The success of Amazon has in itself become an area of study for eCommerce sellers. Amazon presents itself as highly customer-centric. One of the major reasons behind its immense success is a sense of credibility that we assign to products that are sold via Amazon.
Amazon takes stringent steps to ensure an enhanced user experience. To see whether you are meeting the customer expectations, Amazon has set some parameters, one such parameter is ODR – Order Defect Rate. Hitting the ODR or exceeding it may lose your entire retail business.
During Amazon listing creation, making false claims about the quality of your product can land you in a sea of troubles. Although taking assistance from Amazon virtual assistants can always prevent you from such troubles. And, You can continue to sell successfully on Amazon by keeping a close watch on your Order Defect Rate.
Coming back to Order Defect Rate, wondering how does it work and how to deal with it or how can Amazon listing services help you? For those of you who are not acquainted with ODR, we’ll educate you about it.
So, stay tuned!
Table Of Content
Go through a detailed explanation of the aforementioned topics and enlighten yourself about ODR.
A complete understanding of Order Defect Rate
ODR is a critical Amazon indicator that is used to evaluate your success as a seller. It examines customer service as well as high standards. If your ODR is consistently around 1%, you should count your days backward!
How many orders have been marked as defective as per the customers with respect to the total number of orders from a certain time is Order Defect Rate. A purchase is either defective or non-defective. Let’s explore what causes your order ‘defective’ for Amazon.
Real causes behind your increased ODR on Amazon
When any of the three A-to-Z claims, bad comments, or credit-card chargebacks are made against your product, it is considered defective.
1. A to Z claim made by customers
Amazon provides an A-to-Z guarantee to customers who purchase their desired products from brands/ sellers selling on Amazon marketplace. Users can file an A-to-Z claim if they receive their order later than the specified time or the item is damaged. When users make these assertions, your order defect rate suffers.
2. Credit card chargeback
If a customer is asking you to return the amount they paid for your product, it can have a wrong impact on your ODR. People ask for money back for a variety of reasons, including
- False promises through products
- Poor customer service
- Getting faulty or broken products
- Never receiving the ordered product
- Not receiving the refund
- Return for a product is filed but not taken
Due to any of these aforementioned reasons, customers may ask you to pay back their invested amount in your product. Hence, credit card chargeback will be caused and will have an effect on your order fault rate.
3. Negative feedback through any medium
When your existing customers or potential buyers give negative feedback for your product or service, it reflects a poor customer experience. Therefore, you will also see a downfall in your sales, an increasing number of negative feedback, and exceed ODR. Following are the reasons for the poor customer shopping experience.
- If you have not availed of Amazon image editing services and posted unclear pictures of your product which pisses the customers off.
- You must not have taken Amazon description writing services and hence, the descriptions of your product depict false promises to customers.
- If you have uploaded a product in the wrong subcategory and customers have mistaken your product for some other product.
Although any seller would not have been facing these consequences if taken help from an Amazon listing specialist for Amazon product listing. But, nothing to worry about since you still have been given a chance to resolve the problems. Before taking you through the tips to deal with high ODR on Amazon, let’s learn what are the consequences of the same.
Consequences of high Order Defect Rate on Amazon
Order Defect Rate is a type of parameter that Amazon uses to keep track of your performance as a seller and to know how satisfyingly you are serving your customers. Hence, Amazon punishes sellers with high ODR with many restrictions such as
- If customers have marked your orders defective more than they are satisfied with your items then your ODR will be exceeded. High ODR on Amazon will result in losing the availability of Buy Box for any products. Through such measuring criteria, Amazon wants to safeguard the customers’ experience and purchases. After higher ODR, Amazon finds you unworthy and not liable for shipping any products through Buy Box.
- The moment your Order Defect Rate exceeds the limit of 1%, your Amazon account will be suspended within a blink of an eye. With the suspension of your account, you will lose your seller credentials and will also be revoked. Amazon will give you a period of 17 days to find out why the suspension occurred and how you can fix it, so that you can also submit a POA – Plan of Action and get back in selling again.
- If your ODR is exceeded due to the poor maintenance of refunds, exchanges, or returns, Amazon will not only suspend your account but also might ask you to resolve the issues right before sending a POA. So, if you have been holding customers’ money for a long time, you must pay them back immediately. For Amazon, these wrong practises make you an unreliable seller.
- Amazon starts taking actions right after your ODR exceeds even if there is a slight hike. But, if the Order Defect Rate is 3% or more, Amazon might just terminate your account permanently, and you will lose the authority to sell forever.
To deal with the aforementioned consequences and maintain Order Defect Rate on Amazon, you will have to deal with each of the factors separately such as
- Fix Amazon suppressed listings
- Refund pending payments of customers
- Submit a Plan of Action
Want a deep explanation for the same? Read the subsequent section.
How to deal with Amazon Order Defect Rate with ease?
When a buyer buys a product from you, he/she places trust in the quality of your product and believes in the claims that you have made in Amazon listing creation. In order to avoid any breach of trust or misconception on the part of a buyer, it is important to have compelling but honest product descriptions.
1. Examine your existing product listings on Amazon
In the eCommerce industry, listings should be filled accurately into the catalogue so that the customers find the product they are looking for. Your Order Defect Rate can also increase if your listings are incorrect and pretending to be some other product.
Keep updating your Amazon product listings as per the market’s requirements. Make sure that every product detail from the photograph to the title is correct. As a seller, you don’t have to embed false information or make false promises to increase your traffic.
