Overview

Amazon has rolled out a suite of tools for Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) sellers that let them schedule specific closed days without pulling listings from search and that reveal the exact components of the delivery windows shown to shoppers. The changes go live in early 2024, just before the holiday rush, and they give small‑scale sellers the ability to protect their rankings while keeping customers informed about realistic shipping dates.

Key Points

• Custom Holiday Scheduling — Sellers can pick individual dates (e.g., Dec 24‑26) as non‑operational, and Amazon will automatically stretch the promised delivery window for orders placed on those days.
• Automatic Delivery Date Recalculation — When a holiday is flagged, the system adds the closed days to the estimated arrival range, so a “2‑4 day” promise becomes “4‑6 day” without manual intervention.
• Order Report Enhancements — New columns titled “Handling Time” and “Transit Time” appear in the FBM order report, showing the exact number of days Amazon attributes to each step for every order.
• SKU‑Level Handling Time Visibility — The shipping preferences page now lists handling time per SKU, and a bulk export lets sellers download the full inventory file for audit.
• No Listing Deactivation — Unlike the legacy vacation mode, activating a custom holiday leaves product detail pages live, preserving organic rank and click‑through data throughout the break.

How Custom Holiday Scheduling Works

1. Select Closed Dates — In Seller Central, navigate to Settings → Fulfilled by Merchant → Holiday Calendar and tick the calendar cells for each day you will not ship (e.g., a weekend off after Thanksgiving). Example: A solo seller marks Dec 24, Dec 25, and Dec 26 as closed.
2. System Adjusts Delivery Estimates — Amazon’s checkout engine reads the holiday calendar, adds the closed days to the base handling time, and recalculates the customer‑facing delivery range for any order placed on or before a closed date. Example: An item normally ships in 2 days; with a three‑day holiday, the displayed window shifts from “May 1‑3” to “May 4‑6.”