Seller Operating Instructions – Cahoot

General

Cahoot will fulfill orders Monday through Friday, excluding only the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. If your SLA includes Saturday shipments, then Cahoot will also ship orders on that day as per your agreement.
All communication goes through Cahoot. Anonymity will be respected, and network participants will not communicate directly.
- Owners and key stakeholders at each fulfillment location will have direct relationships with Cahoot key stakeholders.
- Mobile phone numbers for primary personnel and business owners will be kept on file and used in the event of an emergency.
Cahoot provides initial training on how to use the Cahoot platforms, after that, merchants are responsible for training their newly hired staff to use Cahoot. There will be periodic refresher trainings available for merchants centers.
- Business leaders need to be on training calls, not just the warehouse staff
Prep services and special projects may be available for a fee (Ex. Inventory barcoding, shipment inserts, returns processing, etc.), however, FBA prep and/or forwarding services are not available.
Avoid unexpected spikes in order volume or risk order defects. Provide Cahoot forward visibility for fulfillment capacity, carrier capacity, and storage capacity.
Adhere to the General Operating Instructions, Fulfillment Services Agreement and Software Subscription and License Agreement at all times.
Maintain current account information including contact information, warehouse address, etc.
Never misrepresent yourself or your intentions.

Inbound

Seller or its authorized representatives must schedule an appointment via the Seller’s Cahoot Account Manager before shipping deliveries or pick-up removal orders from any of its fulfillment centers.
Shipping Freight to a Cahoot Fulfillment Partner should follow the Product Prep and Shipment guidelines. Determining the type of preparation required to ship your products safely to a Cahoot Fulfillment Partner is your responsibility. Failure to comply with FBA product preparation requirements, safety requirements, and product restrictions may result in the refusal by the Cahoot Fulfillment Partner to accept the shipment.
Product prep guidelines are designed to ensure safe handling by warehouse staff, transportation by carrier employees, and delivery to customers. The items should arrive at the partner’s location ready to be fulfilled. The partner is only expected to either attach a shipping label directly to the manufacturer packaging or pack the item within the instructed packing material before shipping.
Cahoot will confirm that the inventory count sent to a CFP's location is accurate. Cahoot also automatically tracks inventory counts in real-time as orders are processed so that you can monitor and replenish inventory in advance of stock-outs.

Setting Up SKUs

It is Seller’s responsibility to confirm Package Manager Data is accurate for all Warehouse Exchange SKUs.
ALL SKU values for any given product must match the SKU value(s) in Cahoot EXACTLY. Sellers must communicate any changes to SKUs, ASINs, etc. for existing products immediately. Orders for SKUs with incorrect configurations are excluded and will not be fulfilled. Recommended that the same SKU values are used across sales channels connected to Cahoot.
Warehouse Exchange Products must be configured and mapped correctly so that orders can be correctly assigned to Fulfillment Partners. This article explains how to confirm the accuracy of all of your products data.
When your order is assigned to a Cahoot Fulfillment Partner, Cahoot needs package data to automatically create a shipping label to fulfill your order. Configuring package data for your SKUs also applies to orders that you fulfill yourself if you're using the Cahoot Shipping Label Solution. Entering Package Data is a one-time exercise per SKU.

