Fast and accurate delivery builds customer trust and is a key factor in purchase decisions. In fact, every one day improvement in promised delivery time leads to an average 5% increase in sales. As such, we’re implementing a new handling time requirement to help you set the most accurate delivery promises possible.
Handling time, which can be set at the account level or with SKU-specific overrides, is an important input to promised delivery dates. Our data shows that over 87% of seller-fulfilled orders received in the US are handled within one day. However, many sellers set longer SKU-specific handling times than needed, leading to overestimated delivery promises.
Starting June 29, 2026, you’ll need to ensure that your seller-fulfilled SKUs have accurate handling times. Your handling time is considered accurate when the actual handling time consistently matches your configured handling time for each SKU. There are two ways you can comply with this new requirement:
- (Recommended) Enable Automated Handling Time (AHT): AHT sets handling time for your SKUs based on your recent shipping history and provides late shipment rate (LSR) protection. We recommend enabling AHT to comply with the handling time requirement without having to monitor individual SKUs. You can enable AHT now in your Shipping settings.
- Maintain accurate SKU-specific handling time: You can also manually set handling time at the SKU level, as long as it stays accurate. We’ll monitor these SKUs over 30 days to make sure your stated handling time matches your actual shipping speed. If a SKU is consistently shipped at least one day faster than stated, it will be flagged, and you’ll have 30 days to update. If accurate handling time is not provided, we’ll start managing the SKUs on your behalf and provide LSR protection for 180 days. To learn more, go to Modify handling time.
For more information about the new handling time requirement, go to Handling time requirement. This requirement does not apply to custom, handmade, and Heavy & Bulky less-than-truckload shipments.
We also recommend you review your Handling time settings to prepare for this change.
Ready to Stay Compliant and Keep Sales Growing?
At SIPRANSH ECOMMGROWTH, we help Amazon sellers navigate platform updates with confidence. Whether it’s optimizing fulfillment processes, improving performance metrics, or ensuring compliance with Amazon’s new handling time requirements, our experts help you stay competitive while delivering a better customer experience.