If your information is incorrect, you will have more unsatisfied consumers who will write bad comments or submit an A-to-Z claim. You may avoid this by giving your viewers an accurate list.
If you have too many tasks on your plate or are not able to do it accurately, outsource the same to Amazon product listing specialists and make them examine your existing product listings. Experts will identify where the fault is and will improve your listings.
2. Apply for Amazon holiday mode
To avoid overselling, Amazon has introduced a feature, that is Holiday Mode, which allows you to select specific quantities for the holiday months. This helps you to handle the appropriate number of orders without being overburdened. When your ODR is high, you can avail the same and prepare your listings during this holiday time. Bring the change in product listings as per the requirements and make it well visible before the customers.
You can also hire Amazon Virtual Assistants to fix suppressed listings during the same period. So that once the holiday mode is over, you can show Amazon that you have fixed the issues and are eligible to sell products again.
3. Resolve the negative feedback
The first step is to determine why a claim was submitted. There could be a number of reasons for this, such as cancellations, late shipments, miscommunication, or disappointed expectations.
As a seller on Amazon, selling thousands of products to millions of customers, it is difficult for you to find out what happened with each one of the customers that their experience was not good. Hence, cross-checking with all the negative comments is the best solution.
Go to the feedback section and resolve all the negative ones. Provide solutions to their problems and take this as an opportunity to help your audience.
Moreover, for increasing positive reviews in your feedback column to improve the product value, you can always outsource Amazon review writing services and get better results.
Thus, speaking to an Amazon listing specialist and improving product listing will not only resolve your current problem but also help you maintain the Order Defect Rate in the future.
How to prevent the increase in ODR for future performance?
Irrespective of the scale and success of your business, Amazon can suspend your account when you reach above 1 percent. You suffer the risk of getting terminated when your ODR is way above 1 percent. Hence, every seller must know that ODR is a real threat.
Hence, You must keep monitoring your Amazon product listings, customer service, and each of the factors that can boost your Order Defect Rate and get you in trouble.
Hire Amazon listing specialists
If all of your listings are correct, the next best thing is to keep an eye on them. Look for commonalities among the listings. Are there any prevalent issues that cause consumers to have a negative experience? Amazon listing specialists will help you with maintaining a higher rank in your store higher in search results of Amazon, build trust among customers and potential buyers, and improve your performance as a seller constantly.
When you track your results, you can make modifications to improve your listing. It’s a fantastic opportunity to provide your audience with the finest possible experience while keeping your defect order rate low.
Still, confused about Amazon ODR? Clear with the FAQ section
The major reason why many sellers fail to fix Order Defect Rate on Amazon is they have minimal information about the same and don’t know how to deal with the increasing percentage. Hence, if any doubt is left on your plate regarding what is ODR and how to fix it, go through the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
1. How can I improve my Amazon defect rate?
There are three hacks to improve your defect rate manually. Follow the subsequent tips carefully:
1. Respond to negative feedback
Start responding to each one of the negative feedback and try to resolve the customers’ problems such as late shipments, order cancellations, unmatched expectations, and more.
2. Review your listings
Cross-check with your Amazon product listings, make sure that the listings are done accurately with proper information and are not posted with wrong product images.
3. Avail Amazon’s holiday mode
Use the holiday mode provided by Amazon and utilise that period of time in improving your listing, update your product inventory so that there is no late shipment in the future. And, once the holiday mode is over, you can make a better comeback with good things to offer to your customers.
Apart from the aforementioned tips, you can also take the help of positive reviews to fix the Order Defect Rate and boost sales.
2. What metrics should I be concerned about including ODR as an Amazon seller?
As an Amazon seller, you must make sure that your account neither should hit the following numbers nor should exceed it, else it will result in the suspension or ban of your Amazon account.
1. Order Defect Rate should be below 1 percent
2. The Late shipment rate should be below 4 percent
3. The Cancellation rate of pre-fulfillment should be below 2.5 percent
3. Can the Order Defect Rate have a negative effect on my product ranking on Amazon?
Yes! If your Order Defect Rate goes above 1 percent, you, as an Amazon seller, might lose your status. Hence, Amazon will restrict your selling privileges as well as suspend your offers.
Whereas, you will be given a time of 17 days for responding to Amazon with your Plan of Action and pulling back your selling business quickly.
4. Why does my Amazon Order Defect Rate exceed 1 percent?
There are three main reasons for the increasing percentage of your Order defect rate, below are the same:
1. Your negative feedback rate on Amazon has increased
2. Your Amazon product listing is done incorrectly
3. The percentage of guarantee claim rate has increased
5. How can Amazon product listing services help me improve Order Defect Rate?
Inaccurate Amazon product listings have very negative feedback on your Order Defect Rate. Hence, monitoring your product listings and working on them to improve them is the right practice to improve your ODR on Amazon. For better, quicker, and long-lasting results, you can avail Amazon product listing services from reliable outsourcing companies.
Didn’t find the answer to your question regarding Amazon Order Defect Rate? Worry not! Leave an email at info@data4amazon.com and get a reply at our earliest convenience.
Conclusion
As Amazon listing specialists, they have all the required technological knowledge and Amazon expertise to help you improve your product performance and maintain the Order Defect Rate. If you are ready to optimise your Amazon and revise product listing for relevant traffic then contact us. Our representative will lend their ears to you and understand your requirements carefully. Hence, make a choice to speak with our strategist for Amazon listing services to fix the Order Defect Rate increase percentage on Amazon to be able to sell again.