Inventory at Cahoot

Sellers are responsible for monitoring inventory and maintaining positive quantity available at Cahoot locations to prevent backorders.
- Orders without inventory available for fulfillment (backorders) will be excluded from fulfillment. If/when new inventory arrives, new orders will be fulfilled automatically, and if applicable, Seller will provide the Cahoot Support team with a list of the excluded orders that should be “reprocessed” and fulfilled. Cahoot will not automatically fulfill orders that have been excluded unless explicitly requested in writing by Sellers.
Please note that Cahoot does NOT track inventory available outside of the Cahoot network; Cahoot only monitors inventory at Partner locations. This does not adjust for orders fulfilled outside of Cahoot.
Unless otherwise explicitly communicated in writing, the default expectation is that Sellers keep local inventory available for Warehouse Exchange SKUs as safety stock to prevent inactive listings and ensure orders can be fulfilled. Local stockouts need to be clearly communicated to Cahoot Support well in advance.
It is recommended to include a buffer in your listings (the greater of 2% or 5 units) to account for “safety stock”, and request a recount when listing(s) runs out (or get very low) to prevent overselling and having to cancel orders.
To remove or dispose of damaged or expired inventory, simply submit a Work Order for Inventory Removal (instructions below) and we'll take it from there. Please make note of the removal guidelines below before submitting your request: https://support.cahoot.ai/hc/en-us/articles/360055063194-Inventory-Removals

Ensuring Your Orders Are Fulfilled

Sellers are responsible for monitoring all sales channels to ensure orders are imported into Cahoot for fulfillment and reporting any concerns/issues to Cahoot Support.
Sellers are 100% responsible for ensuring all orders from all sales channels are actually making it into Cahoot and that they are shipped. Pay close attention to this.
Merchants are responsible for ensuring all orders are actually shipped, labels are actually printed, etc. (internet speed printer spooling issue). Shipping labels are provided to CFPs by 2:45p local time. Contact Cahoot Support if you are concerned about any orders not shipping on time.
Sellers will monitor orders and make corrections for CFPs as necessary to enable successful fulfillment of orders by CFPs (Ex. Shipping address corrections).
Sellers are 100% responsible for sidelining Cahoot-eligible orders in other systems to ensure orders are not double-shipped. The best way to prevent double-shipments is to use Cahoot to fulfill all orders for the SKUs in the network, whether fulfillment is assigned to the Partner or you.
Orders assigned to partners for fulfillment cannot be reversed. Most teams rely on batch processing of orders and these violations can become highly disruptive and expensive. The best way to cancel a fulfillment is to do it before the shipping label has been printed by the Partner.

Carrier Pickup Responsibility

1. Sellers are responsible for working closely with carrier Account Reps to schedule dedicated daily pickups at Cahoot Fulfillment Partner (CFP) locations. Schedule pickups after 3:30p local time to support same-day Seller Fulfilled Prime shipping requirements, if applicable. Starting pickups a couple days before go-live is recommended so the driver gets familiar with the location and a contact at the Cahoot location.

- Important: Forward a copy of the confirmation that pickups are scheduled 6 days per week to your Cahoot Account Manager.

2. Make sure packages can be reliably picked up at scale and that size/weight of your SKUs are not a concern.

3. Work closely with local carriers in response to shifts in demand. If carrier doesn’t expect volume, they may refuse it

- Merchant needs to have conversations with Sales and Operations teams at carriers in advance of spikes in order volumes to ensure space is available on trucks at CFP locations. Cahoot is not responsible for arranging additional carrier pickups to accommodate spikes in order volume.

4. Sellers are responsible for carrier configurations in Cahoot and for giving Cahoot Support 2-weeks’ advance notice of any carrier/service changes needed.

5. Make sure there are daily scheduled carrier pickups with a direct billing relationship to consider the carrier for optimizations at each location

