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Extended Delivery Window Being Shown to Buyers
I just got off the phone with Seller Support who informed me that effective October 1 Amazon extended delivery windows being shown to buyers for non-Prime merchant fulfilled orders. We noticed a massive drop in sales (even worse than they have already been). I was reviewing listings to try and get to the bottom of this latest issue and noticed 2 week delivery dates being shown to customers. The 2 weeks is if I were shipping to my own state.
We have AHT set at 2 days and delivery to our own state set to 2-3 day delivery. We had SSA in place, even after I disable SSA to play around with shipping times and templates Amazon then started displaying a 1 week minimum up to 2 weeks for delivery, again to our own state.
This is clearly deterring buyers from making FBM purchases thus negatively impacting business. I was told by the Seller Support agent that I could explain to potential buyers on the listing that we actually deliver faster than Amazon is advertising (this is against Amazon policy). I was also told that I could reach out to buyers who have completed purchases to explain to them that they will be receiving their packages much faster than the estimated delivery window Amazon provided them.
It is clear to me that Amazon wants to do away with 3rd party merchants who do not use their FBA services or force us into using FBA especially considering the high costs associated with improperly handled inventory counts, long receiving times, having to battle with Amazon every step of the way to correct an Amazon caused mistake, the list goes on.
87 replies
Seller_8cIsVssvO29X6
Thank you, I remember doing that when I had a case awhile ago but I never was able to talk live with a person. I remember that sometimes that is an option and sometimes it isn't. I will keep that in mind and should open a case because Amazon keeps changing handling times on my - making them shorter than the Shipping Settings I have had for 15 years - not longer in advance of Christmas mailing as some sellers have said. Wish Amazon would do that to me! Thank you again for reminding me of that. Best of luck with your case.
Seller_u9sWbO6CHxYFV
Exact same issue here! My sales are half of what they were before I set SSA and AHT. Delivery times shown to customers on my items are now 2 plus WEEKS OUT! That's RIDICULOUS!
Seller_8HBeojhszSviQ
A bit of an update from today's call with Seller Support. I was told that my case from 10/4 was finally transferred to the technical team. They identified nothing wrong with my account or my settings that would cause these long delivery dates to be displayed to potential buyers.
The member from the internal team who I spoke with today was very patient and eager to find a resolution. While on the phone with her she checked the status of the case which had been updated toward the end of our call.
She stated that the other internal team indicated that somehow Amazon incorrectly added what looked like a full week to the correct delivery dates . I am waiting for an update on when I can expect a fix/to be notified that the issue is resolved.
I was adamant about not only fighting for our account to be corrected but for the thousands of other sellers experiencing this same nightmare. I made it clear in all interactions with Amazon that this is a significant and widespread issue.
Feel free to share your experiences and any updates you have come across in getting a resolution.
Seller_b3m5hTin8xQg6
Does anyone have any updates? Our sales have been cut by over half because of this bug. We reached out to seller support on Friday but still haven't heard anything back.
KJ_Amazon
Hello @Seller_8HBeojhszSviQ and all sellers asking about delivery promises.
As many sellers know, additional time (known as a “promise extension”) may be added to the estimated delivery date that customers see to account for logistical factors that might slow delivery. When a promise extension is added, the customer sees a later date than the “Deliver by” date that you see.
I understand that sellers have strong feelings about promise extensions, and I have shared this feedback with our partner teams.
KJ_Amazon
KJ_Amazon
Hello @Seller_8HBeojhszSviQ
Please review the date range in the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard to see which orders may be included in the "Promise Extensions" section showing delivery promise extensions.
Since the date range is based on promised delivery dates, there will be a gap from when an order is placed and when it is eligible to be included in that dashboard.
I am continuing to share seller feedback about this topic with our partner teams.
KJ_Amazon
Seller_8HBeojhszSviQ
Where do we see what the promise extension is for current offers? How is that calculated? How do those numbers translate into promise extension days?
Please make this make sense for the thousands and thousands of sellers who sell on here and are just as confused as I am.
Ultimately we're talking about:
"Promised Delivery Date:
The date that customers see when they place an order and this date includes your managed delivery time. It is often the same as the "Deliver by" date you see in the order details page in Seller Central unless Promise extensions are added."
Surely we should be seeing at least a full week+ from the October 1 orders already being accounted for in the promise extension number. If that doesn't start to skyrocket by the end of this week will you please do a deeper dive into what is going on here?
I will take screenshots every day and post them here. If my promise extension goes from 0.5 to 4.5ish then we have identified the issue. If it does not, the problem is something else.
KJ_Amazon
There is no display that calculates a seller's overall average promise extensions.
