A Detailed Guide to Understanding Amazon Vendor Central Reports
As a vendor, it's vital to be as efficient as possible when selling to Amazon and also to understand your customer base. The best way to do this is to fully understand the metrics, and many of those metrics are available in reports that Amazon provides in Vendor Central.
These reports help you understand how much Amazon is taking off your bottom line for coop deductions, what products are your biggest competitors, and other key information.
This guide provides a basic breakdown of which reports are most important and how to access them because navigating Amazon Vendor Central reports can be a daunting task due to its myriad of metrics and data points. At Reason Automation, we excel at using sophisticated reporting tools to help our clients achieve their business goals. Through this article, we want to guide you on interpreting and leveraging Amazon Vendor Central's analytics effectively.
How to Access Vendor Central Reporting
To access the most useful reports from Amazon Vendor Central, log in to your dashboard and click on "Reports" from the main menu, and then click on "Analytics." Most brands should be set up as ARA (Amazon Retail Analytics) Premium, and if so you'll see the brand analytics logo pop up. If it's ARA Basic, the dashboard will say that, and that will mean there are limits on what the account has access to in terms of reports. So, for example, a Premium user can go back about a year and get more robust reports.
These reports are available to all users in Amazon Vendor Central and refresh daily, at midnight Pacific Time. They are also available for download into a .csv file for further detailed analysis.
Amazon Vendor Central Reports Categories
Amazon Seller Central datasets can be grouped into eight main categories: Retail Analytics, Sell-in Operations, Co-Op Invoices, Merchandising, Invoices, Remittance, Dispute Management, Direct Fulfillment. Understanding these datasets and performing specific analyses is crucial for Amazon vendors to optimize operations, improve customer satisfaction, and drive success on the platform.
To easily navigate this article, intended to help you learn more about each report group, reference the table of contents below:
Retail Analytics
Retail Analytics reports provide insights into your product performance and customer buying behavior. These reports help you track sales metrics, inventory levels, and forecast demand, allowing you to make data-driven decisions about stock management and marketing strategies.
Sell-in Operations
Sell-in Operations reports are essential for monitoring and managing purchase orders. They provide details on order status, quantities, and delivery schedules, ensuring you meet Amazon's expectations and maintain a steady supply chain flow.
Merchandising
Merchandising reports deliver data on product placement, promotions, and pricing. They are crucial for assessing the effectiveness of your merchandising strategies, helping you optimize product visibility and drive sales.
Invoices
Invoices reports provide comprehensive information on the invoices issued to Amazon for delivered products. These reports are vital for ensuring accurate billing, tracking payments, and reconciling accounts receivable.
Remittance
Remittance reports offer insights into the payments made by Amazon for your invoices. They help you monitor cash flow, verify payment accuracy, and manage financial planning effectively.
CoOp Invoices
CoOp Invoices reports focus on cooperative advertising agreements with Amazon. These reports help you understand the charges related to promotional activities and verify that the invoiced amounts align with the agreed terms.
Dispute Management
Dispute Management reports are used to track and resolve disputes with Amazon, such as invoice discrepancies or payment issues. These reports help streamline the resolution process, ensuring any disputes are handled promptly and accurately.
Direct Fulfillment
Direct Fulfillment reports provide data on orders fulfilled directly from your warehouse to the customer. They help you track order status, shipping performance, and compliance with Amazon’s fulfillment requirements, ensuring a smooth delivery process.
Understanding these report groupings allows you to access the precise information needed to enhance your vendor operations, streamline processes, and ultimately drive better business outcomes.
LEARNING ABOUT AMAZON Vendor CENTRAL REPORTS
As you read about each report available to Amazon Vendors, click on the name of the report that you wish to know more about. This will take you to the individual report page available at our Help Center, which gives you a more detailed look at the report schema, statistics and key metrics.
1. Vendor Retail Analytics
Retail Analytics Sales Report
The Retail Analytics Sales table contains a vendor’s point-of-sale metrics by item (ASIN) by day. It is the primary source of customer sales data for vendors. Use this table to create point-of-sale reporting that tracks units and revenue, both ordered and shipped. Key columns in this report include ASIN, Units Ordered, Shipped Revenue, and Shipped COGS (Cost of Goods Sold). The report is available at the daily, weekly and monthly level, allowing you to tailor the analysis to your specific time frame and business needs.
Retail Analytics Inventory Report
The Inventory Report helps you manage your stock levels effectively and is the main source for understanding sellable vs. unsellable inventory levels, aging, out of stock rates (Procurable OOS), and unhealthy inventory levels (as defined by Amazon). Important columns include ASIN, Vendor Confirmation Rate, Net Received Units, Open Purchase Order Quantity, Sellable On Hand Units, and Unsellable On Hand Units. This report is available at the daily, weekly and monthly level, providing a detailed overview of your inventory status and helping you plan replenishments accurately.
