I built my business on a simple premise: quality and speed. Customers choose us over competitors because we not only have an incredibly consistent, top-quality product, but also because we guarantee fast, reliable 2-3 day delivery, exclusively utilizing top-tier carriers like UPS and FedEx and exclusively using options that deliver in 2-3 days. By leveraging Amazon’s Shipping Settings Automation (SSA) templates, we've set a new standard in our category: achieving a consistent record of 90%+ on-time delivery, nearly unanimous five-star customer reviews, and earning both the Top New Release distinction in our category for nearly the entire first 3 months, and now the coveted "Amazon's Choice" badge, all against competitors who more than a decade of experience selling their similar product on Amazon.
Our customers aren't just buying a product; they're acquiring a critical component for their passion, and timely arrival is essential. Just last week, a customer order experienced a carrier delay by a single day (SSA had promised 1-day delivery via UPS Ground, it was delivered in two). The customer then requested a full refund because they needed the product by a specific date. This wasn’t an unreasonable complaint; it’s the reality of our market. Our customers operate on tight schedules and frequently order out of desperation. Predictability is everything. And the vast majority of orders do arrive on-time.
Yet, Amazon’s practice of imposing excessive "Promise Extensions" severely undermines our service guarantee. These extensions often add up to a week to our delivery promises, crippling our competitive advantage. Customers see delayed estimated delivery dates and consequently choose lower-priced alternatives or forego purchases on Amazon entirely, causing our entire category, including our competitors, to see massively reduced sales. Worse still, these misleading estimates cause packages to arrive unexpectedly early, sometimes resulting in the package being left unattended and exposed, potentially destroying our time- and temperature-sensitive products.
Seller-Fulfilled Prime isn't feasible due to slim margins and strict one-day delivery requirements, especially as I operate from a single location. While I used the program for successful product launches in the past, Amazon's newly capricious requirement that sellers ship at least 100 units per month via SFP to maintain program eligibility further eliminates this option from our toolkit going forward.
Ultimately, Amazon’s stakeholders stand to lose from these overly cautious promise extensions. Customer dissatisfaction increases, sellers experience reduced sales, and Amazon's marketplace loses its appeal as customers look elsewhere for certainty and reliability.
This over-corrective policy, intended to protect the customer experience, actively damages it while driving business away from Amazon’s most committed sellers. It’s a lose-lose proposition for sellers, customers, and ultimately, for Amazon's shareholders, who rely on a thriving and efficient marketplace. My business is doing everything right, but we are being slowly choked out by the very platform that enabled our success.