Order Fulfillment

Cahoot will provide all shipping supplies and invoice Sellers for boxes, bubble mailers, poly mailers, etc.
Multi-Line orders where some SKUs are in stock but others aren’t are Excluded from fulfillment and should be fulfilled by Sellers.
Cahoot does NOT control the carriers or package deliverability once they have been picked up from CFP locations.
Cahoot may override handling time factored into Channel Ship Date requirements (excluding Seller Fulfilled Prime orders) if order volume for Warehouse Exchange SKUs is getting too high to ensure manageable same-day shipping order volume.
Cahoot amplifies sales capacity, it does not create demand – It is merchant’s responsibility to select SKUs for Warehouse Exchange that have existing demand.
Cahoot does not automatically create shipping labels using a service that Amazon Buy Shipping believes will result in a late delivery, even if it’s available in Buy Shipping. Cahoot will put the order in Manual Review for Seller to create the label. However, there is a setting in Cahoot that will override this default behavior. Provide a written request if you would like this setting enabled.
Cahoot is not responsible for SFP shipping templates that are edited by Sellers. Once configured, Cahoot manages SFP shipping templates indefinitely – Manually changing templates on a listing will be changed back automatically when detected. Sellers should consult with Cahoot if changes to Cahoot-created templates are needed.
In most cases, Cahoot will automatically generate shipping labels for your orders whether they will be fulfilled in your warehouse or partner's warehouse. Cahoot also allows you to manually create shipping labels for your orders that have been optimized to your partner locations.https://support.cahoot.ai/hc/en-us/articles/360052571334-Creating-Shipping-Labels-for-Orders-in-Partner-Location
Cahoot gives you full visibility into your orders that have been assigned to Shipping Partners for fulfillment. Cahoot deliberately keeps Partner Shipments separate from your own orders to avoid double shipping. This article will provide insight on how to find your optimized orders (partner shipments), customize views, and identify some helpful reports that support your workflow. https://support.cahoot.ai/hc/en-us/articles/360047220433-Finding-Partner-Shipments-Tracking-Numbers
If you receive a customer claim for a lost or damaged shipment that was shipped by your Cahoot partner, you can submit a claim to Cahoot for further investigation. Cahoot Support will let you know when your reimbursement request has been approved. https://support.cahoot.ai/hc/en-us/articles/360052571654-Cahoot-Claims-Form-

Returns

By default, returned shipments for Cahoot orders are delivered to the Cahoot Returns Department in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Every order that Cahoot recognizes as returned to our Returns Department is also tagged with the Order Tag, "Returned to Cahoot".
Cahoot may inspect the returned shipments for quality control purposes, so it is imperative that Cahoot orders are shipped according to the Merchant Code of Conduct as a condition of your participation in the Cahoot network.
If an order needs to be replaced, Sellers can choose whether to ship the replacement item themselves, or they can import a new order into Cahoot manually for fulfillment by Cahoot.
For orders that are returned to the CFP partner, Cahoot will assign the "Returned to Sender" order tag instead.

Last Updated: 2/23/2021

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Cahoot will fulfill orders Monday through Friday, excluding only the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. If your SLA includes Saturday shipments, then Cahoot will also ship orders on that day as per your agreement.

All communication goes through Cahoot. Anonymity will be respected, and network participants will not communicate directly.

Owners and key stakeholders at each fulfillment location will have direct relationships with Cahoot key stakeholders.

Mobile phone numbers for primary personnel and business owners will be kept on file and used in the event of an emergency.

Cahoot provides initial training on how to use the Cahoot platforms, after that, merchants are responsible for training their newly hired staff to use Cahoot. There will be periodic refresher trainings available for merchants centers.

Business leaders need to be on training calls, not just the warehouse staff

Prep services and special projects may be available for a fee (Ex. Inventory barcoding, shipment inserts, returns processing, etc.), however, FBA prep and/or forwarding services are not available.

Avoid unexpected spikes in order volume or risk order defects. Provide Cahoot forward visibility for fulfillment capacity, carrier capacity, and storage capacity.

Adhere to the General Operating Instructions, Fulfillment Services Agreement and Software Subscription and License Agreement at all times.

Maintain current account information including contact information, warehouse address, etc.

Never misrepresent yourself or your intentions.

Seller or its authorized representatives must schedule an appointment via the Seller’s Cahoot Account Manager before shipping deliveries or pick-up removal orders from any of its fulfillment centers.

Cahoot will confirm that the inventory count sent to a CFP's location is accurate. Cahoot also automatically tracks inventory counts in real-time as orders are processed so that you can monitor and replenish inventory in advance of stock-outs.

It is Seller’s responsibility to confirm Package Manager Data is accurate for all Warehouse Exchange SKUs.

