It appears Amazon are quite happy with their 1 day shipping strategy. So much so that they are expanding the qualifications for it. You can now qualify for 1 day shipping if you have a high enough IPI score and provide this coveted shipping format "with no minimum purchase amount on more than 10 million products, coast to coast." We here at AccrueMe will delve more into the details of this in subsequent posts, but for now you should think of your IPI score like a credit score.
Amazon have stated that if you have an IPI score of above 400 you can qualify for 1 day shipping.
Amazon is quoted on when this change will be active by saying, "Effective January 1, 2020, we are changing the IPI threshold for storage limits to 400 (previously 350). Storage limits will continue to be evaluated on a quarterly cycle. For example, if your IPI score is less than 400 during the week of November 11, 2019, you will be notified of your potential storage limits for Q1 2020. You will then have six weeks to improve your IPI score. If your IPI score is still below 400 during the week of December 23, 2019, storage limits will apply for Q1 2020. Sellers who maintain an IPI score of 400 or greater will have unlimited storage for standard size and oversize items (monthly storage fees and long-term storage fees still apply)."
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IPI stands for Inventory Performance Index and it is a number that is derived from multiple factors and represents how well you move your product through and FBA warehouse. The IPI, is a single metric to gauge your overall performance over time. As we stated before, think of it like your FBA credit score. There are a number of different factors that will effect your IPI number, but most important of which will how quickly you turnover your inventory.
We will be going through how to cultivate a good IPI score in our next blog post, so stay tuned for that entry.
In the meantime, you should be looking to optimize your inventory, and if you have any product that could be considered "dead weight", Amazon is providing a fix for that as well. A type of grace period for its 3rd party seller has been made to ensure their inventory is a efficient as it can be:
"To provide a head start on improving inventory health, we are offering a limited-time, free inventory removal promotion for all sellers with an IPI score of 350 or above at any point in October 2019. Sellers without an IPI score are not eligible for this promotion.
If you qualify, beginning October 14, 2019, we will waive your removal fees for any removal order that you submit for inventory in our US fulfillment centers. This promotion ends at 11:59 p.m. (PT) on October 31, 2019. We will notify you if we end this promotion earlier. To take advantage of this offer, you must submit a removal order before the promotion ends. Go to Inventory Age and choose Create removal order from the menu next to any FBA item in your inventory.
You will not be able to send us more units of any ASINs you remove during the promotion until: 1) January 31, 2020, when this restriction expires, OR 2) your inventory level for the removed ASINs falls below your sales over the last 90 days for the removed ASINs."
Clearly Amazon wants its constituents to be as streamlined as they are. So, make sure your store is spic and span by the time Halloween hits so you to can be eligible for Amazon's 1 day shipping rewards.
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