The parcel went, Amazon does not know
Your packer picked, packed and handed the parcel to the courier on time. The label was printed from the courier's own software. But nobody went back into Seller Central to confirm the dispatch, or the tracking number was typed with a missing digit, or the carrier was chosen from the list incorrectly. To Amazon, the order is late or has no valid tracking.
Other orders really do go late: a large order that was not noticed until the afternoon, a product that was in the wrong bin, a bank holiday nobody accounted for in the handling time. Both kinds land on your metrics in the same way.
Where FBM dispatch goes wrong
FBM is easy when orders are few. It gets harder when you sell on several channels, pack from one warehouse, use more than one courier and have handling times that differ by product. The dispatch deadline for each order is in Seller Central; the picking happens elsewhere; the tracking comes from a third system.
- Orders from Amazon, your own shop and other marketplaces mix on the packing bench.
- Dispatch deadlines differ by product handling time and the time the order was placed.
- Tracking numbers are copied between systems by hand.
- Carrier names must match Amazon's list, or tracking may not be recognised.
- Nobody sees which orders are close to their deadline until it has passed.
What the gaps cost
Amazon measures late dispatch, valid tracking and cancellations for sellers who fulfil their own orders. Falling below its targets can restrict your ability to sell in some categories or lead to warnings. Customers who cannot track their order write in, adding to the message queue.
The wasted effort is real too. A packer who shipped on time finds out later that the order counted as late because a confirmation was missed, which is demoralising and entirely preventable.
Here is how an ordinary afternoon goes wrong. At three o'clock, an order for a bulky item arrives with a same-day dispatch deadline. The packing team is working from the courier software's list, which does not show Amazon deadlines, so it is treated like any other order and packed the next morning. Meanwhile, twelve orders shipped on time earlier in the day have tracking numbers sitting in the courier software, waiting for someone to copy them into Seller Central. That person is off sick. By the evening, Amazon sees thirteen late orders, and only one of them really was.
The dispatch board we build
- FBM orders pulled regularly through the Selling Partner API with their dispatch deadline, alongside orders from your other channels if you pack them together.
- A board for the packing team sorted by deadline, with colour for orders due today, close to deadline or already late.
- A connection to your courier or shipping software, so when a label is printed, the tracking number and carrier are captured without retyping.
- Dispatch confirmation sent to Amazon through the API with the tracking number and the carrier name mapped to Amazon's accepted list.
- A check on each confirmation that the tracking number matches the carrier's format, with any failure shown to a person immediately.
- An end-of-day list of any Amazon orders still unconfirmed, and a morning report of yesterday's performance against your own targets.
| Order state | What the board shows |
|---|---|
| Due today, not picked | Top of the list, highlighted |
| Label printed | Tracking captured, confirmation pending |
| Confirmed with valid tracking | Done |
| Confirmation failed | Alert to a person with the reason |
| Past deadline | Flagged for a person and noted in the report |
A packing day afterwards
The packing team works from one list, in deadline order, across every channel. When they print a label, the order confirms itself on Amazon with the right carrier and tracking. At the end of the day, the unconfirmed list is usually empty. When it is not, the reason is on screen.
Handling times become something you manage, not guess. If a product regularly takes longer to pack, the board shows it, and you can change its handling time in Seller Central so the promise to customers matches reality.
Bank holidays and warehouse closures can be entered once, so the board knows when the next dispatch is really possible.
Recognise your warehouse here?
- Tracking numbers are copied from courier software into Seller Central by hand.
- Orders counted as late were actually shipped on time.
- Packers do not see Amazon dispatch deadlines.
- Orders from several channels are packed from separate lists.
- You have received warnings about late dispatch or tracking rates.