not successful due to an issue not related to the carrier (i.e. the customer was not present to sign), your on-time delivery rate will not be affected.
How to watch this metric:
Use your defects report and look for X’s in the “Delivered Late” column for orders. Also, be sure to check the “Delivered Late and Shipped Outside Buy Shipping Services” to hone in on which orders affect both on-time delivery rate and prime eligibility.
Delivery Speed Metrics (must hit these targets): (for one and two-day delivery promises)
This metric is the % of customer page views that show a one or two-day delivery promise when your SFP offer was the featured offer, whether a purchase was made or not.
Delivery Speed Targets February 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021:
Standard Size products:
<= ONE DAY product detail page view % is 20%
<= TWO DAY product detail page view is 55% (including the <= ONE DAY)
For Example, 20% is the bare minimum for ONE DAY product detail page views.
Oversize Products:
<= ONE DAY product detail page view % is 5%
<= TWO DAY product detail page view is 30% (includes <= ONE DAY)
Tips for Success here:
When creating your shipping plan, make sure to adjust your cut-off time accordingly with warehouse schedules to be as efficient as possible. Note the days of the week in which the warehouse operates.
Download a speed report to discover which ASINS are affecting your delivery speed metrics.
Get more warehouse space, and it helps if you can spread out your warehouses to cover different regions (think East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, South, and South Central). You need as much delivery coverage as possible.
Partner with a 3rd party for fulfillment to ensure you can hit the ONE DAY targets.
Automate your shipping services to ensure your delivery promises are accurate. By telling Amazon where you ship from and what service you use, it will automatically calculate accurate transit time to different regions. Amazon uses the most recent shipping service delivery capabilities data to do this, thus saving you time and providing accuracy.
NOTES ON THE KEY TAKEAWAY CHANGES:
Weekend Pick Ups and Delivery Speed Targets- Remember, you need to ship products out six days a week, so you must ship accordingly with page views and cut-off times. For example, let’s say your Saturday operation is enabled (Sunday is not enabled), customer page views occurring the Friday after the cut-off time or Saturday before the cut-off time must ship on Saturday.
Download the full PDF of this information HERE.
