Customer Experience Feature Guide
Customer Experience Guide
As a seller on Amazon with self-fulfilled orders, we want to ensure you know about the tools available to help protect your account health metrics and provide our customers a great shopping experience. Below is our guide to help you understand the levers you have available.
Create Compelling Product Listings
First impressions matter and as customers browse through the Amazon store, you want to make sure your offers stand out.
Ensure your listings have high quality images to help your business stand out. Offer free shipping to delight customers and avoid them having additional fees at checkout.
This section will cover tips to improve the quality of your offers:
Ensure your listings have high quality images to help your business stand out. Offer free shipping to delight customers and avoid them having additional fees at checkout.
This section will cover tips to improve the quality of your offers:
Use high quality images in your listings and create compliant product variations
Images display on the product search page and the product detail page. A professional image helps customers discover your product and can drive traffic to your product listings.
Show customers what they will receive in their shipment (and only what they will receive). Make it easy for them to identify your product with a clear, high-quality image displaying exactly what you're offering and any variations of your products.
You can group variations of a product (e.g. different styles, colours or sizes) using add a product in Seller Central, we call this Product Variation Relationships. This allows customers to see all their buying options on one page. It is important to only list valid product variations that meet our criteria. Refer to Variation Relationships Overview for more information.
Show customers what they will receive in their shipment (and only what they will receive). Make it easy for them to identify your product with a clear, high-quality image displaying exactly what you're offering and any variations of your products.
You can group variations of a product (e.g. different styles, colours or sizes) using add a product in Seller Central, we call this Product Variation Relationships. This allows customers to see all their buying options on one page. It is important to only list valid product variations that meet our criteria. Refer to Variation Relationships Overview for more information.
Offer free shipping
Customers love free delivery and are more likely to choose products with free delivery over products that have additional shipping fees.
To offer free delivery on your products, click on the button below to go to your Shipping settings and set your delivery rates to $0.00 for an existing or new shipping template.
Check out the steps to assign specific SKUs to your shipping templates with free shipping
To offer free delivery on your products, click on the button below to go to your Shipping settings and set your delivery rates to $0.00 for an existing or new shipping template.
Check out the steps to assign specific SKUs to your shipping templates with free shipping
Check and maintain your eligibility for Premium Shipping to provide customers fast-delivery options
Customers love faster deliveries and may be more likely to purchase products that have a faster estimated delivery time.
Premium Shipping allows you to provide customers one-to-two day delivery options with tracking.
These fast delivery options can help you increase the chance of your offers being featured on Amazon’s product detail pages and can help improve the customer experience by communicating a clear delivery day.
To get started, find out if you are eligible for Premium Delivery and then enable the available options in your Shipping settings.
Premium Shipping allows you to provide customers one-to-two day delivery options with tracking.
These fast delivery options can help you increase the chance of your offers being featured on Amazon’s product detail pages and can help improve the customer experience by communicating a clear delivery day.
To get started, find out if you are eligible for Premium Delivery and then enable the available options in your Shipping settings.
Offer Fast & Accurate Delivery Speeds
Offering fast delivery speeds can help increase your chance to become the Featured Offer and may increase customer interest. Total Delivery Time is calculated as Handling Time + Transit Time (+ any holidays and weekends). Reducing the total handling time will help your customers get their products sooner. Our next section covers the tools you can use to optimise your delivery speed:
Reduce your handling time
Did you know that Sellers like you may overestimate the number of days it takes to prepare packages (also known as handling time)? Overestimating handling time means customers see slower delivery speeds and are typically less inclined to purchase.
You can manage your total delivery time by adjusting the handling time and transit time of your new and existing products. This allows you to display an accurate delivery time that matches your capabilities and those of your carrier(s).
We’ve included some of our recent initiatives related to optimisation of your Handling Time for you to review if they are a good fit for your business below:
You can manage your total delivery time by adjusting the handling time and transit time of your new and existing products. This allows you to display an accurate delivery time that matches your capabilities and those of your carrier(s).
We’ve included some of our recent initiatives related to optimisation of your Handling Time for you to review if they are a good fit for your business below:
1-Day Default Handling Time
Now, with one simple click, you can set your default order handling time to 1 business day! By making this change, customers will likely see an improved delivery experience and will generally be more likely to buy your products. We recommend 1-day Handling Time if this is suitable for your business.
<insert handling time image>
To switch to 1-day Handling Time:
1. Go to Shipping Settings on Seller Central:
a) Click on General Shipping Settings
b) Scroll to the Handling Time section
c) Click edit and adjust setting.
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To switch to 1-day Handling Time:
1. Go to Shipping Settings on Seller Central:
a) Click on General Shipping Settings
b) Scroll to the Handling Time section
c) Click edit and adjust setting.
