Modify handling time

It is important for customers to know when they can expect their products. We provide the estimated delivery time to customers on the offer listing and checkout pages. This is the estimated time between when the customer places the order until the order is delivered.

Total delivery time = Handling time + Transit time (+ any holidays and weekends)

Handling time: Handling time, also known as production time or lead time to ship, is the time between the buyer placing the order and you handing over the order to the delivery service. Handling time is part of the delivery time calculation displayed on the offer listing and checkout page. You can change your default handling time and also customize your handling time at SKU or ASIN level.

Transit time: The time between you handing over the order to your carrier until its delivery to the buyer’s address. You can modify the transit times for your SKUs or ASINs by editing your shipping templates.

In Seller Central, you can configure your handling time either by setting an account-level default handling time or by setting ASIN-specific handling times for specific products. ASIN-specific handling time overrides the account level handling time for that ASIN.

What is default handling time?

You set your default handling time on account level and it applies to all your products. Additionally, you can set ASIN level handling time, which will override the account level handling time for that specific ASIN. Default handling time can be set to Same-day, One or Two business days (this does not affect products that have a ASIN level handling time set).

For same-day handling, orders received before the order cutoff time must be shipped and confirmed the same day they are placed to prevent late shipments. If you receive an order after the cutoff time, it must be shipped and confirmed by the next business day.

For example, a seller that has a Same-day handling time with an order cut off time of 12:00 p.m. and receives an order at 11:00 a.m. on Monday that order will need to be shipped on Monday, the same day the order was received. If an order is received at 4:00 p.m. on Monday that order will need to be shipped by Tuesday, the day after the day the order was received.

How can I update the default handling time?

To update the default handling time on Seller Central, follow the below steps:

1. On the Shipping Settings page, navigate to General Shipping Settings tab.
2. Scroll down to Handling Time and click Edit.
3. Select Same day (0 day),1 Day or 2 Days and click Save.
4. Optional: Enter your order handling capacity and click Save. This will allow you to set a limit for how many orders you can handle within your default handling time, and protect against Late Shipment Rate (LSR) when you receive more orders than you can manage by adding one additional day of handling time for all orders above your set capacity.

How can I modify handling time for specific products?

If you expect to take longer than the defined default handling time to ship specific products, you can set longer handling times for these products.

There are three ways you can modify the handling time in bulk:

• Using Inventory Loader:
  
  1. From Inventory file templates, style guides, and Browse Tree guides (BTG) page, navigate to Choose a file template section and download your Inventory Loader file.
  2. Read through the instructions in Data Definitions tab in the Inventory Loader file.
  3. In the Template tab, fill all the required fields and the handling-time field (or leadtime-to-ship field) (One SKU per row)
  4. Save the file in text-tab-delimited format (.txt)
  5. Upload the file through Inventory > Add Products via Upload > Upload your Inventory file. Select file type as Inventory Loader File.
• Using Price and Quantity File:
  
  1. From Inventory file templates, style guides, and Browse Tree guides (BTG) page, navigate to Choose a file template section and download your Price & Quantity file.
  2. Read through the instructions in Data Definitions tab in the Listing Loader file.
  3. In the Template tab, fill all the required fields and the handling-time field (One SKU per row).
  4. Save the file in text-tab-delimited format (.txt)
  5. Upload the file through Inventory > Add Products via Upload > Upload your Inventory File. Select file type as Price and Quantity File.
• Using Listing Loader:
  
  1. From Upload inventory using the Listing Loader page, download your Listing Loader file.
  2. Read through the instructions in Data Definitions tab in the Listing Loader file.
  3. In the Template tab, fill all the required fields and the leadtime-to-ship field (One SKU per row)
  4. Save the file in text-tab-delimited format (.txt)
  5. Upload the file through Inventory > Add products via upload > Upload your Inventory File. Select file type as Inventory Files for Specific Categories.

Note: If you leave the handling time field (or leadtime-to-ship) in the above templates empty, the account level default handling time will apply

Note: Your offer will update on Amazon within 15 minutes. In case of maximum load on Amazon systems, it can take up to 24 hours for offer information and 48 hours for product information.

Why is setting faster and accurate handling time important?

Customers love faster deliveries and are more likely to buy products that have shorter estimated delivery times. Setting shorter and more accurate handling times provides customers with more accurate estimated delivery dates.

How does handling time impact my account performance?

The importance of confirming the shipment of orders by the expected ship-date is especially important when your handling time is set to same-day. To prevent late shipments, hence a possible account deactivation, you have to ensure that all orders received by the order cut-off time are shipped the same day. For more information, see Late shipment rate.

How can I set my handling time to same-day?

You can set your handling time to same-day either as your account default setting or only for certain products. For more information, go to Same-day handling.

Do these handling time settings affect Seller-fulfilled Prime (SFP) and premium shipping orders?

No, they don't. SFP orders and orders that are within the scope of premium shipping services, such as same-day delivery, next-day delivery, and two-day delivery, and received before the order cut-off time must be shipped during the same day.

Amazon generates handling time recommendations for products where there is a gap between your configured handling time, your actual handling time for that product, and your handling time of similar products on Amazon. For products where you have demonstrated capabilities to handle them faster than your current ASIN-specific handling time, we recommend adjustments to set a shorter handling time. For products where your actual handling time is longer than your current handling time, we recommend adjustments to set a longer handling time. The recommendations are refreshed monthly and are based on the prior month’s handling time to ensure that they are reflective of your most recent capabilities to handle products for delivery.

We encourage you to regularly monitor and update your handling times recommendations. Setting more accurate handling times will enable providing customers with more accurate estimated delivery dates.

To view and configure your recommended handling times, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Manage seller-fulfilled products.
2. Under the Recommendations tab, you can view all the products that have recommended handling times.
   Note: If there are no recommendations on this page, it could be because you don’t have any seller-fulfilled SKUs with standard shipping option on Manage inventory or your configured product-specific handling times were aligned with your average actual handling times.
3. Click Update to accept the recommended handling time.
   Note: You may select multiple products to update the handling time in bulk.
4. Click Ignore to ignore the recommendation.
5. Check back on the first day of the next month to view updated handling time recommendations.

For more information on modifying handling time, go to Frequently asked questions.

To learn more about setting ASIN-specific handling times, watch this Seller University video.