[NEW] We're introducing a new metric to help you deliver better after-sales service! From May 2026, you'll see After-Sales Handling Time on your Store Rating page. Use this period to get familiar with the metric and optimise your processes. During this period, this metric will not impact your Store Rating.From July 2026, this metric will officially count towards your Store Rating.

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After-sales Handling Time

Introduction

Slow after-sales responses can impact customer trust and retention. To help you monitor and improve how quickly you handle after-sales requests, we are introducing After-Sales Handling Time (AHT) — a metric that measures the average time you take to review and action after-sales requests.
Keeping your AHT low means customers get faster resolutions, leading to higher satisfaction, more repeat purchases, and stronger shop credibility.

🎯 Your target: keep your After-Sales Handling Time below 20 Hours.

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What is After-Sales Handling Time (AHT)?

Your AHT is your average response time across all after-sales requests.
Every time you review an after-sales request - whether that's approving a refund or inspecting a returned item - we record how long it took you. Your AHT is the average of all those times, over the past 60 days.
How is AHT calculated?AHT = Total time spent on after-sales requests ÷ Total number of after-sales requests reviewed"Time spent" includes:

• Initial Review: How long you took to accept or reject a return or refund request
• Return Request Inspection: How long you took to accept or reject a request after inspecting the returned item

Note: If a request times out and is auto-approved, the full review window counts as your handling time - so acting early matters. Activate Auto-Rule Settings to instantly approve requests that meet your criteria.
For more information on the after-sales review periods, please refer to the Returns And Refunds article.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What after-sales requests are included?
  • All after-sales requests that require your review — this covers both request approvals and item inspections
  • Requests that time out and are auto-approved (these still count, even if you did not manually approve/reject them)
  • Requests approved/rejected through Seller Tools
• What after-sales requests are excluded?
  • All requests that are handled by the platform will not be included
• What time period does this cover?
  • This metric looks at aftersales requests over the past 60 calendar days
• How often does this update?
  • This is updated Daily.

Examples

Scenario 1

• 50 after-sales requests handled in the last 60 days
• Total handling time = 800 hours
• AHT = 800 ÷ 50 = 16 hours ✅ (below 20-hour target)

Scenario 2

• 50 after-sales requests handled in the last 60 days
• Total handling time = 1,200 hours
• AHT = 1,200 ÷ 50 = 24 hours ❌ (above 20-hour target)

What can sellers do to improve this metric?

• Prioritise cases with the least time remaining. In Seller Center, go to Manage Returns → Awaiting Your Action tab → sort by time left and focus on cases with less than 1 day remaining.
• Check your pending cases daily. Regular check-ins prevent pending requests from piling up and dragging up your average.
• Action requests in one sitting where possible. Partial review that stalls mid-way still contributes to total handling time.
• Automate repetitive after-sales processes. Use Seller Tools to set up automated responses or flows for common return and cancellation scenarios — this reduces manual handling time at scale.
• Set up notifications so you are alerted immediately when a new after-sales request comes in, reducing idle time before first action.

Where can I find this metric?

You can find your After-Sales Handling Time in Seller Center under your Store Rating:

1. Go to Seller Center homepage
2. In the sidebar, navigate to Account Health → Store Rating
3. Click Preview at the top of the Store Rating page
4. Scroll down to the Improve These Metrics section
5. Under Customer Service, click After-Sales Handling Time

What are the benefits of meeting this metric?

Keeping your After-Sales Handling Time below 20 hours can unlock meaningful benefits for your shop:

• 🌟 Higher customer satisfaction — faster resolutions drive repeat purchases and stronger customer loyalty

From July 2026, a good AHT will positively impact your Store Rating - which can impact access to exclusive programmes and tools:

• 📣 Eligibility for Campaigns and Flash Sales
• 🤝 Access to Affiliate Marketing Tools
• 🏆 Eligibility for exclusive Seller Programmes, such as TikTok Mall and Star Shop