It’s January, the month of new beginnings. Therefore, today is about Amazon’s new things—
- A new inventory management metric 📦
- A new order cancellation feature ❌
- A relatively new controversy ❗
POST OF THE WEEK
AMAZON NEWS
Good news for FBA sellers: Amazon has rolled out the Minimum Inventory Level metric—the latest metric to help you improve inventory management and avoid the new low-inventory-level fee.
As per the announcement on Seller Central, this new metric uses advanced machine learning models to guide you with your replenishment settings. It can also recommend the minimum stock level you should store at fulfillment centers. 🚚
What’s more, it works in tandem with other tools and metrics to give you more insights into your inventory performance, including:
- Historical days of supply, which covers both the long-term (last 90 days) and short-term (last 30 days) metrics;
- Inventory Performance Index (IPI), which reflects how effectively you reduce excess inventory, fix stranded listings, and improve sell-through rate;
- Capacity limits, which vary based on your IPI score and other factors like sales forecasts, fulfillment center capacity, and shipment lead time; and
- Restock recommendations, which guide you in setting the recommended ship-by dates and replenishment quantities to meet the Minimum Inventory Level.
Why is this metric important?
Data showed that sellers who satisfy the Minimum Inventory Level metric experienced an average of 15% sales increase over 4 weeks! With the fee adjustments Amazon plans to apply this year, this would be a game-changer for those looking to boost their Amazon business.
BITES OF THE WEEK
- For Later: Amazon-FTC case has been pushed to 2026.
- Seller Data: Starting this year, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) requires platforms like Amazon to share seller information.
- Why People Read: Here are 3 reasons behind content consumption—and how to leverage them this year.
- AI’s Start-to-finish: This year is the year to create a website that not only understands but also anticipates user needs.
HOT TOPIC
Auto-approve buyer cancellation requests with the new Buyer Auto-Cancellation Window feature
Order cancellations are a bane to sales. They can harm your account health and even cost you some charges if you cancel orders on your side due to supply chain challenges.
Good thing Amazon realized the challenge and launched a new feature called Buyer Auto-Cancellation Window. Here’s what you need to know about this new seller tool:
📉 Longer cancellation window = lower cancellation rate
Not all cancellations will negatively affect your cancellation rate. However, you must maintain a 2.5% cancellation rate to continue selling on Amazon.
To help you achieve this, the Buyer Auto-Cancellation Window feature lets you set a time frame for buyers to cancel seller-fulfilled orders.
- These buyer-requested cancellations will not affect your cancellation rate.
- Beyond the time frame, buyers must request a cancellation manually.
- By default, buyers could only cancel an order within 30 minutes after placing the order.
What do sellers say?
Extending the auto-cancellation window can help avoid manually canceling orders. However, some sellers quickly pointed out that there are far better features to focus on. Others who require manual review of orders before cancellation also raised concerns because their orders are “being imported into different systems for fulfillment.”
Seems like this new feature still has some quirks to resolve. Still, do you think this feature is significant? Let us know by replying to this email. 📩
BLACK MARKET
Amazon faces recall woes due to banned baby products sold on the platform
Have you heard of the recent uproar in the ecommerce world that placed Amazon in hot water? The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) dropped a bombshell last December 2023, flagging a particular Amazon seller for offering banned child products!
What happened?
- The CPSC busted Lucky_00, a seller from China, for selling crib bumpers that pose suffocation risks. This violates the federal Safe Sleep for Babies Act (SSBA).
- However, the seller didn’t agree to recall these crib bumpers or make amends with consumers. So, those who purchased the Notice of Violation issued by CPSC to Lucky_00.
- Other banned items with designs that present suffocation hazards, such as inclined infant sleepers and the HEAO 4-in-1 High Chairs, are also present on the platform.
- Although some recalled products have been removed from Amazon's website, there's still an "explosion of products" that violate safety rules.
🚩 But the red flag is …
…the lack of standards for baby products that should not be sold on Amazon, as told by Peter Kerin, owner of Foresight Childproofing.
And while authorities like the CPSC continue to battle dangerous kid items, this news should be a wake-up call for sellers and buyers to be vigilant and follow safety rules. After all, safety should always come first, especially when it concerns our little ones.
