Please note this is a channel-specific article only applicable to Amazon.


Problem

Product latency for my Amazon products is not correct on Amazon even though I have set it correctly in the Linnworks configuration.



Possible causes


1. There has not yet been a change in inventory levels.

If you have changed the Default Latency or Product Based Latency for the channel/item, then the update will in most cases be sent to the channel during the next inventory change for the items, since this data is sent together with inventory updates. 

If there have been no changes to the stock level, the update will not be sent until there is a change in inventory for the specific SKU.



2. Another value is taking priority.


  1. First Linnworks checks Product Based Latency. If this setting is enabled(Settings > Channel integration > Edit channel details > Inventory > Product Based Latency), and the respective Extended Property is added - Linnworks sends the value from the EP and sets the latency on a per SKU basis. If the EP is missing or the setting is disabled, Default Latency is checked.

  2. If Default Latency (Settings > Channel integration > Edit channel details > Inventory > Default Latency) is set above 0, the Default Latency value will be sent.

  3. If Default Latency is set to 0, Amazon default settings (normally 1-2 days) are applied.



3. Same SKUs on different marketplaces under the same Merchant ID


If it is the same Amazon (unified) account - same Merchant ID but different Marketplace IDs - and the SKUs match for different marketplaces, then Amazon interprets the latency information as valid for all channels/marketplaces when Linnworks sends it. 

This way, Amazon sets the latency information to be the same on each marketplace as a default behaviour on their end.


Here is an excerpt from the Amazon Marketplace Web Service Feeds API Section Reference:


Quantity is a global value in relationship with a SKU, so changes to stock levels are reflected in all marketplaces that the SKU is active in. If multiple inventory feeds are processed for the same SKU in different marketplaces, then the quantity of the last uploaded inventory feed from the seller reflects the global inventory level. Setting the item inventory level to 0 effectively sets the item quantity to 0 in all marketplaces and makes the item non-buyable. All listing information is still maintained in the system.


As the info on default latency is sent along with the inventory level feed, it gets overwritten as well.


To illustrate this issue, let us take a look at the following example:


A seller has one account on Amazon and sells on three different marketplaces – UK, DE, FR.

There are three integrations in Linnworks – all with the same Merchant ID, but with different Marketplace IDs. 

On inventory synchronization, Linnworks syncs these channels independently and in that same order - UK > DE > FR. 

Let us assume that there is a latency of 1 set for UK, a latency of 2 set for DE, and a latency of 3 set for FR. 


Since Linnworks sends stock level updates for the same SKU for all three different marketplaces in the order specified above, it will send a latency of 3 last (for the FR marketplace). This is the latency that will remain on all Amazon channels for the specified SKUs due to the way Amazon interprets it (see excerpt above for information from the Amazon API documentation).


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