Key Points:

• Valid tracking numbers are an essential part of providing a high-quality customer experience. Customers rely on tracking numbers to see status updates on their orders.
• The Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) metric is used to assess how consistent a seller is at providing accurate and valid tracking numbers.
• Seller Requirement: Sellers must maintain a VTR equal to or greater than 95%.
• You can check VTR performance on your Fulfillment Analytics page in Seller Center.

Overview

Your Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) is a core fulfillment metric which shows how consistently you're providing the right tracking information. Providing a valid tracking number helps customers get real-time updates about their order status and expected delivery dates.
Per our Fulfillment Policy, all sellers are required to maintain a VTR greater than or equal to 95%.

What Makes a Tracking Number Valid?

It's the seller's responsibility to be in touch with their carriers to ensure packages get the required scans.

How Valid Tracking Rate Impacts Your Shop

VTR is one of the core four metrics used to evaluate a shop's fulfillment performance and shop health. The four core performance metrics, based on TikTok Shop's Fulfillment Policy, are:

• Valid Tracking Rate (VTR)
• Late Dispatch Rate (LDR)
• On-Time Delivery Rate (OTDR)
• Seller-Fault Cancellation Rate (SFCR)

Invalid or incorrect tracking numbers can prevent customers from monitoring their deliveries and receiving status updates, which can negatively impact the overall customer experience.

Enforcements

When a shop's VTR does not meet the policy expectations of equal to or greater than 95%, enforcement actions will be imposed. Under the Seller Enforcement Policy, these violations can include, but are not limited to, Account Health Rating (AHR) point deductions, decreased visibility, or restrictions on Seller Shipping privileges.
Additionally, the more VTR violations a shop gets, the more strict the enforcement actions imposed will become.

How Valid Tracking Rate Is Calculated

Valid Tracking Rate = Number of shipped packages with valid tracking numbers / Total number of packages shipped multiplied by 100.

Example:

If a shop wanted to check their VTR on August 25th, they would need to look at the total number of packages marked as shipped between August 4th to August 11th. The time window is designed to account for carrier scan delays and possible transit delays.

• Total Number = 1000

Next, they would check how many of these packages had tracking number issues:

• Number of packages with tracking number issues = 70

They would then use the formula above to calculate:

1. 1000-70 = 930
2. 930/1000 = 0.93
3. 0.93 x 100 = 93

Valid Tracking Rate = 93%
If you believe your VTR is inaccurate, you can request an appeal. However, before doing so, go to the violation ticket in Seller Center and download your order records for review. See the What if I believe my VTR is inaccurate? section in the FAQs to learn how to do this.

VTR Appeals

A VTR enforcement can be appealed based on the following rules:

• Each VTR enforcement can only be appealed twice.
• Initial appeal must be submitted within 30 days of the enforcement message. If the first appeal is unsuccessful, the second appeal must be submitted within 15 days of initial appeal rejection.
• A VTR enforcement will remain on your account record for 90 days (if not appealed or unsuccessfully appealed).

Before submitting the appeal, you can download the list of flagged orders from the violation ticket and investigate each to identify the root cause. This will help you determine the appropriate evidence to submit for the appeal.
You will then need to prepare the required evidence (outlined below in the Appeal Requirements section) for each of the Order IDs that were incorrectly flagged as invalid tracking.

Appeal Scenarios

A VTR violation can be appealed only in the following scenarios:

1. The customer has directly confirmed to the seller that the order has been received.
2. A logistics integration error occurred and TikTok Shop mistakenly issued a violation.

Appeal Requirements

To successfully appeal a VTR violation, you will need to provide the documentation listed below. Before submitting an appeal, audit your orders to identify which order IDs were flagged as having invalid tracking numbers.
If you can confirm an inaccuracy, submit the following in your appeal.
Delivery confirmation:

1. Provide an authentic screenshot of the customer confirming in writing that they received their order.
2. Provide an authentic image of delivery confirmation from the logistics service provider.

Logistics integration error: Provide an authentic screenshot of the order being processed on the third-party platform and of the TikTok Shop platform labeling the tracker number invalid. This image should also contain the error message showing tracking ID sync issues etc.

