Why Valid Tracking Rate Matters: How Shipment Tracking Protects Your Amazon Business
Amazon's valid tracking rate FAQ explains why providing tracking on every shipment is essential. It covers the direct benefits including fewer customer contacts, lower defect rates, A-to-Z claim protection, better feedback, and reduced lost shipment costs.
Overview
Amazon's valid tracking rate (VTR) metric measures the percentage of your shipments that include working tracking information. Maintaining a high valid tracking rate is one of the most straightforward ways sellers can protect their account health, reduce customer disputes, and lower operational costs. Understanding the direct benefits of consistent tracking can help sellers prioritize this often-overlooked performance metric.
Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know
- Fewer customer contacts — Providing a valid tracking ID with every shipment reduces the volume of shipping-related inquiries you need to handle, freeing up time for other parts of your business.
- Lower order defect rates — Amazon's data shows that untracked shipments generate order defects at 1.7 times the rate of tracked shipments, making tracking a critical factor in maintaining a healthy account.
- A-to-Z Guarantee claim protection — Without tracking, sellers automatically lose any A-to-Z Guarantee claim filed for an order reported as not received. Valid tracking gives you evidence to defend against these claims.
- Better seller feedback — Customers consistently report that the ability to track their packages is one of the top reasons they leave positive feedback for a seller.
- Reduced lost shipment costs — When a package goes missing, tracking data lets you pinpoint where it was lost and determine who bears responsibility, potentially saving you from absorbing the full cost.
How Valid Tracking Rate Affects Account Health
Amazon expects sellers who fulfill their own orders (merchant-fulfilled or FBM sellers) to maintain a valid tracking rate above the required threshold. When your VTR drops too low, Amazon may restrict your ability to sell in certain categories or, in severe cases, suspend your selling privileges. The metric is calculated by dividing the number of shipments with valid tracking by the total number of shipments over a given period. Every package you ship without a working tracking number pulls that ratio down and puts your account at greater risk.
It is worth noting that FBA sellers do not need to worry about this metric since Amazon handles fulfillment and tracking for those orders. However, if you use Seller Fulfilled Prime or standard merchant fulfillment, valid tracking rate is a metric you must actively monitor.
Analysis & Recommendations
Why This Matters
Valid tracking rate directly impacts account health, order defect rates, and A-to-Z claim outcomes. Sellers who ship without tracking risk automatic claim losses, higher defect rates, and potential account suspension.
Key Takeaways
- Untracked shipments have a 1.7x higher order defect rate than tracked ones
- Without tracking, sellers automatically lose A-to-Z claims filed for items not received
- Customers cite package tracking as a top reason for leaving positive seller feedback
- Tracking data helps identify responsibility for lost shipments, reducing financial exposure
Recommended Actions
- →Use Amazon's Buy Shipping service to automatically upload tracking for every order
- →Audit your fulfillment workflow to ensure no orders ship without valid tracking numbers
- →Monitor your valid tracking rate in Account Health and investigate any dips immediately
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