How do I improve my product availability in the online shop?
Table of Contents
Your speed of delivery matters
How quickly a product can be delivered is, alongside price, one of the most important purchasing criteria. That’s why we place great emphasis on ensuring that the delivery dates provided by our business partners are met. Only in this way can we ensure that our customers are not disappointed by delays and that a long-term customer relationship can be established.
The display of product availability in our online shop is automatically calculated based on historical data and is intended to provide our customers with the most accurate picture possible of the expected delivery time. The date range (marked in red in the screenshot below) shows customers when they can expect the product.
The delivery time shown is based exclusively on measured Track & Trace data.
The data basis and measurement are explained in the following sections.
Database
Observation period
Depending on your size as a marketplace participant - measured by order volume - the model selects a suitable period to measure your deliveries. For retailers with many orders, it is sufficient to look at the orders from the last two weeks, while for smaller retailers with few deliveries, up to two months or even further into the past is looked at in order to obtain sufficient data for a statistically significant statement.
Measurement
The delivery time is measured for each item delivered during this period. You can read how this measurement is made in the next section.
Data cleansing
Outliers and strange cases are excluded from the data basis.
Weighting
Items that lie further in the past or are considered by the model to be less reliable than others (e.g. items with missing tracking data) are weighted less heavily.
Availability display in the online shop
The availability of your products is then determined on the basis of this data.
For goods that are dispatched from your warehouse, we normally show customers the 50th - 98th percentile.
This means that if, for example, 2-5 days is displayed for your products in the online shop, we know that the customer will receive 50% of their order within 2 days and 98% within 5 days.
Exception percentiles
If your 50th and 98th percentiles are very different (i.e. you have very different delivery times per item), the model cuts the data again to percentiles that are closer together. In this way, we avoid displaying nonsensical information such as «You will receive the product between 1-30 days» to the end customer. Such exceptional percentiles could be, for example:
80th to 96th percentile
85th to 98th percentile
etc.
Measurement
Measurement of direct delivery
We calculate the measurement for deliveries from your warehouse to the end customer as follows:
EDI
We start counting the delivery days as soon as the order has been transmitted by us. The end point of the delivery time is the arrival at the end customer, for this purpose the delivery date is read from the tracking information, which is determined from the Dispatch Notification (DELR).
Manually via CMI
If you have not automated the dispatch notification via EDI as described above, the arrival at the end customer is also taken as the end point of the delivery time calculation. For this purpose, the delivery date is read from the tracking information that you enter in the CMI when sending the order.
If you do not enter a tracking number, the time at which you set the status of the order item in the CMI to «dispatched» is read instead and a few days (these vary depending on the country of dispatch) are added for dispatch.
Examples of days added as a lump sum are:
CH: 2 days
LI: 2 days
DE: 2 days
If no consignment number is available or cannot be transmitted (e.g. in the case of letters or goods sent by forwarding agent), the date on which the goods are handed over to the logistics service provider is read instead and a flat rate of a few days (this varies depending on the country of dispatch) is added for the dispatch.
If this dispatch confirmation is transmitted too late (later than 48 hours after the DISPATCHNOTIFICATION_DATE), the date of transmission of the dispatch notification is used as the basis for the calculation, plus the additional flat-rate values for the dispatch of the goods.
Shorten delivery time
As a marketplace participant, you have several options to shorten your delivery time and thus make your offers more attractive. One option is to dispatch the ordered goods immediately. Order items should not be held back under any circumstances. Below is a list of further measures to optimise the measured delivery time.
Latest order time (time)
The latest order time is the time at which we send our orders to you and expect them to be processed on the same day. The latest order time is stored in our Galaxus system and should be defined in such a way that you can still prepare the products and hand them over to the carrier on the same day after receiving the order. If the order time is exceeded, the days until the next day are added to the availability display. A later order time therefore results in a slightly better availability display during the day.
To change your latest order date, please contact the person responsible in Category Management so that your case can be reviewed individually. You can also find the contact person on the extranet (CMI):
Inventory Data
One of the most important factors, alongside a good price, is reliable inventory data (stock levels). Accurate and up-to-date inventory data is crucial to ensure that the ordered quantities match your actual stock levels. Regular and frequent updates in the feed are essential, as large intervals between updates can lead to discrepancies. This, in turn, can result in incomplete order fulfillment, causing delivery delays and longer lead times.
Stocked Goods
Stocked goods, also known as inventory, refer to the quantity of products currently available in your warehouse. The prerequisite is that these goods are ready for shipment within 4 working days. In the feed, the inventory must be transmitted as QuantityOnStock.
Specification in the Feed
QuantityOnStock = Quantity in Stock
Backorders (Restocking)
Backorders refer to the quantity of ordered products that have not yet been delivered or are currently in transit. These can be represented in our system as follows:
Restock Date/Restock Time
With the restock date/duration, you can specify when stock (QuantityOnStock) will be available again. In the feed, this can be communicated as follows:
Restock Date
The restock date indicates the date on which the ordered goods (incoming stock) will be back in your inventory. From this point on, the goods must be available as stock (QuantityOnStock) and ready for shipment within 4 working days.
Restock Time
The restock time indicates the duration in number of working days until the ordered goods (incoming stock) will be back in your inventory. After this time has elapsed, the goods must be available as stock (QuantityOnStock) and ready for shipment within 4 working days.
Restock Quantity (backorder quantity)
The restock quantity refers to the amount of goods that have been ordered or are incoming (backorder quantity).
After the restock duration has elapsed or from the restock date, this quantity will be added to the existing stock (QuantityOnStock) – but only if there is already stock available. If no stock exists, the backorder quantity will form the new stock.
Information in the Feed
Restock Date = Arrival date in the warehouse
Restock Quantity = Ordered quantity
Maximum value = 365 days.
If the restock time is unknown, the field can be left empty or the value 0 can be transmitted.
RestockTime or RestockDate are only considered when the stock level is 0. In the case of positive stock (>0), the value is ignored.
Track & Trace
The transmission of the tracking number helps the customer to track the status of his order and delivery.
The tracking number also helps to ensure that the delivery time can be measured more accurately. You can either transmit this automatically via EDI or maintain it manually when processing orders in the CMI.
Company holidays
It is possible to have your company holidays stored in the Galaxus system. During this time, orders will still be placed, but temporarily with an adjusted delivery time (delivery time + remaining company holidays). Please inform us of your annual company holidays. Unfortunately, company holidays that are not reported cannot be taken into account by the automatic delivery time calculation and will be perceived as a delay, which will result in a poor delivery time after the company holidays.