A Distribution Center (DC) is a facility or a storage location from which items are shipped for order fulfillment. For a retailer, their DC may be a Seller-Managed Distribution Center such as their own warehouse or it may be an Externally-Managed Distribution Center. At this time (April 2013), ChannelAdvisor supports Multi Channel Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) as an Externally-Managed DC. Here are a few things to keep in mind when working with Distribution Centers:
- Each ChannelAdvisor account should be configured with at least one Seller-Managed DC.
- If your business has multiple fulfilment warehouse locations, you can configure additional Seller-Managed DCs.
- You must create the distribtuion center in ChannelAdvisor first before uploading and assigning your inventory
- A specific inventory item (SKU) may be assigned to only one Seller-Managed DC. For example, your SKU 123 is fulfilled from your Dallas TX DC.
- The same SKU can also be fulfilled from an Externally-Managed DC. For example, your SKU 123 is fulfilled from your Dallas TX DC or your Amazon FBA US account. ChannelAdvisor offers a FBA Warehouse Auto-Flip setting to address this.
Prerequisites
Tasks to Complete
Complete the following tasks:
How to Navigate the Distribution Center (DC) Grid
- Columns in the grid can be ordered to meet your needs by dragging and dropping the columns.
- Columns with arrows can be ordered either ascending or descending.
- Columns can be added (visible) or removed (hidden) by using the grid Columns button.
- Select columns can be searched using simple queries.
- The grid can be Reset to the original configuration if needed.
How to Assign a Distribution Center to a SKU
Follow the steps below to assign a Distribution Center to SKUs:
- Select your SKU from the Inventory > All Products view by clicking the hyperlink .
- Locate the Distribution Center field on the Edit Item screen.
- Select the Distribution Center the SKU should be assigned to from the drop down list.
- If the SKU is a parent, you can select to have the Distribution Center assigned to all the child SKU's.
- Click Save & Close.
How to Prioritize Distribution Centers
If you have both an Externally Managed and Seller Managed Distribution Center enabled for a specific site, you need to identify which Distribution Cener should be used first to fulfill orders.
- From Inventory > Settings > Distribution Center, select DC to Site Mappings.
- Select one of the following options, Externally Managed DC First or Seller Managed DC First.
How to Assign a Distribution Center to Multiple SKUs via the ChannelAdvisor Inventory Upload Spreadsheet
- Within your ChannelAdvisor Upload Spreadsheet locate the column titled DC Quantity to indicate a Seller Managed DC and FBA DC for an individual item.
- For each SKU enter the value provided in the Distribution Center Code field when you created the Seller-Managed Distribution Center. If you are specifying an Externally-Managed Amazon FBA location, the valid codes are: Amazon FBA US, Amazon FBA UK, Amazon FBA CA, Amazon FBA IT, Amazon FBA DE, Amazon FBA FR and Amazon FBA EU. See the Inventory Upload page for more information.
Note: The Seller-Managed Distribution Center Codes (e.g. MyWarehouse) cannot be created via the ChannelAdvisor Upload Spreadsheet. You will always have to create the Distribution Center Code via the ChannelAdvisor user interface first. Additionally, the Distribution Center Codes for Externally-Managed DCs are a static list of values determined by ChannelAdvisor and the Amazon FBA locations that our product supports.
Deleting Distribution Centers
If you find you have a need to delete a Distribution Center, at this time, please open a case with ChannelAdvisor support.
A Distribution Center (DC) is a facility or a storage location from which items are shipped for order fulfillment. For a retailer, their DC may be a Seller-Managed Distribution Center such as their own warehouse or it may be an Externally-Managed Distribution Center. At this time (April 2013), ChannelAdvisor supports Multi Channel Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) as an Externally-Managed DC. Here are a few things to keep in mind when working with Distribution Centers:
- Each ChannelAdvisor account should be configured with at least one Seller-Managed DC.
- If your business has multiple fulfilment warehouse locations, you can configure additional Seller-Managed DCs.
- You must create the distribtuion center in ChannelAdvisor first before uploading and assigning your inventory
- A specific inventory item (SKU) may be assigned to only one Seller-Managed DC. For example, your SKU 123 is fulfilled from your Dallas TX DC.
- The same SKU can also be fulfilled from an Externally-Managed DC. For example, your SKU 123 is fulfilled from your Dallas TX DC or your Amazon FBA US account. ChannelAdvisor offers a FBA Warehouse Auto-Flip setting to address this.
Prerequisites
Tasks to Complete
Complete the following tasks:
How to Navigate the Distribution Center (DC) Grid
- Columns in the grid can be ordered to meet your needs by dragging and dropping the columns.
- Columns with arrows can be ordered either ascending or descending.
- Columns can be added (visible) or removed (hidden) by using the grid Columns button.
- Select columns can be searched using simple queries.
- The grid can be Reset to the original configuration if needed.
How to Assign a Distribution Center to a SKU
Follow the steps below to assign a Distribution Center to SKUs:
- Select your SKU from the Inventory > All Products view by clicking the hyperlink .
- Locate the Distribution Center field on the Edit Item screen.
- Select the Distribution Center the SKU should be assigned to from the drop down list.
- If the SKU is a parent, you can select to have the Distribution Center assigned to all the child SKU's.
- Click Save & Close.
How to Prioritize Distribution Centers
If you have both an Externally Managed and Seller Managed Distribution Center enabled for a specific site, you need to identify which Distribution Cener should be used first to fulfill orders.
- From Inventory > Settings > Distribution Center, select DC to Site Mappings.
- Select one of the following options, Externally Managed DC First or Seller Managed DC First.
How to Assign a Distribution Center to Multiple SKUs via the ChannelAdvisor Inventory Upload Spreadsheet
- Within your ChannelAdvisor Upload Spreadsheet locate the column titled DC Quantity to indicate a Seller Managed DC and FBA DC for an individual item.
- For each SKU enter the value provided in the Distribution Center Code field when you created the Seller-Managed Distribution Center. If you are specifying an Externally-Managed Amazon FBA location, the valid codes are: Amazon FBA US, Amazon FBA UK, Amazon FBA CA, Amazon FBA IT, Amazon FBA DE, Amazon FBA FR and Amazon FBA EU. See the Inventory Upload page for more information.
Note: The Seller-Managed Distribution Center Codes (e.g. MyWarehouse) cannot be created via the ChannelAdvisor Upload Spreadsheet. You will always have to create the Distribution Center Code via the ChannelAdvisor user interface first. Additionally, the Distribution Center Codes for Externally-Managed DCs are a static list of values determined by ChannelAdvisor and the Amazon FBA locations that our product supports.
Deleting Distribution Centers
If you find you have a need to delete a Distribution Center, at this time, please open a case with ChannelAdvisor support.
Previous Comments
Distribution Center Template Tag?
Is there a way to insert the postal code from a Distribution Center into a Posting Template? That would make the Distribution Centers useful for external marketplaces as well as the ChannelAdvisor Store.