Are you at risk of an account suspension?

Here’s how to spot early warning signs that your Vendor Central account may be headed toward a suspension or a performance intervention:

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1. Watch Your Operational Scorecards

Amazon publishes several “scorecards” in Vendor Central—if any fall below threshold, Amazon may issue a warning or suspend ordering:

• OTIF (On-Time, In-Full):
• Target: ≥ 95% in most categories.
• Risk zone: consistently < 90%.
• Ship-On-Time Rate (SOTR):
• Target: ≥ 97%.
• Risk zone: any quarter below 90–95%.
• Fill Rate / In-Full Rate:
• Target: ≥ 98%.
• Risk zone: repeated under-shipments or cancellations.

You can find these under Performance → Vendor Scorecard and/or Supply Chain → Operational Performance.

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2. Track Chargebacks and Deductions

Excessive chargebacks are a common trigger for penalties or suspension:

• EDI Chargebacks:
• Errors in invoicing (e.g. wrong price, missing PO numbers).
• Risk: chargeback rate > 2–3% of revenue.
• Logistics Deductions:
• Late ship, over-pack, wrong label, packaging non-compliance.
• Risk: mounting deductions indicate chronic process breakdowns.

Review the Accounts Payable → Deductions dashboard weekly—and drill into recurring reasons.

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3. Monitor Product Quality & Customer Complaints

Although Amazon vets vendors, customer issues still reflect on you:

• Returns Rate:
• Benchmark: < 5% in most categories.
• Red flag: sustained > 10%.
• A-to-Z Claims & Chargebacks:
• Even as a vendor you can get reimbursed by Amazon, but a spike in customer claims signals trouble downstream.
• Product Safety or Compliance Notices:
• Notices from Performance Notifications about dangerous goods, MAP violations, trademark complaints—address these within 24 hours.

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4. Read Every Performance Notification

Under Performance → Performance Notifications, Amazon will send:

• “Vendor Compliance Warning”
• “Performance Intervention Plan”
• “Order Hold” notices
  Any one of these, if left un-remedied, can escalate into a suspension. Treat each as urgent: download the PDF, identify root cause, and submit a Plan of Action within the stated SLA.

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5. Stay on Top of Policy Updates

Amazon periodically updates Vendor Central policies around packaging, labeling, shipping windows, pricing, and more.

• Subscribe to the Vendor Central Newsfeed.
• Assign an internal “compliance owner” to review all new policy notices within 48 hours.

Ignoring a policy change—say, a new labeling requirement in Hazardous Materials—can lead to sudden order holds or account shutdown.

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6. Keep Your Vendor Manager in the Loop

If you have a dedicated Vendor Manager (VM), request quarterly business reviews and ask directly:

“Are there any metrics or behaviors putting our account at elevated risk?”

A good VM will flag creeping shortfalls before Amazon’s automated systems do.

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7. Proactive Alerts & Reporting

• Build a Weekly Dashboard: Export OTIF, fill rate, chargeback summaries and set up automated alerts when any KPI dips below your internal thresholds (e.g. OTIF < 93%).
• Email Filters: Tag any incoming mail from vendor-performance@amazon.com or deductions@amazon.com so you never miss a warning.

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