Valid Tracking Rate (VTR)

Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) measures how often you use valid tracking numbers on your 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 (VTR) is a performance metric that reflects those expectations. Below are the requirements for Valid Tracking Rate:

• Sellers must maintain a VTR greater than or equal to 95%. A VTR below 95% in a product category can result in restrictions on your ability to sell non-FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) items within that category. This can also affect your eligibility to participate in Premium Shipping and guaranteed delivery.
• VTR includes all shipments with a valid tracking number, represented as a percentage of total shipments over a 30-day period.
• Small items (such as screen protectors and greeting cards) that cost less than $10 (including shipping charges) and are shipped in USPS Standard Mail envelopes or First Class Mail envelopes.
• VTR only applies to seller-fulfilled orders.

To calculate this metric, we take the number of packages you ship with a valid tracking number and divide it by the total number of packages you have shipped and confirmed. VTR is expressed as a percentage.

For example, if you confirmed shipment for 200 packages, and 190 of those packages had a valid tracking number, your Valid Tracking Rate would be 95% (190 ÷ 200 = .95 or 95%).

We use promised delivery date to determine which orders are included in the performance metric. Your Valid Tracking Rate has a two-week latency period, which allows the data enough time to be statistically relevant.

The following items are not included in the VTR calculation:

• Freight items: Domestic items shipped by freight with a carrier not integrated with Amazon.
• Small/Flat items: Domestic items (such as screen protectors and greeting cards) that cost less than $10 (including shipping charges) and are shipped in Standard Mail envelopes or First Class Mail envelopes.
• International shipments (excluding China-based sellers): Items ordered on Amazon but shipped to a delivery address outside the country where the seller is based.

Where Amazon integrated tracking solutions are available (such as China Post Express and Logistic ePacket service), we require valid tracking numbers for at least 95% of your shipments on orders greater than $5.00 (price including shipping).

Sellers are encouraged to use carriers from the following lists to ship their packages as these carriers provide real-time tracking status to Amazon. This helps reduce buyer contacts and improve seller feedback ratings. The following carriers are integrated for domestic shipments:

The following carriers are integrated for international shipments:

• 4PX
• China Post
• DHL Commerce
• JCEX
• SFC
• SF Express
• Yanwen
• Yun Express

Using a carrier that is not integrated by Amazon will result in an invalid tracking ID, as Amazon will not receive updated tracking status of the package.

• To view your VTR metric:
  • From the Performance menu, select Account Health.
  • Locate Shipping Performance section and click view details.
  • You can see your VALID VTR Metric here.
• To download the VTR defect report:
  • Click Request Report in the Shipping Performance section.
  • Filter by carrier and/or product category.

Please allow 72 hours for the report and metric to reflect any updates

Before the delivery date, you can edit order tracking information.

• Go to Orders, and then Manage Orders.
• Check Order ID is selected for Search, enter the Order ID, and click Search.
• Once you find the correct order, click Edit Shipment and provide the revised tracking information.
• Re-confirm the shipment

Allow 72 hours for the report and metric to reflect the changes.

• Tracking number – Verify:
  • You entered the tracking number correctly.
  • You did not leave the tracking information blank.
  • You did not enter special characters (such as punctuation), which our system can't recognize in the tracking information.

• Carrier Name – Verify:
  • You selected a carrier from the dropdown menu in the Manage Orders page.
  • Bulk upload feeds
  • You entered the concrete carrier name.
    • If the carrier name is misspelled, entered in a different language, or contains any extra words, the tracking will be marked as invalid.
  • The carrier name you entered is associated with the tracking number you entered.
    • For example, if you use DHL to ship a package, but enter "FedEx" as the carrier name, the tracking will be marked as invalid.
  • You are using a carrier that is integrated with Amazon.

• Shipment confirmation and Update:
  • Make sure to confirm/update the tracking information before the order is delivered.
    • If the tracking information is confirmed/updated after the order is delivered, that means the buyer was not able to track the order. This is not useful to the buyer, and the order will not count toward your Valid Tracking Rate metric.