Sales drop after activating Shipping Setting Automation (SSA)
A week ago, on Amazon's recommendation, we activated "Shipping Setting Automation (SSA)". We waited to see if this would adjust, but unfortunately my sales dropped by 40%, this loss is very high and doesn't make sense. The delivery dates were the same as before, but our sales dropped significantly, a very high drop, and I can't manage it, because it's controlled by Amazon. I wanted to understand why this is happening. This is a big loss. Is anyone else going through the same situation?
10 replies
Seller_sbRpnNoPaXtAf
I'm not denying the possibility that enabling what is supposed to be a positive Amazon feature can cause unwanted effects by any stretch. I can't even open a ticket, regardless of purpose, without my sales crashing.
However, this may be a matter of happenstance, I think a lot of us are seeing a significant change in sales this year. For us, the first half of this year, we were setting personal records, in fact July was our all-time best month on Amazon. Then August slumped down from that by 27% and so far September is equally disappointing.
If it were me, I would keep the SSA going for a full 20 or 30 days, then compare to the same date range last year. I feel as though one week's worth of data in this economy just isn't enough to gauge what is causing a slump. August and September have been a roller coaster ride, between back-to-school, an election coming up and a universal lack of faith in our economy, we all may see a lot of ups and downs in sales to through November.
Correlation does not always equal causation, but keep an eye on it for sure.
Seller_nvlV72jQwwzmO
Same here. I deactivated the SSA because it was not accurate and sales dropped %65 since last Friday.
Seller_rBzps3zYO8z95
i suggest some of you need to open your eyes to what the economy is doing. your sales are going to keep tanking for the next few months.
Seller_lCX40xAkSs1xm
We are going through the same thing, the only way the playing field will be leveled is when Amazon requires SSA which is right around the corner.
Seller_ENsui4p8FrUx6
I did a lot of research on this matter and tried it out on our account and I would say that.
If you are selling your own brand and you own the buy box then dont turn on the SSA feature, you would only lose sales, you should rather study the carrier Map and set it yourself and give yourself over to Amazon.
If you are selling branded products then you might have an edge if you are shipping with a fast carrier to win the buy box but that would only be if you follow thru 100% but if its not set accurately and you deliver after the promise date then Amazon would extend your delivery dates and you will have a massive drop in sales.
Basically be aware!
Seller_5PVnrPSumFtgg
SSA was a very bad move by Amazon, especially when it's FORCED. Amazon is forcing SSA on many sellers that have delivered on average a few days before the latest expected delivery dates. In other words, Amazon is PUNISHING those sellers for doing better than they promised.
What Amazon is not taking into consideration is that for many products, especially large/heavy/expensive products that get very few sales per year, many if not most sellers drop-ship from the Manufacturers. And, most Manufacturers do not provide stock information, so there's a chance that they will take longer to deliver than normal. Therefore, many sellers opt for giving themselves some "cushion" in the form of extra handling days, to prevent late orders and upset customers. If a customer buys expecting shipment in 4 days and it ships in 7 days, the customer might get upset. If a customer buys expecting shipment in 7 days and it ships in 4 days, the customer will be happy.
SSA should be absolutely OPTIONAL. Nothing should be forced, especially when sellers are delivering BEFORE the latest expected delivery date.
Seller_4lw6ILteSlST6
Back to school time is always a weird time for our business. We can see huge drops during the two to three week period around back to school. I'd personally suspect that more, unless you sell things people buy when back to school is going on.
Seller_sbRpnNoPaXtAf
@Seller_OcrJ4bqINfMXD have you seen any change since this post?
You say your delivery dates are the same as before, are you talking about the transit time within the shipping settings? Mine now says "Managed by Amazon" on everything but the Free Economy Shipping option, so I can't verify what's changed to what.
What I noticed yesterday, viewing my updates directly on the Amazon site, a standard order delivering a state away (1 day handling, 2 day ship) was showing a delivery date of 2 weeks! After some thought, I went back through the SSA settings and saw that, I had selected "I want Amazon to choose the shipping service that I selected above that creates the longest delivery time based on the customers’ location (typically the cheapest)." so as not to ruin my 98% OTDR. I've since changed it to the "Fastest Delivery Time" and now it shows 9 days which still isn't accurate. It should be 4 to compensate for the weekend.
