Modify handling time

For customers, knowing when they can expect the item is important. Amazon provides the estimated delivery time to customers on the offer listing and checkout pages. This is the estimated time between when the customer places the order and when the order is delivered.

You can configure the estimated delivery time using your delivery settings:

Total delivery time = Handling time + Transit time (+ any holidays and weekends)

What is handling time?

Handling time (also known as production time or lead time to ship) is the time between when the customer places the order and when you hand the order over to your carrier. Handling time is part of the delivery time calculation displayed on the offer listing and checkout page.

In Seller Central, you can set your handling time in two ways:

1. Set an account-level default handling time.
2. Set ASIN-specific handling times for specific products; this will override the account-level handling time for that ASIN.

What is default handling time?

You set your default handling time at the account level, and it applies to all your products. Additionally, you can set ASIN-level handling times, which will override the account-level handling time for that specific ASIN. Default handling time can be set to Same-day, One or Two working days (which does not affect products that have an ASIN-level handling time set).

For same-day handling, orders received before the order cut-off time must be dispatched and confirmed the same day as they are placed to prevent late shipments. If you receive an order after the cut-off time, it must be dispatched and confirmed by the next working day.

For example, for a seller who has a Same-day handling time with an order cut-off time of 12:00 p.m. and receives an order at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, that order will need to be dispatched on the Monday, the same day as the order was received. If an order is received at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, that order will need to be dispatched by Tuesday, the day after the day on which the order was received.

How can I update the default handling time?

To update the default handling time on Seller Central, follow the below steps:

1. On the Shipping Settings page, navigate to the General Shipping Settings tab.
2. Scroll down to Handling Time and click Edit.
3. Select 0 Day (Same Day), 1 Day or 2 Days and click Save.
4. Optional: Enter your order handling capacity and click Save. This will allow you to set a limit for how many orders you can handle within your default handling time, and protect your Late Shipment Rate (LSR) when you receive more orders than you can manage by adding one additional day of handling time for all orders above your set capacity.

How can I modify handling time for specific products?

If you expect to take longer than the defined default handling time to ship specific products, you can set longer handling times for these products.

There are three ways you can modify the handling time in bulk:

• Using Inventory Loader:
  
  1. From the Inventory file templates, style guides and Browse Tree guides (BTG) page, navigate to the Choose a file template section and download your Inventory Loader file.
  2. Read through the instructions in the Data Definitions tab in the Inventory Loader file.
  3. In the Template tab, fill in all the required fields and the handling-time field (or leadtime-to-ship field) (one SKU per row)
  4. Save the file in text-tab-delimited format (.txt)
  5. Upload the file through Inventory > Add Products via Upload > Upload your Inventory File. Select file type as Inventory Loader File.
• Using Price and Quantity File:
  
  1. From the Inventory file templates, style guides and Browse Tree guides (BTG) page, navigate to the Choose a file template section and download your Price & Quantity file.
  2. Read through the instructions in the Data Definitions tab in the Listing Loader file.
  3. In the Template tab, fill in all the required fields and the handling-time field (one SKU per row).
  4. Save the file in text-tab-delimited format (.txt)
  5. Upload the file through Inventory > Add Products via Upload > Upload your Inventory File. Select file type as Price and Quantity File.
• Using Listing Loader:
  
  1. From Upload inventory using the Listing Loader page, download your Listing Loader file.
  2. Read through the instructions in the Data Definitions tab in the Listing Loader file.
  3. In the Template tab, fill in all the required fields and the leadtime-to-ship field (one SKU per row)
  4. Save the file in text-tab-delimited format (.txt)
  5. Upload the file through Inventory > Add Products via Upload > Upload your Inventory File. Select file type as Inventory Files for Specific Categories.

Note: If you leave the handling time field (or leadtime-to-ship) in the above templates empty, the account-level default handling time will apply

Note: Your offer will update on Amazon within 15 minutes. In the event of maximum load on Amazon systems, it can take up to 24 hours for offer information and 48 hours for product information.

Why is setting faster and accurate handling times important?

Customers love faster deliveries and are more likely to purchase products that have faster estimated delivery times. Setting faster and more accurate handling times also helps improve the delivery experience for your customers and delivery speed.

How does handling time affect my account performance?

Expected ship date for your seller fulfilled orders is calculated based on order date + handling time. For example, if your default handling time is 1 day, the expected ship date for orders placed before midnight will be the next working day. For same-day handling time, all orders received before the order cut-off time must be dispatched and confirmed during the day on which the order was received to avoid late shipments. With Same-day handling time, all orders received after the order cut-off time must be dispatched and confirmed during the next day after the order was received.

Note: The default cut-off time is 2:00 p.m. local time, but you can edit it in your shipping settings

It is important to confirm the shipment of orders by the expected ship date to meet the Late Shipment Rate (LSR) requirements for your account. If you ship the product on time but do not confirm it by the ship-by date, it will be considered a late shipment. Not dispatching on time may affect your Late Shipment Rate. Use order handling capacity to protect against late shipping. For more information, go to Late Shipment Rate.

Can I set same-day handling time?

To set same-day handling time, you can set it as your account default handling time. To learn more, go to Same Day handling time.

Do these handling time settings affect Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) and Premium Shipping orders?

No, this does not affect SFP or Premium Shipping orders. Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) and Premium Shipping (Same Day Delivery, Next Day Delivery and Two Day Delivery) require sellers to dispatch all orders received before order cut-off time on the same day as they receive the order.

Amazon generates handling time recommendations for products where we see a gap between your configured handling time, your actual handling time for that product and your handling time of similar products on Amazon. For products where you have demonstrated capabilities to handle them faster than your ASIN-specific handling time currently configured, we will recommend adjustments to set a shorter handling time. For products where your handling time is slower than your configured handling time, we will recommend adjustments to set a longer handling time. The recommendations are refreshed monthly and are based on the prior month’s handling time to ensure that the recommendations are reflective of your most recent capabilities to handle products for delivery.

We encourage you to regularly monitor and update your handling times recommendations. Setting more accurate handling times will enable providing customers with more accurate estimated delivery dates (EDDs).

To view and configure your recommended handling times, follow the steps below:

1. Under Inventory in Seller Central, click Manage seller fulfilled products.
2. Under the Recommendations tab, you can view all the products that have recommended handling times.
   Note: If there are no recommendations on this page, it could be because you do not have any seller-fulfilled SKUs with standard shipping option on the Manage Inventory page or your configured product-specific handling times were aligned with your average actual handling times.
3. Click on Update to accept the recommended handling time.
   Note: You may select multiple products to update the handling time in bulk.
4. Click Ignore to ignore the recommendation.
5. Check back on the first day of the next month to view updated handling time recommendations.

For more information on modifying handling time, go to Frequently asked questions.