Announcement reposted from Amazon USA:
We’ve launched a new Minimum Inventory Level metric to help FBA sellers plan inventory levels more effectively, improve delivery speeds, and help them to avoid the recently announced low-inventory-level fee.
We leverage advanced machine learning models to analyze demand forecasts and replenishment settings and recommend the minimum number of units per product that you should have on hand in our fulfillment centers.
Maintaining inventory above the Minimum Inventory Level helps you meet customer demand and offer faster delivery speeds as products can be distributed across local fulfillment centers closer to customers. Sellers who maintain units above the Minimum Inventory Level see a 15% increase in sales over a four-week period on average, though actual results may vary .
To view your Minimum Inventory Level metric, go to FBA Inventory.
The Minimum Inventory Level metric is an additional data point that helps you manage your FBA inventory and works alongside other important tools and metrics:
- Historical days of supply: Effective April 1, 2024, the low-inventory-level fee will apply when both the long-term historical days of supply (last 90 days) and short-term historical days of supply (last 30 days) are below 28 days (4 weeks). To view your historical days of supply, go to FBA Inventory.
- Inventory Performance Index (IPI): Efficient inventory management requires balancing inventory level so that it is not too much (excess) or too little (low or out of stock). Your IPI score reflects how well you reduce excess inventory, fix stranded listings, and improve sell through. Maintaining the Minimum Inventory Level will positively contribute to your IPI score. We’ll update the Inventory Performance dashboard in the coming weeks to reflect this change. To review your IPI score, go to the FBA Inventorydashboard or the Inventory Performance dashboard.
- Capacity limits: Your capacity limits are influenced by your IPI score, as well as other factors such as sales forecasts for your products, fulfillment center capacity, and shipment lead time. Your capacity limits will allow you to carry enough inventory to avoid the low-inventory-level fee, provided you don’t utilize your capacity to hold excess inventory. For more information, go to FBA capacity limits.
- Restock recommendations: Restock recommendations will continue to provide you with specific recommended ship-by dates and replenishment quantities for your next incoming shipments to help you maintain the Minimum Inventory Level. We’re working to bring restock recommendations to the FBA Inventory page for your convenience in the coming weeks.
For more information on how to manage your FBA inventory, go to FBA Inventory overview.