How to See Your Valid Tracking Rate (VTR)

1. Click on Analytics

2. Click on the Post purchase tab
3. Then click on the Fulfillment tab

Want to see your shop's VTR? Click here to go straight to your Fulfillment Analytics page in Seller Center. To learn more about your Fulfillment Analytics page, you can refer to our Guide to Fulfillment Analytics Page article.

Best Practices for Improving Your Valid Tracking Rate

To set yourself up for tracking number consistency and success, here are some best practices to follow.

1. Always double-check that the customer address matches the address on the shipping label.
2. Keep track of your orders and review them to make sure they have at least 2 valid carrier scans*.
   1. Arrival at the carrier facility
   2. Delivery or attempted delivery scan
   3. Carrier provided scans indicating a package has been damaged or lost in transit will also count towards the required two scans
3. Always verify that each package has its own unique tracking number. Find a system that works for you, whether it is keeping a spreadsheet or creating a checklist.
4. You can also consider using TikTok Shipping or Fulfilled by TikTok (FBT). These TikTok Shop programs ensure that your orders always have valid tracking numbers.

For additional information, please refer to the Adding and Verifying the Tracking Information section in the Customer Order Shipping policy.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What makes a tracking number invalid?

1. Mismatched addresses (customer address does not match the address associated with the shipping label)
2. Packages that have duplicate tracking status.
3. Recycled tracking numbers, which means tracking numbers that are used for multiple different orders for different customers
4. Packages that are marked as delivered to wrong addresses due to fulfillment issues are invalid.
5. Incomplete scans due to fake tracking numbers
6. Long-tail orders (orders delayed for a long time that don't have any carrier scans during package handover, transit scans, or final status scans)
7. Delivery status updates that show the location of the package in random spots across the country.

What if I believe my VTR is inaccurate?

When you review the ticket for a VTR violation, you will see the option to appeal.
Before submitting the appeal, TikTok Shop will direct you to download a list of all the tracking numbers submitted within the designated time period. Be sure to download the list and identify the orders that were flagged as having tracking number issues.
You will then need to prepare the required evidence (outlined above in the Appeal Requirements section) for each of the tracking numbers that were incorrectly flagged as invalid.

What if I entered the tracking number incorrectly?

Sellers can correct or update tracking and shipping information if a mistake is made. However, sellers can only make a one-time edit themselves prior to the order being marked as "Delivered".
If further changes are needed, a support ticket must be submitted within 30 days of the order date. Support requests must include original and new tracking numbers and/or carrier names.

Does VTR affect a shop's Account Health Rating (AHR) or Shop Performance Score (SPS)?

Your VTR will affect your AHR. VTR violations will lead to deductions in points for your account health. However, your VTR will not impact your SPS score.
Aside from impacting your AHR, continued VTR violations will lead to, but is not limited to, decreased visibility, or restrictions on Seller Shipping privileges.

My recent orders are good. Why is my VTR low?

The VTR metric evaluates packages that have been marked shipped in the previous 14 to 21 days from the current date. Therefore, if you previously had valid tracking number issues, you may need to wait a week or two for your VTR to reflect the most recent orders.

My orders have all the tracking scans. Why is my VTR low?

Just because all orders have tracking scans, it does not mean that you've met all the required criteria for a tracking number to be valid. For a tracking number to be considered valid, it will need to meet these requirements:

1. It has at least two valid scans for the carrier (including delivery or attempted delivery scans). Packages that are marked as lost, damaged in transit, or undeliverable are also valid scans.
2. The delivery address tied to the tracking number matches the customer's shipping address
3. It has not been duplicated, which means that it cannot be assigned to more than one order or to an order for a different customer
4. The carrier's timestamps are consistent and accurate (for example, the pickup timestamp does not appear before the order creation timestamp).

To identify what caused the tracking number to be invalid, investigate the issue at the order-level and ensure packages are delivered to the right customers with proper carrier scans.
NOTE: Cross-border tracking updates are not supported on the US platform.

How can I improve my VTR?

Consider changing your shipping provider or carrier. Additionally, if you use third party integrators for order fulfillment, investigate tracking ID integration issues. Furthermore, you can explore adopting Ship By TikTok or FBT. We don't evaluate VTR for these fulfillment modes.