What Fruugo is and who sells there
Fruugo does not buy or hold stock. Retailers send in a product feed, by CSV or XML file, through a partner integration or an ecommerce plugin, and Fruugo turns it into listings, handling translation and currency for each market it serves. Sellers pay a commission only when something sells.
That model suits established retailers with large catalogues: homeware, tools, toys, pet products, beauty and hobby ranges running to thousands of SKUs. Nobody hand-writes Fruugo listings. The feed is the shop window, so whatever it says about stock is what shoppers can buy.
What Fruugo's order rules mean for fulfilment
Fruugo's retailer documentation splits every order into two actions. First you confirm or cancel each item according to whether you can ship it promptly, and Fruugo sets a short window for that after the order is placed. Orders left untouched are eventually cancelled and refunded by Fruugo. Once confirmed, the order should ship as soon as possible and no later than the deadline Fruugo sets after confirmation, and late shipments trigger reminders.
When you mark an order shipped, Fruugo emails the customer straight away with whatever tracking you supply. The tracking field is not compulsory, but Fruugo asks for it whenever goods go on a tracked service, and its shipping settings ask for courier details so customers get accurate tracking. Every Smart parcel ships tracked with proof of delivery, so there is always a number to send.
Because listings come from a feed, the biggest risk is selling stock you no longer have. A cancelled item is a poor experience for the customer and a mark against the retailer, so the stock number Fruugo sees has to come from the shelf, not from a spreadsheet updated last week.
How Fruugo orders flow through Smart
Fruugo offers an Order API for retailers who want orders in their own back office rather than working order by order in the Merchant Centre: it downloads orders and sends confirm, ship, cancel and return updates back to Fruugo. With Smart connected, Fruugo orders from UK customers flow into our system automatically and are picked from your shared stock pool.
Each parcel is packed and dispatched with the carrier that suits it, from DPD and Evri to Royal Mail. Tracking and order status then go back to Fruugo, which triggers the shipping email to the customer. Stock levels sync back as well, so the quantities behind your listings match what is actually in the warehouse. Orders placed before 9pm are dispatched the same day (cut-offs vary by carrier, service and daily order profile).
Fruugo as one channel among several
Fruugo is rarely a retailer's only channel. Holding one pool of stock for it, your own website and other marketplaces avoids splitting inventory, and goods-in checked against purchase orders keeps new stock accurate from the moment it arrives.