Order Handling Capacity
You can utilise the Order Handling Capacity feature to set a limit for how many orders you are able to handle. As soon as you get 1 more order than your limit, the tool will automatically add 1 business day to your handling time for all additional orders to make sure your business isn’t overwhelmed.
To set your order handling capacity:
To set your order handling capacity:
1. Under Settings on Seller Central, click Shipping Settings.
2. On the Shipping Settings page, navigate to General Shipping Settings tab.
3. Scroll down to Handling Time and click Edit.
4. Scroll down to Order handling capacity.
5. Enter order capacity and click Save.
To set your order handling capacity:
To set your order handling capacity:
1. Under Settings on Seller Central, click Shipping Settings.
2. On the Shipping Settings page, navigate to General Shipping Settings tab.
3. Scroll down to Handling Time and click Edit.
4. Scroll down to Order handling capacity.
5. Enter order capacity and click Save.
ASIN Specific Handling Time
You can also set a specific handling time for ASINs that you know take longer to prepare than 1 businessday. To tailor your handling time for different products:
1. Go to the Manage Inventory page
2. Select the products you want to change and click edit
3. Go to the offer tab and enter the specific Handling Time for this product.
For a tailored approach, we recommend reviewing handling time recommendations to optimise your ASIN specific handling time.
1. Go to the Manage Inventory page
2. Select the products you want to change and click edit
3. Go to the offer tab and enter the specific Handling Time for this product.
For a tailored approach, we recommend reviewing handling time recommendations to optimise your ASIN specific handling time.
Handling Time Recommendations
Customers love to get products faster, which means that offering them faster delivery speeds can often help lead to more sales. The new feature Handling Time Recommendations uses your historical handling time to notify you where your actual handling time is shorter than your configured handling time. You can adjust your handling time with one easy click to offer faster delivery speeds that your business can already manage.
To view and configure your recommended handling times:
1. On Seller Central, go to Inventory, and then click Manage Seller Fulfilled products.
2. Select the Recommendations tab to view all the products that have recommended handling times.
3. Click Update to accept the recommended handling time.
4. Click Ignore to ignore the recommendation.
We encourage you to regularly monitor and update your handling time recommendations. Setting accurate handling times will support the estimated delivery dates displayed to customers.
To learn more about handling time, 1 day handling time and other recommendations to help shorten your handling time, click here for more information.
To view and configure your recommended handling times:
1. On Seller Central, go to Inventory, and then click Manage Seller Fulfilled products.
2. Select the Recommendations tab to view all the products that have recommended handling times.
3. Click Update to accept the recommended handling time.
4. Click Ignore to ignore the recommendation.
We encourage you to regularly monitor and update your handling time recommendations. Setting accurate handling times will support the estimated delivery dates displayed to customers.
To learn more about handling time, 1 day handling time and other recommendations to help shorten your handling time, click here for more information.
Offer fast and accurate transit time
Amazon uses the handling time and estimated shipping time that you set to provide customers with the estimated total delivery time.
However when sellers manually set their shipping time they tend to overestimate the number of days shipping takes compared to how long they actually do. As a result, sellers often set longer transit times for standard delivery, and when customers see longer delivery speeds, they are less likely to purchase.
Displaying fast and accurate delivery speeds helps ensure a good customer experience and may improve sales.
However when sellers manually set their shipping time they tend to overestimate the number of days shipping takes compared to how long they actually do. As a result, sellers often set longer transit times for standard delivery, and when customers see longer delivery speeds, they are less likely to purchase.
Displaying fast and accurate delivery speeds helps ensure a good customer experience and may improve sales.
You can use the following tools to set shorter and more accurate delivery times:
Shipping Settings Automation (SSA)
With Shipping Settings Automation, Amazon calculates and optimizes transit times for you with just a few clicks.
SSA uses your carriers of choice to automatically calculate the transit time from the post code of your warehouse(s) to the customer’s post code. With this transit time management tool, your delivery estimate to customers will likely be closer to the carrier’s actual transit time, compared to manual estimations. According to a study conducted by the Amazon US store, SSA helped improve conversion for sellers by 11.85% in the 2021 pilot.*
Benefits of using SSA:
• Automating your delivery promise leads to an average of 12% more sales*
• No need to manually estimate transit times for each delivery region
• Eliminate unnecessary “over-promise time” for deliveries (typically 53% more days than what deliveries actually take)
SSA uses your carriers of choice to automatically calculate the transit time from the post code of your warehouse(s) to the customer’s post code. With this transit time management tool, your delivery estimate to customers will likely be closer to the carrier’s actual transit time, compared to manual estimations. According to a study conducted by the Amazon US store, SSA helped improve conversion for sellers by 11.85% in the 2021 pilot.*
Benefits of using SSA:
• Automating your delivery promise leads to an average of 12% more sales*
• No need to manually estimate transit times for each delivery region
• Eliminate unnecessary “over-promise time” for deliveries (typically 53% more days than what deliveries actually take)
* Based on an internal Amazon US 2021 study of sellers on Amazon.com using SSA during a 3 month pilot. Actual results may vary. Amazon does not guarantee any particular outcome for your business when using SSA.