I'm going to continue to fiddle with it because I like the protections, however, I may end up shutting off the setting. I thought this was supposed to solve the unreasonably long delivery time issue, not make it twice as bad!
Sales drop after activating Shipping Setting Automation (SSA)
A week ago, on Amazon's recommendation, we activated "Shipping Setting Automation (SSA)". We waited to see if this would adjust, but unfortunately my sales dropped by 40%, this loss is very high and doesn't make sense. The delivery dates were the same as before, but our sales dropped significantly, a very high drop, and I can't manage it, because it's controlled by Amazon. I wanted to understand why this is happening. This is a big loss. Is anyone else going through the same situation?
Sales drop after activating Shipping Setting Automation (SSA)
A week ago, on Amazon's recommendation, we activated "Shipping Setting Automation (SSA)". We waited to see if this would adjust, but unfortunately my sales dropped by 40%, this loss is very high and doesn't make sense. The delivery dates were the same as before, but our sales dropped significantly, a very high drop, and I can't manage it, because it's controlled by Amazon. I wanted to understand why this is happening. This is a big loss. Is anyone else going through the same situation?
10 replies
10 replies
Seller_sbRpnNoPaXtAf
I'm not denying the possibility that enabling what is supposed to be a positive Amazon feature can cause unwanted effects by any stretch. I can't even open a ticket, regardless of purpose, without my sales crashing.
However, this may be a matter of happenstance, I think a lot of us are seeing a significant change in sales this year. For us, the first half of this year, we were setting personal records, in fact July was our all-time best month on Amazon. Then August slumped down from that by 27% and so far September is equally disappointing.
If it were me, I would keep the SSA going for a full 20 or 30 days, then compare to the same date range last year. I feel as though one week's worth of data in this economy just isn't enough to gauge what is causing a slump. August and September have been a roller coaster ride, between back-to-school, an election coming up and a universal lack of faith in our economy, we all may see a lot of ups and downs in sales to through November.
Correlation does not always equal causation, but keep an eye on it for sure.
Seller_nvlV72jQwwzmO
Same here. I deactivated the SSA because it was not accurate and sales dropped %65 since last Friday.
Seller_rBzps3zYO8z95
i suggest some of you need to open your eyes to what the economy is doing. your sales are going to keep tanking for the next few months.
Seller_lCX40xAkSs1xm
We are going through the same thing, the only way the playing field will be leveled is when Amazon requires SSA which is right around the corner.
Seller_ENsui4p8FrUx6
I did a lot of research on this matter and tried it out on our account and I would say that.
If you are selling your own brand and you own the buy box then dont turn on the SSA feature, you would only lose sales, you should rather study the carrier Map and set it yourself and give yourself over to Amazon.
If you are selling branded products then you might have an edge if you are shipping with a fast carrier to win the buy box but that would only be if you follow thru 100% but if its not set accurately and you deliver after the promise date then Amazon would extend your delivery dates and you will have a massive drop in sales.
Basically be aware!
Seller_5PVnrPSumFtgg
SSA was a very bad move by Amazon, especially when it's FORCED. Amazon is forcing SSA on many sellers that have delivered on average a few days before the latest expected delivery dates. In other words, Amazon is PUNISHING those sellers for doing better than they promised.
What Amazon is not taking into consideration is that for many products, especially large/heavy/expensive products that get very few sales per year, many if not most sellers drop-ship from the Manufacturers. And, most Manufacturers do not provide stock information, so there's a chance that they will take longer to deliver than normal. Therefore, many sellers opt for giving themselves some "cushion" in the form of extra handling days, to prevent late orders and upset customers. If a customer buys expecting shipment in 4 days and it ships in 7 days, the customer might get upset. If a customer buys expecting shipment in 7 days and it ships in 4 days, the customer will be happy.
SSA should be absolutely OPTIONAL. Nothing should be forced, especially when sellers are delivering BEFORE the latest expected delivery date.
Seller_4lw6ILteSlST6
Back to school time is always a weird time for our business. We can see huge drops during the two to three week period around back to school. I'd personally suspect that more, unless you sell things people buy when back to school is going on.
Seller_sbRpnNoPaXtAf
@Seller_OcrJ4bqINfMXD have you seen any change since this post?
You say your delivery dates are the same as before, are you talking about the transit time within the shipping settings? Mine now says "Managed by Amazon" on everything but the Free Economy Shipping option, so I can't verify what's changed to what.
