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An Introduction to Amazon Vendor Logistics
An Introduction to Amazon Vendor Logistics

Learn the basics about Amazon Vendor Logistics and the most important metrics/KPIs to know

Apolline Vanneste avatar
Written by Apolline Vanneste
Updated over a week ago

As part of this series, please check our Help Center article:

Seelk Studio's Logistics dashboard consolidates your Amazon Purchase Orders (POs) from Vendor Central into an easy-to-use interface that provides an overview for your logistical performances over time.

This means no more downloading POs to excel and aggregating yourself.

The basics of Amazon Vendor Logistics

As a Vendor, Amazon sends you a Purchase Order (PO) when they would like to replenish their stock of a particular product of yours. You are able to either accept or decline any PO that they send you.

If you accept, you have to fulfill that order. If you refuse, it is considered a "missed opportunity". However, if you accept the order and you only fulfill a certain amount, you have technically "accepted" the order but only "filled-in" a certain amount.

Let's take a simple example.

Muki πŸ‡ΈπŸ‡ͺ, our favorite Swedish pharmaceutical company receives a purchase order for 1000 units of "Minty Mindfulness Shampoo + Conditioner (100ml)". Unfortunately there was a manufacturing issue in recent weeks and they only have 250 units left.

In this case, Muki decided to accept the order and sent Amazon 200 units (oops! See explanation below). Here's the quick breakdown of the maths:

  • Amazon made a PO of 1000 units

  • Muki accepted but only sent 250 units

  • Muki, however, was only able to send a portion of that because they had already promised 50 units to a small local boutique and therefore, Amazon only received 200 units

  • In this case Muki "Missed" Sell-In on 750 units

Therefore, Muki's Acceptance Rate % (AR) is

250 / 1000 * 100 = 25%

However, because Muki only sent 200 units out of the 250 accepted, out of 1000 total unit requested in the PO.

Therefore, Muki's Fill-In Rate % is

200 / 1000 & 100 = 20%

Read more about Amazon Logistics metrics below.

What are the main Amazon Vendor Logistics metrics?

Before you jump into the metrics, lets first breakdown what is the difference between "Open Purchase Orders" and "Closed Purchase Orders":

Open Purchase Orders (Open POs)

Open POs, simply put, are POs that have either not yet been accepted or fulfilled.

Closed Purchase Orders (Closed POs)

Closed POs are POs that have been both "accepted" and "received" by Amazon.

Below is a list of the metrics used to power the Seelk Studio's Logistics Dashboard:

Sell-In Ordered [value & units]

Sell-In Ordered is the amount Amazon has ordered from a Vendor for a specific Product in a PO. This is displayed as a currency value or in units.

Sell-In Accepted [value & units]

Sell-In Accepted is the amount you, as a Vendor, have accepted from Amazon's PO for a particular products. This is displayed as a currency value or in units.

Sell-In Received [value & units]

Sell-In Receive is the amount Amazon has received from a Vendor based on a PO for a particular product. This is displayed as a currency value or in units.

Sell-In Missed [value & units]

Sell-In Missed is calculated in the following manner:

πŸ“ˆ Sell-In Ordered - 🚚 Sell-In Received

If we take the above example from Muki πŸ‡ΈπŸ‡ͺ, the calculation would be:

1000 - 250 = 750 

This means that Muki Missed Sales on 750 units. Imagine that each shampoo unit has a Product Cost of Goods Sold (PCOGS) of €2.50, the value amount of Missed Sales would be €1875 on a single PO.

Acceptance Rate % (AR)

Acceptance Rate % is a percentage calculation that represents how much of the Amazon PO a Vendor actually accepted to fulfill.

The Acceptance Rate % calculation is as follows:

🀝 Sell-In Accepted / πŸ“¦ Sell-In Ordered * 100

Fill-In Rate % (FIR)

Fill-In Rate % is a percentage calculation that represents how much you, as an Amazon Vendor, sent to Amazon based on the initial Sell-In Ordered requested by Amazon in the PO.

The Fill-In Rate % calculation is as follows:

🚚 Sell-In Received / πŸ“¦ Sell-In Ordered * 100

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