Valid Tracking Rate FAQ

Valid Tracking Rate is a performance metric that measures how often you use valid tracking numbers on orders. This metric reflects Amazon customers' expectations that they should be able to find out where their orders are and when they will receive them.

What are the benefits of providing tracking information?

Providing valid tracking numbers with all your shipments has a number of benefits:

Fewer buyer contacts: Providing tracking numbers can help reduce the amount of time you spend answering shipping-related questions.
Decreased order defects: The Order Defect Rate for untracked shipments is 1.7 times greater than the rate for tracked shipments.
Protection from A-to-z Guarantee claims: Without tracking, you will automatically lose any "Order not received" A-to-z Guarantee claims. Tracking helps you represent yourself against these claims and may prevent loss.
Improved seller feedback ratings: Buyers tell us that being able to track their packages is one of the main reasons to leave positive feedback.
Reduced lost shipment costs: Tracking can significantly reduce the costs associated with a lost shipment. If a package is lost in transit, you can use tracking to find out where it was lost and then determine responsibility.
Improved conversion: When you use tracking on 98% of your shipments and your on-time delivery rate is 97%, you become eligible to reduce handling and transit promise times. This is proven to increase conversion and revenue.

How will I know if I am meeting the 95% Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) target?

To view your VTR and download your VTR report:.

Go to the Account Health page.
In the Shipping Performance section, click View details.
Select the Valid Tracking Rate tab. Scroll down and click the Download Report button.
Clear Shipped late and Delivered late options to view orders with invalid or no tracking information.

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

What happens if I don't meet the required target for tracked packages?

If you don't maintain the required 95% target for tracked packages, your selling privileges for the category (or categories) involved may be suspended or removed. If this happens, you have the opportunity to provide Amazon with a Plan of Action outlining how you plan to prevent this from occurring in the future. You can follow the appeals process outlined in Appealing the removal of selling privileges.

Which carriers provide tracking information to Amazon?

We currently support tracking information for these carriers:

UPS
UPSMI
USPS
DHL
DHL Global Mail*
FedEx
FedEx Smartpost
On Trac
Newgistics
Canada Post
Lasership
China Post
SF Express
4PX
Yanwen
Yun Express

What should I do if I'm using tracking from a carrier that isn't integrated with Amazon?

If you're a U.S. seller using small or regional carriers that are not integrated with Amazon, you'll need to begin shipping your packages with one of our supported carriers. Look above to learn which carriers are integrated with Amazon. You can also purchase tracked shipping labels directly from Amazon. For more information on purchasing shipping from Amazon, see Buy shipping services and print labels.

If you're an international seller with access to a carrier that's integrated with Amazon (such as China Post), you'll need to use that supported carrier.

How much does tracking cost?

For the majority of US carriers (UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL), shipment tracking is already built into cost to ship. If you purchase shipping through Amazon's Buy Shipping service, tracking is also added free of charge.

Tip: All USPS First Class and Media Mail shipments include free tracking. While you're required to provide valid tracking for 95% of US shipments, we encourage you to provide tracking numbers on all of your seller-fulfilled shipments. Tracking can significantly reduce the costs associated with customer contacts, A-to-z Guarantee claims, and lost shipments.

How does Amazon know a package has valid tracking information?

We use the tracking information you submitted when confirming a shipment, and verify it with the shipping carrier. Tracking numbers are considered valid only if they have at least one physical carrier scan recorded.

My package has tracking but is showing up in my Valid Tracking Report as lacking valid tracking information. What should I do?

A package that doesn't include verified tracking information will have an "X" in the "No Valid Tracking" column of your Valid Tracking ID report. If you uploaded a tracking number but are seeing it marked as unconfirmed, it might be because:

The tracking number you provided is incorrect.
Your tracking number is correct, but it's not associated with the carrier you specified. For example, if you use UPS to ship a package but enter "USPS" as the carrier name, the tracking information will be marked as unconfirmed.
The tracking number and carrier name are correct, but you used an unsupported carrier, which we cannot verify and so will not count toward your Valid Tracking Rate metric.
The tracking number was uploaded after the order was delivered, meaning it was not useful to the buyer and thus does not count toward your Valid Tracking Rate metric.
Please check to make sure you entered the carrier and tracking number for your package correctly. You can change, re-enter, and update the tracking information under Manage Your Orders until the order is delivered. Your metrics will reflect this change within 72 hours.

If you have a package marked with an "X" in the "No Valid Tracking" column, and you've verified that the tracking number for the Amazon-supported carrier is correct, try submitting the tracking number again. If this doesn’t solve your issue, contact Seller Support for additional investigation.

Why are canceled orders showing up in my report?

If canceled orders are showing up in your report, it's because you confirmed shipment before you delivered the package to the carrier. An order is not considered a cancellation when you have confirmed shipment because the buyer's credit card is charged. To cancel this kind of order, you're actually refunding the buyer. To prevent this sort of mix-up, we recommend that you confirm shipment only after the carrier has received the package.

Why is my Valid Tracking Rate report showing metrics for a category in which I do not sell?

The Valid Tracking Rate metric is recorded for the category of an item at the time an order is placed. If your item was previously listed in a category at the time an order was placed, then you will have a Valid Tracking Rate metric in that category even if the item is now listed under a different category.

What does "InvalidId" mean in column E of my Valid Tracking Rate report?

When our system can't process the tracking information you entered for an order, "InvalidId" will display in column E for that order. For example, if your order ID was 001-12345-67890 and we weren't able to process the tracking information you entered for that order, column E will display 001-12345-67890-InvalidId.

This can happen if:

You left the tracking information blank
You entered special characters (such as punctuation) that our system can't recognize in the tracking information.

To correct any potential errors in the tracking information you provided, continue to How do I edit a tracking number?.

How do I edit a tracking number?

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.

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