Amazon Order Cancellations Management for Sellers

What is Amazon Order Cancelation?

Amazon order cancelation is terminating an order before it is shipped. This can happen for various reasons, such as inventory issues, customer requests, or unforeseen delivery delays. There are different stages when an order can be canceled, and the steps vary for sellers depending on the order’s progress.

• Buyers can cancel their order on their Amazon account within the first 30 minutes of placing an order.
• After this period, the buyer can no longer directly cancel the order but can submit a cancelation request for the seller to review. The seller then receives an email notifying them of this request.

Sellers have some options for self-ship orders depending on the order processing stage. If the order has not been shipped or the shipment has not been confirmed, a seller can cancel it in the “Manage Orders” section of their Amazon account or use an order cancelation feed. This method helps them avoid impacting their cancelation rate metrics.

If a seller has already shipped the order but hasn’t confirmed the shipment, they must confirm it and then contact the buyer via the Buyer-seller messaging service. They can advise the buyer to refuse the shipment or initiate a return. If the seller has already confirmed shipment but hasn’t shipped the order, they can no longer cancel it and must instead start the refund process.

When a seller cancels an order, Amazon updates the order status in the buyer’s account and sends an email notification to the buyer. Cancelations and returns are considered a standard part of sales operations. It’s important to note that if a seller needs to cancel an order for reasons other than a buyer-requested cancelation, the seller must handle the process themselves rather than asking the buyer to do so.

A buyer can officially request cancelation by locating the order in their Amazon account, under “Your Account” > “Your Orders” > “Request Cancellation”. If the cancelation request comes after the 30-minute window of placing the order, the seller will be notified by email and will see the request on their “Manage Orders” page. Following the cancellation, the buyer will receive an email confirming the order has been canceled. However, selecting the “Buyer Canceled” reason for cancelation when not buyer-initiated may negatively affect a seller’s cancelation rate metrics.

Order Cancellation Process

Amazon’s order cancellation process is essential to managing orders for sellers. Sellers should be well-acquainted with this system to ensure a smooth customer experience.

When a customer requests an order cancellation, sellers can cancel items that have not yet entered the shipping process. If an item sold by a third-party seller has not yet been shipped, sellers have a 30-minute window to cancel the order after its placement. The cancellation window might be shorter for Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) orders.

Sellers receive email notifications about customer cancellation requests. Act promptly, as unshipped orders with cancellation requests will impact the seller’s cancellation rate metric. To access and manage these orders, follow these steps:

1. Go to Your Orders > Manage Orders.
2. Locate the order of the buyer requesting cancellation.
3. Confirm whether the order has been shipped or not.

In cases where the item is out of stock or inventory issues arise, sellers may need to initiate the cancellation themselves. To submit a cancellation request, follow the Amazon order cancellation guide and use the Buyer-Seller messaging tool to inform the customer.

The buyer-initiated order cancellation process is designed to keep track of cancellation requests, simplify communications, and reduce non-critical messages on the platform. Sellers must adapt to this process for efficient order management and to maintain a positive customer experience.

Sellers must stay updated with any changes in the order cancellation process. Recently, Amazon postponed the implementation of changes to the order cancellation system, providing more time for sellers to understand and adapt to these changes. Staying informed about Amazon’s policies allows sellers to provide a seamless customer experience and maintain their reputation as reliable sellers on the platform.

Order Cancelation Process Requested by a Buyer

Amazon sellers are responsible for managing order cancellations requested by buyers. This process begins when a buyer submits a cancellation request. Buyers must follow these steps to request a cancellation officially: go to Your Account, click Your Orders, and select Request Cancellation.

When a seller receives a request, it’s vital to handle it efficiently to maintain a positive customer experience. First, head to Seller Central and select Manage Orders from the Orders drop-down. On the Unshipped tab, click Show filters, then check the “Buyer-Requested Cancel” box in the “Pending Action” section. This will display orders with pending cancellation requests. The platform will show a banner indicating that canceling the affected orders will not impact a seller’s cancellation rate metric.

To proceed with the cancellation, click Cancel order under the Actions column. Note that this option is only available for unshipped orders. After clicking submit, the buyer will receive an email confirming that their order has been canceled.

