It’s no secret that customer satisfaction is the number one priority for Amazon. While being a very competitive marketplace, it can be difficult to always be up to Amazon’s standards. Customer satisfaction, in this case, is heavily reliant on the service and quality provided by third-party sellers.
Hence, Amazon implements a strict metric called Account Health Rating (AHR) which measures a seller’s account health, categorizing it as good or bad.
A good account health in Seller Central means that the seller adheres to the policies and guidelines of Amazon, subsequently making the marketplace healthy and satisfactory for customers.
Having bad account health means that a seller has, in some manner, failed to abide by one of Amazon’s policies and terms. These terms include the seven important account metrics: order defect rate, cancellation rate, late dispatch rate, on-time delivery rate, valid tracking rate, return dissatisfaction rate, and invoice defect rate.
How Amazon AHR rating affects your business
An Amazon seller needs to be cautious of bad account health as this could potentially lead to suspension or termination of their account when left unresolved.
Other impacts of poor account health include lower search ranking of the product or seller’s account, and lower customer trust.
In order to ensure that the platform offers customers the best product listings, Amazon’s search algorithm prioritizes products with good account health. Otherwise, the product or seller will be pushed to the back of the search results.
Additionally, if bad account health is caused by customers’ unsatisfactory reviews of their product or service, customer trust will also suffer. Customers will be less likely not to choose your product, implicating your brand’s sales.
Signs of bad account health
Conveniently, a seller’s account health is easy to monitor. The Account Health Rating feature is available for all professional sellers, which shows all key performance metrics that need monitoring.
Amazon also sends out messages to notify the sellers about their account health, whether there is an issue that needs addressing, such as warnings, suspensions, and policy violations.
Sellers can access Performance Notifications in Seller Central by going to the Performance Notifications page in the Performance tab.
They must look out for an AHR status indicating the account is “At Risk” or “Unhealthy” which will likely lead to suspension, or worse, deactivation.
Receiving this status is a sign of bad account health. Intervention must be done as quickly as possible, mainly within 48 hours of receiving the notification.
Common Causes of Low Account Health Rating
Negative feedback. Most common cause of bad account health in line with the seven performance metrics is low seller ratings or negative feedback.
Consistently having a low seller rating may indicate poor account health, which results from multiple factors such as negative feedback, delayed shipping, or other similar issues.
Order defect rate. Sellers also need to avoid high order defect rate, which is the rate at which the orders were canceled, refunded, or given negative feedback. Common causes are shipping delays, damaged products, or inaccurate product descriptions.
Late dispatch rate. A high late dispatch rate can also indicate bad account health. Large number of orders being shipped late is a sign of various organization and logistical issues of the brand or the seller.
Cancellation rate. A high cancellation rate also implicates bad account health. It pertains to the percentage of orders canceled by the sellers. It happens when there is a mismatch between the listings on the website and the availability of products.
These are metrics that measure customer service performance. Failing to meet the needs and expectations of the customers is a big red flag in the industry and could lead to more problematic issues in the long run.
Steps to resolve bad account health
Sellers can improve account health preventively, proactively, and correctly.
Some preventive measures include optimizing inventory management by ensuring that the products listed on the website are available in inventory.
It is also important to Amazon’s terms and policies to avoid violations in various metrics.
Sellers can also take proactive measures to improve their account health. It can be through various ways such as monitoring performance metrics regularly so that they are aware of the performance of their products.
Enhancing customer service is another crucial aspect since it can directly impact the customer experience. Building a positive reputation on the platform can lead to long-term success.
In cases where sellers commit violations, it is crucial to take action and implement corrective measures quickly before suspension or deactivation.
The first step is to submit an appeal stating your plan of action (POA). The seller should elaborate on what caused the issue, what actions they will take to resolve it, and what steps to take to avoid it from happening in the future. Submitting a POA has to be done usually in 48 hours.
Additionally, it will help if sellers will provide supporting evidence and documents highlighting what went wrong. Demonstrating thorough understanding of the problem and your commitment to resolving it could be helpful.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, sellers must maintain good account health to continue listing their products on the website. It does not only improve their business but also sustains the ecosystem of the marketplace.
Seller Central provides most of the data and metrics to look out for, especially highlighting the three main components of Amazon AHR: customer service performance, policy compliance, and shipping performance.
Monitoring these metrics helps improve the brand reputation, further influencing better sales and product performance in the long term.
However, navigating the complexities of Amazon policies and algorithms can be challenging.
For that, Seller Candy offers its expertise and experience in identifying and fixing any account health issues and potential risks.
Reach out to our Team, and let’s explore how Seller Candy can support your business.
