Today I have received notification that our 'Valid Tracking Rate' is below 95%.

I use buy shipping via Amazon for all orders which has 100% valid tracking.

Amazon are now flagging orders which are not scanned.

Is this a fault within Amazon's automated system or are non scanned shipments now classed as not having valid tracking?

Just received the following email. Does this now mean everything has to be sent with tracking? It seems very vague as it states "we will update the Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) policy for seller-fulfilled orders to allow customers to see tracking over a higher number of their orders" and I cannot find any updates in the "Changes to programme policies" section that the email refers you to. We use letter postage purchased through Amazon buy shipping since all our items are low value. Will this still be exempt from VTR?

Hello,

Starting on January 15, 2025, we will update the Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) policy for seller-fulfilled orders to allow customers to see tracking over a higher number of their orders. 

• VTR will be measured on orders shipped through all shipping service providers and will no longer be limited to those that are integrated with Amazon to provide scan information. 
• All cross-border shipments to and from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Austria or Sweden will be included in the VTR calculation, unless the order value is below €20 (including shipping, excluding VAT) and a ‘letter’ ship method was used.

As a reminder, you are required to maintain a minimum of 95% VTR at a category level. Providing tracking information improves the customer experience and reduces the likelihood of negative feedback. This information also helps protect your account health metrics and is taken into consideration in addressing A-to-z Guarantee claims. 

For more information, please go to Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) FAQ. This VTR policy update is also reflected in Changes to programme policies.

The Amazon Services Europe team

We have been facing a roadblock from Seller Support regarding our Exempted shipments list for VTR. The carrier we use is The Delivery Group (TDG), they have insisted they are integrated with Amazon, and they appear on the Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) FAQ (https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/help/hub/reference/G202014610) as a carrier that provides tracking information to Amazon.

However, when we try to ask seller support why our VTR is N/A the response is that The Delivery Group (TDG) is not an integrated carrier, therefore the shipments are exempted. They refer to the Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) policy (https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/help/hub/reference/G201817070) and insist only the carriers there are integrated. On occasion they have also turned around and said we have not dispatched any orders in the last 30 days which can be clearly dismissed if they just checked our order history or even the 100% On-Time Delivery Rate which I don't understand how it's achievable if there are no "Valid tracking numbers".

The ludicrous thing is that the list provided there are mainly German carriers. No Royal Mail? No Yodel? No Evri? Why are sellers in the United Kingdom being encouraged to pick from a list of German carriers?

For reference the list shown in the policy is the below:

For Domestic deliveries: Deutsche Post, DHL, DPD, ePost Global, GLS, Hermes, RIECK, UPS, Emons, Cargoline, DB Schenker, Kühne&Nagel, DSV and Rhenus.

It is a major issue as seller support use this policy as a reference point, and refuse to engage in any discussion regarding addressing the issue as the policy does not include The Delivery Group (TDG).

I am posting here as there is no other place to escalate this and hope you can investigate and correct this obvious error in the policy as well as provide some insight as to why all the shipments are exempted@Seller_XUNeUuvrQDpgP@Seller_DNQGSsdC7DccM@Seller_mIRnuhdx7l5sN@Seller_gAhPNiLrkfTcr @Seller_Huz6FT08OxHAR @Seller_hnDMgUKxMh1V4@Seller_TSXM2A5nxWSuH

Case ID's are: 10090756022, 10091072042, 10090973472, 10121024892, 10128010322, 10131119332, 10130989522, 10345737562.