About Order Consolidation

When a shopper places one order, then places other orders soon after the first, you can ship each order separately or combine the orders into one single package using the Order Consolidation feature. Order Consolidation enables you to bring together merchandise from separate orders into one shippable package, saving on packaging and delivery costs.

Criteria

ROM uses the following criteria to determine if an order is eligible to be consolidated with previously dropped orders:

• The orders are for the same customer; that is, the orders have the same customer email address, Ship-To name, and shipping address.

• The orders have the same eligible Order Source. This criterion ensures that orders with different sources are not mixed together; for example, an order placed on the webstore and an order placed through a marketplace should not be consolidated.

• The orders have the same eligible Shipping Method. If the orders had different Shipping Methods, the consolidated order would need to ship by the method with the earliest arrival time, which could increase shipping costs rather than decrease them.

• The order is allocated to the same fulfillment node, to prevent orders being shipped among nodes before being consolidated and shipped to the customer and delaying the order's delivery. Note: The node must be a Radial DC; Order Consolidation is not available for 3PL warehouses or retail stores at this time.

The following types of orders are ineligible for Order Consolidation:

• Any order not sourced to a Radial DC

• Orders with ISPU or Associate Delivery fulfillment types

• Customizations

• Bundles/Kits

• COD orders

• Orders that include gift wrap, gift messages, or pack slip messages

Configuration

To enable the Order Consolidation feature, you must first specify the eligible Order Source and Shipping Methods in the Order Consolidation Seller Service Group:

1. From the Main Menu, navigate to Omni Administration>Seller Configurations>Seller Service Group Configurations.

2. From the Edit Seller Service Group Configurations screen, click or tap the Order Consolidation Service tile. The Order Consolidation Service screen appears.

   

   This screen has two sections: Consolidation Order Source and Consolidation Ship Method.

   • The Consolidation Order Source specifies the source of the orders to be consolidated. Although you can specify multiple order sources, orders must have the same order source to be consolidated.

   • The Consolidation Ship Method specifies the eligible shipping methods. Although you can specify multiple shipping methods, orders must have the same shipping method to be consolidated.

3. In the Consolidation Order Source section, select the order source from the dropdown.

4. To add an Order Source:

   1. Click or tap the Add Order Source button. A new Order Source field appears.

   2. Select the new Order Source from the dropdown.

5. In the Consolidation Ship Method section, select a shipping method from the dropdown.

6. To add a shipping method:

   1. Click or tap the Add Ship Method button. A new Ship Method field appears.

   2. Select the new Ship Method from the dropdown.

7. To delete an Order Source or Ship Method, click or tap the icon to the right of the field.

8. Click or tap the Save button.

Next, you must enable fulfillment nodes for Order Consolidation. This ensures that only orders that are allocated to eligible fulfillment nodes are considered for Order Consolidation. Note: Only Radial DCs are eligible for order consolidation.

To enable a fulfillment node:

1. From the Main Menu, navigate to Omni Administration>Fulfillment Node.

2. From the Manage Inventory Nodes screen, select an existing node or add a new node.

3. Navigate to the Storefront Information section.

4. In the Order Consolidation field, activate the Order Consolidation Eligible toggle. The Order Consolidation Wait Time (In Mins) field appears.

5. Enter the number of minutes for ROM to hold an eligible order. During this wait time, subsequent eligible orders are consolidated with the first order. When the Wait Time expires, the consolidated order is released for fulfillment.

   

6. Click or tap the Save button.

How It Works

A shopper places an order.

ROM creates the order and determines if the order is eligible for Order Consolidation.

If the order is eligible, ROM checks to see if there are other pending orders that match it; that is, orders that have the same email address, ship-to address, order source, and fulfillment node.

• If there are matching orders, ROM assigns the existing consolidated order ID to the new order and assigns the existing hold time to it.

• If there are no matching orders, ROM creates a consolidated order ID and starts the clock on the hold time.

If any other eligible orders come in during the hold time, those orders are also combined with the first and assigned the consolidated order ID. At the end of the hold time for the first order in the group, the orders are released to the DC for fulfillment.

All of the matching orders are picked, packed, and shipped together as if they were one order.

The shopper is not aware that their orders might be consolidated into a single package. The only criteria for eligibility from the shopper's standpoint is that they placed multiple orders with the same ship method and delivery address.

The shopper receives an order confirmation email and a shipment notification email for each original order. The shipment emails, however, contain the same carrier tracking number.

The shopper receives a single package with multiple orders. The pack slip, if any, has the consolidated order ID, a list of original order IDs, and a hassle-free return (HFR) label (if required). The HFR shows the consolidated order ID.

Scenarios

Assume that a shopper places two orders within the configured time frame. The following table shows how ROM determines whether to consolidate the orders.

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