Valid Tracking Rate FAQ

Valid Tracking Rate is a performance metric that measures how often you use valid tracking numbers on orders. This metric reflects Amazon customers’ expectations that they should be able to find out where their orders are and when they will receive them.

• Fewer customer contacts : Providing tracking numbers can help reduce the amount of time you spend answering shipping-related questions.
• Decreased order defects: The Order Defect Rate for untracked shipments is 1.7 times greater than the rate for tracked shipments.
• Protection from A-to-z Guarantee claims: Without tracking, you will automatically lose any “Order not received” A-to-z Guarantee claims. Tracking helps provide evidence in claim disputes and may prevent loss.
• Reduced lost shipment costs: Tracking can significantly reduce the costs associated with a lost shipment. If a package is lost in transit, you can use tracking to find out where it was lost and then determine responsibility.
• Improved conversion: When you use tracking on 98% of your shipments and your on-time delivery rate is 97%, you become eligible to reduce handling and transit promise times. This is proven to increase conversion and revenue.

Amazon will validate tracking details (including carrier name and tracking ID) for all seller-fulfilled packages and show warnings for invalid tracking details. However, this change will not apply to items excluded from the VTR calculation.

You will need to provide the following information when confirming a shipment:

• The name of the carrier
• The specific delivery service used for all seller-fulfilled orders
• The tracking ID or tracking number for seller-fulfilled orders that are shipped with a tracking method

Amazon requires the following for packages shipped directly to customers through the Amazon.ca store from China only:

• All packages with a value below CAD 6 (including shipping fee) must use a carrier that has their shipping service integrated with Amazon, and that has trackable shipping methods that provide at least one physical scan* by the carrier.
• All packages with a value equal to or above CAD 6 (including shipping fee) must use an integrated carrier and a fully trackable shipping method that can provide at least two physical scans (including a delivery scan or delivery attempt).
• The list of integrated carriers used for fulfilling orders that are shipped from China can be found on our Valid Tracking Rate help page.

* A physical scan is a scan the carrier performs to show the package is in transit.

Selling privileges will be suspended if your VTR falls below 95% for a 30-day period. VTR suspensions are at a category level, so it is possible for selling privileges to be suspended in one or more category at a time.

You can submit a plan of action by writing to op-pso-vtr-appeals@amazon.ca. If your plan of action is approved, your seller-fulfilled listings in the affected product category will be restored.

In order to share the carrier name and delivery service with us, follow the below steps:

• Select the carrier name from the drop-down list.
• Select relevant delivery service from the drop-down list.

The list of carriers integrated with Amazon for shipments in Canada can be found on our Valid tracking rate help page.

Make sure you are using the carrier “Canada Post” and the exempted shipping service “Canada Post Standard Mail envelopes” or “Canada Post First Class Mail envelopes" from the drop-down in the shipping service field on the Confirm shipment page on Seller Central.

If you confirm shipments via bulk upload, you need to manually enter the exact shipping service “Canada Post Standard Mail envelopes” or “Canada Post First Class Mail envelopes” in the ship-method field.

Carrier name

• Use a carrier that is integrated with Amazon.
• If you confirmed your shipment from Manage your order, check that you selected a carrier from the drop-down menu on the Manage orders page.

• If you confirm your shipments via bulk upload feeds, we recommend that you follow the instructions on the Confirm multiple shipments with feeds help page.
• Check that you entered the carrier name and shipping service correctly. If the carrier name or shipping service is misspelled or contains any extra words, the tracking will be marked as invalid.
• Check that the carrier name you entered is associated with the tracking number you entered. For example, if you use DHL to ship a package, but enter “FedEx” as the carrier name, the tracking will be marked as invalid.
• For any carriers or shipping services with names in more than one language, enter the English name.

Tracking number

• Enter the tracking ID correctly.
• Do not leave the tracking information blank.
• Do not enter special characters, such as punctuation, which our system cannot recognize in the tracking information. This includes misspelled carrier name or shipping services.

