Type and subtype combinations in the settlement file
Find out more about these two related fields in the settlement file and Sales and return report, that provide the accounting context of a transaction.
Type and subtype combinations in the settlement file
Type and subtype are two related fields in the settlement file that provide the accounting context of a transaction. These fields also appear in the Sales and return report.
While type provides more general information about how the transaction affects the payout position as well as the inventory position, subtype provides more granular information.
Below please find the type and subtype combinations that can appear in the settlement file, as well as in the Sales and return report.
Please note that debit (-) indicates that the fund will be paid out to the partner, while credit (+) indicates that Zalando retains the amount. For more information on the debit and credit signs in the settlement file, please refer to this article for Partner Program partners, or this article for Connected Retail partners.
Type | Subtype | Explanation | Gross Partner Revenue | MKT/PAI | Payment Service Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sale | Standard | A successful sale. | debit (-) | credit (+) | credit (+) |
Sale | Manual refund | Not a new partner sale but the consequence of the formerly booked Cancellation/Missing Sale transaction, or adjustment to previously booked manual refund transaction. | debit (-) | credit (+) | credit (+) |
Return | Standard | A successful return. | credit (+) | debit (-) | debit (-) |
Man. refund | Return shipping provider | Customer Care initiated manual refund to the customer due to the article lost by the logistics provider during the return process. | credit (+) | debit (-) | debit (-) |
Man. refund | Return warehouse | Customer Care initiated a manual refund to the customer due to the article lost in Zalando’s/ partner’s warehouse during the return process. | credit (+) | debit (-) | debit (-) |
Cancellation | Missing Sale | Cancellation of a sale by Customer Care when an article is not received by the customer.
This transaction may also appear for successfully delivered items as Customer Care needs to cancel all sale transactions in an order when another item in the same order is lost during the delivery. However, there will be a separate Sale/ manual refund transaction in the same settlement file. | credit (+) | debit (-) | debit (-) |
Cancellation | Missing return | Cancellation of a return by Customer Care. For example, a partner communicated a return mistakenly and later requested to cancel the return transaction. | debit (-) | credit (+)
| credit (+) |
Cancellation | Return shipping provider | Cancellation of the manual refund due to a missing return by the shipping provider. | debit (-) | credit (+) | credit (+) |
Cancellation | Return warehouse | Cancellation of the manual refund due to a missing return as the article was lost in the Zalando or partner warehouse. | debit (-) | credit (+) | credit (+) |
Correction | Financial adjustment | Correction of an existing transaction done manually by Zalando. For every erroneous transaction, there would always be two correction transactions. | One transaction with the opposite sign of the erroneous transaction. Another transaction with the same sign of the erroneous transaction. |
Examples of type and subtype combinations
Example 1: Standard delivery and return of an article
Customer orders one article on Zalando. Once the article is shipped to the customer, one sale transaction is recorded:
= Type: Sale - Subtype: Standard
Customer returns the article. Once the article is received at the warehouse, one return transaction is recorded:
= Type: Return - Subtype: Standard
Example 2: Article lost during delivery
Customer ordered three articles, but receives only two articles
Customer orders three articles on Zalando. After the shipments of these three articles, three sale transactions were recorded:
= Type: Sale - Subtype: Standard
Customer contacts Customer Care because one article was not delivered.
Customer Care cancels the original three sale transactions. Three cancellations are recorded
= Type: Cancellation - Subtype: Missing sale
Customer Care records delivery of two successful articles. Two sale transactions are recorded as following:
= Type: Sale - Subtype: Manual refund.
This combination of transaction type and subtype indicates that they are not new sales but actually a consequence of the cancellation process.
Also note that no sale/ manual refund transaction is recorded for the lost item indicating that the item was not delivered to the customer.
Example 3: Article lost during return
A customer returns an item, but the item is lost during the return process.
Customer orders one article on Zalando platform. Once the article is shipped to the customer, one sale transaction was recorded:
= Type: Sale - Subtype: Standard
Customer informs Customer Care that the article was returned but no refund was issued.
Customer Care investigates the case and finds that the article was lost either by the shipping provider or in the warehouse.
Customer Care creates the respective manual refund depending on the root cause.
If the returned article was lost by the shipping provider this is reflected by the transaction:
= Type: Manual refund = Subtype: Return shipping provider.
or
If the returned item got lost in the warehouse this is reflected by the transaction:
= Type: Manual refund - Subtype: Return warehouse
Example 4: Cancellation of a previously recorded manual refund
Customer Care receives additional information after creating a manual refund. Due to this additional information, Customer Care needs to cancel the manual refund.
Customer orders one article on Zalando platform. Once the article is shipped to the customer, one Sale transaction was recorded:
= Type: Sale - Subtype: Standard
Customer informs Customer Care that the article was returned but no refund was issued.
After investigation Customer Care finds out that the article was lost by the shipping provider, and issues a manual refund
= Type: Manual refund = Subtype: Return shipping provider
Shipping provider reports that the item was returned back to the customer due to the incorrect address details on the return package. Customer Care checks with the customer and cancels the manual refund
= Type: Cancellation - Subtype: Return shipping provider
Example 5: Cancellation of a return
Partner announces an incorrect return, and later requests Customer Care to cancel the return.
Customer orders one article on Zalando platform. Once the article is shipped to the customer, one Sale transaction was recorded:
= Type: Sale - Subtype: Standard
Partner reports the receipt of the returned article in the Warehouse. One Return transaction is recorded:
= Type: Return - Subtype: Standard
Partner contacts Customer Care to inform that the reporting of the return was a technical error, and requests to cancel the return. Customer Care cancels the return transaction
= Type: Cancellation - Subtype: Missing return
Example 6: Corrections by internal Zalando teams
Partner reports that the fee category of an item was recorded incorrectly, and that resulted in an incorrect Marketplace service fee.
Customer orders one article on Zalando platform. One sale transaction is recorded:
= Type: Sale - Subtype: Standard
Partner reports to Customer Care that the fee category of the item was recorded as a instead of d. This resulted in an incorrect Marketplace service fee.
After investigation, Customer Care rectifies the error by applying a correction transaction. This results in the following two transactions in the settlement file:
First correction transaction nullifies the financial impact of the erroneous transaction. This is reflected in the debit/credit positions of the correction transaction.
Second correction transaction shows the intended financial impact of the transaction. This is reflected in the debit/credit positions of the second correction transaction.
