How to maintain your Amazon Seller Account Health?
On top of the many tasks Amazon sellers have on their plate, it’s vital that they prioritize the essential goal of keeping their Amazon Seller accounts in optimal health. Meeting Amazon’s high standards and preventing any issues with your account should always be at the top of your to do list. If any issues arise, they need to be dealt with immediately. Reviewing all account metrics at the start of each day can help you retain a healthy account score, maintain high customer satisfaction, and ensure nothing impedes your sales.
Between customer care, inventory planning, advertising, listing optimizations, and much more, Amazon sellers are easily overwhelmed by their daily chores. We find that streamlining recurring tasks is key to keeping your Amazon seller account running smoothly. Once you create a checklist of all the essential tasks to complete each morning, you can be confident you won’t forget anything.
Note: This article only outlines what you should check in you Amazon Seller Account daily on the account level. We will cover daily responsibilities on each product level in part 2 and provide you with a downloadable checklist – be sure to sign up for our newsletter and stay tuned!
1. Check your Amazon Seller Account Health
We begin each day by checking the Account Health screen for each of the accounts we manage. Your Amazon Seller Account Health is displayed on a page that factors in a variety of metrics, including how you manage sales, inventory, and more.
To check your Account Health status, go to the “Performance” tab in Seller Central and choose “Account Health.” This screen will bring up a list of any possible issues, such as…
- Customer Service Performance
The first metric is the “Order Defect Rate.” It’s based on customer defect claims over the last 60 days and consists of three metrics: negative feedback, full guarantee claims, and chargeback claims. - Policy Compliance
Products can face problems surrounding either legal compliance or Amazon policies and standards. In this section, you’ll see several metrics focusing on compliance with these kinds of policies. - Shipping Performance
Amazon customers expect an efficient shipping process for every purchase. If you ship with Amazon, they’ll handle the deliveries, but if you ship independently, this is a key metric to be aware of. - Product Compliance Requests
Various items may require additional documentation to demonstrate that they meet local regulations and are safe for buyers. Provide all documentation in an orderly manner and by the due date to avoid penalties.
Your Account Health can change daily, depending on many factors and policies, often out of your control. Checking it daily is the only way to make sure you stay on top of any new Amazon requests or issues you need to handle.
2. Review “Performance Notifications”
The second metric we check every morning is the Account Performance Notifications page, where you’ll find alerts related to your account or listings. Notifications on this list can impact your account’s health and ability to sell. To review them, go to your Seller Central dashboard, click the “Performance” tab, and check if there are any new notifications. If you get a notification, be sure to click on it and follow the instructions as soon as possible.
3. Respond to Unanswered Customer Messages
Once we make sure our account is in good health and handle any issues that require our attention, we move on to customer cases. Communicating with your customers promptly and professionally is crucial for customer satisfaction. Amazon demands that you answer all customer messages within 24 hours. Outside of this window, your response will be considered “Over the 24-hour target,” and your account score will be negatively impacted.
To view customer messages:
- Go to the main page of Seller Central
- Click “Buyer Messages” to check if there are any new messages
- Reply to all messages, or mark them as “No response needed” if applicable
- Tip: Track how many messages there are for each specific country or product and see if there is a pattern.
Note that customer messages marked in red are over the 24-hour target and should be addressed immediately.
4. Address Seller Feedback
Consistent feedback from your customers can help you understand your buyers’ satisfaction with your services as a seller on Amazon.
Seller feedback constitutes customers’ comments and their 1- to 5-star ratings of your store and your services ONLY (not the products you sell). Low seller feedback can impact your ranking and your buy box percentage–and by extension, your sales.
To view your seller feedback, open Seller Central and select the “Performance” tab. Then select “Feedback” from the dropdown menu.
If the feedback concerns your services as a seller, you should maintain a good score. If you are an FBA seller, ensure you request removal for every comment on delivery or logistics by Amazon.
You can publicly respond to feedback and thank the customer for their comment, or click the order number and message the client directly. Remember to follow Amazon’s Terms of Service. Addressing feedback daily will also allow you to track customers’ comments and ensure you don’t overlook any issues requiring your attention.
5. Check your Inventory Performance Index (IPI)
This is a metric we track on a weekly basis, rather than daily. The IPI index measures how efficiently you manage your inventory over time.
Multiple factors can influence your IPI score–however, the most important ones are your actions:
- Maintain a balanced inventory level between sold and on-hand inventory and avoid excess and aged inventory.
- Avoid long-term storage fees.
- Fix listing problems.
- Whenever possible, keep your most popular products in stock at the right levels to meet customer demand and maximize customer satisfaction. If your inventory is too low, Amazon may lower your search ranking to prevent buyers from purchasing out-of-stock items.
Restock Limits:
Amazon provides a storage limit based on warehouse capacity and account activity. However, there are times when you may need to store more inventory, such as before holidays or events or upon receiving new shipments from the manufacturer. Plan your inventory according to your storage limits and track it during peak selling season.
Tip: If you are using a SAS Core service, you can send a request to increase your inventory limits with a proper business case that justifies your request, and they can submit it on behalf of your account.
There are several ways to find out your inventory limitations; one such way is to visit Amazon Seller Central and click on “Inventory” and then “Inventory Planning”. Here you can click the “Inventory” dropdown and choose “Inventory Performance” to see the restock limits at the bottom of the page (it’s unclear why they didn’t dedicate a “box” on the inventory planning screen for the restock limits).
Make sure to keep an eye on your restock limits and inventory limitations. The better your Inventory Performance Index is, the more availability will be offered to you when holidays or peak buying days approach.
To Sum Up:
Creating a checklist and making a daily habit of checking your Amazon Seller Account Health will ensure that no notification or message is ignored. This reduces the chances of Amazon unexpectedly suspending your account activity, disabling your listings, or reducing your seller score. If certain warnings go unnoticed, it can have a painful effect on your accounts’ sales that may linger for quite a while. When you monitor and manage all metrics responsibly, your score remains high, your account is healthy, and you are also rewarded with more Amazon storage space, creating opportunities to increase sales.
Initiating a consistent daily routine isn’t just a way to ensure your Amazon ranking won’t decline. James Clear, author of the self-development bestseller Atomic Habits, writes that “exceptional results are the result of consistent daily choices. Nowhere is this more true than with your morning routine. The way you start your day is often the way that you finish it. What you do each morning is an indicator of how you approach your entire day. It’s the choices that we repeatedly make that determine the life we live, the health we enjoy, and the work we create.”
Beginning each morning with a clear and actionable plan sets your day up for efficiency and productivity. Your seller account checklist will naturally become part of your overall routine as an online business owner.
Note that this article only outlines what you should do daily in your Amazon Seller Account to monitor health on the account level. We will cover what needs to be done for each product level in part 2 and provide a downloadable file with a daily checklist, so sign up for our newsletter and stay tuned!
If you are struggling with the endless stream of tasks required of Amazon sellers and are seeking an experienced partner to help you manage your Amazon account and increase your sales, get in touch with us at info@wise-commerce.io.
