Marketplace integration and logistics without overselling
Adding a marketplace is quick. A feed to Channable or ChannelEngine, a few categories mapped, and your products are live. The hard part comes a week later, when the same item sells on your own webshop and on three marketplaces at once while only two are left on the shelf. That is when it turns out every channel had its own picture of your stock.
So a marketplace integration is not only about sending products out. It is about stock, orders, cancellations, shipping confirmations and returns that add up in both directions, including when the warehouse runs its own system. We build those flows as routes in Alumio, the integration platform Memo has partnered with since 2020.
We connect the marketplaces themselves through Channable and ChannelEngine. They speak the language of each marketplace. Alumio is the source that feeds them product data and stock, and the distributor that takes the orders coming back to your ERP and your warehouse.
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Where it goes wrong in practice
With marketplaces and logistics, things rarely go wrong on one integration. They go wrong between integrations.
Which stock is available? Physical stock, reserved stock and stock that has been sold but not yet picked: each system counts differently. If the marketplace receives physical stock instead of available stock, you sell twice. We agree which system determines available stock and only send that figure out.
How fast does it need to be? For an item selling on several channels at once, the time between a sale and updated stock on the other channels is exactly when overselling happens. For fast movers we set up that flow differently than for a range that rarely moves. A buffer per channel helps for items where only a few are left.
What happens to a cancellation? A customer cancels on a marketplace while the warehouse is already picking. Without an agreement the parcel ships anyway, or the stock stays blocked for no reason. Cancellations and changes need to take the same route back as the order itself.
Where is the truth about a return? The customer registers the return in the webshop or on the marketplace, the warehouse receives the parcel, the payment provider issues the refund and accounting needs a credit note. Four systems, one return. If those steps do not wait for each other, a customer gets a refund for a parcel that never arrived, or waits weeks for a refund that could have been made long ago.
Seven flows between webshop, marketplaces and warehouse
Product data to channels
Copy, specifications and images from your PIM or ERP to Channable or ChannelEngine, in the right shape for each channel.
Stock
One available stock level for all channels, so you do not sell what you do not have.
Orders
Marketplace orders back into your ERP and warehouse, just like an order from your own webshop.
Cancellations
A cancellation on a marketplace stops the order in the warehouse and releases the stock.
Pick and pack status
From order received to packed, visible to customer service and your channels.
Shipping confirmations
Tracking and shipping status back to the webshop and the marketplace the order came from.
Returns and refunds
From registration to receipt in the warehouse, with the refund through your payment provider and correct processing in invoicing.
Alumio as source and distributor
Channable and ChannelEngine are strong at what they do: turning one feed into the requirements of dozens of marketplaces, and collecting orders from those marketplaces. But they are not a source. Product data comes from your PIM, price and stock from your ERP or WMS, and orders have to go back to those same systems.
That is where Alumio sits. The integration layer fetches product data and stock from the source once, delivers it to Channable or ChannelEngine, and processes the orders that come back as if they came from your own webshop. Your ERP and warehouse do not need to know which channel an order came through. Where that product data comes from and how you enrich it is covered on PIM integration. How orders, prices and stock run on the ERP side is on ERP integration for your webshop.
The same applies on the logistics side. A WMS reports pick and pack status, shipping confirmations and received returns. Instead of every channel and the ERP getting their own connection to the WMS, everything runs through one layer. The payment side plugs into that: payment status, refunds and reconciliation with invoicing follow the same order route, so an order has the same status everywhere. And when a new WMS or a new marketplace comes along, it plugs into routes that already exist.
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Two integrations in practice
XXL Nutrition: a new WMS in an existing landscape. At XXL Nutrition, sports nutrition for the Benelux, Magento, Pimcore and Exact Online were already connected. When a new WMS arrived, Ceyenne by Diract IT, that was the moment to review every flow. In Alumio we brought together sales orders, purchase orders, product and stock updates, fulfilment, returns and receipt of purchase orders, and gave them a fixed structure. The goal was not more automation, but overview and a landscape that can handle growth. According to XXL Nutrition's product owner, Memo felt like an extension of their team. Read the XXL Nutrition case.
Juwelier Kremer: shop and webshop share one stock. Juwelier Kremer, a family jeweller from Veendam, sells in its shop and online through Shopify. The POS system is connected through Alumio, so a piece of jewellery sold in the shop is no longer available online, and the other way round. The same stock problem as with marketplaces, with a physical shop as the second channel. Read the Juwelier Kremer case.
A scale-up with its own warehouse system and a retailer with a shop: in both cases one available stock level is the starting point, and the integration layer is where it is guarded.
Where is your stock drifting out of sync?
Tell us which channels you sell on, which warehouse system you use and where it hurts. In half an hour we will know which flow needs attention first and how to bring it into one layer.
Frequently asked questions
Do you connect directly to marketplaces such as bol?
We connect marketplaces through Channable and ChannelEngine. Those platforms maintain the connection with the individual marketplaces and their requirements. Alumio feeds them product data and stock and processes the orders that come back. That keeps your own landscape the same, however many marketplaces you add.
How do I prevent overselling when I sell on several channels?
By letting one system determine available stock and sending only that figure to every channel, at a frequency that matches how fast your items move. For items where only a few are left, you can set a buffer per channel. Orders and cancellations from every channel update that stock straight away.
Can I connect my WMS to my webshop and my ERP?
Yes. Alumio connects a WMS to the same routes as your webshop and your ERP: orders go to the warehouse, and pick and pack status, shipping confirmations and received returns come back. At XXL Nutrition we did that with Ceyenne by Diract IT. Other WMSs with a usable API are possible too.
How do payments and refunds fit in?
The payment status of an order and a refund on a return follow the same route as the order itself. That way your ERP or invoicing knows when an order is paid and when a credit note is needed, and reconciliation between payment provider and accounting stays correct. Which payment provider you use makes little difference.
What happens if a marketplace order does not come through?
You see it in Alumio, per route and per message. Alumio retries according to the rules you set and reports what stays stuck, so you can resubmit an order without guessing whether it was already processed. On top of that we agree an SLA that matches your routes. See Managed integrations.