Order connections allow you to synchronize orders from various marketplaces directly to your eCommerce platform. In most cases, you will handle these orders in your eCommerce platform yourself, and the shipment and tracking info will then be sent back to the marketplace.
Some marketplaces also allow you to delegate the fulfillment of your catalog to the marketplace you sell on. This is generally called Fulfillment by Marketplace (FBM), but some marketplaces have their own names for this service (e.g. Amazon Fulfillment Network).
When you make use of this service, a large part of the order process will be handled by the marketplace itself which can save you a lot of time. It is important to know that usually, a marketplace charges a fee for this service, but if you want to make use of this service, check out each marketplace website on whether they offer this.
How does Channable interact with FBM?
Fulfillment by marketplaces works in two steps within Channable:
1. Listing creation
If you have products that will be fulfilled by the marketplace, you will need to indicate this with the creation of the product on the marketplace. The way this is done can be different per marketplace. Amazon requires a separate shipping template to be created and for Bol.com it works by sending FBR or FBB as a delivery type. Always check with your marketplace platform on how to set up these types of product listings.
2. Order setup
By default, Channable does not import these types of orders from the marketplace. This is to prevent accidental double shipments from your order management system (OMS) in your backend. However, if you do wish these orders to be imported into Channable and sent to your backend, you can do this by setting up an extra FBM order connection.
Currently, we offer FBM order connections for the following marketplaces:
- Amazon
- Bol.com
- Zalando
- CDiscount
- Fnac
- Blokker Connect
- Decathlon
- Carrefour Spain
- FonQ
- MediaMarkt
- Manor
- Leen Bakker
- Darty
- Conforama
- PcComponentes
- ePrice
Differences between an FBR and FBM connection
The FBM-order connection is different from a regular-order connection in a couple of ways.
The FBM order will be created with the status "shipped" in your OMS compared to a regular "open" order for the following platforms:
- Lightspeed
- Magento
- Shopify
- Shopware 6
For other platforms, the order will be created as an open order, but there will be a suffix attached to the order ID. For Bol.com we will attach the "-FBB" to the order ID, for example. You can find more information on how Bol.com FBB orders work with the order connection here.
Since the shipping is handled by the marketplace, we will not send a shipment update back to the marketplace as we do with regular orders.
We do not update the stock on the marketplace based on the FBM-order. Unless you update the stock value on your platform after the FBM-order is created. This can happen when an open FBM-order is created which is then set to "shipped". We advise you to always double-check how FBM-orders are processed by your OMS once you activate
How to set up an FBM-order connection
Setting up an FBM-order connection is done similar to a regular connection.
- Navigate to the order setup page. Setup>Setup orders.
- Click on +Setup orders.
- Next, choose the connection for the platform you want this order connection with. If a connection isn't made yet, you can create a new one by clicking Add a new connection.
- Give the order connection a clear label and select the right country if necessary.
- In the fulfillment dropdown menu choose the right option that indicates the fulfillment by marketplace:
- Amazon: Amazon Fulfillment Network
- Bol.com: Fulfillment by Bol.com
- Zalando: Fulfillment by Zalando
- CDiscount: Fulfillment by CDiscount
- Fnac: 3rd party fulfilled
- Blokker Connect: 3rd party fulfilled
- Decathlon: 3rd party fulfilled
- Carrefour Spain: 3rd party fulfilled
- FonQ: 3rd party fulfilled
- MediaMarkt: 3rd party fulfilled
- Manor: 3rd party fulfilled
- Leen Bakker: 3rd party fulfilled
- Darty: 3rd party fulfilled
- Conforama: 3rd party fulfilled
- PcComponentes: 3rd party fulfilled
- ePrice: 3rd party fulfilled