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As a reminder, from 19 April 2021, Amazon VTR will kick in and you will be required to provide the name of the shipping service provider and the specific delivery service used for all merchant fulfilled orders and the tracking ID for merchant fulfilled orders that are shipped with a tracked ship method or the unique parcel ID (located above the 2D barcode on the label) in case you use the Royal Mail 24 or Royal Mail 48 ship methods.
You will need to hit 95% Amazon VTR on your domestic shipments through Amazon UK over a rolling 30-day period (that is if you ship from an address in the UK to a delivery address in the UK). Amazon VTR will be measured for merchant fulfilled shipments at a category level. It is really important to prepare for this new metric as if your products are suspended at category level you will be required to go through the tedious process of an action plan to get them reinstated.
VTR will be measured on all domestic shipments shipped through integrated shipping service providers where Amazon receives scan information. Here at Tamebay we are well aware that this is sketchy from the point of view that not all labels carry a barcode and even where they do sometimes the carrier won’t capture a scan at the point of delivery.
Amazon VTR FAQs
Amazon have provided the following FAQs which in themselves are confusing. On the one hand Amazon say that if you use Royal Mail services without a barcode that you should contact Royal Mail to switch to purchase methods that do have tracking… and then say that if you simply purchase stamps that these are outside the scope of Amazon VTR. Below are the FAQ from Aamzon:
- Are scan events provided for Royal Mail 24, Royal 48, Royal Mail 1st Class and Royal Mail 2nd Class
Yes, if you are using a Royal Mail 24/48/1st Class/2nd Class product that offers a delivery confirmation then Amazon will receive this once the product is scanned on delivery. This will provide visibility to Selling Partners, customers and Amazon of delivery.
Amazon say that you are using one of these products without a barcode then you must contact Royal Mail to set up these services. You will not be able to confirm shipment of an order using a Royal Mail 24/48/1st Class/2nd Class delivery method unless you provide the parcel ID.
- Are Royal Mail 1st / 2nd class stamps considered for VTR?
Postage stamps are not a tracked service, if you are shipping your shipments using an untracked ship method you are not required to provide us a tracking ID for domestic and cross-border shipments.
- What happens if my shipping service provider fails to scan my packages meaning I miss ‘VTR’ for a product?
The first thing to do is engage directly with your shipping service provider to try and find a resolution with them. You should also review your labels to ensure you’re using the right ship method and that labels are being printed correctly.
You can also consider using Buy Shipping, which allows you to buy shipping labels through the Seller Central interface. With Buy Shipping, the shipping service provider, ship method and tracking ID are automatically provided by shipping services provider to Amazon and all tracking IDs received by Amazon through Buy Shipping are considered valid. In the UK, Amazon currently have DPD, Hermes, Amazon Shipping and Royal Mail ship methods available. You can access Amazon negotiated rate cards or, for Royal Mail, you can link your accounts to benefit from your own rates.
- If my Shipments do not reach 95% VTR in a category, when will I be suspended?
You are expected to meet 95% VTR from 19 April, meaning we will review the first 30 days’ delivery performance on 19 May 2021. From May 19, you may receive an email notification if your VTR does not meet the 95% bar at category level in the last 30 days. The impacted selection may be suspended in the category level if the 95% bar in the last 30 days is not met. To reinstate suspended selection, you will need to submit a plan of action, which will need to be approved.
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