This document provides you with information, best practices, and requirements regarding fulfilling, preparing (packing, labeling, etc.) and transporting consignment to Eshopbox fulfillment centers. The policies and procedures described in this document are intended to maximize operational efficiencies and maintain the highest safety and quality standards for you and Eshopbox.

Consignment Guidelines

Please follow the below guidelines at all times to ensure that these goals are met. Please note that failure to comply with the below requirements may cause a delay in the receiving process or the inventory refusal.

1.Item Packaging Requirements

Best practice is to treat your products like a Consumer Packaged Goods. Packing things the right way helps you save money by ensuring that you don’t need to send replacement items if the original gets damaged. Doing so will ensure your products are readily received and stored in preparation for upcoming orders

Follow these guidelines when you send inventory to Eshopbox FC. Eshopbox reserves the right to return any items that are packed in a way that does not meet the below requirements.

• Item label

  • Use a single address label that is clear to read. The label should be clearly visible from the packed product as Eshobpox won’t be opening the packaging of the product to perform the quality check. In case the label is not visible, the product will be rejected.

  • The label should have below information:

    • Scannable Bar code: Bar code is a must for every product. It is scannable and provided by the client so that the FC team can scan the product and get the details. The bar code should be scannable without opening the products.

    • Product information: Name of the product, brand name, style code, article no. (SKU), size, and MRP.

    • Other information: Quantity, category, color, manufacturing, and packing date.

    • Mfd & Pkd by and marketed by

    • Email ID and contact number for customer complaints.

    • In case of any expiry, the expiry date should be mentioned

•  Additional packaging guidelines:

  • It is recommended that you must carefully use high-quality packaging material for your products to save them from damage and gain an increased shelf-life.

  • Your packaging should be very neat. Each product should be in a secure packet. Wrap all items separately.

  • Items that may be affected by moisture and staining should be placed into a strong plastic bag or container for extra protection.

• If your product needs boxes for packaging. It should be six-sided.

• Your box must have openings or a lid that will not easily open on its own. Also, it does not tear out while opening.

• The packaging must not collapse when medium pressure is applied to any of the sides.

• Items can be damaged by dust or humidity. These products should be packaged so they are not damaged during receipt, stocking, consignment preparation, or sent to the buyer.

• Place units in a sealed poly bag, shrink wrap, or transparent box. Make sure boxes aren’t creased or broken.

• Jewelry must be packaged so that the unit cannot be damaged or cause unsafe conditions by having the material exposed during the operational process. All poly bags must be transparent.

• In the case of small items, pouches must be packed individually in plastic bags with the barcode on the outside of the pouch to avoid damage from dust. Place a product description label on the side with the greatest surface area.

2.Box packaging Requirements

Inventory can travel many miles through the warehouse to reach Eshopbox FC. Packing your Boxes with appropriate materials in the right way will help ensure they arrive safely and stay intact. At all times, it remains the responsibility of you to ensure adequate packaging is used. As a reference for Eshopbox clients, this Packing Guide provides some general instructions and examples of good packing practices. Different inventory contents require a different level of protection.

The following requirements apply to all boxes delivered to Eshopbox fulfillment centers, whether by small parcel delivery, less than truckload, or full truckload delivery.

• Box Label: We use box label for the identification purpose of different consignments

  • You need to paste the label on the box where it is easily visible.

  • Don't place labels on opening on the box because they will be damaged when the box is opened.

  • If you are reusing boxes, remove or cover any existing consignment labels or other barcodes.

  • Your box should have the following information when your consignment is labeled before sending:

    • Document Number: This will be the same document number while scheduling the consignment. This is a must. If not mentioned, the consignment will not be accepted

    • Weight: This is mandatory. Mention the weight of the box.

    • Box Number: Mention the box number. This will make easy for Eshopbox to keep the track of the number of inventory in a consignment.

• Place a spare label inside the package that will help us identify your consignment if the original label becomes detached or damaged.

• Box weight: The weight and size of the box should be dependent on the products packed inside the box. We suggest that a box should not be more than (L*W*H) in size and a maximum weight of 50 kg. In case is weighing more, you should split the boxes.

