Valid Tracking Rate (VTR)

Amazon's customers count on being able to find out where their orders are and when they can expect to receive them. The Valid Tracking Rate is a performance metric that reflects those expectations.

Categories with VTR of less than 95% in the given 30 days may result in restrictions on your ability to sell non-FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) items within that category. The following cases are considered:

• For Japan sellers, order amount per package (*) of 2,000 yen or more (excluding consumption tax, shipping charges included).
• For China sellers (including Hong Kong), order amount per package (*) of less than 1,000 yen (excluding consumption tax, shipping charges included).

  * Refers to the packing unit entered on the "Shipping Confirmation" screen. One Tracking ID is assigned to each package.

For China sellers (including Hong Kong), starting August 9, 2021, you are also required to comply with the VTR policy mentioned under “CN-out VTR Policy” section.

It is mandatory to input correct carrier name and valid tracking number for the considered packages. In addition, sellers must use carriers that are integrated with Amazon. VTR is calculated for considered packages for each product category (GL), and listing qualification for MFN shipments will be suspended for categories whose VTR is less than 95% in the given 30 days. In order to recover the qualification, you need to submit POA and our approval is required as for CR and LSR.

We currently support tracking information for these carriers:

Carrier Name (Japanese)	Carrier Name (English)
ヤマト運輸	YAMATO TRANSPORT
佐川急便	SAGAWA EXPRESS
日本郵便	Japan Post
4PX	4PX
China Post	China Post
DHL	DHL
FedEx	FedEx
SF Express	SF Express
SFC	SFC
UPS	UPS
Yanwen	Yanwen
YDH	YDH
Yun Express	Yun Express

*When fulfilling Amazon orders, please use the shipping methods and shipping labels that provided by carriers. Please do not use those of specially designed for other EC platforms.

However, the following cases are defined as exempted in VTR enforcement.

1. For Japan Sellers, order amount per package of less than 2,000 yen (excluding consumption tax, shipping charges included).
2. For China sellers (including Hong Kong), order amount per package of less than 1,000 yen (excluding consumption tax, shipping charges included).
3. Packages shipped by Sellers in countries other than Japan or China
4. Domestic packages of large products using the following carriers:

   Seino Transportation	Fukuyama Transporting	Seino Super Express	Super Cargo Service	Okawa Delivery
   Sline	Sline Gifu	Toll Express	TONAMI Transportation	Home Logistics
   KurumeTransportation	KINBUTSU REX	Niigata Unyu	Daiichi Freight System	Nippon Express
   Meitetsu Transportation

5. Digital products without actual delivery

To provide a great customer experience on Amazon, for China sellers (including Hong Kong), you are also required the following from August 9, 2021:

• For all packages with a value below 1000 JPY (excluding consumption tax, shipping charges included), use a trackable ship method that provides at least one carrier scan. Otherwise, it will be counted as a VTR defect.
• For all packages with a value of equal to or above 1000 JPY (excluding consumption tax, shipping charges included) use a fully trackable ship method that provides at least two carrier scans (including a delivery scan/ delivery attempt). Otherwise, it will be counted as a VTR defect.

How is VTR for CN to JP shipments calculated?

VTR is the number of packages you ship with a valid tracking number divided by the total number of packages that you have shipped and confirmed. A package with a value below 1000 JPY (excluding consumption tax, shipping charges included) has a valid tracking number if Amazon records at least one scan event for it. A package with a value equal to or above 1000 JPY (excluding consumption tax, shipping charges included), has a valid tracking number if Amazon records at least two scans for it, including one of any type of carrier physical scans and the final delivery scan or delivery attempt.

Are partially tracked ship methods accepted as valid tracking IDs to calculate VTR?

Currently, to help you shift to the new requirements, we consider all partially tracked ship methods as valid. But, starting August 9, 2021, we will only consider tracking IDs of partially tracked ship methods as valid if the ship method provides at least one scan event for packages with a value below 1000 JPY (excluding consumption tax, shipping charges included). For shipments with a value equal to or above 1000 JPY (excluding consumption tax, shipping charges included), we consider a tracking ID valid if the respective ship method provides multiple scan events, one of which must be the delivery scan or delivery attempt.

To find your Valid Tracking Rate, on the Performance menu, click Account Health, and then look for the Shipping Performance section.

To add a tracking number for an order, select the Orders menu and then click Upload Order Related Files.

To calculate this metric, we take the number of packages you ship with a valid tracking number and divide it by the total number of packages you've shipped and confirmed.

For example, if you confirmed shipment for 200 packages, and 190 of those packages had a valid tracking number, your Valid Tracking Rate would be 95% (190 ÷ 200 = .95 or 95%).

As mentioned before, VTR is calculated for each product category (GL) in the given 30 days, and listing qualification for MFN shipment will be suspended for categories whose VTR is less than 95%

We calculate Valid Tracking Rate in 30-day increments. The report uses promised delivery date to determine which orders are included in the metric. Your Valid Tracking Rate has a 10-day lag, giving the data enough time to be statistically relevant.

To view a report of all packages you've shipped and confirmed, and the packages that include a valid tracking number by category, follow these steps:

1. From the Performance menu, select Account Health.
2. Select the Performance Metrics tab, and scroll down to Valid Tracking Rate.
3. Click Request Report.

Please allow 72 hours for the report and metric to reflect any updates.