Retail Analytics Traffic Report
The Traffic Report provides insights into how customers are interacting with your products on Amazon. It includes metrics such as the number of page views, conversion rates, and the sources of traffic. Key columns include ASIN, Glance Views, and Distributor View. This report is available at the daily, weekly and monthly level, helping you understand customer behavior and optimize your marketing efforts.
Retail Analytics Net PPM Report
The Net PPM (Pure Profit Margin) Report helps you understand the profitability of your products. It provides data on profit margins and identifies areas where you can improve profitability. Important columns include ASIN, Net PPM, and Product Title. This report is available at the daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly level, enabling you to track and analyze profitability trends over time.
Retail Analytics Forecasting Report
The Forecasting Report assists in predicting future sales and inventory needs based on historical data. This report does not display the forecast for Amazon’s PO demand for you, rather it displays the forecasted customer demand for your products. It includes projections for sales volumes and inventory requirements. Key columns in this report include ASIN, P70 for Customer Demand for Week x, where x can equal 1 to 70, and Week x Mean Forecast, where x can equal 1 to 70. This report is available at the weekly level, helping you plan and prepare for future demand.
Product Catalog Report
The Product Catalog Report provides an overview of all your products listed on Amazon. It includes detailed information about each product, such as titles, descriptions, and pricing. Important columns include Parent ASIN, ASIN, Product Title, Brand Code, and Manufacturing Code. This report is available as a snapshot, helping you keep track of your product listings and ensure they are accurate and up-to-date.
2. Sell-in Operations
Purchase Orders Report
The Open and Confirmed Purchase Orders Report is essential for tracking the status of your purchase orders with Amazon. This report provides detailed information on all open and confirmed purchase orders, allowing you to monitor order progress and ensure timely fulfillment. Key columns include PO Number, ASIN, Availability Status, Condition, Quantity Ordered, Quantity Confirmed, and Expected Ship Date. This report is available at the daily level enabling you to keep a close watch on your order pipeline and address any potential delays promptly.
Shipments Report
The Shipments Report helps you monitor the status and details of your shipments to Amazon. It tracks what happens once an item ships, such as how many cartons are being sent, what carriers it is being sent with, and any other relevant data. The report covers shipments from the vendor to Amazon. It's only at a shipment level, so you won't get ASIN-level details with this report. Important columns include PO Number, ASN (Amazon Shipping Notification), ARN (Amazon Reference Number), Status, Date or Detail, Alert, and Ship To This report is available at the daily level, allowing you to verify shipment accuracy and address any discrepancies quickly.
Defect Report & Chargebacks
The Defect Report & Chargebacks is crucial for managing and reducing defects and chargebacks related to your shipments. It provides detailed information on any issues or non-compliance that resulted in chargebacks, helping you identify and rectify operational inefficiencies. Key columns include Days Late, Defect Rate, Within Threshold, Issue Type, and Financial Charge. This report is available as a snapshot, allowing you to review and analyze defect trends and implement corrective actions to minimize future chargebacks.
3. Merchandising
Vine Enrollments Report
The Vine Enrollments Report is essential for tracking the status and performance of products enrolled in the Amazon Vine program. This program allows trusted reviewers to post opinions about new or pre-release items to help other customers make informed purchasing decisions. Key columns include Available, Enrolled, Claimed, Vine Reviews, Max Cost of Units, Enrollment Fee, and Cost Per Claimed Unit. This report is available at the daily level, enabling you to monitor and manage your Vine enrollments effectively.
Promotion Performance Summary
The Promotion Performance Summary Report summarizes promotional performance run by your brand via Vendor Central. It provides aggregated data on various promotional activities, allowing you to assess their impact on sales and customer engagement. Important columns include Marketplace ID, Promotion Name, Units, Spend, and Revenue. This report is available at the daily level, helping you to refine and optimize your promotional strategies.
Promotions Performance Details
The Promotions Performance Details Report provides an in-depth analysis of individual promotional campaigns ran by your brand via Vendor Central. It offers detailed insights into the performance of each promotion, enabling you to identify what works best for your products. Key columns include Promotion Name, Marketplace ID, Agreement ID, Spend, Spend, and Revenue. This report is available at the daily level, allowing for a granular analysis of your promotional efforts.
Coupon Performance Summary
The Coupon Performance Summary Report tracks the effectiveness of coupon campaigns ran by your brand via Vendor Central. It provides a summary of how each coupon has performed, helping you understand their impact on sales and customer acquisition. Important columns include Coupon ID, Total Discount, Clips, Budget Spent, and Sales. This report is available at the daily level, offering a broad view of your coupon campaigns' performance.
