Custom Features and Feature parity
MCF APIs provide operations for previewing an order, fulfilling an order, tracking an order, but sellers can build more custom functionalities using MCF APIs. Some of these additional functionalities are listed below.
Virtual Bundling
Description: Bundling multiple SKUs together as one combination SKU and sell to shoppers on your website.
Business use case: There is no provision to list a bundled SKU (consisting of two or more SKUs) in Seller Central/Supply Chain Portal, implying that sellers cannot sell bundled products on their websites that are mapped to multiple Amazon SKUs.
Proposed Solution:
a. Sellers can bundle products in their storefront by mapping multiple Amazon SKUs under one sellable SKU for the shopper to add to cart. For the orders with bundles in them, break them into single SKU line items during the CREATE Order API call with MCF.
b. For the availability of the product, always consider the least inventory value of the SKUs in the bundle to surface it to shoppers.
c. For tracking details, use multiple line items as there could be one or multiple shipments, aggregate all the tracking details on the order, and append them to the order.
d. For all other requests like Preview, Cancel, Update, make sure all the items of the bundle are included as different line items.
Business use case: There is no provision to list a bundled SKU (consisting of two or more SKUs) in Seller Central/Supply Chain Portal, implying that sellers cannot sell bundled products on their websites that are mapped to multiple Amazon SKUs.
Proposed Solution:
a. Sellers can bundle products in their storefront by mapping multiple Amazon SKUs under one sellable SKU for the shopper to add to cart. For the orders with bundles in them, break them into single SKU line items during the CREATE Order API call with MCF.
b. For the availability of the product, always consider the least inventory value of the SKUs in the bundle to surface it to shoppers.
c. For tracking details, use multiple line items as there could be one or multiple shipments, aggregate all the tracking details on the order, and append them to the order.
d. For all other requests like Preview, Cancel, Update, make sure all the items of the bundle are included as different line items.
Order Splitting
Description: Developers need to split orders based on locations with available inventory.
Business use case: Often sellers have more than one third-party logistics (3PL) provider and the inventory required for an order is sometimes stored by different providers. Some orders must be fulfilled partially by multiple 3PLs. In these cases, there is a need to split the order and sync the info again for the shopper to view it as one order.
Proposed Solution:
a. Orders can be split based on order rules or inventory availability.
b. Follow an order versioning pattern to split the order into two or more consignments.
c. Maintain the order consignments separately by saving all the line items, quantities, status, and tracking numbers for every consignment.
d. These consignments should be tied back to the original order for seller viewing.
Business use case: Often sellers have more than one third-party logistics (3PL) provider and the inventory required for an order is sometimes stored by different providers. Some orders must be fulfilled partially by multiple 3PLs. In these cases, there is a need to split the order and sync the info again for the shopper to view it as one order.
Proposed Solution:
a. Orders can be split based on order rules or inventory availability.
b. Follow an order versioning pattern to split the order into two or more consignments.
c. Maintain the order consignments separately by saving all the line items, quantities, status, and tracking numbers for every consignment.
d. These consignments should be tied back to the original order for seller viewing.
Returns
Description: Returns is a common process in any fulfillment operation. In the event of a return, an item that was fulfilled is returned by the shopper, and the returned product potentially gets added back into the seller’s inventory pool.
Business use case: Since MCF only shares the Returns Label and not the shipping labels or postage, developers have to build custom workflows for MCF returns.
Proposed solution:
a. Create a Return order for an order fulfilled by MCF, which needs to be returned with one of the Return Reasons from the ReturnReasonCodes API.
b. Then make the AmazonShipmentId any dummy value with a unique sellerReturnItemId for that return order.
c. The API response will share the Return Authorization Code and RMA Page URL for every line item. This RMA label needs to be downloaded, printed, and pasted on the return box.
d. MCF does not provide any shipping labels. The shipping label can be generated by the seller or by the end shopper, then copied and pasted along with RMA label and ship the items to be processed accurately at the FC.
Business use case: Since MCF only shares the Returns Label and not the shipping labels or postage, developers have to build custom workflows for MCF returns.
Proposed solution:
a. Create a Return order for an order fulfilled by MCF, which needs to be returned with one of the Return Reasons from the ReturnReasonCodes API.
b. Then make the AmazonShipmentId any dummy value with a unique sellerReturnItemId for that return order.
c. The API response will share the Return Authorization Code and RMA Page URL for every line item. This RMA label needs to be downloaded, printed, and pasted on the return box.
d. MCF does not provide any shipping labels. The shipping label can be generated by the seller or by the end shopper, then copied and pasted along with RMA label and ship the items to be processed accurately at the FC.
Serial number setup
Description: The serial number is a unique barcode number generated by following a regex pattern. The serial number setup allows the seller to keep track of the exact product when shipped to the end shopper. This also helps to validate the right product when returned by the shopper to MCF or the seller.
Business use case: For select products, a seller might need to know which instance of an item was sold to a particular shopper. If the items are uniquely tracked with a serial number, MCF can add steps to scan and record the serial numbers both going out and being returned. This requires the serial number of the item to be listed on a label on the outside of its packaging, and prevents shoppers from being able to return a different item than the one they purchased.
Proposed solution:
Sellers can get serial numbers setup working for their items by following these steps:
a. Sellers must provide the regex pattern they follow for their serial numbers to Amazon through account managers.
b. Sellers will generate serial numbers using the same regex and paste on every product/item box during their inbounding operation. The serial number should be a barcode, not a QR code.
c. When orders are placed, Amazon updates the order details with the serial number of the item shipped out to the shopper.
d. Developers need to read the shipment data and consume the serial number from the getOrder API response along with other tracking information and keep a record of it for business purposes.
Business use case: For select products, a seller might need to know which instance of an item was sold to a particular shopper. If the items are uniquely tracked with a serial number, MCF can add steps to scan and record the serial numbers both going out and being returned. This requires the serial number of the item to be listed on a label on the outside of its packaging, and prevents shoppers from being able to return a different item than the one they purchased.
Proposed solution:
Sellers can get serial numbers setup working for their items by following these steps:
a. Sellers must provide the regex pattern they follow for their serial numbers to Amazon through account managers.
b. Sellers will generate serial numbers using the same regex and paste on every product/item box during their inbounding operation. The serial number should be a barcode, not a QR code.
c. When orders are placed, Amazon updates the order details with the serial number of the item shipped out to the shopper.
d. Developers need to read the shipment data and consume the serial number from the getOrder API response along with other tracking information and keep a record of it for business purposes.
MCF Feature Parity