I will continue to share seller feedback with our partner team for review.
Seller_8HBeojhszSviQ
I was not asking about overall average promise extension, I was asking about current promise extension. I also edited my post to add more detail if you could kindly review that.
Seller_8HBeojhszSviQ
I have been checking my ODTR on a daily basis since Amazon announced the changes. We have never been below 90% since the metric began to be counted for potential harm to a seller, we have never received an OTDR warning.
Is the 95% OTDR number the trigger for punishing sellers by applying longer promise extensions?
KJ_Amazon
There is no report or dashboard showing a seller's overall average promise extensions for their current offers, taking all possible shipping locations into account.
Do your October 1-7 orders all have delivery promise dates in the metric timeframe? If so, then yes, the above will be accurate.
It is not necessary for you to post screenshots of your dashboard to confirm that you are having promise extensions applied to your orders/offers. I will post any updates on the subject I receive from our partner teams, but I do not have any seller/offer-specific information available on how promise extensions are applied.
KJ_Amazon
Seller_8HBeojhszSviQ
Thank you for confirming that Amazon does not currently have a way of sharing current handling time with sellers even though it is clearly being enforced on sellers. I wouldn't expect SKU level data although Amazon does have that information available and it would be helpful to sellers.
The reason I was going to post the screenshots of the dashboard is to make a public record of the change or lack thereof of the displayed promise extension. My concern is that the promise extensions have been dramatically altered from what the were previously to the great detriment of both buyers and sellers. If I am not seeing a large change in the displayed promise extension due to the 4-5 days in addition to our historic below 1 day promise extension, that means the following:
1. Something is not right with the calculation/display in the dashboard. (Yes, I am accounting for the lag in the dates as we previously discussed.)
Or
2. Amazon is adding more days for a specifically unidentified reason.
Either way, we require more transparency from Amazon/correctly displayed data. Data that is either incorrect or not timely is not helpful in addressing this week's concerns. Since Amazon prides itself on being customer centric, it needs to help sellers better serve Amazon's customers by giving us good quality tools and information and by displaying accurate data to buyers to make informed purchase decisions.
KJ_Amazon
It may also means that only a small number of your orders in that timeframe have had promise extensions added.
If you had 200 orders with delivery promises between 9/12/2024 and 10/12/2024, and 20 of those orders had five promise extension days added, that would be 100 days divided by 200 orders = 0.5 days average.
We have AHT set at 2 days and delivery to our own state set to 2-3 day delivery. We had SSA in place, even after I disable SSA to play around with shipping times and templates Amazon then started displaying a 1 week minimum up to 2 weeks for delivery, again to our own state.
If you received orders beginning on October 1 with up to two weeks delivery promises, many of these orders are still past the October 12 range for that dashboard.
KJ_Amazon
Seller_8HBeojhszSviQ
If that were the case then there would be no reason for ALL of my SKUs to have been impacted especially for orders being shipped to my own zip code. Only the SKUS included in the theoretical small number of orders should have been impacted. If Amazon is basing current displayed extensions to buyers based upon past delivery performance per every SKU/ASIN what buyers are seeing for the entire catalog does not match with that theory.
It bears repeating that many many other sellers here on the forums are experiencing very similar extra days added all of a sudden to their entire catalog. That should inform this discussion that this is not an isolated incident of an handful of SKUs.
Furthermore, we looked up the delivery dates being displayed to buyers, again in our own zip code, for new listings that have not yet seen a single sale. Those items should not be receiving any promise extension adjustment under AHT or SSA based on sales history but rather based upon the settings we set under the shipping templates. Again, we are located in New Jersey which was not impacted by severe weather or slow carrier network issues.
Yes understood, that's why I'm keeping an eye on the number to see how it trends. That data will be valuable to creating understanding of what is happening.
KJ_Amazon
I am not able to provide any seller/location/offer-specific details about why promise extensions are being added to any seller's offers. I understand that you and many sellers have strong opinions about how and when these extensions are applied, and I have shared those with our partner teams.
The dashboard metric we have been discussing is based solely on orders that have been placed that meet the delivery promise timeframe. The metric does not account for a seller's other available offers, whether or not those offers are also displaying extended delivery promises.
Seller_b3m5hTin8xQg6
We are having the exact same issue as TCS952 is having. Has anyone received an update on this? The Hurricane promise extension dates are over so it can't be related to that.
Seller_8M8iuPlv9MCNY
Same here...sales dropped like crazy! Extended delivery dates are shown to the customer, but from my selling point of view I see the actual estimated delivery dates when I'm viewing orders. I think it is a push for FBA honestly
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