Lightning Deals overview

A Lightning Deal is a time-bound, promotional offer in which an product is featured for several hours on the Amazon Deals page.

When shopping online, customers often explore a wide range of promotional offerings. For a promotion to be effective:

• The customer must know about it.
• 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:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Fulfillment: In general, Lightning Deals must be Prime eligible. FBA or MFN Prime fulfillment are generally required.
• Condition of item: Only new items are eligible for Lightning Deals.

To submit your Lightning Deals for approval, follow the steps listed below.

Create a Lightning Deal

To create a Lightning Deal:

1. From the Advertising drop-down menu, click Lightning Deals
2. On the Create tab from the left side of the screen, you can select from top deal Recommendations directly from the Create page.

Deal recommendations appear based on several factors, such as sales and customer browsing trends.

At this time, only listed recommendations are potentially eligible for Lightning Deals. If your product does not show up in the recommended list, please do not contact Seller Support to apply for a Lightning Deal with this product.

In the Create a Deal page, you need to provide the following deal parameters to include your product as a Lightning Deal offer:

• Deal Image: You can use existing ASIN image, or change the image to an alternative image.
• Deal Variation Availability: You have the ability to select which variations you wish to include as part of the deal. In general, you should aim to include at least 70% of product variations (e.g. size, color, style, etc.), otherwise the deal will be rejected. In the deal creation process, you may be informed if additional variations are required.
• Deal Price: You can use the maximum allowable deal price or decrease the deal price to increase your proposed deal’s attractiveness.
• 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 sch Deal Schedule: 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). eduled to run. If you do not have sufficient inventory by this time, your proposed deal will be canceled.
• Deal Schedule: 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).

What actions are needed after creating a Lightning Deal?

After you create a Lightning Deal, make sure:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Amazon reserves the right to cancel your deal if it does not meet the Eligibility Requirements set for Lightning Deals. If your deal is approved, be sure to follow the above actions.

Create a Lighting Deal using Recommendations

To create a deal from the Recommendations, identify the product from the list and click Edit or Advanced Edit.

For Edit option, you should add the following deal parameters:

• Deal Price
• Deal Quantity
• Deal Schedule

For Advanced Edit option, you should add all of the above deal parameters.

After you select the deal parameters, review the fee associated with your deal and click Submit to submit your deal for review. The fee displayed will only be charged after the deal has successfully run.

Because Lightning Deals are submitted in advance of their proposed run date, the 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 decreases, thereby making your deal price no longer compelling, you may need to lower your deal price to maintain Lightning Deal eligibility and to ensure customer trust that this offer is a deal. If so, you will be notified on the Lightning Deal dashboard that your action is required.

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.

To cancel a deal, locate your specific deal on the Lightning Deals dashboard in the Needs action, Upcoming and active, or All tab. Select the deal you want to cancel by clicking View, and then cancel your deal by selecting Cancel Deal in the bottom right hand corner of the deal page.

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.