• Special Handling Label: Warning labels need to be impossible to miss. They should be large, brightly colored, and positioned in multiple, prominent locations on all applicable boxes.

•  It is important to completely fill empty space within the box to avoid contents moving during transit which can cause damage to both contents and boxes. Odd-shaped or rounded packaging may need extra attention.

• Having insufficient filler material in your package causes your products to bounce around inside the box and get damaged along the way. Overfilled boxes, on the other hand, could burst during delivery.

• High-Quality Packaging:

  • Do not send items in boxes made of weak materials, such as bad cardboard quality. All units should arrive free of damages or defects.

  • If sending multiple items within a single box, ensure each one is wrapped individually and well separated from one another

• Box-in-box Method: We would suggest you to use the box in the box method while packing the products. It utilizes a second outer box to offer additional protection. It is useful for the transportation of more fragile items or where the inner box will be used for retail purposes. Both an outer and inner box will need to be prepared with similar methods

• Seal:

  • A good seal helps to protect your package during transit.

  • Both the adhesive tapes you choose and how you seal the box makes a difference in protecting your Inventory contents from being exposed or damaged during transit.

  • In case the box seal is broken eshopbox won’t be liable for any shortage claimed at a later stage.

3.Document Requirements

• You need to show the print out of email confirmation from Eshopbox for delivery having scheduled date and time slot.

• Along with the consignment, below documents are required at the time of delivering the consignment at Eshopbox FC:

  • If you have subscribed to Eshopbox FC on a consignment model, show a copy of the stock transfer note/challan.

  • If you have subscribed to Eshopbox FC on a billing model, show a copy of the invoice.

• To understand the information required inside the document refer Consignment Document Required

• Generate a single document against a single consignment. That will make the verification process simpler for Eshopbox if the same day more than one consignment received.

4.Receiving Requirements

Receiving provides the foundation for all other fulfillment center activities. In order to provide the best experience to you, we utilize a methodical, repeatable, and scalable receiving process. This allows the inbound operation to pre-assign storage locations, make better use of resources, and move inventory as efficiently as possible.

By following the guidelines below, you will help our operations team meet service levels requirement, ship to your end customers faster, and avoid unnecessary charges, errors, or delays.

• Your representative should be available on the dock at the time of unloading the vehicle. In case this is not followed, consignment won’t be received.

• After unloading, Eshopbox will be labeling all the boxes as per the number of boxes mentioned in the document. In case their boxes are more than what is mentioned in the document, excess boxes won’t be accepted.

• Eshopbox will be weighting all the boxes at the dock itself to check if there is any discrepancy in the weight of the box mentioned by and what is delivered.

• Eshopbox will provide a document of the receiving of the consignment. This will be duly stamped and signed by Eshopbox representative having the following details:

  • Number of boxes received

  • Received date and time

  • Number of damaged boxes if any

  • Number of boxes having weight mismatch. (details report of this having box wise details will be shared over email)

  • Guidelines followed and not followed at the time of delivery.

• Ensure that all requirements of consignment creation are being met.

• If for any reason you cannot fulfill any items or quantities of the consignment created or you believe consignment was created in error, we would suggest you to create a new consignment with update details and then deliver the consignment at FC.

• Eshopbox does not accept substitutions or replacement products. Inventory that was never confirmed in the consignment, make sure you don't send more inventory from what you have mentioned in the consignment would be treated as overage items and won’t be inward. Learn more about overage items.

• Eshopbox requires that all consignment to be delivered to their warehouse at very specific times (sometimes this is very late at night), and with a very narrow delivery window. Otherwise, your consignment will be received in the next available slot.

• Eshopbox app is the primary and only method to schedule the consignment at an Eshopbox FC. No consignment requests would be entertained through email or phone.

• Please reschedule your consignment if the delivery cannot be made on specific days or times. To avoid communication gap.

• Receiving of consignment is on a first come first serve basis respective of the time slots. If you want to prioritize your consignment you can opt for priority check-in option. Using priority check-in, you can request to skip the queue and inward on priority. This will charge you an extra fee.

