Measurement
Ordered versus shipped Amazon sales: reconciling the gap
Why Seller Central and finance systems disagree, and how to report Amazon growth without mixing stages of the order cycle.
The short version: protect buyability, stock and contribution first; make each material action measurable; and keep the commercial decision connected to the evidence.
The numbers describe different moments
Seller Central Business Reports typically describe ordered sales. Finance or EPOS systems often describe dispatched, settled or realised sales. An order placed late in the week may appear immediately in one source and later in another.
That timing difference is not automatically a data error. The mistake is presenting both figures as if they measure the same stage.
Report both, then explain the bridge
Use ordered sales for current demand and trading pace. Use shipped or realised sales for the commercial close, contribution and cash interpretation. Show the difference explicitly and note incomplete fulfilment, cancellations, refunds or reporting lag.
Do not force a false reconciliation before the order cycle is complete. Label the current figure provisional and refresh it at the agreed close.
Why the distinction matters
If an agency claims growth from ordered sales while contribution is calculated from a different shipped period, the story can become misleading. The same discipline applies to advertising attribution, which is not identical to incrementality.
A safe weekly report tells the reader which source owns each metric, what is still provisional and when the final commercial decision will be made.