Enable Weekends & Holidays as Operating Days
Holiday Settings
Seller Central contains a set of predefined public holidays. When estimating ship dates and delivery dates, public holidays do not count as operating days. You are able to view the upcoming public holidays in Seller Central that are excluded from counting towards your estimated shipping date calculation. You also have the ability to customise your holiday settings to match your operational schedule and capacity. If you wish to handle and fulfill customer orders on public holidays, you may override these predefined holidays and have them count as operating days by using the Holiday settings widget in Seller Central.
To override* public holidays in Seller Central:
1. In Seller Central, go to Settings > Shipping settings.
2. Click ‘Edit’ next to ‘Holidays’.
3. After clicking ‘Edit’, you should see a list of predefined public holidays. Select the holiday(s) that you want to override and count as operating day(s) by clicking the corresponding checkbox(es).
4. Click Save.
5. Go back to the Shipping settings page. The holiday(s) that you overrode will be tagged as ‘Set as operating day’.
Seller Central contains a set of predefined public holidays. When estimating ship dates and delivery dates, public holidays do not count as operating days. You are able to view the upcoming public holidays in Seller Central that are excluded from counting towards your estimated shipping date calculation. You also have the ability to customise your holiday settings to match your operational schedule and capacity. If you wish to handle and fulfill customer orders on public holidays, you may override these predefined holidays and have them count as operating days by using the Holiday settings widget in Seller Central.
To override* public holidays in Seller Central:
1. In Seller Central, go to Settings > Shipping settings.
2. Click ‘Edit’ next to ‘Holidays’.
3. After clicking ‘Edit’, you should see a list of predefined public holidays. Select the holiday(s) that you want to override and count as operating day(s) by clicking the corresponding checkbox(es).
4. Click Save.
5. Go back to the Shipping settings page. The holiday(s) that you overrode will be tagged as ‘Set as operating day’.
Weekend Operation
Monday through Friday are considered mandatory operating days for order fulfilment. You now have the option to turn on Saturday and Sunday as additional operating days if you wish. This option can help you offer customers a more competitive delivery experience. When turned on, these days will be considered towards the calculation of the Estimated Ship Date, that is, you will be required to ship out orders on Saturday and Sunday. You can choose either Saturday or Sunday as an operating day to make a six-day working week or both days for a seven-day working week. Turning on Saturday and/or Sunday as operating days is entirely optional.
To enable* weekends as an operating day for your account:
1. In Seller Central, go to Settings and click Shipping Settings
2. Under General Shipping Settings, identify the Order Fulfillment Settings section and click Edit
3. Under General Fulfillment Settings, look for Weekend Operation Settings and check the box for Saturday and/or Sunday operations based on your business needs.
4. Click Save.
Monday through Friday are considered mandatory operating days for order fulfilment. You now have the option to turn on Saturday and Sunday as additional operating days if you wish. This option can help you offer customers a more competitive delivery experience. When turned on, these days will be considered towards the calculation of the Estimated Ship Date, that is, you will be required to ship out orders on Saturday and Sunday. You can choose either Saturday or Sunday as an operating day to make a six-day working week or both days for a seven-day working week. Turning on Saturday and/or Sunday as operating days is entirely optional.
To enable* weekends as an operating day for your account:
1. In Seller Central, go to Settings and click Shipping Settings
2. Under General Shipping Settings, identify the Order Fulfillment Settings section and click Edit
3. Under General Fulfillment Settings, look for Weekend Operation Settings and check the box for Saturday and/or Sunday operations based on your business needs.
4. Click Save.
Note: * Before enabling weekends as operating days or overriding public holidays, make sure to validate with all the carriers you operate with that they can support you with pickups and deliveries for the weekend days or public holidays you want to activate.
Apply Order Processing Best
Practices To Satisfy Customers
Getting customers to buy your product is just the first half of the job, delighting them with a seamless delivery experience is just as important. Once the package is out of the door, providing customers with valid tracking will not only give them peace of mind but it will also save you time and effort to attend customer contacts asking "Where is my stuff?" Our next section covers the tools you can use to optimise your delivery:
Add valid tracking information on your orders
Tracking numbers allow customers to find out where their orders are and when they can expect to receive them.
