A proposed approach to explore with your business. Scope, implementation and outcomes depend on the engagement.
Single inventory pool across all channels
Ideal for
Australian retailers selling on two or more marketplaces (Amazon AU, eBay AU, The Iconic, Catch) alongside their own webstore, who are managing each channel separately with disconnected inventory pools and manual order entry per channel.
The situation
A retailer managing Amazon AU, eBay AU, and own webstore as three separate operations
The typical pattern: the eCommerce team manually allocates inventory to each channel in spreadsheets. Amazon gets 40%, eBay gets 30%, webstore gets 30%. Static allocation means hot products sell out on one channel while sitting unsold on another. Adjustments take 30-60 minutes per product and are always reactive.
Order processing is equally fragmented. Amazon orders downloaded as CSVs and manually entered into NetSuite. eBay orders go through a separate process. Three different people, three workflows, 1-2 hours per day each. Errors are common.
Pricing is managed independently per channel, often by different people. The result is inconsistent pricing that confuses cross-shopping customers and can violate marketplace policies (Amazon requires your price to be no higher than elsewhere).
The approach
Unified Inventory Feed
A single Celigo flow runs every 3-5 minutes, querying NetSuite for available-to-promise inventory. No manual allocation - all channels see the same pool. For low-stock products, a configurable reserve holds back a percentage for the highest-margin channel.
Order Normalisation
Orders from every channel flow through Celigo into NetSuite as standardised Sales Orders with correct customer matching, channel attribution, marketplace-specific order references, tax handling, and payment method mapping. Amazon FBA vs FBM orders are detected and routed to different transaction types automatically.
Pricing Propagation with Margin Protection
Price changes in NetSuite push to all channels simultaneously. io.js scripting calculates channel-specific prices to maintain target margins after marketplace fees (Amazon referral 8-15%, eBay final value 10-13%, webstore payment processing 1.5-2.5%). Ensures margin consistency even though list prices differ.
True Channel Profitability Reporting
All marketplace fees extracted from settlement reports via Celigo. NetSuite reports true gross margin per channel after fees, shipping, and returns.
Expected outcomes
Channel management time drops 60-75%. Overselling incidents drop from 20+/month to near-zero. Marketplace revenue typically grows 25-40% in 6 months as the team redirects time to merchandising and advertising. Unified profitability reporting often reveals one channel is less profitable than assumed.
Measures to validate
| Measure | Before | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Channel management time | 15+ hrs/week | 4-5 hrs/week typical |
| Overselling incidents | 20+/month | < 3/month typical |
| Marketplace revenue | Baseline | +25-40% typical |
| Inventory sync | Daily/manual | Every 3-5 minutes |