Despite the importance of fulfilling customer requests for order cancellations, sellers must avoid canceling orders due to scenarios like low inventory, pricing errors, listing errors, shipping settings issues, or forgetting to turn on vacation settings. In such cases, sellers should pick an appropriate cancelation reason from the drop-down menu, but remember that these cancellations will impact their cancellation rate.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) orders may require different procedures, as customer service and order cancellation responsibilities lie with Amazon. In general, efficient order cancellation management is crucial for maintaining buyer satisfaction and retaining a positive customer service reputation on the platform.

Unofficial Buyer-Initiated Cancellation

As an Amazon seller, knowing the difference between official and unofficial order cancellations is crucial. Unofficial cancellations are when a buyer requests a cancellation via the Buyer-Seller messaging tool without following Amazon’s proper cancellation process. This type of cancellation can negatively affect a seller’s Cancellation Rate metric.

Although this scenario might be more complicated than an official cancellation, sellers can still handle them appropriately. It’s essential to guide the buyer toward the proper cancellation process rather than completing the cancellation on their request via messaging. Sellers should reply with concise instructions so that the buyer knows the correct steps to follow, such as:

“You can cancel the order in your Amazon account at Your Account > Your Orders > Request Cancellation.”

The proper cancellation process is essential for both sellers and buyers on Amazon. By requesting a cancellation via the official method, the buyer ensures they accurately report their intentions, and sellers aren’t penalized through their cancellation metrics.

Sellers should regularly monitor their Cancellation Rate and be familiar with Amazon’s policy requirements. Directing a buyer to the official process minimizes the risk of cancellations affecting the seller’s metrics and helps maintain a healthier relationship with the online marketplace.

Unofficial cancellations, if mishandled, can be detrimental to an Amazon seller’s metrics and reputation. By understanding the method and guiding buyers through the correct process, sellers can protect their metrics, maintain a positive relationship with Amazon, and improve the overall experience for buyers. Keep communications straightforward, informative, and supportive to navigate potential pitfalls in unofficial order cancellations.

Partial Cancellation

Although partial order cancellations are not currently supported, a workaround exists for managing these situations. By employing full and partial refunds, sellers can effectively address the issues that may prompt partial cancellations. This process involves using either the Refund Orders tool or the Order Adjustment Feed. Keep in mind that sellers must confirm the shipment before initiating a refund.

As an Amazon Marketplace Web Services (MWS) developer, the Order Adjustment Feed allows you to control how refunds are managed. By leveraging Amazon MWS, sellers are better prepared to handle refund-related issues. In this way, sellers can maintain customer satisfaction and minimize negative feedback.

Sellers should be aware of the main reasons customers may request partial cancellations, some of which include product returns, refund requests, and claims adjustment. Here’s a breakdown of these factors:

• Product returns: Customers might be dissatisfied with the products they received or have ordered the wrong item. In these cases, accepting returns and offering partial refunds can help maintain customer satisfaction.
• Refund requests: There will be circumstances when customers request a partial refund due to issues like items being damaged during shipment or the products not meeting their expectations.
• Claims adjustment: When customers initiate claims following issues like delayed deliveries, offering partial refunds is a way to address their concerns and retain their trust.

When handling any of the above issues, following Amazon’s guidelines and refund policies is crucial to maintaining a favorable seller reputation. Being attentive to customer needs and addressing their concerns efficiently is essential for long-term success on the platform.

By thoroughly understanding Amazon’s cancellation, return, and refund policies, sellers can manage partial cancellations with finesse. A proactive approach to handling customer issues demonstrates a commitment to customer satisfaction and can strengthen customers’ trust in a seller’s services.

Cancellation Rate Metric

Cancellation initiated by	Cancellation scenario	Negatively impact Cancellation Rate?
Buyer	1. I am canceling because the buyer submitted an official cancellation request	No
	2. I am canceling because the customer asked me to through the Buyer-Seller Messaging tool (unofficial cancellation processes; such messages are labeled as “Inquiry from Amazon customer”)	Yes
Seller	1. I am canceling because my item went out of stock / pricing or listing error / incorrect shipping settings / received an order because I forgot to turn on vacation settings when I was on holiday	Yes
	2. I am canceling because the address was undeliverable	Yes
	3. I am canceling because the buyer was unresponsive	Yes
Amazon	1. The order was automatically canceled by Amazon because the seller did not confirm shipment within seven days of ship-by-date	Yes
	2. The order was automatically canceled by Amazon because we detected the buyer to be fraudulent	No
	3. Payment verification failed so the order was canceled by Amazon	No

The Cancellation Rate metric on Amazon’s Seller Central dashboard is a crucial indicator for sellers to monitor, as it reflects the percentage of orders canceled before dispatch. Sellers should be aware of the different types of cancellations and the potential impact on their Cancellation Rate metric.

