Understanding Data Attribution and Reporting Delays

How Does Scale Insights Retrieve Your Data?

Scale Insights (SI) retrieves sales and advertising data made available by Amazon through its API. After you onboard your Amazon account to SI, the platform retrieves 60 days of historical data from your onboarding date.

The information displayed in SI reflects the data Amazon makes available through its API when SI retrieves it. If Amazon's data is delayed, incomplete, or updated later, the information shown in SI may also change as new data becomes available.

[drawer]Why Can Amazon Data Be Delayed or Updated?

There are two important factors to understand: sales attribution and reporting latency.

1. Sales Attribution Takes Time

Amazon uses attribution to connect advertising activity, such as ad clicks, to resulting sales. A customer may click an ad on one day but purchase the product later.

Amazon needs time to process these interactions and attribute eligible sales to the relevant advertising activity. As a result, sales and advertising metrics for a previous date may be updated when additional attribution data becomes available.

For example, a campaign may initially show fewer attributed sales than it eventually receives. When Amazon processes and reports additional attributed sales, the campaign's reported sales and ACOS may change.

2. Reporting Latency Affects Recent Data

Reporting latency is the delay between an event occurring and the corresponding information becoming available in a reporting system.

After advertising activity occurs, Amazon must process the information and make it available through its API. Scale Insights can retrieve and display the information once it becomes available.

This means the latest data in SI may not represent the complete performance of your campaigns yet.

Data from the most recent 2–5 days may be incomplete, depending on Amazon's reporting and attribution timelines. The delay can vary, so this range is a general guideline rather than a guaranteed processing window.

3. Scale Insights Reflects the Data Available from Amazon

SI uses the data retrieved from Amazon to display performance metrics and support reporting and automation.

If Amazon subsequently updates its data, the corresponding metrics in SI may change when the updated information is retrieved and reflected in the platform.

This is expected behavior when reporting data is still being processed. A difference between an earlier and later view of the same reporting period does not necessarily mean something is wrong with your Scale Insights account.

[drawer]How Can Data Delays Affect Your Metrics?

Incomplete or updated data can affect how you interpret campaign performance.

For example, if your advertising spend is already reported but some attributed sales have not yet appeared, your ACOS may temporarily look higher than it will after the data is updated.

[drawer]Best Practices for Analyzing Your Advertising Performance

1. Avoid relying too heavily on the most recent days

When evaluating campaign performance, consider excluding the most recent 2–5 days from your analysis to allow more time for Amazon to process and report the data.

The appropriate date range depends on your analysis goals and the completeness of the available data. You can customize the reporting period in Scale Insights to suit your needs.

2. Look at trends, not just individual days

Daily performance can fluctuate because of changes in traffic, clicks, orders, advertising spend, and sales attribution. A single day's results may not reflect your campaign's overall performance.

Reviewing several days or weeks of more complete data helps you:

• Identify consistent performance patterns.
• Understand whether ACOS and sales are moving toward your targets.
• Distinguish temporary fluctuations from sustained changes.
• Make decisions based on broader trends rather than incomplete daily results.

3. Recheck unusual results before making major changes

If recent performance looks unusually good or bad, allow more time for Amazon's data to become available and review the results again.

Avoid making significant strategy changes based solely on recent figures that may still be incomplete. At the same time, continue monitoring your campaigns and investigate genuine issues rather than assuming every unexpected result is caused by reporting delays.

4. Review the relevant reporting period

When comparing data between Amazon and Scale Insights, make sure you're reviewing the same dates and comparable metrics. Differences in attribution, reporting availability, and metric definitions may affect the figures you see.

[drawer]Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my ACOS change after a few days?

Amazon may report additional attributed sales or update previously reported data. Since ACOS is calculated using advertising spend and attributed advertising sales, updates to either figure can change the reported ACOS.

Why are my latest sales or orders missing in Scale Insights?

The information may not yet be available through Amazon's API. SI can retrieve and display the data once Amazon makes it available and SI retrieves the updated information.

Does this mean Scale Insights is not updating my data?

Not necessarily. Scale Insights reflects the data available from Amazon through its API. If the source data has not been updated or made available yet, the corresponding information in SI may remain incomplete.

Should I exclude the latest five days from every report?

Not necessarily. The most recent 2–5 days may be incomplete, but the appropriate date range depends on your reporting needs and the data available. For performance analysis, consider focusing on dates with more complete data. You can customize your date range as needed.

What is the best evaluation period for analyzing performance and automation rules?

A 7–30 day period can be a useful starting point for evaluating campaign performance, depending on your campaign's traffic, sales volume, and goals.

For more reliable analysis:

• Ignore the most recent 2–5 days when evaluating performance, as Amazon's attribution and reporting delays may leave recent data incomplete.
• Use longer periods for low-volume campaigns to identify more meaningful trends.
• Check each rule's settings, as automation rules may use different lookback periods and evaluation criteria.

Remember that the best evaluation period for reviewing performance is not necessarily the same as the lookback period used by an automation rule.

What should I do if the data still looks incorrect?

First, confirm that you're comparing the same reporting dates and metrics, and allow time for any pending Amazon data to become available. If the discrepancy persists, contact the Scale Insights support team with the affected account, reporting period, and metrics so the team can investigate.

 

Key Takeaway

Scale Insights retrieves sales and advertising data made available by Amazon through its API. Because Amazon's attribution and reporting processes take time, recent data may be incomplete or change as updates become available.

For more reliable performance analysis, allow time for data to catch up, compare consistent reporting periods, and focus on trends rather than individual days.

Additional Resources

Explore these articles to learn more about data retention and differences in reported sales:

• How Long Will Scale Insights Retain My Data? — Learn how long Scale Insights retains your data.
• Why Are Organic Sales Inconsistent with PPC Sales? — Understand why organic sales figures may differ from PPC-attributed sales.