What Is Inventory Removal?

Inventory removal refers to the process of removing a seller's saleable and non-saleable inventory stored in noon’s warehouses. 

 

Types Of Inventory:

At noon, we have 2 different types of types of inventory. Here is an explanation of each inventory type:

1. Saleable: This inventory has passed the quality check and is ready for customer sales.

2. Non-saleable: This inventory cannot be sold to customers and includes the following 8 sub-types:

• ASN Inbound QC failed: This refers to inventory that did not meet noon's Quality Guidelines upon receiving it in the noon warehouse.

• Non-Delivered Returns (NDR): All non-delivered orders are termed as NDRs.

  For FBN orders, NDR items undergo a Quality Check (QC) at noon FBN warehouse and items in saleable condition are restocked in our FBN warehouses. NDR items which are not in a saleable condition are returned to Sellers along with a grade-based payout. Check Grading Policy for more details.

  For FBP orders, NDR items are returned to Sellers without taking them to noon FBN warehouses.

• Customer Initiated Return (CIR): All customer-returned items are termed as CIRs. 

  For FBN orders, CIR items undergo a Quality Check (QC) at noon FBN warehouse and items in saleable condition are restocked in our FBN warehouses. CIR items which are not in a saleable condition are returned to Sellers along with a grade-based payout. Check Grading Policy for more details.

  For FBP orders, CIR items undergo a Quality Check (QC) at noon FBN warehouse, and then returned to Sellers along with a grade-based payout. Check Grading Policy for more details.

• Mislabel: This refers to inventory that does not match the corresponding SKU content on the website.

• Expired: This inventory has exceeded the minimum shelf life condition as per noon's FBN inbound QC policy.

• Damaged: This inventory has been damaged while stored in noon's warehouses.

• Researching: This inventory is currently being evaluated by noon's warehouse team to identify the specific issue and assign it to the appropriate sub-type.

• Others: This inventory is being processed by noon's warehouse team to accurately identify the issue and assign it to one of the sub-types.

The details of saleable and non-saleable inventory can be viewed in the Inventory Dashboard.
You can download the same data from the FBN Stock Inventory Detail Report via the Seller Lab.

 

Inventory Removal Request Creation:

Inventory Removal Requests can be created using two methods:

1. Created by Partners:
You are required to follow the Inventory Removal Process to request the removal of inventory. There are two options for initiating the request:

• Request via Seller Lab
• Request via Seller Support - seller@noon.com

2. Auto-generated by noon:
For certain inventory types that are not eligible for manual removal requests, noon will automatically generate inventory removal requests at regular intervals.

Below grid shows the eligible methods for each Inventory type.

Inventory Type	Request via Seller Lab	Request via Seller Support (via seller@noon.com)	Auto-generated by noon
Saleable+ Non-saleable (excluding dark store and bulky warehouses)	✅	❌	❌
Saleable+ Non-saleable (dark store and bulky warehouses only)	❌	✅	❌
ASN Inbound QC failed	✅	❌	❌
Non-delivered returns (NDR)	✅	❌	❌
Customer initiated returns (CIR)	✅	❌	❌
Mislabel	✅	❌	❌
Expired	❌	❌	✅
Damaged*	❌	❌	❌
Researching**	❌	❌	❌
Others**	❌	❌	❌

* Will be paid as part of the monthly reconciliation payout.

** Will be processed by noon’s warehouse team to correctly identify the issue and tag it to one of the above zones

 

Checks For Inventory Removal Request Creation:

In certain cases inventory removal requests can be rejected by noon. These include, but do not limit to:

1. Outstanding noon Account Balance or Outstanding Loan Amount: In case your noon seller account has an outstanding balance and/or outstanding loan amount, noon reserves the right to restrict processing of the inventory removal request, in order to maintain an inventory value commensurate with the outstanding balance and /or outstanding loan amount. 

2. Requested Shipments Pending for Action: If there are existing requested shipments pending to be collected / accepted by you, noon reserves the right to reject new inventory removal requests, until the pending requests are actioned upon.

3. Availability of Stock: At the time of processing your requests, if your inventory is already reserved for customer order, etc. and, hence, is not available for return request, noon reserves the right to cancel the request either partially or completely.

 

RTV Shipment Receiving Guidelines:

1. Handover modes: The Inventory Removal Requests can be executed by either of the three methods:

• ‘Delivery’ mode i.e. delivery at your premises: All requests created under delivery mode need to be mandatorily accepted when attempted for delivery. Check RTV receiving guidelines for more details. Please note noon will not support cross country requests.

• ‘Pickup’ mode i.e. requests to be picked-up from noon designated pickup centers: All requests created under pick-up must be collected within the defined time frame from your selected pickup center. Please note noon will not support cross country requests.

• ‘Dispose’ mode i.e. liquidation of your items: If you wish to liquidate or dispose off your stocks, you can choose this mode while filing an inventory removal request. Once you have filed the request for disposal, noon will not be liable for either returning the stocks back to you or paying you for the disposed stocks.

2. Timelines:

• Pick-up mode: requested shipments need to be collected by Sellers from the selected pick-up address within 10 business days of ‘Ready For Collection’ date, failing which will result in Confiscation of the shipments. After the 10 business days, noon may, at its discretion, attempt to deliver the Pickup shipments at your premise and in such cases noon will charge you a delivery fee for each attempt.
• Delivery mode: you are expected to receive requested shipments when delivery is attempted by noon. In case of failure to receive the shipments in the first attempt, you can request for a delivery re-attempt up to 7 business days from the date of first delivery attempt, failing which will result in Confiscation of the shipments.

3. In the event of any issue / discrepancy in the shipment, you must report the same as per below guidelines:

• For Direct Ship NDR shipments, you must report any packaging damage on the ‘Supply Chain’ app and later claim for the damage through the Dispute process. You will not be able to raise Disputes if you fail to report packaging damages in the ‘Supply Chain’ app. 
• For all other requested shipments, you must report all issues regarding damages, missing items and any other issues on the Proof of Delivery (POD) document. Details mentioned in the POD will serve as evidence for dispute resolution and reimbursement. Noon will not entertain disputes if discrepancies are not detailed in the POD.
• All OTP enabled shipments are marked as ‘Delivered’ after successful OTP verification, and hence noon will not entertain any ‘Shipment Not Received’ disputes for such shipments.
• For any other shipments, you must clearly report any issues in the POD document. In the absence of an appropriate description of the issues on the POD document, noon may refuse to process any disputes (if any) raised in regards to such shipments.
• In instances where you receive only a part of your shipments at noon collection center, you must ensure to follow these Guidelines on Partial RTV Handover. 

4. ID proof:

• The receiver of the shipments will be required to present an identity proof while receiving / collecting the shipments. Identity proof will be recorded in our systems for future reference.

RTV Shipment Confiscation:

noon reserves the right to confiscate your requested shipments/FBN inventory under certain circumstances. Learn more about noon’s Confiscation Policy.

 

RTV Shipment Dispute:

If you find any discrepancies in the returns such as missing products / parts thereof, damages, wrong / erroneous returns etc., you can raise a dispute. Refer to our Dispute and Claim Resolution Policy.

 

That’s it!

 

Got questions?

Reach out to seller@noon.com