Struggling to Pass Prime SFP Trial – Speed Metrics & Shipping Strategy Help!

I’m facing significant challenges in meeting the Prime Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) 30-day trial speed metrics, specifically the 30% for 1-day or faster shipping and 70% for 2-day or faster requirements. My warehouse is in Miami, FL, which naturally leads to longer shipping estimates for many customers (2-5 days).

In our first trial, we used exclusively UPS Ground. For our second attempt, we incorporated UPS 2nd Day Air for some deliveries and saw improvement, but we’re still falling short. A major hurdle is the cost of offering 1-day shipping consistently; for products under $40, the shipping costs often negate any profit after Amazon’s 15% fees.

Our 2 PM EST cutoff time also impacts our metrics, as orders placed after that see a 3-day shipping estimate, affecting our 2-day metric. While pushing the cutoff later could help, I’m unsure if it would be sufficient on its own.

I’m seeking creative and legitimate strategies to improve our SFP speed metrics. Given our location and product type, consistently meeting the 1-day and 2-day delivery targets is proving difficult. I’m looking for recommendations, insights, or experiences from other sellers. Has anyone successfully navigated these SFP speed requirements from a similar geographic location or with similar product types? What strategies have you employed to optimize shipping speed and meet Amazon’s stringent SFP criteria without making unprofitable shipping choices? Any advice on leveraging different carriers, optimizing fulfillment processes, or other innovative approaches would be greatly appreciated. I’m getting a strong feeling that Amazon’s SFP requirements are heavily designed to push sellers towards FBA, which makes finding a workaround even harder.