Coupon Performance ASINs
The Coupon Performance ASINs Report focuses on the performance of coupons at the product level. It provides detailed data on how each ASIN has performed in relation to coupon usage, helping you identify which products benefit most from coupon promotions. Key columns include Campaign ID, Discount, and ASIN. This report is available at a the daily level, allowing you to tailor your coupon strategies for individual products.
Subscribe and Save Summary
The Subscribe and Save Summary Report provides insights into the performance of your Subscribe and Save program. The report includes details such as the amount of active subscriptions, the revenue generated, and the amount of units that were not delivered because the ASINs were out of stock. Important columns include Marketplace ID, Program Type, Total Subscriptions Revenue, Subscriber Average Revenue, and Non-Subscriber Average Revenue. This report is available at the weekly level, helping you manage and optimize your subscription program.
Subscribe and Save ASIN Detail
The Subscribe and Save ASIN Detail Report offers a detailed analysis of subscription performance at the product level. It provides insights into how individual ASINs are performing within the Subscribe and Save program. Key columns include Subscriber Average Revenue, Non-Subscriber Average Revenue, Total Subscriptions Revenue, Revenue Penetration, Marketplace ID, and Program Type. This report is available at the weekly level, enabling you to identify high-performing subscription products and address any issues with low-performing ones.
4. Invoices
Invoices Summary Report
The Invoices Summary Report is essential for providing a high-level overview of all invoices issued by your brand to Amazon via Vendor Central. This report aggregates data on all issued invoices, allowing you to quickly assess your overall financial status. Key columns include Invoice Date, Payment Due Date, Invoice Status, Payee, Invoice Creation Date, Invoice Number, Actual Paid Amount, Invoice Amount, and Any Deductions. This report is available at the daily level, providing a broad overview of your invoicing activities and helping you manage your cash flow efficiently.
Invoices Details Report
The Invoices Details Report offers a more granular view on any invoice issued by your brand to Amazon via Vendor Central. This report is crucial for auditing purposes and ensuring the accuracy of each charge. Important columns include Quantity, Quantity Received, Unit Cost, Amount Received, Shortage Quantity, and Shortage Amount. This report is available at the daily level, enabling you to conduct detailed audits and verify each charge on your invoices.
5. Remittance
Invoices Payments Report
After Amazon orders products, the brand ships the product and Amazon receives it, and then the vendor invoices Amazon. This report shows the actual payments onto that invoice. This report is useful to accounting teams to track whether invoices have been paid or not. They can match up payments to the corresponding order IDs to ensure everything has been paid and accounted for. Key columns include Amount in Invoice Currency, Amount in Payment Currency, and Payment Status. This report is updated daily.
Paid Invoices
This report contains paid invoices the brand has sent to Amazon. In theory, the invoices and payments should line up at some point, although there is a lag between them for obvious reasons. Invoices will always come before payments. Invoices may differ from payments. This is because Amazon may deduct things before they pay, such as promotions, chargebacks, and co-op agreements. As a result, an invoice for $1,000 may only result in a payment of $500 once everything is deducted. Like Payments, this report is primarily useful to accounting teams. Important columns include Invoice Amount, Amount in Payment Currency, Amount Paid, and Remaining Amount. This report is updated daily.
6. CoOp Invoices
CoOp Invoices Report
The CoOp Invoices Report is essential for tracking all cooperative marketing fund transactions. This report provides a detailed overview of the charges and credits applied to your account under the CoOp program. Key columns include Invoice ID, Original Balance, Agreement ID, Original Balance, and Funding Type. This report is available at the daily level, enabling you to review and reconcile CoOp fund transactions accurately.
CoOp Invoice Details - Customer Shipments
The CoOp Invoice Details - Customer Shipments Report details deductions made for promotional based discounts based on customer orders (i.e. VPC's). It provides insights into the specific costs associated with each shipment, ensuring transparency and accuracy in billing. Important columns include Invoice Date, Invoice ID, Agreement ID, Net Sales, Cost Type, and Order Country. This report is available at the weekly level, allowing you to track and verify shipment-related expenses.
CoOp Invoice Details - Distributor Shipments
This report is closely related to Distributor Returns & Distributor Shipments. Together, these three reports detail the inventory that Amazon is buying, and the deductions of related accrual agreements, trade agreements, and damage allowances. Distributor shipments specifically relate to inventory Amazon has received from a vendor. It includes information on the quantity and cost of items shipped, helping you manage distributor relationships and inventory levels. Key columns include Invoice Date, Invoice ID, Agreement ID, Net Receipts, List Price, Agreement Currency, Purchase Order, and Cost Variance. This report is available at the weekly level, enabling you to monitor and optimize distributor shipments.
