SFP On Time Delivery Time Metrics
We have been using SFP for years sucessfully, all of are labels are bought through sellercentral. Packages are scan at point of pickup for all carriers. We are expearincing a hit to our metrics and possible suspension caused by weather delays or mechanical delays in the UPS system (not in our city but at the Hubs accross the country). In past the Ontme delivery metrics was not affected by these as the policy so long as the label was purchaed through seller central and the package was scanned picked up on time.
Previously there was an ability to submit a POA however this feature has been removed, and when we contact support we get the response " we need to work with our carriers to ensure ontime delivery". This is not possible when there are weather delays or mechanical delays per the UPS tracking results.
Is there any other way to submit this information so that we can prevent our account from loosing its SFP eligibilty?
SFP On Time Delivery Time Metrics
We have been using SFP for years sucessfully, all of are labels are bought through sellercentral. Packages are scan at point of pickup for all carriers. We are expearincing a hit to our metrics and possible suspension caused by weather delays or mechanical delays in the UPS system (not in our city but at the Hubs accross the country). In past the Ontme delivery metrics was not affected by these as the policy so long as the label was purchaed through seller central and the package was scanned picked up on time.
Previously there was an ability to submit a POA however this feature has been removed, and when we contact support we get the response " we need to work with our carriers to ensure ontime delivery". This is not possible when there are weather delays or mechanical delays per the UPS tracking results.
Is there any other way to submit this information so that we can prevent our account from loosing its SFP eligibilty?
17 replies
Seller_CW0P5hgbsiqWX
The SFP bots don't care. For fifteen years we have chipped 100-200 items a day and found no reason to use SFP. We do not take your hit.
KJ_Amazon
Hello @Seller_FMxx7NEhdSgTZ. Thanks for sharing those details with us. As you have seen, there are updated SFP performance requirements.
Please check the below help page for details on on-time delivery metrics and "promise extensions:
On-time delivery updates for Seller Fulfilled Prime
Seller_n1qB1pRgmXtgJ
I live in a rural area where there is no weekend pickup for UPS. Amazon thinks there is since some of the bigger towns offer it in their stores. The battle with Amazon bots was futile, until I finally gave up the struggle to maintain the SFP metrics. Sometimes I hit it, sometimes not.
Seller_4lw6ILteSlST6
SFP is a nightmare. Nothing like metrics you have no control over to ruin your business.
Seller_NzEmZKTEdcpPZ
This is a known issue and, unfortunately, Amazon ignores and refuses to acknowledge the issue. And, I have a feeling, Amazon doesn't realize how big of a deal it is. Because of this impossible metric that is set to fail all SFP sellers at one point or another, Amazon will be dealing with tens of thousands of SFP removals appeals.
The metric is set to make all SFP sellers to fail and get kicked out of the program. Everything is dandy when there is no bad weather (anywhere), when FedEx/UPS/USPS have a perfect run (no mechanical issues, delayed aircraft flights, no screw ups at their hubs), and when the customers are the delivery address at the time of delivery. But we don't live in the perfect world and all these things happen all the time.
I started a post a couple of weeks ago:
On-time Delivery Rate Notification - stop counting things we can't control against sellers!
That post has many comments, over 800 views, and zero Community Managers involvement, despite many of them being tagged there. @KJ_Amazon , you are tagged there too.
I opened a case with SS (it's listed in the post) only to receive a statement that these are new rules and sellers are responsible for everything, except for some major weather disruptions or carrier overload times. Weather disruptions is a BS, by the way. They counted bad weather (it wasn't even in my area, but somewhere on the route to customers) against me. They also advised me to manage my relationship with carriers better to avoid delays in delivery. I already requested the sit-downs with the CEOs of FedEx and the UPS. If I'm lucky, they will grant them with their grace before I retire in a couple of decades. My FedEx and UPS account reps had a good crack at this metric and how Amazon treats us.
We already had two performance notices in the past month from Amazon about this metric. I manually traced all packages in the "defects report". All of them were shipped, picked up by carrier, and scanned on time (the same day), all showing movement on the same day. All had one of four reasons for delay:
-Customer is not available or business is closed
-Weather Delay
-Carrier Delay (mechanical issue/weather/overload,airport closure, etc)
-Carrier Service failure
General On-Time Delivery Rate is 100% (Account Health -> Shipping Performance tab at the top), which means it tracks reasonably and accounts for all things that sellers can't control.
On-Time Metric in SFP dashboard had 67% a couple weeks ago, then it was 86% next week. Now it's 100%.
Third notice promises to remove eligibility for the SFP. We have no idea what is the stretch of time between the notices Amazon is looking at.
Bottom line: the metric is done without any logic and serves no purpose for sellers, except for elevating their blood pressure.
Amazon just needs to acknowledge this simple truth and don't count instances sellers can't control.
I also talked to my Amazon Strategic Account Manager. She seemed to be surprised about how this metric tracks things. She reached out to Amazon SFP and was told the same thing: this is the new policy and there is nothing anyone can do about this. Suggestion: disable Prime when there is a bad weather somewhere in the USA. For example, you all should have had your Prime turned off because of the flood in California. Many packages going to the troubled area will be delayed. Also, every time you ship the order, make sure to let the customer to be there on the day of delivery, otherwise that will count against you. Oh, wait, I just remembered that we are not allowed to contact buyers...
KJ_Amazon
I live in a rural area where there is no weekend pickup for UPS. Amazon thinks there is since some of the bigger towns offer it in their stores. The battle with Amazon bots was futile, until I finally gave up the struggle to maintain the SFP metrics. Sometimes I hit it, sometimes not.
Hello @Seller_n1qB1pRgmXtgJ As part of the Seller Fulfilled Prime program policy, sellers must receive, pack, and ship Prime orders on at least one weekend day. I understand you are in an area where weekend service is difficult, but that is a requirement of the program.
I started a post a couple of weeks ago:
@Seller_NzEmZKTEdcpPZ Thank you for sharing that On-time Delivery Rate Notification thread with me. I see that you have also shared your feedback with your Strategic Account Manager, who reached out to the partner team and passed your feedback on to them.
For any sellers who did not see it originally, I shared partner team suggestions in the thread and will include them here: SFP Speed Metrics.
Seller_3QIhzNaiqbTwC
we too have been successful SFP sellers for many years. Since the change we have been able to maintain Fairly well…only one performance notification for page views to this point. That said, we have had a couple weeks where we were just slightly below the minimum on OTDR but we didn’t get a notification. You did not mention whether or not you utilize SSA on your prime templates. We do on all ours, and I believe it has had a positive effect…it seems Amazon automatically adds a delivery day at times when weather issues may be forecast to cause issues. Sometimes they go to far with that…. But that is another issue.
As for how to communicate with the folks at SFP performance, we have had some success opening support cases, using the SFP related issues subsection. You will get the normal nonsense first response fron SS, but then just insist that the case get transferred to SFP support. Those folks will take their sweet time responding … but sometimes you can make some progress.
Seller_wnc1pjYEF5ZqF
Third Party Sellers are now responsible for acts of god.
