Amazon is introducing stricter delivery-performance requirements for merchants that fulfill customer orders through their own warehouses and logistics partners.
The changes affect sellers using Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) across several major European Amazon marketplaces. New requirements cover on-time delivery performance, handling-time settings, deliveries to business customers, and customs documentation for cross-border shipments.
For independent merchants, brands, and fulfillment providers, the message is clear: seller-fulfilled operations will increasingly be judged against delivery standards more closely aligned with Amazon’s own logistics network.
Under Fulfilled by Merchant, the seller remains responsible for storing inventory, processing orders, packaging products, selecting carriers and delivering parcels to customers.
This differs from Fulfillment by Amazon, or FBA, where inventory is stored in Amazon fulfillment centers, and Amazon manages most of the fulfillment process.
FBM gives merchants more direct control over inventory and logistics. It can be particularly useful for businesses selling bulky goods, specialized products, low-volume inventory, made-to-order products or merchandise already stored in their own European warehouses.
However, it also means that the seller is responsible for meeting the delivery promise displayed to the customer.
Amazon is now tightening the way it measures and enforces that responsibility.
From 15 July 2026, Amazon expects FBM sellers in Germany to maintain an On-Time Delivery Rate of at least 90 percent.
The requirement measures the percentage of seller-fulfilled units delivered on or before the “Deliver by” date communicated to the customer.
From 1 September 2026, Amazon may deactivate affected listings if sellers fail to meet the policy requirements. Sellers could also lose the ability to create new FBM offers. Similar changes have been introduced in France, Italy and Spain.
The United Kingdom already has a minimum OTDR requirement of 90 percent for seller-fulfilled orders, which took effect in September 2025. Amazon is now adding further operational rules for handling times and Amazon Business deliveries in the UK.
Although a 90 percent threshold still allows one in ten orders to arrive late, sellers should not treat it as a comfortable operating target. Seasonal peaks, carrier disruptions, weather events or incorrect delivery scans could quickly pull a seller below the minimum.
Merchants will therefore need to consistently operate above the threshold rather than aim to meet it exactly.
Amazon’s enforcement can affect individual seller-fulfilled listings rather than immediately disabling an entire FBM catalog.
Listings that contribute most to a seller’s OTDR decline may be temporarily deactivated. Repeated or significant performance failures could potentially result in broader restrictions on the seller’s ability to offer merchant-fulfilled products.
This listing-level approach may reduce the impact of an isolated logistics problem across an entire account. However, it also creates a direct connection between carrier performance and product availability.
A poorly performing delivery route, fulfillment location, carrier service or group of SKUs could cause specific offers to disappear from the marketplace.
For merchants, the consequences go beyond account health. Listing deactivation can interrupt sales momentum, reduce visibility, affect advertising campaigns and push customers towards competing offers.
Amazon is not only measuring whether orders arrive on time. The marketplace is also reviewing whether sellers are setting delivery promises that accurately reflect their real fulfillment performance.
In the United Kingdom, Amazon stated that 90 percent of FBM orders already dispatch within one day. From 15 July 2026, the account-level default handling time setting will therefore be limited to 0 or 1 day.
Accounts with a default handling time of 2 days will automatically be changed to 1 day. Sellers will still be able to configure longer handling times for individual SKUs where required.
A further change will take effect from 1 September 2026. When a SKU’s configured handling time remains at least one day longer than the seller’s actual performance for more than 30 days, Amazon may activate Automated Handling Time for that product.
The system will then use the seller’s historical fulfillment data to create a faster delivery promise.
Amazon argues that more accurate and competitive delivery dates can improve conversion. From the merchant’s perspective, however, the policy reduces the ability to add operational buffers to account for exceptional circumstances.
This could be particularly challenging for small businesses, handmade sellers, made-to-order brands and merchants whose order-processing capacity varies significantly during busy periods.
Amazon is also introducing a dedicated delivery-performance metric for orders placed by business customers.
From 30 September 2026, FBM sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom are expected to maintain a Business Hour Delivery Rate of at least 90 percent.
The metric measures the percentage of Amazon Business shipments delivered during the customer’s stated operating hours.
From 30 October 2026, non-compliant listings may be deactivated for business customers if the seller remains below the required level.
This requirement is intended to reduce unsuccessful delivery attempts and prevent parcels from arriving when commercial premises are closed.
However, sellers may face complications when business addresses are also residential properties, when opening-hour data is inaccurate or when carriers complete deliveries outside the expected time window despite successfully handing the parcel to the customer.
The change makes carrier selection especially important for B2B sellers. A service that performs well for residential delivery may not necessarily offer the scheduling precision required for offices, shops, warehouses and industrial premises.
Amazon’s updated FBM rules also address shipments entering the European Union from outside the bloc.
