How to improve your Amazon Customer Metrics

Amazon sellers are constantly being assessed by a whole range of performance metrics, and the most important of these is Amazon’s Customer Metrics. One of Amazon’s main priorities is that their customers receive the same level of service from third-party sellers as they do when they buy from Amazon itself, so they monitor sellers' dispatches, returns, refunds and any other issues.

If you fail to meet these standards Amazon can suspend your account, or even ban you from selling completely. Maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction is also essential to increasing your sales and growing a successful Amazon business. We take you through each of the Customer Metrics that your sales are assessed on and explain how you can improve them.

Perfect Order Percentage (POP)

What is it? The amount of your orders that are accepted, processed and fulfilled without any problems. Your Perfect Order Percentage takes into account negative feedback, A-to-z Guarantee claims*, Chargebacks, Cancellations, Late Dispatches, Refunds and Buyer-Initiated messages. You should keep this above 97%. If you fall below any of these performance thresholds, Amazon may temporarily suspend or permanently remove selling privileges.  

*Amazon guarantees that items arrive in good condition and on time or the buyer can make an A-Z Guarantee claim to have their money refunded.

How is it calculated? The number of perfect orders from the last 90 days divided by the total number of orders received during that time.

How can you improve it? If your POP score is low then there are a number of different things that you might be able to improve:

• Inaccurate or unclear product details may mean customers are disappointed when they receive their items.
• Late delivery or missing tracking information can cause buyers to contact the seller, and to leave negative feedback.
• If you don't maintain your stock levels, or update listings when you're out of stock you may be cancelling a lot of orders, and this can result in negative feedback as well.

Order defect rate (ODR)

What is it? The proportion of your orders that receive negative feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee claim or credit card chargeback. Amazon uses this to measure your overall performance. Your Order Defect Rate should be below 1%.

How is it calculated? The number of A-to-z claims, negative feedback and chargebacks divided by the total number of orders for a certain time period. An A-to-z claim and negative feedback for the same order won’t count as two defects, and claims that are resolved in the seller's favour or withdrawn by the buyer won’t count.

How can you improve it? If your ODR goes over 1% it can affect your eligibility to win the Buy Box, however by improving your product listings, sending out items on time, packaged securely and maintaining your stock levels you can reduce the number of complaints and claims you receive.

Pre-fulfilment cancellation rate

What is it? The number of orders cancelled by you before you’ve dispatched the item. This should be below 2.5%.

How is it calculated? Orders cancelled by the seller divided by the number of orders in a certain time period. This doesn’t include buyer requested or initiated cancellations.

How can you improve it? If your cancellation rate is high, Amazon will see it as a problem with your inventory management. It’s essential that you always have enough units of each product that you sell in stock, and if you are running low or out of stock then make sure to update or remove listings.

Late dispatch rate

What is it? If you’re using Amazon’s Charge When Ship, you’ll be monitored on your late dispatch rate: the number of orders that have a dispatch confirmation completed after your expected dispatch date. This should be below 4%.

How is it calculated? The number of late dispatch confirmations divided by the number of orders in a certain time period.

How can you improve it? If your dispatch confirmation is later than expected, customers are more likely to get in touch, and leave negative feedback. To keep your late dispatch rate below 4% you need to:

• Keep on top of your orders, and make sure you have an efficient system in place for packaging and dispatching items in good time.
• Always have your products in stock.
• Remember to mark the item as dispatched in Amazon.

Remember! If you use Zenstores all your Amazon orders will be imported for you to print shipping labels, and the orders will then be marked as dispatched on Amazon automatically. Find out more about using Zenstores with Amazon here.

Refund rate

What is it? The number of your orders that are refunded for any reason as a percentage.

How is it calculated? The number of orders refunded divided by the number of orders in a certain time period, as a percentage.

How can you improve it? To reduce your refund rate you need to assess the reasons for refunds and tackle those issues. You might do a lot of refunds because:

• You're frequently out of stock so you can't fulfil an order - make sure you update your stock levels regularly and keep on top of ordering stock.
• If items are arriving incomplete or damaged you need to reconsider your packing process or improve your packaging.
• If the item doesn't meet your buyer's expectations maybe you need to improve the quality of your products or add more information to your descriptions.

Find out more about Amazon’s Customer Metrics here.

Tracking your Amazon customers and sales

You can keep track of your most valuable customers for Amazon, and other ecommerce platforms, with Zenstores Insights. It enables you to track sales across multiple ecommerce channels, and identify the products, channels and customers that are driving your business's growth.

Find out more about Zenstores Insights here.