A Lightning Deal is a time-bound, promotional offer in which an item is
featured for several hours on the Today's Deals page.
When shopping online, customers often explore a wide range of promotional offerings. For a promotion to be effective:
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The customer must know about it.
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The promotion must offer favorable value to positively influence the customer's choice.
Eligibility & Requirements
To give customers the best possible shopping experience, only products that meet certain criteria will be eligible for Lightning Deals. Approval is required to list a product using a Lightning Deal promotion, and Amazon reserves the right to reject or discontinue any proposed Lightning Deal.
Customers love Lightning Deals with exceptional value, and Amazon limits Lightning Deal approval to only those deals that meet certain criteria, including but not limited to the following:
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Product star rating: To help ensure that
the best possible products are featured, Lightning Deals may have minimum rating
requirements. Deal recommendations factor in the number of available reviews and a
product’s overall rating. Products with low ratings generally do not qualify for
Lightning Deals.
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Variation Availability: When applying to
create a Lightning Deal for a product with more than one variation, include as many
variations as possible in your deal. In general, proposed Lightning Deals with fewer
than 80% of product variations (e.g. size, color, style, etc) included will be
rejected. In the deal creation process, you may be informed if additional variations
are required.
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Product Eligibility: To help ensure a
great customer experience, not all products are eligible for inclusion in Lightning
Deals. Products in certain categories and products that are offensive or otherwise
inappropriate are not eligible and will not be seen as a recommended deal. The
following is a non-exhaustive list of certain product types that are not eligible for
inclusion in Lightning Deals: e-cigarettes, alcohol, adult products, medical devices
and medicines, and baby formula.
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Fulfillment: In general, Lightning Deals must be Prime eligible. FBA or MFN Prime
fulfillment are generally required.
You may submit Lightning Deals for approval using the steps listed
below. Some suggested deals may be rejected upon submission because they fail to meet
certain minimum criteria. If your suggested deal is successfully submitted, it will be
queued for Amazon review. Any applicable fees* will be charged to your account only
after your approved Lightning Deal has commenced.
Create a Lightning Deal
To create a Lightning Deal in Seller Central:
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Select Advertising, click
Lightning Deals, then select the
Create option.
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You have two options to create a deal based on recommended
product:
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Select from top deal Recommendations directly from
the Create page.
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Search all deal recommendations using the Search my
inventory You can search by keyword (i.e. a keyword from the
item title) or SKU.
Deal recommendations appear based on several factors, such as sales and
customer browsing trends. At this time, only deal recommendations are
potentially eligible for Lightning Deals. Do not contact Seller Support to
apply for a Lightning Deal that does not show up on your recommendation
list.
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Once you have identified the product you would like to include in a Lightning
Deal, click Edit. A popup will appear, allowing you to
edit the following deal parameters:
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Deal Quantity: Use the minimum suggested unit quantity available for the
proposed deal price or increase the deal quantity to make more units
available. Ensure that you have the proposed deal quantity on hand at least
7 days prior to the date the deal is scheduled to run. If you do not have
sufficient inventory by this time, your proposed deal will be
cancelled.
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Deal Price: Use the maximum allowable deal price or decrease the deal price
to increase your proposed deal’s attractiveness.
Note: Sellers
have to ensure compliance with applicable pricing laws including price
floors.
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Deal Image: Use the existing ASIN image or change the image to an
alternative image.
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Deal Schedule: Amazon occassionally runs merchandsing campaigns on Deal
Days (e.g., Prime Day or Cyber Monday). Select an available Deal Day for
your proposed Lightning Deal or select a calendar week. If you select a
calendar week, Amazon will notify you about the date and time your deal is
scheduled to run within two weeks of the proposed deal week. Lightning Deals
generally run for approximately 4 to 6 hours (as determined by Amazon).
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Once you select your desired deal parameters, click Submit
to submit your deal for review.
Note on Deal Price: Customers love deals with great prices.
Deals without sufficient discounts off of prevailing prices may be rejected. Because
Lightning Deals are submitted in advance of their proposed run date, the prevailing
price of a submitted deal product may change between the time of submission and the time
a deal is scheduled to run. If the Buy Box winning price on your proposed deal product
has decreased, making your deal price no longer compelling, you may need to lower your
deal price to maintain Lightning Deal eligibility. If so, you will be notified via email
and on the Lightning Deal dashboard that your action is required.
What actions are needed after creating a Lightning Deal?
After you create a Lightning Deal, make sure:
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Have sufficient inventory available (in FBA fulfillment centers or available for sale via MFN Prime) to meet the deal quantity you committed to sell. Ensure you have additional inventory on hand to fulfill post-deal sales if the demand for the deal product continues after the deal is over.
Note: Amazon may cancel your deal if your available inventory does not meet the committed quantity before it is scheduled to run.
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Monitor the status of your deals using the Lightning Deals dashboard. You can view deal statuses in either the Needs action or Upcoming and active tab.
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Verify the specific date and time of your Lightning Deal. During deal creation, you can select the week you want your deal to run – you will not be able to select the date or time. If your deal is approved, Amazon selects the specific date and time for your deal in order to ensure that the deals submitted for the week are spread out judiciously across the days of the week and provide the best variety of deals for the customer. If you are unsatisfied with the date and time selected for your deal, you may cancel the deal using the Lighting Deals dashboard.
Cancel a Lightning Deal
You may cancel a proposed Lightning Deal using the Lightning Deals dashboard at any time until 24 hours before the deal’s scheduled start time. If your deal is canceled, your account will not be charged for that deal.
If you would like to cancel the deal less than 24
hours prior to the deal’s scheduled start time, Seller Support may be able to assist
with your request. If you repeatedly contact Seller Support to cancel Lightning Deals,
you may be excluded from submitting future Lightning Deals.
On what basis can my deal be rejected or cancelled?
Amazon may reject, cancel or not feature a deal that doesn’t meet the
following price criteria: The promotional price must be lower than the original
price, to ensure customer trust on the offer being a deal. Amazon may also
consider review ratings and image quality in its deal criteria.