What I noticed yesterday, viewing my updates directly on the Amazon site, a standard order delivering a state away (1 day handling, 2 day ship) was showing a delivery date of 2 weeks! After some thought, I went back through the SSA settings and saw that, I had selected "I want Amazon to choose the shipping service that I selected above that creates the longest delivery time based on the customers’ location (typically the cheapest)." so as not to ruin my 98% OTDR. I've since changed it to the "Fastest Delivery Time" and now it shows 9 days which still isn't accurate. It should be 4 to compensate for the weekend.
I'm going to continue to fiddle with it because I like the protections, however, I may end up shutting off the setting. I thought this was supposed to solve the unreasonably long delivery time issue, not make it twice as bad!
Seller_sbRpnNoPaXtAf
I'm not denying the possibility that enabling what is supposed to be a positive Amazon feature can cause unwanted effects by any stretch. I can't even open a ticket, regardless of purpose, without my sales crashing.
However, this may be a matter of happenstance, I think a lot of us are seeing a significant change in sales this year. For us, the first half of this year, we were setting personal records, in fact July was our all-time best month on Amazon. Then August slumped down from that by 27% and so far September is equally disappointing.
If it were me, I would keep the SSA going for a full 20 or 30 days, then compare to the same date range last year. I feel as though one week's worth of data in this economy just isn't enough to gauge what is causing a slump. August and September have been a roller coaster ride, between back-to-school, an election coming up and a universal lack of faith in our economy, we all may see a lot of ups and downs in sales to through November.
Correlation does not always equal causation, but keep an eye on it for sure.
Seller_sbRpnNoPaXtAf
I'm not denying the possibility that enabling what is supposed to be a positive Amazon feature can cause unwanted effects by any stretch. I can't even open a ticket, regardless of purpose, without my sales crashing.
However, this may be a matter of happenstance, I think a lot of us are seeing a significant change in sales this year. For us, the first half of this year, we were setting personal records, in fact July was our all-time best month on Amazon. Then August slumped down from that by 27% and so far September is equally disappointing.
If it were me, I would keep the SSA going for a full 20 or 30 days, then compare to the same date range last year. I feel as though one week's worth of data in this economy just isn't enough to gauge what is causing a slump. August and September have been a roller coaster ride, between back-to-school, an election coming up and a universal lack of faith in our economy, we all may see a lot of ups and downs in sales to through November.
Correlation does not always equal causation, but keep an eye on it for sure.
Seller_nvlV72jQwwzmO
Same here. I deactivated the SSA because it was not accurate and sales dropped %65 since last Friday.
Seller_nvlV72jQwwzmO
Same here. I deactivated the SSA because it was not accurate and sales dropped %65 since last Friday.
Seller_rBzps3zYO8z95
i suggest some of you need to open your eyes to what the economy is doing. your sales are going to keep tanking for the next few months.
Seller_rBzps3zYO8z95
i suggest some of you need to open your eyes to what the economy is doing. your sales are going to keep tanking for the next few months.
Seller_lCX40xAkSs1xm
We are going through the same thing, the only way the playing field will be leveled is when Amazon requires SSA which is right around the corner.
Seller_lCX40xAkSs1xm
We are going through the same thing, the only way the playing field will be leveled is when Amazon requires SSA which is right around the corner.
Seller_ENsui4p8FrUx6
I did a lot of research on this matter and tried it out on our account and I would say that.
If you are selling your own brand and you own the buy box then dont turn on the SSA feature, you would only lose sales, you should rather study the carrier Map and set it yourself and give yourself over to Amazon.
If you are selling branded products then you might have an edge if you are shipping with a fast carrier to win the buy box but that would only be if you follow thru 100% but if its not set accurately and you deliver after the promise date then Amazon would extend your delivery dates and you will have a massive drop in sales.
Basically be aware!
Seller_ENsui4p8FrUx6
I did a lot of research on this matter and tried it out on our account and I would say that.
If you are selling your own brand and you own the buy box then dont turn on the SSA feature, you would only lose sales, you should rather study the carrier Map and set it yourself and give yourself over to Amazon.
If you are selling branded products then you might have an edge if you are shipping with a fast carrier to win the buy box but that would only be if you follow thru 100% but if its not set accurately and you deliver after the promise date then Amazon would extend your delivery dates and you will have a massive drop in sales.
