How to Manage FBM (MFN) Inventory and Sales

SoStocked was designed to manage all Amazon sales, but the primary focus has always been on FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) sales. We do pull all sales made on the Amazon platform even if they are FBM (fulfilled by Merchant) sales, also referred to as Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN). However, the forecast is designed to inform you how much inventory to send to Amazon (FBA). So we have devised a workaround for your FBM sales.

How to Forecast for FBM (MFN) sales

Deducting FBM (MFN) sales that are fulfilled from your Warehouses (3PL)

Since SoStocked does not yet integrate with 3PL or warehouse APIs, if you want to keep accurate track of your FBM inventory, you must deduct FBM sales from those warehouses before using SoStocked Forecasting.

Deducting FBM Orders from Your Warehouse

If you have FBM orders that are fulfilled from a warehouse or 3PL, here is the process to take.

Start on the Orders Page

Go into Orders and click on Customer Orders. You'll see a customized dashboard called FBM Orders to Deduct. Click on that.

Filters

Now open up your filters from this page. The default date is set for December 1st. You can either use that date or select a new date where you want SoStocked to begin deducting your FMB orders from that warehouse.

Just make sure that date is set to AFTER and deducted inventory has been removed from that warehouse so it all matches up correctly. Then apply filter.

Now make sure to click Save Dashboard.

So from now on, everything after that saved date will show up if it hasn't been automatically deducted from your 3PL inventory.

Moving Foreward

Now that you have properly applied your FBM filter, you will start to see Amazon orders coming into your Customer Orders section. You will see the "Fulfillment Channel" is marked as "MFN" which means, Merchant Fulfilled Network, or Fulfilled by Merchant (FBA). Same thing.

If you wish to deduct these orders from your 3PL inventory, simply check the corresponding orders next to the orders, then using the Bulk Actions dropdown, Deduct Warehouse Inventory. Pick the correct warehouse and apply.

Now if you ever want to add that inventory back, or if you made a mistake, simply go back to your 5 filters and removed Last Deducted.

From the list, recheck the boxes corresponding with the orders. Add back to inventory. Select the warehouse and apply.

Other Filters

You can add other filters to your dashboard if you like! Make your dashboard fully customizable.

By customizing dashboards and filters, you can create SOPs for your staff or VAs to come and monitor your account and in this way manage your inventory easier. For example, you could have one SOP for your VA to come in monthly and deduct any FBM inventory from your warehouse so you know it's being counted correctly.