There are many moving parts involved with successfully getting fitment data posted in the Amazon Part Finder, and on your listings. Here are the steps Amazon takes after they receive your fitment data:
Fitment file validation
Tying the fitment to your listings (The "Fitment Stripe" on your Product page)
Populating the Amazon Part Finder
Populating the Compatibility Chart
I'll describe each of these for you, explain why they are different, and give you an idea of how long it takes for each one of them to become populated with the fitment data that you send from your myFitment account.
Amazon Process 1: Fitment File Validation
Timeframe: Within 15 minutes under normal circumstances*
After you create or upload fitment in your myFitment account, it is communicated to Amazon within 2 minutes. Within just a few minutes after that, Amazon responds to myFitment with something called a "Processing Report". This report contains the results of Amazon's validation of the fitment data against the most recent version of the ACES fitment data standard. myFitment automatically processes this file and adds the information to each line of fitment that you sent (see article "How Do I Know if my Fitment Data Made it to Amazon?" for details on this process).
Here is what the Fitment File Validation step does not do:
It does not check to see if the brand you registered is the exact same as your Amazon brand.
It does not check to see if the part numbers you supplied are the same as the Manufacturer Part Number you supplied to Amazon for your listings.
It does not make fitment appear on your listing.
If you registered your brand name at the Auto Care Association website incorrectly, your fitment will not appear on Amazon, and Amazon will not tell you that there is an error.
If you supplied part numbers to myFitment that are not the same as the Manufacturer Part Number (found in the Product Details segment of your listing), then your fitment will not appear on Amazon, and Amazon will not tell you that there is an error.
If you created your Amazon listings in an Amazon category that does not support fitment, then your fitment will not appear on Amazon, and Amazon will not tell you that there is an error.
The main point is that if you performed any of these steps incorrectly, you may receive messages from Amazon that your data was processed successfully, and yet your data will not appear on your listings. If you think this may be the case, a myFitment Support Representative can help you.
Amazon Process 2: Tying The Fitment to Your Listings
Timeframe: Within 1-2 hours under optimal circumstances*, but Amazon states on their website that this can take up to a week.
After your data file is validated, it is loaded to an internal Amazon fitment database. Next, a computer program at Amazon goes through each line of fitment data provided and performs the following:
Reads your 4-character brand code
Determines the Brand Label by looking your brand code up in the Auto Care brand table
Matches that Brand Label with your Amazon brand name. This is why your brand name that you registered at the Auto Care Association brand website must match your Amazon brand name exactly.
Matches the part number from the fitment to a Manufacturer Part Number in your Amazon account under that brand.
Uses this information to tie the fitment to your actual listing, as evidenced by the Fitment Stripe appearing at the top of your listing:
Once you see the Fitment Stripe on your account, you can be absolutely certain that your data was processed successfully by Amazon, and that the Part Finder and Compatibility Chart processes WILL eventually be completed successfully, regardless of timeframe.
Amazon Process 3: Populating the Amazon Part Finder
Timeframe: Within 1-2 days under optimal circumstances*, but Amazon states on their website that this can take up to a week.
Amazon customers that want to search for parts for their specific vehicle do so by clicking the Automotive category link, which takes them to the Amazon Part Finder.
Within 1-2 days (unless Amazon is experiencing delays, of which myFitment will inform you), you will be able to test this process by clicking the yellow "Go" button next to your vehicle. You will be presented with a list of categories to which you can navigate. You can continue to search until you find your products listed under the vehicles for which you supplied the fitment data.
As the products are listed, you may be asked to provide additional fitment data about your vehicle:
This is how your parts are found every day by the millions of consumers on the Amazon platform, and it is the process that will drive the most sales for you. Conversely, if you have supplied incorrect fitment, it will also cause you to experience returns. Please delete incorrect fitment immediately to avoid returns. See article "How Do I Delete a Fitment?" under the How To section for more information.
Amazon Process 4: Populating the Compatibility Chart
Timeframe: Varies wildly, but currently at least 30 days
Unfortunately, many new Amazon sellers choose to verify that fitment has reached Amazon by attempting to view the Compatibility Chart on their Amazon listings. This is not a good idea. Amazon recommends that sellers do not use the Compatibility Chart for the following reasons:
The program runs very seldom, if at all.
Your data may be working perfectly fine in the Part Finder, and in the Fitment Stripe, and still not have made it to the Compatibility Chart yet.
Because it is out of date, it is rarely reflective of the most recent state of your data at Amazon.
Amazon users can find the Compatibility Chart clicking on the "See all vehicles this product fits" link on the Amazon product page:
Here is what the Compatibility Chart looks like:
Now imagine if you were to receive a return due to an improper fitment that you supplied. You react immediately by deleting that fitment in myFitment. A few minutes later you see that your Amazon information has returned successfully from the Processing Report.
The next day you navigate to the Compatibility Chart for your listing. You see that the fitment you deleted is still there! That is because the Compatibility Chart has not caught up with the data that you supplied.
The very best way to verify your data at Amazon is to:
Attempt to look up the vehicle in the Fitment Stripe on your Amazon product page
Attempt to look up your part in the Amazon Part Finder
If neither of those methods work for the deleted fitment, then your process was successful. You can be assured that the Compatibility will reflect that change. Eventually.
But buyers on Amazon do not look at the Compatibility Chart to verify fitment. They are finding your part through the Part Finder almost exclusively. Therefore, the Part Finder and the Fitment Stripe are the most important features.
Please do not attempt to verify fitment using the Amazon Compatibility Chart for your listings.