For eligible consignments valued at no more than €150 and imported under the Import One-Stop Shop system, sellers are expected to use approved carriers that can provide the required customs documentation.
Merchants must provide the carrier with Amazon’s IOSS number and the relevant ASIN details for each product in the shipment.
This creates another layer of operational responsibility for UK and other non-EU sellers shipping directly to EU customers.
A parcel may be dispatched on time but still miss its customer delivery promise due to incorrect customs data, an unsupported carrier, incomplete product information, or a clearance delay.
Cross-border merchants must therefore manage customs compliance and delivery performance as part of the same process.
Amazon says the changes are intended to provide more accurate delivery promises, improve conversion, ensure reliable deliveries to business customers and facilitate smoother customs clearance.
The broader strategic objective is consistency. Customers generally see Amazon as a single shopping environment, regardless of whether an order is fulfilled by Amazon or shipped by an independent seller. A delayed FBM delivery, therefore, affects the broader customer perception of the marketplace.
By tightening handling time and delivery requirements, Amazon is attempting to make the customer experience less dependent on the fulfillment method for each offer.
The policy also encourages sellers to adopt more of Amazon’s fulfillment and shipping technology.
Amazon recommends tools including Automated Handling Time, Shipping Settings Automation and Amazon Buy Shipping. In some cases, orders that use Amazon’s approved combination of tools may be excluded from certain delivery performance calculations.
This gives merchants a potential route to better delivery estimates and greater policy protection. At the same time, it increases their reliance on Amazon’s logistics ecosystem.
The new rules could have a disproportionate impact on merchants that fulfill orders across borders from a central European warehouse.
Domestic deliveries are generally easier to predict. Cross-border parcels pass through more carrier hubs, may involve handovers between logistics companies and can be affected by different weekend schedules, public holidays and regional delivery practices.
A seller dispatching from Poland, the Netherlands or the Czech Republic to customers in Germany, France, Spain and Italy may therefore need different shipping templates and transit-time settings for each destination.
Using one general European delivery promise may no longer provide sufficient accuracy.
Merchants shipping from outside the EU face even greater risk because customs clearance becomes part of the delivery-performance calculation from the customer’s perspective.
The changes could encourage more sellers to:
For fulfillment providers, the policy creates an opportunity to differentiate through accurate delivery data, carrier management and marketplace integration.
The first step is to review the On-Time Delivery Rate in Amazon’s Account Health Dashboard and identify which products, shipping lanes or carriers are responsible for late deliveries.
Sellers should then compare their configured handling and transit times with actual operational performance.
Setting unrealistically fast delivery promises increases the risk of failing to meet the OTDR requirement. Setting them too conservatively may trigger Amazon’s automated handling-time adjustments.
The objective should be accuracy rather than simply speed.
Merchants should also verify that carrier tracking is uploaded correctly and that delivery scans are recognized by Amazon. A parcel that reaches the customer on time may still be recorded incorrectly when tracking information is incomplete, delayed or incompatible with Amazon’s systems.
Cross-border sellers should review every shipping route separately. Carrier performance from Germany to France may differ considerably from performance on shipments to Spain or Italy.
Amazon Business merchants should confirm whether their carriers can consistently deliver during commercial operating hours and provide reliable proof of delivery.
Finally, sellers importing low-value parcels into the EU should verify their IOSS processes, courier eligibility and product-level customs data before dispatch.
The updated requirements may make FBA more attractive for products that require fast, predictable delivery.
Under FBA, Amazon manages storage, picking, packing and delivery. The merchant is therefore not directly responsible for the same seller-fulfilled OTDR requirement.
However, FBA is not automatically the right choice for every product.
Storage fees, inbound transport, inventory allocation, long-term storage costs and product restrictions can make merchant fulfillment more economical for certain categories.
Many brands may adopt a hybrid approach instead. Fast-moving products can be placed in Amazon’s fulfillment network, while slower, bulky or specialized items remain under FBM.
The decision will increasingly depend not only on fulfillment cost, but also on whether the seller’s own logistics network can reliably satisfy Amazon’s performance metrics.
Amazon’s latest FBM changes show that delivery performance is no longer merely a customer service indicator.
It is becoming a condition for maintaining visibility in the marketplace. For European merchants, particularly those operating across borders, accurate handling times, reliable carriers, valid tracking and correct customs documentation are now directly linked to whether products remain available for sale.
Sellers who can provide dependable and transparent fulfillment will continue to benefit from the control FBM offers.
Those relying on inconsistent carriers, broad delivery estimates or manual logistics processes face a growing risk of listing restrictions and lost sales.
The central challenge is therefore not necessarily delivering every order faster. It is delivering each order when the marketplace has promised it will arrive.
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