Table of Contents
| Content | Shortcut Link |
| What is Shortage? | Jump to Content |
| Improve Catalog & Label Compliance | Jump to Content |
| Improve ASN Compliance | Jump to Content |
What is Shortage?
Shortages represent a financial claim that arises when Amazon cannot reconcile the quantities listed on an invoice with the records received at its fulfillment centers before the invoice due date.
For Amazon to process your full invoice payment on time, the quantities and products must align across the invoice, purchase order, and receipt records.
After Amazon issues a purchase order, you need to confirm the order and send the specified goods along with a corresponding invoice.
Operational discrepancies may lead to differences between Amazon’s receipt records and the quantities or shipment details on your invoice or other documents, such as the bill of lading (BOL) or proof of delivery (POD), which Amazon does not consider when making payment decisions.
In the event of a shortage claim, Amazon initiates an automated matching review process to confirm or reverse the claim within 35 days of the invoice due date. Amazon will handle disputes regarding these shortage claims.
Shortage claims are reflected in a negative value deducted from the Invoice/Payment amount in the Debit column of the Deductions and credits tab for a specific invoice. The total value of the invoice can be found under the Invoice/Payment column, while shortage claims are denoted by the invoice number followed by SC.
Improve Catalog and Label Compliance
Amazon’s purchase orders include product identifiers and reflect pack hierarchy attributes for items in your catalog. When these virtual attributes do not match the physical shipments, Amazon may undercount units or struggle to identify products during receipt.
Amazon relies on barcoded labels to accurately count products in received shipments and to link the receipt records to the correct purchase orders. Incorrect labels can delay the receiving process or lead to inaccuracies in Amazon’s receipt records, potentially resulting in a shortage claim if the receipt is assigned to the wrong purchase order or shows a lower quantity than billed.
You are required to affix clear and accurate labels on each pallet, small parcel, and carton (box) in accordance with Amazon’s shipping label requirements. Individual sellable units must be labeled following Amazon’s barcode requirements, ensuring that product barcodes and per-pack quantities in your shipments align with your catalog details.
Refer to the Vendor Manual for more comprehensive packaging and labeling instructions to ensure your shipments are fully compliant.
To mitigate the risk of a shortage claim, Amazon strongly recommend implementing License Plate (LP) labels and sending timely, accurate advance shipment notifications (ASN) that include complete information about each container ID in your shipments. Visit the License Plate label and receive requirements to learn how LP receiving can reduce the risk of shortage claims and the steps to enable this method.
Check for common catalog and label compliance issues below that may contribute to shortage claims. Use the Operational Performance dashboard to identify specific label issues in your recent shipments.
Product IDs are essential for Amazon to accurately identify the correct ASIN-PO items associated with the receipt records. Each sellable ASIN with a detail page must have a unique product ID (UPC, EAN, GTIN, JAN, or ISBN) in your catalog and on physical barcode labels. Using the same scannable barcode identifier for multiple ASINs can cause failures during receipt and increase the risk of shortage claims. For further information, refer to Product IDs and barcodes.
If the product IDs in your catalog do not match the barcodes on the physical products in your shipments, Amazon may struggle to associate our receipt records with the correct purchase orders.
Check under Supplier Description and Product Identity in the Catalog to ensure that your Vendor SKU and External product ID attributes are consistent with your expected details and do not overlap between ASINs.
Your catalog details and package hierarchy attributes are crucial for Amazon to prepare for receiving your products and to identify the contents as labels on pallets, small parcels, or cartons are scanned.
Regularly audit the Package level and Is package level orderable attributes under the Catalog Product Identity tab.
In the Catalog Shipping tab, ensure that the Items per inner pack value exactly matches the number of individually barcoded units each packaged together. For instance, if a master pack contains 50 water bottles divided into 5 inner packs of 10 bottles, enter 10 for Items per inner pack. If there are no inner packs, enter 50. If individual units lack barcodes or if Amazon can order in any quantity, enter 1.
Amazon begins the receiving process by attempting to match the physical shipment with pre-received information, including your purchase order confirmation and advance shipment notification. Non-compliant pallet or small parcel labels can introduce defects into Amazon’s receiving process, potentially resulting in shortage claims for the entire pallet or parcel quantity.
Numerical identifiers, such as the PRO carrier tracking number, contained purchase orders, and ASN/BOL shipment numbers, are vital for tracking and accurately receiving your shipments. Pallet and small parcel labels must indicate whether pallets contain mixed or single-ASIN contents to facilitate Amazon's processing of the entire shipment.
After identifying your shipment with pallet or small parcel labels, Amazon typically separate shipments into cartons (boxes). Each carton must be labeled correctly to facilitate efficient receiving. Do not place barcodes with the product's product ID (UPC, EAN, GTIN, JAN, or ISBN) on a carton (case or master pack) unless that carton is the sellable ASIN. If only a product-level ID label is present, Amazon may incorrectly receive the carton as a single sellable unit, leading to a shortage claim.
Amazon accepts SSCC, AMZNCC, and Barcode Packing Slip (BPS) barcodes on cartons, as well as GTIN-14 barcodes in specific approved instances.
Numerical identifiers, including the PRO number, BOL shipment number, contained purchase orders, ASINs, and the shipment ID (ARN - for collect vendors only), are crucial for accurate receiving.
Amazon require clear barcodes to accurately count your products during receiving. Pallet labels should be placed on the outside of the plastic wrap, flat (not at an angle), on two sides of the pallet facing the forklift entry. Carton labels must be affixed to the side of the cartons, away from corners and seams. Implement a label audit process to ensure labels are free from wrinkles, rips, tears, smudges, lines, and other quality issues that could hinder scanning.
Before dispatching your shipment, remove any unnecessary barcodes or cover them with non-transparent blank stickers. Extra labels with unrelated barcodes can interfere with our ability to locate the correct barcode to scan, potentially leading to misidentification or miscounting of the products you shipped.
Ensure that every external shipping label contains all the information listed in the Shipping label requirements.
Improve ASN Compliance
An advance shipment notification (ASN) is a virtual alert to Amazon regarding your shipment contents and carrier tracking information prior to the arrival of your goods at a fulfillment center. ASNs are mandatory for every shipment, regardless of size or payment terms.
For optimal receiving accuracy, Amazon recommends generating an ASN once you have completed packaging your items, and before sending your shipment to Amazon.
To facilitate your delivery planning, Amazon must receive your ASN after your shipment leaves your facility but before it arrives at a fulfillment center. An ASN assists us in aligning our receiving records with the correct purchase order records.
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