Vendor Retail Procurement FAQ
Frequently asked questions about the SP-API Vendor Retail Procurement API.
Can a purchase order be modified after it is created?
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Yes, when there is a requirement change, Amazon can change purchase order data after order creation. Vendors can use the getPurchaseOrders
API with 'isPOChanged=true' to get updated orders. If Amazon changes a purchase order, the order will have a 'purchaseOrderChangedDate' field that indicates the timestamp for the order update. If this field does not exist, the order has not changed since creation.
Can a purchase order be modified after it is acknowledged?
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Yes, Amazon can change the purchase order after a vendor has acknowledged it. Please refer to Order changes and cancellation for details.
What is the best way to view canceled items in a purchase order?
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The getPurchaseOrders
API can be used to return orders with one or more canceled items. To do so, filter results with poItemState=Cancelled
. This returns all orders containing one or more items canceled by Amazon after purchase order creation.
Are backorders allowed for all items?
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No, the backorder policy is determined by your Amazon business representative. Read the value in the isBackOrderAllowed
field in the getPurchaseOrders
API response to determine whether a backorder is allowed. When the value is "true", the order can be processed as a backorder. When the value is "false", backorders are not allowed.
Can vendors increase the original quantity submitted in the purchase order using the Order Acknowledgment API?
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No, Amazon does not allow vendors to send a higher quantity in the order acknowledgment than what was submitted in the purchase order. However, vendors can confirm lesser quantity than what was submitted in the purchase order.
Is it a requirement to send an order acknowledgment for each purchase order?
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Yes, order acknowledgments must be sent in order to successfully update the status of an order in the Amazon system. Amazon requires purchase order confirmation using the API or Vendor Central. If you are unable to meet Amazon order acknowledgement requirements using the API, you must confirm your purchase orders using Vendor Central. Please contact your Amazon business representative if you do not have a Vendor Central account.
Is it a requirement to provide every purchase order line item in the corresponding order acknowledgment?
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Yes, every purchase order line item must be provided so Amazon can update the order status correctly.
If a line item is placed on backorder, is it required to provide the quantity in the order acknowledgement?
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Yes, provide the quantity so that the Amazon system can update the status of the line item correctly.
How should I handle receipt of invalid items?
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Do not process or ship an item that arrived with an invalid item number on the order. Please return the invalid item number on the order acknowledgement and acknowledge it as "invalid". Use the acknowledge code “Rejected” with appropriate rejection reason.
Do I need to return the same product identifier in the order acknowledgment that I received in the orders transaction?
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Yes, acknowledgments must return the exact same product identifier that was sent in the purchase order.
Is it a requirement to provide the unit price in the order acknowledgement?
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Yes, vendors are required to return the unit cost price in the order acknowledgement. The cost price should match the unit cost price that will be invoiced. Book vendors are required to provide a list price and discount multiplier. Note that the price cannot be higher than the price submitted in the purchase order.Can the price from the purchase order be returned on the order acknowledgment?
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Amazon requires the cost price to be included in the order acknowledgement. Make sure to check that the cost price submitted on the order acknowledgement matches the cost price that will be invoiced. Amazon payment systems will compare the two and might delay payment if they do not match.Is it required to provide price data for items on backorder?
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Yes, this is required so Amazon can update the status of the order correctly. If the price is omitted, the order acknowledgement will be rejected by the system.Is it required to provide an acknowledgement code for all line items regardless of status?
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Yes, it is required so we can correctly update the status of the order. If you omit the acknowledgment code, the acknowledgment will be rejected by the system.
What is Amazon's policy on partial shipments? How should partial shipments be reported when submitting an order acknowledgement?
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Partial shipments are allowed. Amazon recommends that you indicate one acknowledgement loop using the code "accepted" with the corresponding date and another acknowledgement loop using the code "backordered" and the corresponding date.
Accepted: For items that you can fulfill immediately.
Backordered: For the remaining quantity that you cannot fulfill immediately. The remaining quantity (ordered quantity minus all confirmed quantity) will be delivered later (backordered).