Providing a Valid Tracking ID for your orders can help you reduce buyer contacts and lost shipments. Adding tracking information on your self-fulfilled orders can also help improve your Valid Tracking Rate.
To keep a healthy account, you are required to reach 95% Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) target for all product categories. Shipments with tracking should help reduce customer contacts asking “Where is my stuff,” providing peace of mind for customers.
You can edit order tracking information by going to Orders, and then Manage Orders. Enter the Order ID into the Advanced Search. Once you find the correct order, click Edit Shipment and provide the revised tracking number.
Providing a Valid Tracking ID for your orders can help you reduce buyer contacts and lost shipments. Adding tracking information on your self-fulfilled orders can also help improve your Valid Tracking Rate.
To keep a healthy account, you are required to reach 95% Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) target for all product categories. Shipments with tracking should help reduce customer contacts asking “Where is my stuff,” providing peace of mind for customers.
You can edit order tracking information by going to Orders, and then Manage Orders. Enter the Order ID into the Advanced Search. Once you find the correct order, click Edit Shipment and provide the revised tracking number.
Note: * Misspelling the carrier name may prevent Amazon from being able to provide tracking on the order. View more on the tracking ID formats used by Amazon-supported carriers here.
Consider Amazon Easy Ship (for eligible orders)
Amazon Easy Ship is a shipping service for eligible seller-fulfilled orders. Amazon Easy Ship includes pick-up and trackable delivery from your eligible Australian pick-up location to the customer’s eligible Australian delivery location for a fee.
Amazon Easy Ship helps ensure that customers get a fast and consistent delivery experience along with up-to-date shipment tracking information, optimising for rate and speed by offering shipping services.
Using Amazon Easy Ship helps safeguard your account from:
a) Negative Customer Feedback: If you ship on time with Amazon Easy Ship, and the buyer leaves seller feedback solely related to delayed or undelivered packages, you can request to have the feedback reviewed as you were not responsible for that aspect of the delivery experience.
b) Valid Tracking: Amazon Easy Ship orders come with a Valid Tracking ID, helping reduce the number of customer “Where’s my stuff?” contacts.
Amazon Easy Ship helps ensure that customers get a fast and consistent delivery experience along with up-to-date shipment tracking information, optimising for rate and speed by offering shipping services.
Using Amazon Easy Ship helps safeguard your account from:
a) Negative Customer Feedback: If you ship on time with Amazon Easy Ship, and the buyer leaves seller feedback solely related to delayed or undelivered packages, you can request to have the feedback reviewed as you were not responsible for that aspect of the delivery experience.
b) Valid Tracking: Amazon Easy Ship orders come with a Valid Tracking ID, helping reduce the number of customer “Where’s my stuff?” contacts.
Simplify Your Post-Order Service
Building a business or a brand that customers can trust and love means being there for customers, even when things don't go as planned. Sometimes customers made the wrong choice or changed their mind and making their lives easier to get a refund might be the reason they stick around and purchase again. Our next section covers the tools you can use to optimise post-order returns and refunds:
Automate Returns Authorisation
You have the option of automatically authorising return requests. If you enable this feature, return requests will be authorised automatically, which can help save time for both you and the customer.
An email will be sent to the customer containing a link to the Return Merchandise Authorisation (RMA). You will still be required to issue refunds as appropriate once you receive the return.
You will have the option to either:
- authorise each return request,
- allow Amazon to automatically authorise all return requests
- allow amazon to automatically authorise all return requests that meet Amazon's Return Policy.
An email will be sent to the customer containing a link to the Return Merchandise Authorisation (RMA). You will still be required to issue refunds as appropriate once you receive the return.
You will have the option to either:
- authorise each return request,
- allow Amazon to automatically authorise all return requests
- allow amazon to automatically authorise all return requests that meet Amazon's Return Policy.
Your returns policy for Seller Fulfilled Orders
In order to maintain a consistent experience for customers, you are required to have return policies that match or exceed the Amazon return policies available on Amazon.com.au. Your applicable returns policies are displayed on your Returns tab on your seller storefront.
While you can offer your own returns policy for seller-fulfilled items, this does not limit a customer’s rights under the Australian Consumer Law or your obligations to comply with the Amazon returns policies.
For the best customer experience, we recommend approving a customer's return request as soon as possible.
While you can offer your own returns policy for seller-fulfilled items, this does not limit a customer’s rights under the Australian Consumer Law or your obligations to comply with the Amazon returns policies.
For the best customer experience, we recommend approving a customer's return request as soon as possible.
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