- In-stock Rate.
- Prime Eligibility.
- Price Competitiveness.
But in addition to these three key metrics, brands should also consider:
- Voice of the Customer.
- Account Health.
Dashboard
In Seller Central, click on the Brands tab, where you will find the Brand Dashboard. In this tab, Amazon shows sellers three main indicators: In-stock Rate, Prime Eligibility, Price Competitiveness. The Brand Dashboard also includes links to metrics such as Customer Reviews, Brand Analytics, Experiment Management, and Search Query Optimizer.
Let's find out which of these metrics is the most important for the seller.
In-stock Rate
Out-of-stock items hurt Amazon's sales. The In-stock Rate is the percentage of page views to replenishable branded items in the last 30 days. The In-stock Rate is the "Inventory Performance Index" for FBA sellers. Amazon now restricts restocking of FBA items. IPI accepts sell-through rate, excess inventory, and other factors. Amazon limited supplies at the start of the pandemic. Restrictions continued, apparently in anticipation of higher demand. FBA sellers must promptly send top-ups to FBA in order to maintain sales.
Prime Eligibility
It is the frequency that the product has been eligible for Prime for the previous 30 days. A product that has been out of stock for any length is not basically acceptable. Products are eligible for Prime if they ship on time 99 percent of the time, use Amazon-approved carriers, and have a cancellation rate below 0.5 percent.
Price Competitiveness
Amazon's priority is to provide the best online price, not the seller's profitability. To avoid price alerts, Amazon recommends signing up for a pricing automation program with two options:
- Automate Price. Merchants can register ASINs and trust Amazon automation to keep their prices up to date based on other offers and pre-defined rules.
- Sold by Amazon. This is an invite-only event where Amazon sets prices for FBA products. The Amazon sale allows you to set a "minimum gross revenue" limit.
But manufacturers and brands should also consider additional opportunities to maintain competitive pricing and profitability, including:
- Product configurations specific to Amazon with unique GTINs (global trade item numbers) simplifies price comparisons for bundled goods.
- Minimum Advertised Price. Brands should set a minimum advertised price with everyone who sells their products online. The consistency of prices and control of all retail chains is extremely important, including temporary price reductions. Know how your resellers represent your brand.
Account Health
Here you can view metrics related to customer service, policy compliance, and delivery efficiency, if applicable.
The order defect rate is the percentage of orders that have a defect. Amazon defines a defect as a product that has received negative feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee Claims, or a credit card refund. Salespeople can avoid this by properly communicating with customers when questions arise. Never let a problem become an A-to-z Guarantee Claim. Amazon requires sellers to keep the order defect rate below 1 percent. Otherwise, Amazon will close the account.
Many accounts were closed due to poor customer service. If you can't solve the customer's problem, return the purchase price before it becomes a A-to-z Guarantee Claim. Amazon will refund the customer anyway. But don’t let it get to that point.
Voice of the Customer
The Voice of the Customer page is accessible from the Account Health secondary dashboard (on the right). The metric is called “CX Health” — customer experience. CX Health focuses on the quality and accuracy of listings.
The Voice of the Customer page lists negative customer experiences based on their responses to the refund, rather than feedback or reviews, as detailed in the Amazon refund report. If your CX score is "bad", Amazon will suppress this list. Amazon offers two options for reactivating it: correct information on the product page or replace inventory. However, sometimes Amazon creates this problem. In this case, fixing the product page or pulling inventory will not solve this problem.
In conclusion
Keep an eye on all these indicators, which, again, are the average for the previous 30 days. Regularly monitor prices and respond quickly to Amazon notifications. The actions taken today will take time to reflect on your score.
Brands that don't meet Amazon's standards may lose sales privileges, purchase box visibility, and inclusion in featured offers on the product details page.