When should I use the listPrice
segment?
listPrice
segment?Select to expand the answer
The listPrice
segment is only required if a vendor sells books with a list price.
How do I get all purchase orders that the vendor rejected?
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Use the getPurchaseOrdersStatus
operation with filter itemConfirmationStatus=REJECTED
. The response returns all orders that have one or more items with the status "rejected".
How do I get order and acknowledgement history?
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The getPurchaseOrdersStatus
operation provides the order history in the orderedQuantityDetails
field and acknowledgment history in acknowledgementStatusDetails
field in the response.
What are partially accepted orders?
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The "PARTIALLY_ACCEPTED" status means that the vendor has accepted some items and rejected other items in the purchase order. Backordered items are considered as accepted.
How do I get the received status and received quantity by Amazon?
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Use the receivingStatus
field in the getPurchaseOrdersStatus
response to get the Amazon fulfillment center received status and received quantity.
How do I correct a shipment confirmation that has already been submitted?
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Shipment confirmations where the shipmentConfirmationType
is "Replace" let vendors correct previously submitted shipment confirmations by sending an updated version. A second shipment confirmation call will completely overwrite the first shipment confirmation data provided the shipmentIdentifier
and sellingParty
→partyId
is identical for both transactions.
Can I increase the shipped quantity in the second shipment confirmation?
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No, pallet, carton, and shipped quantity cannot be increased but can be reduced. In order to increase volumes, you need to send a second shipment confirmation with a new shipmentIdentifier
. You can use the same Bill of Lading Number (BOL) reference if the additional units are to be delivered with the same shipment.
How I can verify that a shipment confirmation was successfully submitted?
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Vendors can verify the status of their original or replaced shipment confirmations via "Vendor Central >Orders> Shipments" or by using the Transaction Status API. Allow up to 30 min after submission for the system to show the original version or replaced version.
Is there a limit to the number of shipment confirmations?
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Yes, there is a limit of 100 shipment confirmations for every truckload shipment. This means you can only send a separate shipment confirmation at the PO level or carton level if the total number of individual shipment confirmations is less than or equal to 100 for that truckload (TL) or less than a truck load (LTL) shipment. Amazon recommends that you send a single shipment confirmation for the entire TL/LTL shipment, including all PO and carton details.How can I verify that invoices were successfully submitted?
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Vendors can verify the actual status of the original version or updated version of the invoices via "Vendor Central > Payments > Invoices". Allow up to 30 min after submission for the system to show the original version or replaced version.
Can invoice numbers be reused?
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No, each invoice number must be unique and they should never be reused (even after one year).What action should I take when the invoice fails due to incorrect data?
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If an invoice sent by API fails due to incorrect data, but a paper invoice has the correct data, then the vendor should update the information through the API using the correct data and the same Invoice ID.
If an invoice has incorrect data on both paper and API, cancel the invoice and send a new invoice with a new Invoice ID. Refer to business requirements for more details.
What is a credit note and how does it work?
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The SubmitInvoices operation allows vendors to send credit notes to Amazon. A credit note lists the products, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services that the vendor provided to Amazon and Amazon returned or did not receive. It can be issued in the case of damaged goods or errors in price where allowances or rebates are agreed on beforehand between Amazon and the vendor. Note: The credit note is not supported in all marketplaces.
How can I transition to use the Submit Invoices API for payment processing?
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Vendors need to complete parallel testing with our payments system before they can start using the SubmitInvoices operation for payment processing. When vendors begin sending their invoices using the API, the parallel testing phase begins.
During the parallel testing phase, vendors send both paper and API invoices for all orders shipped. Vendors are required to parallel test until the content of at least five to 10 invoice files are validated. Parallel testing is conducted with production POs and invoices. The Amazon team will contact you when parallel testing is complete or if there are any content discrepancies in your invoices.
When a vendor receives an email saying parallel testing is complete, they no longer need to send paper invoices. From that moment on they can process their payments by sending their invoices using the API.
Need more help?
For additional support, contact Selling Partner API Developer Support. For vendor applications, submit a support case in Vendor Central by navigating to Vendor Central > Support > Contact Us > API Integration.
Updated about 1 month ago