• Properly label and package as per the packaging guidelines.

• Hazardous Materials must be noted prior to delivery appointment being scheduled

• Transportation requirement

  • Each vehicle needs a confirmed scheduled consignment, for example, you cannot deliver on two vehicles quoting the same consignment number until unless consignment is too large to come in single-vehicle.

  • Try to containerized vehicles, delivery by open body vehicle may not be acceptable by FC.

  • unloading of the vehicle needs to be done by the transporter itself at the Eshopbox dock. In case you want Eshopbox to take care of the unloading charges will be applicable.

• Reason for delivery Rejections:

  • No appointment booking for some or all of the stock that is being delivered

  • A delivery that may cause health & safety risks

  • Any wet or crushed box is considered a damaged inventory.

  • No delivery paperwork

  • Non-container deliveries of loose-loaded items.

  • Carriers/drivers may be excluded from the site if they fail to adhere to site safety rules

  • Non-cooperative or abusive drivers that fail to comply with site

• Eshopbox may refuse deliveries outside of the reasons explained above if the delivery is deemed unsafe, against health and safety or any other requirements are not fully met.

5. Reconciling requirement

• Processing the consignment

  • Eshopbox FC labels and verifies the quality and details of the product delivered. This verification process is the inwarding and quality check of the consignment items.

• Benefits of inwarding and quality check

Inwarding

Inwarding process of the consignment is required to identify the actual inventory received at the FC. Eshopbox trusts and relies on quantities that you mention in the inventory details while creating the consignment. The consignment qty is the inventory that the FC is expecting for delivery. Any discrepancy between the quantity mentioned in the consignment and quantity received at FC will lead to a mismatch.

Mismatch of the quantity can of two types:

1. Overage items

   1. You delivered an extra quantity of the items from what you shared while creating the consignment. Example: A consignment was created for product A having 30 qty whereas 40 qty was delivered at the FC. The extra 10 qty will be considered as overage qty.

   2. You delivered items that are not part of the consignment. Example: A consignment was created for product A having 30 qty and 25 qty of product A was delivered along with 5 qty of product B. The 5 qty of product B will be considered at overage qty.

2. Short items:

   1. Units received at the FC is less than what you promised to send as per the consignment. Example: A consignment was created for product A having 30 qty and only 25 qty of product A was delivered. The 5 qty of product A will be considered at shortage qty.

In case we don't follow the inwarding process, it will lead to a difference in the inventory level stored in your and eshopbox accounting software.

Quality check:

Checking the quality of the product includes checking for any physical defect and for the details of the product. At the time of quality check:

1. Physical product:

   1. FC checks if the product delivered at the FC is good to ship or not. In case any defect or damage is seen on the product the same is rejected. For example, if the product is not packed as per the guidelines, the product is physically damaged, etc.

2. Product details:

   1. You provided multiple details while creating a product on the Eshopbox app. For example, MRP, size, image, etc. Matching the details provided on the Eshopbox app to the details provided on the physical product on the tag. In case of any mismatch, the product is rejected.

(A flow chart of GRN process)

Once the above process is completed for each item the consignment is marked completed. You can track and view the complete details of the consignment on the Eshopbox App. Click here to learn more.

Reconciling your consignment

On this page, you will learn how to reconcile the consignment which is delivered at the Eshopbox FC.

After your consignment has arrived at the Eshopbox FC, the progress bar on the track or detail page will display the status of the units as they are received. Once the consignment is completed, you can reconcile the consignment. Reconciling your consignment means matching what you have sent in the consignment and what is received at the FC.

Requirement for reconciliation

The above details are required to reconcile the consignment.

Consignment qty = Received qty + Shortage qty

Received qty = Accepted qty + Rejected qty

Physically received qty = Received qty + Overage qty

You might also face cases where:

1. Physically received qty > Document copy: Your warehouse has dispatched more quantity and

2. Physically received qty < Document copy:

If there are any differences between what you have sent in the consignment and what is received, you can escalate it to care@eshopbox.com.

Requirement for escalation: