Improving Amazon order defect rate is important for all sellers but before improving you need to understand what is ODR. Being a seller on Amazon is no less than a challenge as you need to keep your ODR below 1% otherwise your account selling privileges will be lifted or your account might be suspended permanently.
To save your account you must keep your ODR below 1%. If you are wondering what is ODR on Amazon then this blog post will let you know what ODR is, what increases it, and how to keep it below 1%.
What is ODR in Amazon?
ODR (Order Defect Rate) is a metric that shows the number of defective orders that buyers have reported complaints about on Amazon. As this indicator is based on the customer`s feedback, so the seller must remain attentive to the causes of the customer`s complaint.
In simple terms, bad customer experience is translated to an increase in ODR therefore good customer experience must be a key priority for every Amazon seller.
What Was the Primary Cause for Your ODR to Exceed 1% over 60 Days?
ODR is an indicator that measures a customer’s experience with the seller. All defective orders coming from the three components within 60 days directly impact ODR on Amazon and these are mentioned below,
- Negative Feedback from Customers
- A-to-z Claims from Customers
- Credit Card Chargebacks
What are the Negative Feedback of Customers?
Let us understand what constitutes negative feedback from a customer. All 1 or 2-star rating given by a customer comes under negative feedback that impacts the seller’s ODR.
Sometimes these ratings come without a text review therefore Amazon allows the seller to communicate with the customer via buyer-seller messenger to understand what caused the bad experience.
After receiving the information, the seller can rectify the issue and request the customer to remove the feedback. The impact on ODR can only go away after the feedback is removed.
Negative Feedback Examples
What is an A-to-Z claim?
A-to-Z guarantee is a guarantee that Amazon provides to its buyers in the case of any legitimate claim which arises due to the seller’s incompetence. Two basic causes for A-to-Z claim are the following,
- The buyer did not receive the item
- The item did not meet the buyer’s expectation
In these situations, Amazon allows buyers and sellers to contact via buyer-seller messenger and resolve the issue within 48 hours. If the issue is not resolved by the seller then the buyer will be eligible to file an A-to-Z claim.
Try to resolve the issue before the customer file a claim as this impacts an increase in ODR which then results in the suspension of your seller central account.
Amazon Credit Card Chargebacks
This is when a customer (credit card holder) requests their bank to reverse the charge they made for an Amazon purchase. This normally happens when a customer has not received the item.
In an A-to-Z claim, the customer contacts you first to resolve the issue but in credit card chargebacks customer directly contacts their bank and requests a chargeback.
In this situation, the seller has only two options to consider,
- Issue an immediate refund and resolve the matter
- The seller can represent the case to the cardholder’s bank via Amazon only if the seller has all shipment proofs along with sufficient correspondence with the buyer available.
Remember to resolve the issue with the above 2 methods to avoid an increase in ODR.
How is Amazon defect rate calculated?
To understand how ODR is calculated in Amazon, you need to be aware of all the factors taken into account while calculating ODR. The following are the factors of ODR,
- Defected orders within 60 days
- Total orders received in those 60 days
Defected orders come from Negative feedback that has not been removed by the customer or Amazon, A-to-Z claims that have not been resolved by the seller and the seller was at fault, and credit chargebacks for which the onus is onto the seller.
Sum all the defective orders for a period of 60 days and divide them by the total number of orders then multiply it by 100 to calculate the percentage.
If the percentage calculated is less than 1% then everything would be good otherwise you need to be worried about your Amazon seller central account.
How to Find Order Defect Rate in Amazon Seller Central?
You need to know how to locate ODR in your Amazon seller central so you can monitor your account health. Follow the steps below to find ODR on Amazon seller central,
- Log in to Seller Central
- Click on the three horizontal lines in the top left
- Hover over the “Performance” tab and click on Account Health.
- Scroll to Customer Service Performance tab to finally arrive at the ODR section.
How to Improve Your Amazon Order Defect Rate and How Do I avoid A-to-Z Claim?
We have already discussed, how to save yourself from negative feedback and credit chargebacks but we need to work on preventing A-to-z claims. Following are the ways to prevent receiving A-to-z claims,
- Implement good shipping practices
- Accurate Product Listings
- Inform Out of stock products timely
- Promptly respond to buyers
- Act promptly on Returns and Refunds
Implement Good Shipping Practices on Amazon
Most of the claims are related to shipping therefore all sellers are advised to implement good shipping practices such as,
- Sending tracking details to buyers timely so they are aware of the order delivery date.
- You should need a receiving signature from the customers so that they can not claim for not receiving the item
- Sellers need to deliver the product timely and ensure that the item has been delivered on time.
- Seller should use buy shipping services which enables sellers time deliveries most of the time and in case there is late delivery, ODR will not get an impact if you have used approved shipping couriers
Accurate Amazon Product Listings
Reasons for A-to-Z claims are also related to product and product listings. Sellers are advised to check for accuracy on their product listings such as removing any claims from the listing that the product is not able to fulfill.
Inform Out of Stock Products Timely
Sellers should also update the available quantities of each product listing but if you could not update the quantity then you should cancel the order promptly and let the buyer know that the listing is out of stock.
Promptly Respond to Buyers
Buyer is not eligible to file a claim until they have contacted the seller before and try to resolve the issue. If the seller does not resolve the issue within 48 hours then the buyer is eligible to file a claim.
Respond to buyers timely and resolve the issue.
Act Promptly on Returns and Refunds
Sellers needs to respond to returns and refund request timely which will avoid escalation to A-to-Z claim.
Seller should communicate with the buyer and give clear instructions on the return and refund process. Make sure buyer is satisfied and all the information has been delivered to him clearly via the official buyer-seller message service.
What is Suspended Order Defect Rate on Amazon Account?
Amazon suspends seller account if the order defect rate goes above 1%. Seller privileges will be lifted or your seller account will be suspended permanently but you don’t have to worry you will still have the option to appeal for your account.
You need to draft an action plan that should mention all the followings,
- The root cause of the A-to-z claim, negative feedback, and credit card chargebacks
- The actions, seller has taken to resolve A-to-z claim, negative feedback, and credit card chargebacks
- The steps, seller has taken to prevent A-to-z claim, negative feedback, and credit card chargebacks in the future
Send this action plan to Amazon and if you have responded with the right action plan then your account will be reinstated.
Conclusion:
From reading this article, you must have a clear understanding of how crucial ODR is for Amazon seller account. We have discussed about the ODR, how it increases and how to keep it controlled to save your account.
If you have any query related to ODR, you can let us know in the comments below
