Overview

Delivery time is one of the most important factors influencing whether a customer clicks "Buy" on your listing. Amazon displays an estimated delivery date on both the product detail page and at checkout, and that estimate is built from a formula that every seller should understand. Getting your delivery time settings right can directly impact your conversion rate, Buy Box eligibility, and overall customer satisfaction.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Delivery time is a composite metric — Amazon calculates the total estimated delivery window by combining your handling time, carrier transit time, weekends, holidays, and an additional buffer for potential carrier delays.
• Handling time is in your control — This is the number of business days between when a customer places an order and when you actually hand the package to a shipping carrier. Setting this accurately is critical.
• Transit time depends on your carrier — Also referred to as shipping time, this is the period from when your carrier picks up or receives the package until it arrives at the customer's door.
• Business days are the unit of measurement — Amazon calculates both handling time and transit time in business days, excluding weekends and holidays from the count.
• Faster delivery wins the Buy Box — Products with shorter estimated delivery dates are more likely to become the Featured Offer, which is where the vast majority of purchases happen.
• Customers favor speed — Shoppers are statistically more likely to purchase items with faster promised delivery windows, making this a direct lever on your sales velocity.

How Delivery Time Is Calculated

Amazon uses a straightforward formula to determine the delivery estimate shown to customers: total delivery time equals handling time plus transit time, plus any weekends and holidays that fall within the window, plus an additional buffer. That buffer exists to protect the delivery promise in case of carrier issues such as weather delays or logistics bottlenecks. Because the calculation uses business days, a two-day handling time set on a Friday means the clock does not start counting until Monday. Sellers should keep this in mind when setting their handling time, particularly if they do not process orders on weekends. The final delivery estimate that appears on your listing is the sum of all these components, and Amazon updates it dynamically based on the customer's shipping address and current conditions.