Shipment confirmation and update

Make sure to confirm or update the tracking information as soon as the package is handed over to the carrier and before the package is delivered to the customer. Please note, it can take up to 72 hours for the report and metric to reflect changes.

A package that does not include verified tracking information will have an “X” in the “No Valid Tracking” column of your Valid Tracking ID report. If you have uploaded tracking information but are seeing it marked as “X,” it might be because:

• The tracking number you provided is incorrect or contains non-English characters.
• Your tracking number is correct, but it is not associated with the carrier you specified. For example, if you use DHL to ship a package but enter “FedEx” as the carrier name, the tracking information will be marked as unconfirmed.
• You provided a tracking ID that does not show at least one carrier scan .
• You used an unsupported carrier whose name is not listed in the drop-down list on the Confirm Shipment page and does not meet the VTR exemption criteria. As a result, we cannot verify the tracking status and so the shipment does not count towards your Valid Tracking Rate metric.
• You confirmed or updated the tracking information after the order was delivered, or after the ship-by date, meaning it was not useful to the customer.

Check to make sure you have entered the carrier and tracking ID for your package correctly. You can change, re-enter and update the tracking information under Manage orders until the order is delivered. Your metrics will reflect this change within 72 hours.

If you have a package marked with an “X” in the “No Valid Tracking” column, and you have verified that the tracking ID for the Amazon-supported carrier is correct, try submitting the tracking ID again.

The word “Invalid” will display in column D if our system does not receive an update from the carrier for the tracking information you have entered. For example, if your order ID was 001-12345-67890 and we were not able to track it on the carrier website, column D will display Invalid.

This can happen if:

• You left the tracking information blank
• You entered special characters, such as punctuation, that our system cannot recognize in the tracking information.
• You confirmed shipment after delivery.

The Valid Tracking Rate metric is recorded for the category of an item at the time an order is placed. If your item was previously listed in a category at the time an order was placed, then you will have a Valid Tracking Rate metric in that category even if the item is now listed under a different category.

We recommend that you engage directly with your carrier to get more information on the failed scan and resolve the issue. We also recommend that you review your labels to ensure that you are using the right delivery method and that labels are being printed correctly.

In addition, you can consider using Buy Shipping, which allows you to buy shipping labels through the Seller Central interface. When using Buy Shipping, the carrier, shipping service and tracking ID are automatically provided by the carrier to Amazon, and all tracking IDs received by Amazon through Buy Shipping are considered valid.

Using non-integrated carriers will negatively impact your VTR metrics. As such, we recommend using carriers that are Amazon integrated. You can also buy tracked shipping labels directly from Amazon.

For more information on purchasing shipping from Amazon, go to Use Buy Shipping services.

If you are an international seller with access to a carrier that is integrated with Amazon (such as China Post), you will need to use that supported carrier.

If you intend to cancel an order and refund the buyer, do not confirm the shipment of that order. Once shipment of an order is confirmed, that order will no longer be considered cancelled in the report.

For the majority of carriers, shipment tracking is already built into the cost to ship, including Canada Post and UPS. If you buy shipping through Amazon's Buy Shipping service, tracking is also added free of charge.

While you're required to provide valid tracking for 95% of Canada shipments, we encourage you to provide tracking numbers on all of your seller-fulfilled shipments. Tracking can significantly reduce the costs associated with customer contacts, A-to-z Guarantee claims and lost shipments.

You can edit order tracking information before the order is delivered to the customer.

1. Go to Orders, then Manage orders.
2. Enter the Order ID into the Search bar.
3. Once you find the correct order, click Edit Shipment and provide the revised tracking information.
4. Click Re-confirm the shipment.

You will not be able to confirm shipments if you enter an incorrect tracking ID when you confirm the shipping for that order. With the new validation feature, an error message will be displayed and you will be prompted to correct the tracking ID.

It is the seller’s responsibility to ensure that the order is delivered to the customer. When the tracking information is incorrect, the customer is unable to track the shipment using the tracking ID provided by the carrier. In this case, we recommend that you work with your carrier to provide the correct tracking info.

When tracking numbers are added or edited, it may take up to 72 hours for the changes to reflect in your metric and report.