Amazon have announced a new feature – Order Handling Capacity. Here’s Propel Your Product’s summary of the key information, features and impact.
Feature: Order Handling Capacity
Date: Tues 7th Sept 21
Region: Europe
Platform: Seller
Fulfilment: Seller Fulfilled (Non Prime)
Seller Benefit: Good
Customer Benefit: Good
Importance: Low
Most Effected Sellers: Sellers who deal in heavily seasonal products and have very high order peaks that were previously penalised for a Late Dispatch rate during busy times.
Summary: For Sellers who fulfil their own orders, Amazon has launched a feature to allow Sellers to cap the amount of orders they can dispatch in a day. This to ensure Sellers can achieve their advertised dispatch times especially during busy times. When the daily order capacity is reached Amazon will automatically push back the advertised dispatch date so the Seller can always meet customer expectations.
Important: This feature only applies to seller-fulfilled standard delivery orders (that is, it does not include Prime and Premium shipping orders).
Propel Your Product’s view: This is a positive feature that will take the pressure off Sellers at busy times and ensure customers get products dispatched in-line with expectations. It will only protect Sellers who have correctly set and meet their capacities so Sellers still need to monitor their Late Dispatch rate. We recommend Sellers build in some spare capacity (i.e. set their capacities lower than their capabilities) so that they can better cope when unforeseen circumstances effect their order processing capacities.
Feedback: Please let us know your thoughts, questions and feedback in the comments section.
Amazon Announcement: Amazons full feature announcement is below:
Modify order handling capacity
Order Handling Capacity can help you provide faster and accurate delivery times for seller-fulfilled standard delivery orders based on your fulfilment capability. The feature allows you to set a limit on the number of orders you can handle (pack and dispatch) in a day. Once the daily limit is reached, any additional order that you receive will automatically have one additional day added to the handling time that you have provided.
The settings defined in your Order Handling Capacity influence the delivery promise shown to customers and the date on which you are expected to dispatch your orders (estimated dispatch-by date). Enabling this option will give you the flexibility to set faster handling time and provide faster delivery promise to customers. It also reduces the risk of high Late Dispatch Rate in case of order spikes, as orders will have adjusted the handling time once the daily capacity limit is reached.Note: Order Handling Capacity is limited to seller-fulfilled (non-Prime) standard delivery orders for domestic and out of country locations. It does not apply to Prime and Premium delivery orders.
Order Handling Capacity for standard delivery orders
To set Order Handling Capacity for standard delivery orders, do the following:
- From the Settings drop-down on the top right corner of Seller Central, click on Shipping settings.
- On the Shipping settings page, navigate to General shipping settings.
- In the Handling Time section, click on Edit.
- Navigate to Order Handling Capacity.
- Set your Order Handling Capacity and click on Save
Order Handling Capacity FAQ
What is the benefit of Order Handling Capacity?
Order Handling Capacity gives you more flexibility to adopt 1-day default handling time and Saturday/Sunday operations by setting the daily order limit that you feel comfortable handling. It can help to protect your Late Dispatch Rate when you receive more orders than you can manage, particularly during peak seasons. Based on your operational capabilities, you can set a limit for the number of seller-fulfilled orders that you can handle within one and two days.
Setting a faster handling time and enabling Saturday or Sunday operations will lead to faster estimated delivery times. Customers prefer faster deliveries and are more likely to purchase products that have faster estimated delivery times. Products with faster estimated delivery times are also more likely to be the featured offers on product detail pages.Note: Before you enable weekend operation, you must check with your preferred carriers and confirm that at least one carrier supports weekend pickup from your warehouse address.
How does Order Handling Capacity work?
When you set a value for Order Handling Capacity, once that number of orders has been reached on a given day, any additional order that you receive will have one day automatically added to the handling time. This will count towards the customer delivery promise and estimated ship-by date.
For example, if you set order handling capacity at 100 orders per day and you have set 1-day default handling time at account level, you will have a default handling time of one day for the first 100 orders every day. From the 101st order up to any order you receive till midnight, the handling time will be updated to two days (1-day default handling time + 1-day adjustment from Order Handling Capacity). This means that your estimated dispatch-by date will be extended by one day and the customers will see an expected dispatch time of two days. The handling time will again reset to the original value effective midnight.The table below demonstrates this with an example.
| Date | Orders received | Default handling time | Daily Order Handling Capacity limit | Orders with 1-day HT | Orders with 2-day HT | Orders with 3-day HT | Pending orders for dispatch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Oct-21 | 1,000 | 1-day | 1,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2-Oct-21 | 1,500 | 1-day | 1,000 | 1,000 | 500 | 0 | 500 |
| 3-Oct-21 | 2,000 | 1-day | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 500 | 1,500 |
| 4-Oct-21 | 2,000 | 1-day | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,500 |
| 5-Oct-21 | 1,000 | 1-day | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,500 |
| 6-Oct-21 | 500 | 1-day | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 |
| 7-Oct-21 | 500 | 1-day | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 500 | 1,500 |
| 8-Oct-21 | 500 | 1-day | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 |
| 9-Oct-21 | 500 | 1-day | 1,000 | 1,000 | 500 | 0 | 500 |
| 10-Oct-21 | 500 | 1-day | 1,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Will I be enforced on any order capacity limit to maintain enrolment in the MFN programme?
No, you will not be enforced on any order capacity limit to maintain eligibility in the programme. We recommend that you set an order capacity limit that allows you to offer faster delivery promise to your customers while maintaining your Late Dispatch Rate.
Is there any limitation on the number of times I can update order capacity?
No, there is no limitation. You can change your order capacity limit whenever there is a change in your operational capabilities.
Does Order Handling Capacity affect seller-fulfilled Prime and Premium shipping orders?
The Order Handling Capacity only applies to seller-fulfilled standard delivery orders (that is, it does not include Prime and Premium shipping orders). If you are eligible for seller-fulfilled Prime programme, you can use Control Prime Order Volume in general shipping settings to set the capacity limit for your Prime orders.