Warehouse Exchange Products must be configured and mapped correctly so that orders can be correctly assigned to Fulfillment Partners. This article explains how to confirm the accuracy of all of your products data.

Sellers are responsible for monitoring inventory and maintaining positive quantity available at Cahoot locations to prevent backorders.

Please note that Cahoot does NOT track inventory available outside of the Cahoot network; Cahoot only monitors inventory at Partner locations. This does not adjust for orders fulfilled outside of Cahoot.

It is recommended to include a buffer in your listings (the greater of 2% or 5 units) to account for “safety stock”, and request a recount when listing(s) runs out (or get very low) to prevent overselling and having to cancel orders.

Sellers are responsible for monitoring all sales channels to ensure orders are imported into Cahoot for fulfillment and reporting any concerns/issues to Cahoot Support.

Sellers are 100% responsible for ensuring all orders from all sales channels are actually making it into Cahoot and that they are shipped. Pay close attention to this.

Merchants are responsible for ensuring all orders are actually shipped, labels are actually printed, etc. (internet speed printer spooling issue). Shipping labels are provided to CFPs by 2:45p local time. Contact Cahoot Support if you are concerned about any orders not shipping on time.

Sellers will monitor orders and make corrections for CFPs as necessary to enable successful fulfillment of orders by CFPs (Ex. Shipping address corrections).

Sellers are 100% responsible for sidelining Cahoot-eligible orders in other systems to ensure orders are not double-shipped. The best way to prevent double-shipments is to use Cahoot to fulfill all orders for the SKUs in the network, whether fulfillment is assigned to the Partner or you.

Orders assigned to partners for fulfillment cannot be reversed. Most teams rely on batch processing of orders and these violations can become highly disruptive and expensive. The best way to cancel a fulfillment is to do it before the shipping label has been printed by the Partner.

Important: Forward a copy of the confirmation that pickups are scheduled 6 days per week to your Cahoot Account Manager.

2. Make sure packages can be reliably picked up at scale and that size/weight of your SKUs are not a concern.

3. Work closely with local carriers in response to shifts in demand. If carrier doesn’t expect volume, they may refuse it

Merchant needs to have conversations with Sales and Operations teams at carriers in advance of spikes in order volumes to ensure space is available on trucks at CFP locations. Cahoot is not responsible for arranging additional carrier pickups to accommodate spikes in order volume.

4. Sellers are responsible for carrier configurations in Cahoot and for giving Cahoot Support 2-weeks’ advance notice of any carrier/service changes needed.

5. Make sure there are daily scheduled carrier pickups with a direct billing relationship to consider the carrier for optimizations at each location

Cahoot will provide all shipping supplies and invoice Sellers for boxes, bubble mailers, poly mailers, etc.

Multi-Line orders where some SKUs are in stock but others aren’t are Excluded from fulfillment and should be fulfilled by Sellers.

Cahoot does NOT control the carriers or package deliverability once they have been picked up from CFP locations.

Cahoot may override handling time factored into Channel Ship Date requirements (excluding Seller Fulfilled Prime orders) if order volume for Warehouse Exchange SKUs is getting too high to ensure manageable same-day shipping order volume.

Cahoot amplifies sales capacity, it does not create demand – It is merchant’s responsibility to select SKUs for Warehouse Exchange that have existing demand.

By default, returned shipments for Cahoot orders are delivered to the Cahoot Returns Department in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Every order that Cahoot recognizes as returned to our Returns Department is also tagged with the Order Tag, "Returned to Cahoot".

Cahoot may inspect the returned shipments for quality control purposes, so it is imperative that Cahoot orders are shipped according to the Merchant Code of Conduct as a condition of your participation in the Cahoot network.

If an order needs to be replaced, Sellers can choose whether to ship the replacement item themselves, or they can import a new order into Cahoot manually for fulfillment by Cahoot.

For orders that are returned to the CFP partner, Cahoot will assign the "Returned to Sender" order tag instead.

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