CoOp Invoice Details - Distributor Returns
This report is closely related to Distributor Returns & Distributor Shipments. Together, these three reports detail the inventory that Amazon is buying, and the deductions of related accrual agreements, trade agreements, and damage allowances. Distributor returns specifically relate to inventory Amazon has returned back to the vendor.. Important columns include Net Receipts, List Price, Agreement Currency, Purchase Order, and Cost Variance This report is available at the weekly level, allowing you to analyze return trends and address any issues with distributors.
CoOp Invoice Details - Distributor Cost Variances
The CoOp Invoice Details - Distributor Cost Variances Report provides information on discrepancies in costs on an invoice vs. what was found on the original purchase order. It helps you identify discrepancies between expected and actual costs, ensuring accurate financial reporting. Key columns include Net Receipts, List Price, Agreement Currency, Purchase Order, and Cost Variance. This report is available at the weekly level, enabling you to track and resolve cost variances efficiently.
CoOp Invoice Details - Coupon Clip Fees
The CoOp Invoice Details - Coupon Clip Fees Report tracks the fees associated with coupon promotions. It contains a subset of Vendor Powered Coupon (VPC) information and provides a detailed breakdown of the costs incurred for each coupon campaign, helping you manage promotional expenses. Important columns include Promotion Description, Clipped Coupons, and Total Clip Fee. This report is available at the weekly level, allowing you to analyze the effectiveness and costs of coupon promotions.
CoOp Invoice Details - Coupon Redemption Fees
The CoOp Invoice Details - Coupon Redemption Fees Report provides insights into the costs associated with the redemption of coupons. It contains a subset of Vendor Powered Coupon (VPC) information and tracks the financial impact of each redeemed coupon, offering transparency in promotional expenses. Key columns include Promotion Description, Coupon Face Value, and Redemption Fee. This report is available at the weekly level, allowing you to manage and review the financial effectiveness of your coupon campaigns.
7. Dispute Management
Dispute Management Summary Report
The Dispute Management Summary Report tracks at a summary level all disputes regarding deductions Amazon makes on an invoice by dispute status. This report aggregates data on all open and closed disputes, allowing you to quickly assess the overall status of your dispute management efforts. Key columns include Dispute ID, Dispute Type, Dispute Date, and Dispute Reason. This report is available at the daily level, providing a broad overview of your dispute activities and helping you prioritize and manage your dispute resolution processes efficiently.
Dispute Management Details Report
The Dispute Management Details Report offers a more granular view of each dispute, providing detailed information about the nature and progress of each case. This report is crucial for auditing purposes and ensuring that each dispute is handled appropriately and resolved promptly. Important columns include Dispute ID, Invoice Number, PO, ASIN, Invoiced Quantity, Invoiced Amount, Shortage Quantity, Shortage Amount, Dispute Quantity, Dispute Amount, Resolved Amount, and Approved Quantity. This report is available at the daily level, enabling you to conduct detailed audits and track the progress of each dispute comprehensively.
8. Direct Fulfillment
Operational Performance Report
The Operational Performance Report provides a summary of the percentage of deliveries across each order processing speed band for a selected date range. Key columns include Lead Time, Units Shipped, Shipments Shipped, and Cancellation Rate. This report is available at the daily level, allowing you to monitor and optimize your operational performance continuously.
Performance Summary Report
The Performance Summary Report provides a summary of performance again the lead-time metrics for a selected date range and the current Guaranteed Delivery status. Important columns include Date, Period, Shipments, Carrier First Scan, Percent of Orders Shipped by the Expected Ship Date, and Delivery Success Rate. This report is available at the daily level, helping you assess and improve your overall fulfillment strategy.
Order Processing Summary Report
The Order Processing Summary Report offers detailed information about the processing status of your orders based on the actual time-to-ship and time-to-Carrier First Scan. This report helps you track the progress of each order from receipt to shipment, ensuring timely and accurate fulfillment. Key columns include Deliveries, Percent of Packages with Guaranteed Delivery Messaging This report is available at the daily level, providing a detailed view of your order processing workflow and helping you identify and address bottlenecks.
Defect Report & Chargebacks - Direct Fulfillment
The Defect Report & Chargebacks for Direct Fulfillment is crucial for managing and reducing defects and chargebacks related to your fulfillment operations. This report provides detailed information on any issues or non-compliance that resulted in chargebacks, helping you identify and rectify operational inefficiencies. Important columns include Issue Type, Notes, Status, Has Performance Impact. This report is available as a snapshot, allowing you to review and analyze defect trends and implement corrective actions to minimize future chargebacks.
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Turn Amazon Data Into a Strategic Asset
The breadth of Amazon sales, marketing, and supply chain data lets brands find patterns and insights to optimize their Amazon business and other e-commerce channels. But only if you have a plan for extracting the data from Amazon systems, storing it, and preparing it for analysis.
This guide will help you take ownership of your Amazon data—by preparing your business for a data-driven future, and analyzing the most common methods for extraction, automation, storage, and management.