Basically be aware!
Seller_5PVnrPSumFtgg
SSA was a very bad move by Amazon, especially when it's FORCED. Amazon is forcing SSA on many sellers that have delivered on average a few days before the latest expected delivery dates. In other words, Amazon is PUNISHING those sellers for doing better than they promised.
What Amazon is not taking into consideration is that for many products, especially large/heavy/expensive products that get very few sales per year, many if not most sellers drop-ship from the Manufacturers. And, most Manufacturers do not provide stock information, so there's a chance that they will take longer to deliver than normal. Therefore, many sellers opt for giving themselves some "cushion" in the form of extra handling days, to prevent late orders and upset customers. If a customer buys expecting shipment in 4 days and it ships in 7 days, the customer might get upset. If a customer buys expecting shipment in 7 days and it ships in 4 days, the customer will be happy.
SSA should be absolutely OPTIONAL. Nothing should be forced, especially when sellers are delivering BEFORE the latest expected delivery date.
Seller_5PVnrPSumFtgg
SSA was a very bad move by Amazon, especially when it's FORCED. Amazon is forcing SSA on many sellers that have delivered on average a few days before the latest expected delivery dates. In other words, Amazon is PUNISHING those sellers for doing better than they promised.
What Amazon is not taking into consideration is that for many products, especially large/heavy/expensive products that get very few sales per year, many if not most sellers drop-ship from the Manufacturers. And, most Manufacturers do not provide stock information, so there's a chance that they will take longer to deliver than normal. Therefore, many sellers opt for giving themselves some "cushion" in the form of extra handling days, to prevent late orders and upset customers. If a customer buys expecting shipment in 4 days and it ships in 7 days, the customer might get upset. If a customer buys expecting shipment in 7 days and it ships in 4 days, the customer will be happy.
SSA should be absolutely OPTIONAL. Nothing should be forced, especially when sellers are delivering BEFORE the latest expected delivery date.
Seller_4lw6ILteSlST6
Back to school time is always a weird time for our business. We can see huge drops during the two to three week period around back to school. I'd personally suspect that more, unless you sell things people buy when back to school is going on.
Seller_4lw6ILteSlST6
Back to school time is always a weird time for our business. We can see huge drops during the two to three week period around back to school. I'd personally suspect that more, unless you sell things people buy when back to school is going on.
Seller_sbRpnNoPaXtAf
@Seller_OcrJ4bqINfMXD have you seen any change since this post?
You say your delivery dates are the same as before, are you talking about the transit time within the shipping settings? Mine now says "Managed by Amazon" on everything but the Free Economy Shipping option, so I can't verify what's changed to what.
What I noticed yesterday, viewing my updates directly on the Amazon site, a standard order delivering a state away (1 day handling, 2 day ship) was showing a delivery date of 2 weeks! After some thought, I went back through the SSA settings and saw that, I had selected "I want Amazon to choose the shipping service that I selected above that creates the longest delivery time based on the customers’ location (typically the cheapest)." so as not to ruin my 98% OTDR. I've since changed it to the "Fastest Delivery Time" and now it shows 9 days which still isn't accurate. It should be 4 to compensate for the weekend.
I'm going to continue to fiddle with it because I like the protections, however, I may end up shutting off the setting. I thought this was supposed to solve the unreasonably long delivery time issue, not make it twice as bad!
Seller_sbRpnNoPaXtAf
@Seller_OcrJ4bqINfMXD have you seen any change since this post?
You say your delivery dates are the same as before, are you talking about the transit time within the shipping settings? Mine now says "Managed by Amazon" on everything but the Free Economy Shipping option, so I can't verify what's changed to what.
What I noticed yesterday, viewing my updates directly on the Amazon site, a standard order delivering a state away (1 day handling, 2 day ship) was showing a delivery date of 2 weeks! After some thought, I went back through the SSA settings and saw that, I had selected "I want Amazon to choose the shipping service that I selected above that creates the longest delivery time based on the customers’ location (typically the cheapest)." so as not to ruin my 98% OTDR. I've since changed it to the "Fastest Delivery Time" and now it shows 9 days which still isn't accurate. It should be 4 to compensate for the weekend.
I'm going to continue to fiddle with it because I like the protections, however, I may end up shutting off the setting. I thought this was supposed to solve the unreasonably long delivery time issue, not make it twice as bad!
