Overview

noon has two primary marketplace operational models, Crossdock FBP (crossdock) and Fulfillment by noon (FBN). If you are interested in FBN you can learn more about it here.

Both models rely on transfer of stock from you to noon. In the case of the crossdock model stock is requested to fulfil orders just in time (JIT). If the underlying customer order is cancelled and another is not received noon will return the stock or convert it to FBN depending on your preference. In the case of FBN the transferred stock remains with noon until you request a return.

In both models noon will notify you of the sale as soon as it is dispatched from noon's warehouse. You can keep track of your confirmed stock on hand with noon increasing it based on inbound transfers and customer returns and reducing it based on sales and return transfers. Sales can be monitored via the sales view and the seller lab reports.

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Operations

Finance

Crossdock sequence of events

The crossdock model works on the following basis 

• Orders are received from customers and directly appear on Seller Lab
• noon exports these orders to you in the form of a request for stock for a given SKU
• You can batch these requests into picklist documents which you can print and handover to your warehouse for fulfillment
• Once completed, you can mark a picklist as ready for pick up by noon first mile logistics in an Advance Shipment Notice (ASN)
• On completion of the pickup noon will provide you with an ASN transfer summary and receipt confirmation for all units transferred
• All units received in good condition are allocated to pending customer orders and are prepared for dispatch
• In the event of orders with multiple items noon may hold items for consolidation with items from other partners prior to shipping
• On dispatch noon recognize the sale and communicate it you via seller lab.
• In the event of customer cancellation noon will try to allocate the item against another incoming customer order, if it is not possible to do this within 24 - 48 hours the item can be converted to FBN or sent back to you
• All dispatched items are subject to the noon Sales protection promise. 

Operations

Requests for stock 

A detailed overview the stock request and transfer process is available here

You should treat your transfers to noon in the same way you would treat any other distribution or transfer of inventory between stores or warehouses.

Transfers

A detailed overview of the transfer process is available here

Prior to pickup you can print out an ASN document as proof of handover and the confirmed ASN summary will be available after the transfer is processed.

Re-allocation of cancelled orders

Pre shipment cancellations occur frequently in e-commerce and can sometimes be as high as 15% for cash on delivery orders. This can create challenges for you in the form of a constant back and forth movement of items.

In order to overcome this challenge, noon does not firmly link a unit of stock to a customer order until the item arrives in our warehouse. This gives us the flexibility to reallocate orders in the event of customer cancellations.

The following example explains how this process works in practice:

1. A customer orders 5 units of product A 
2. You prepare all 5 units for transfer to noon and they are handed over to noon first mile
3. The customer cancels all 5 units 
4. noon receives the transfer and moves the items to a temporary holding area
5. As new customer orders come in noon selects items from this area first before sending you a request for a another unit of stock
6. After 24 hours 4 units have been sold and dispatched to customers
7. noon packs up the remaining unit and transfers it to FBN stock for you to request for return at a later date
8. The item is now visible on the site as noon Express inventory 

If operated properly, this process significantly reduces back and forth logistics and maximizes sales of items over a period of time.

Return to Vendor or Conversion to FBN 

Depending on your preferences noon can either convert all unshipped items to FBN or transfer them back to you in the RTV within 48 - 72 hours of receipt.

This setting can be configured for you by your account manager or noon seller support.

We recommend transferring to FBN as it will maximize your possibilities of resale and you can always consolidate your returns in a bulk RTV monthly.

Finance 

Recording sales and returns

noon will communicate sales to you via the following reports which can be linked based on the unique item number

• The VAT invoice report
  • This report will also split out your VAT due on each sale 
• The Consolidated report
  • This report will have a full payment breakdown including any fees and promotions
• The Statement report
  • Once an item payment is due the item number will be published in this report along with the payment forthcoming in the statement
• The Credit note report
  
  • When items are returned after shipping noon will notify you via the VAT credit note report

If you book sales on dispatch from your warehouse without confirmation via the VAT invoice report item numbers may change resulting in reconciliation errors. In addition you may miss sales that have taken place for received items or items being held in the temporary holding area.