Did you know? Amazon is scoring you on something called the “Inventory Performance Index,” also known as “IPI.”
What is IPI? IPI scores look at the amount of storage space you are using at Amazon’s Warehouses. Any inventory that is stored at Amazon, but not selling well, is negatively affecting your IPI. This is because Amazon does not want to be a storage facility. They are a fulfillment center.
Some of the factors Amazon looks at when scoring you are sell-through, and stranded inventory. If you recall, we wrote briefly about stranded inventory on our Facebook page. We said:
Stranded Inventory occurs when you have product(s) at Amazon under a listing that is missing, incomplete, or inactive. Once an item is marked as “Stranded,” you cannot send in new inventory under that listing until the inventory is fixed. This *may* mean you will need to go through the removal process, and have your items sent to you, or a facility like us, who can case-pack and relabel your items if necessary, while you fix the listing or get a new one up and running. Stranded Inventory is a nuisance that affects your business negatively in that you cannot get your customers what they want until you fix the issue at hand.
Here are some ways you might be able to ensure your IPI score stays above 400, which is where it needs to be in order to have unlimited storage volume.
- Make sure you are removing inventory that is not selling well. Facilities like ours can receive your removals, case-pack them, and store them until you are ready to send them in once more.
- Lower prices on items that are not doing well as an incentive to your customers. Once the product sells out, you can choose to discontinue it, or re-design it to better suit your customer’s needs.
- Pay attention to your stranded inventory, and make sure your listings are complete, accurate, and active.
IPI is evaluated every three months. By focusing on your listings and account health, you can turn around any bad scores! And by the way, we can help. We are an FBA prep center with storage capacity. If you’re interested in removing your inventory to help increase your score, please reach out to us. We accept removals on a case by case basis. When you are ready to send the inventory back into Amazon to start the clock over, we can help with that, too.
Comments are closed