The Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime Guide [How Will 2021 Changes Impact Sellers?]

Delivery Speed metrics – The Delivery Speed metrics measure the percentage of customer page views that displayed a one or two-day delivery promise when your SFP offer was the featured offer, regardless of whether a purchase was made. The targets for SFP Delivery Speed metrics are below, and also visible on the Seller Fulfilled Prime Performance dashboard.

According to Amazon, we can expect to see 3 major changes including:

Why is Amazon making changes to Seller Fulfilled Prime?

“We are always listening to our customers, and Prime members consistently tell us they want fast and free shipping. That is why Amazon is making significant investments in our fulfillment and transportation capabilities to make Prime faster, transitioning from a 2-day to a 1-day delivery program. As we continue to improve the Amazon Prime experience for customers, we want to ensure Seller Fulfilled Prime meets customers’ expectations of Prime. SFP has not met these U.S. customer expectations, in large part because many Sellers do not operate on weekends. We are introducing these changes so U.S. customers can rely on the same Prime experience regardless of how their order is fulfilled.” – Amazon
Tip: Ensure you are using a shipping service that can pick-up and scan the package over the weekend.
3. Sellers enrolled in SFP are required to meet targets for one-day and two-day delivery promises. These metrics measure the percentage of customer page views that displayed a one or two calendar-day delivery promise when your SFP offer was the featured offer, regardless of whether a purchase was made. These Delivery Speed Targets ensure that customers have a similar experience regardless of who fulfills their Prime order.

Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime 101

According to the announcement:
Nationwide delivery coverage – Standard-size products on a Prime shipping template must offer nationwide delivery coverage (nationwide coverage includes only the 48 contiguous United States and the District of Columbia). You can see which products are standard-size or oversize in Manage Seller Fulfilled Prime. For more information, see the SFP Item Size, Weights and Dimensions Help page.
Weekend delivery – Sellers enrolled in SFP are required to deliver standard-sized Prime products six days a week, including either Saturday or Sunday delivery. You can review and update your weekend pick-up and delivery settings using Order fulfillment settings. We recommend that you use shipping services that support weekend pick-up and delivery to provide customers with a more consistent delivery experience throughout the week.

3 Important Changes for Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime [2021]

Keep in mind, if your performance metrics fall below the new required thresholds, your Prime eligibility may be suspended.
Weekend pick-ups – Sellers enrolled in SFP are required to operate and ship out Prime products six days a week, including either Saturday or Sunday operation. Customer page views occurring Friday after cut-off time or Saturday before cut-off time will be expected to ship on Saturday.
To learn more, check out our guide (below) on how Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime works and how the latest changes will impact sellers. Delivery Speed targets from February 1, 2021 through May 31, 2021 (below):

Updated Eligibility Requirements for Seller Fulfilled Prime

1. Sellers enrolled in SFP are required to have nationwide delivery coverage for all standard-size products on Prime enabled shipping templates (nationwide coverage includes only the 48 contiguous United States and the District of Columbia.) You can see which products are standard size or oversize on the Manage Seller Fulfilled Prime page.
Amazon announced changes to its Seller Fulfilled Prime (“SFP”) Program that goes into effect on February 1, 2021.

The changes are significant and ultimately, the 1-day and 2-day delivery targets coupled with the nationwide delivery coverage requirement will force many Sellers to abandon the SFP Program due to the increased shipping costs that the Sellers will be incurring.

The objective of the Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime program is to provide “Prime” shipping privileges to Amazon sellers that have established their ability to ship merchant-fulfilled orders and meet Amazon’s high-performance levels (through FBA). For more information, check out Amazon’s SFP requirements and FAQs. Sellers accepted by the program will be permitted to tag products with the coveted Prime eligible label and ship directly from their own fulfillment centers. If they meet the program requirements (which we will outline below), they will also be notified via email and receive a webinar invitation to Seller Fulfilled Prime.
2. Sellers enrolled in SFP are required to use ship methods that support weekend delivery and pick up (Saturday or Sunday) to provide customers with a more consistent delivery experience throughout the week. View your Order fulfillment settings to set weekend options.
Credit: Amazon
If a seller does not qualify, they will be notified via email along with guidance on how to make improvements so they can try to reapply for Seller Fulfilled Prime at a later date.