A 2021 guide for Amazon Europe Account Health for FBA Sellers
The Account Health page is there to instruct you on the seller’s metrics, which will affect the health of your account.
Once you know what it all stands for, you’ll be in a much better position to ensure that your account stays in peak health.
The Amazon Account Health Page Explained
When you decide to sell your product on Amazon, you must agree to stick to the rules. One of the agreements you make is to maintain metrics above a specific level. This is known as Account Health.
If you continually drop below the levels set by Amazon you will be penalized. This may take the form of a warning, suspension of your account, or even account removal if you fail to rectify the problem.
You’ll find all the information that you need about your Account Health on a page by the same name on your Seller Central account.
Here, you will find six essential metrics on which you must concentrate if you want to continue to enjoy seller benefits on Amazon.
Amazon has recently removed some of the seller metrics from the Account Health page and they don’t plan to act on any of the removed metrics.
Looking after the metrics on Account Health page?
There are several metrics that you must focus on, or you may find yourself dealing with plans of action and appeals.
Customer Service Performance
Order Defect Rate
The ODR is an aggregate of the following:
- Negative feedback
- A-to-z Guarantee claims
- Chargeback Claims
In other words, the ODR rate measures whether your customers are as happy with the product as they were promised by the A-Z guarantee.
The required metric for the ODR is less than 1% as an aggregate of all of the above.
Invoice Defect Rate
Invoice Defect Rate (IDR) measures the invoicing experience you provide to Amazon Business customers who require invoices or receipts for tax and accounting purposes.
IDR is a percentage of orders for which you did not upload an invoice by midnight on the first business day following the day you confirmed shipment of that order. IDR calculation assumes Monday to Friday as business days, irrespective of public holidays.
You are required to maintain an IDR under 5%.
Although Amazon has not taken action against any seller for overstepping this metric, it is an Amazon recommendation that this should not breach the 5% limit.
Policy compliance
Account Health Rating (BETA)
The Account Health Rating (AHR) is a new feature that helps you monitor your account health based on your adherence to Amazon’s selling policies.
It takes into account factors such as:
- the number of unresolved policy violations on your account at any given time
- the relative severity of those violations
- the extent to which you positively impact the customer experience via your selling activities.
This rating does not change Amazon’s existing selling policies and will continue to be refined over time.
To maintain ‘Good’ account health, please address all policy violations in a timely manner. If your AHR is ‘At Risk’ or ‘Critical’, your account may be at risk of deactivation.
Some selling policies are not reflected in it; please ensure overall compliance with our terms, policies, and applicable laws to avoid account deactivation, independent of your AHR.
What happens when you miss the target on your Amazon metrics?
If you haven’t breached the metrics before, you needn’t hit the panic button yet. Amazon will contact you and ask you to supply them with a plan of action. They typically require a response to this request within 48 hours.
An Amazon rep will give you a call to explain how you should formulate your plan of action.
If you supply Amazon with a sound plan of action, your account won’t be suspended because your plan shows that you know where the problems lie and that you can resolve them.
It is, however, vital that you react immediately with the plan of action if you want to avoid suspension.
Amazon will help you but you should do your research and show that you really are concerned and plan to fix the issues.
If you reach the pre-suspension stage don’t expect the Amazon rep to find out all the answers for you. They can’t do it. They are responsible for early-stage assistance so they can’t help you if your appeal is denied.
It is also likely that you won’t get to speak to the same rep when next you call. The reps are not assigned to customers. They answer calls as they come in.
Go carefully through each stage of the process. You can’t appeal before you’ve completed your plan of action.
Make sure that your plan of action is actionable. Don’t make promises you can’t keep just to make the problem go away.
In conclusion…
It is essential that you look after the health of your Amazon account, but this shouldn’t result in you losing sight of the other aspects of your business.
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