Cancellations can be initiated by buyers, sellers, or Amazon itself, with varying consequences on the metric. For instance, when a buyer submits an official cancellation request, it does not negatively impact a seller’s Cancellation Rate. However, if a customer requests cancellation through the Buyer-Seller Messaging tool, it’s an unofficial cancellation process and impacts the metric.

Seller-initiated cancellations can also affect the metric, mainly when caused by issues such as out-of-stock items, pricing errors, or incorrect shipping settings. Canceling an order due to an undeliverable address or an unresponsive buyer also hurts the Cancellation Rate.

Automatically canceled orders by Amazon may or may not influence the metric. If an order is canceled because the seller did not confirm shipment within seven days of the ship-by-date, it will negatively impact the Cancellation Rate. Orders canceled due to fraudulent buyers or payment verification failures will not affect the metric.

To maintain a healthy Cancellation Rate, sellers should evaluate their inventory management, and shipping settings, and monitor their dashboards closely. Improving order management practices and promptly addressing issues can help minimize the impact of cancellations on the overall performance metrics.

Order Reports

Order reports play a vital role in the daily operations of Amazon sellers. These reports offer insights into orders, customer reviews, and potential issues that may arise with order processing. By accessing the order reports in their Seller Central account, sellers can manage their workflow efficiently and avoid negative feedback.

When processing orders, sellers may find the is-buyer-requested-cancellation field helpful. This optional field in order reports provides information about buyer-initiated cancellation requests. The column’s value will be “TRUE” if the buyer requested cancellation and “FALSE” if the order has no cancellation requests.

Amazon introduced a toggle button for the “Buyer Requested Cancel” field to manage order cancellations in the Add Better or Remove Order Report columns section. Enabling this toggle allows sellers to view all orders with buyer-initiated cancellations efficiently.

The order reports also act as a tool for managing customer reviews. Paying attention to these reports can help sellers identify patterns or areas of improvement in their services. Quickly responding to negative feedback may result in satisfied customers and better ratings.

Using order reports effectively can help Amazon sellers boost their sales and reputation. Monitoring cancellations, addressing customer concerns, and improving service quality are integral to success on the platform.

APIs for Buyer Requested Order Cancellations

Buyer-requested order cancellations are an essential aspect for Amazon sellers to manage. As part of Amazon’s order management system, the Marketplace Web Services (MWS) API and the Selling Partner (SP) API provide sellers with the tools to handle these cancellation requests efficiently.

The MWS API contains features to help sellers identify buyer-requested cancellations. Upon a buyer initiating an order cancellation request, the last update date of the order will be updated. To fetch orders with recent updates, sellers can use the ListOrders operation. Furthermore, the ListOrderItems operation will include an isBuyerRequestedCancel flag and buyerCancelReason string for each OrderItem in the response when the order has a buyer-requested cancellation. The isBuyerRequestedCancel flag will be set to True if the order has such a request, while the buyerCancelReason will display the reason for cancellation specified by the buyer.

The Selling Partner API offers similar functionality for managing buyer-requested cancellations. The ordersV0GettOrderItemsList operation includes a isBuyerRequestedCancel flag and buyerCancelReason string for each OrderItem in the response when the order has a buyer-requested cancellation – mirroring the MWS API behavior. The same informative flags and reasons are also provided within the answer.

In addition to these APIs, the Selling Partner Notification API, currently available to pilot sellers, will soon be available to all sellers. The new ORDER_CHANGE Notification API is an upgraded version of the ORDER_STATUS_CHANGE Notification API. Once a seller subscribes to this notification, API will proactively notify about significant changes, such as order status changes and buyer-requested cancellations. When a buyer initiates an order cancellation request, an ORDER_CHANGE notification is triggered automatically, and the isBuyerRequestedCancel flag is set to True for the order.

To subscribe to the ORDER_CHANGE Notification, sellers can refer to the SP user guide. Utilizing these APIs to manage buyer-requested order cancellations allows Amazon sellers to maintain efficient order management processes while providing excellent customer support.