Skip to content

OrderFlow 3PL Guide

Realtime Despatch Software Ltd

Document Version: 4.0.6

Document Built: 2020-10-12

This document and its content is copyright of Realtime Despatch Software Limited. All rights reserved.
You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute, publish or commercially exploit the content.
Any reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited.

Checklist

Checklist for New Prospects

Below is a quick checklist that should be considered in the early stages of any discussion with potential new clients.

It aims to help identify requirements that might impact significantly on the cost and timescales of the implementation if the prospect becomes a customer.

Sales channels

  • How many sales channels will present orders to the OrderFlow platform?

  • Are orders from multiple sources going to be received from a single channel (i.e. Amazon and eBay orders routed through the shopping cart)?

  • Are these sales channels supported by existing integration modules available within OrderFlow?

  • Are all SKUs uniquely identified with a single reference that is used by all the sales channels and will be contained within the order data received by OrderFlow?

  • Do the stock updates pushed to different sales channels need to be configured to minimise the risk of overselling?

  • Does the prospect have a testbed environment for each of the sales channels, are these testbeds representative of the live environments?

Products

  • Which sales channel will be the 'master' that is be used to update the product catalogue within OrderFlow?

  • Will all the SKUs be uniquely barcoded when they are received, is there a requirement to add individual barcodes to some or all products as part of the delivery receipt process?

  • Is there a need to support anything other than the 'default' product type (e.g. product kits, product bundles, tracked products, virtual products etc.)

  • Do different SKUs need to be need to be held in specific types of location or in distinct areas of the warehouse?

  • If the prospect requires specific rules to be applied to some products will the product information received from the master sales channel provide sufficient information to identify the relevant products? a bit unclear about this

Couriers

  • Which couriers and courier services are required to support the prospect?

  • Are these courier services supported by existing integration modules available within OrderFlow?

  • Will the order information received from the prospect contain information that specifies which service should be used to does OrderFlow need to apply more complex courier selection logic?

  • Will the information required to apply courier selection logic always be available as part of either the order or product data (e.g. will weights always be part of the product definition if they are required to calculate a shipment weight)?

  • If orders need to be shipped internationally does the product or order information contain the information required to create the necessary customs information?

  • Is the courier selection logic channel specific?

Paperwork

  • What recipient paperwork is required and does the layout vary significantly from that used by other clients?

  • Can the prospect provide an example of the required paperwork?

  • Does the paperwork contain pricing details, is OrderFlow required to calculate any of the pricing elements or is all the necessary information contained within the order data received from the sales channel?

  • Are there any variable elements that require logic to be embedded in the paperwork?

  • Is product specific paperwork required (OrderFlow datasheets)?

  • Is a returns label or returns form required?

  • Is the paperwork channel specific?

Returns

  • Do customer returns need to be supported?

  • Does the returns process differ significantly from those already supported for other clients?

  • Does the returns process require any integration with client systems (e.g. to create an RMA or pass back details of the returns that have been processed by OrderFlow)?

  • What information does the prospect need to process customer refunds or the despatch of replacement items?

  • Is the returns process channel specific?

Internal Users and Client Access

  • Will access to the new client organisation within OrderFlow need to be limited to specific members of staff?

  • Will the prospect require read-only access to OrderFlow?

  • Will the prospect need to be given the ability to make any changes within the OrderFlow environment?

Reporting and Dashboards

  • Will the prospect need access to any new reports or dasboards that are not already provided to existing clients?

  • Do these need to be defined as automated periodic reports or will the client run them manually from within OrderFlow?

Billing

  • Will the billing metrics differ from those already supported for other clients?

Purging and Anonymisation

  • Has the data purging policy in place within the live OrderFlow environment been made clear to the prospect?

  • Does the prospect have any specific requirements for the anonymisation of their data?