bol.com: verzenden via bol.com (VVB)

About this article

This article describes bol.com's feature verzenden via bol.com (VVB), which allows you to outsource the creation of shipping labels and part of the logistics to bol.com.

Table of contents

Introduction

How to enable VVB

Create a shipment

Carrier data

Flow: exporting shipments

Introduction

Verzenden via bol.com (VVB) provides merchants with partial outsourcing of the shipment process, as shipment labels and part of the logistics are handled by bol.com. The main benefits of VVB are:

• Participating merchants are not held accountable for the performance of the carrier.
• Customer questions regarding the delivery are answered by bol.com.
• Customers do not lose any flexibility in terms of delivery options.

For more information on VVB, check out the article Is Verzenden via bol.com iets voor mij? (in Dutch).

bol.com also offers VVB+, which includes perks such as an extra carrier and a faster delivery option. For more information on the differences between VVB and VVB+, check out the article De voordelen van Verzenden via bol.com (in Dutch).

How to enable VVB

To enable this feature, you must first register directly with bol.com by filling out the form on the Verzenden via bol.com page (in Dutch). Once that is done, please contact ChannelEngine's Support team to enable VVB in your environment.

When turned on, the VVB option becomes available within the Shipping time attribute – under the Offer mappings tab. You can map it for products that you want to use VVB with.

On the order level, VVB order lines can be accompanied by the following information:

• VVB: True
• PickupPoint: True - if the customer has selected a pick-up point. The name of the pick-up point is visible under Company address, within the shipping address. This is relevant because pick-up points have restrictions in terms of weight and dimensions.
• Timeframe: EVENING (or SAMEDAY, SUNDAY, APPOINTMENT) - if the customer has selected an alternative timeframe. This is relevant because it has an impact on when the order should be shipped.

Create a shipment

When the order contains VVB order lines, its flow is similar to the shipping labels flow – with the exception that the shipping labels are now required for the VVB order lines, instead of optional.

You can select the label and create the shipment through ChannelEngine's web interface or via the API. Both options are covered below.

Via ChannelEngine

bol.com has not specified instructions on the flow when an order includes both VVB and non-VVB order lines, but it is possible to add non-VVB order lines in the VVB package.

When creating a shipment, you must first select one or more order lines. If you fail to do this, the process fails. You can then input the dimensions and weight of the package. The Shipment method selection list shows the available options (e.g.: parcel, mailbox, etc.), whether bol.com recommends it or not, the handover date, and the price.

Once the shipment has been exported, the Download shipping label button appears – as seen below.

Via the API

• The /v2/carriers/{merchantOrderNo} endpoint is available to retrieve the available carriers. It is important to call this endpoint only when you are about to create the shipment, as the options are time-sensitive.
• Use the /v2/shipments/channelmethod endpoint to create the shipment. Set the code from the desired carrier to ChannelMethodCode.
• After the shipment has been exported to the channel (see below), the /v2/orders/{merchantShipmentNo}/shippinglabel endpoint can be used to retrieve the shipping label in PDF.

Carrier data

bol.com takes the timeframe, pick-up point, and dimensions into account when returning the available carriers. For example, there may not be a mailbox package option for evening deliveries.

Carrier names can be long in character length because they include the following information:

• Type of parcel - mailbox without track-and-trace code, mailbox with track-and-trace code, and regular parcel.
• Drop-off or pick-up - whether the carrier requires the merchant to drop off the parcels at the carrier's location, or if the carrier collects the parcel at the merchant's location.
• Evaluation - recommended, neutral, or discouraged.
  • Carrier options can be marked by bol.com as recommended. Unmarked options are acceptable.
  • Some options may be marked as discouraged. While you can use them, they do not meet the customer's selected delivery window. Therefore, you will be penalized by bol.com for using them.
• Handover date time - at what time the package should be handed over to the carrier (neither earlier nor later than this time). 
• Price - the purchase price the merchant has to pay for the shipping label.

Flow: exporting shipments

The VVB flow works in the following way within ChannelEngine:

• The shipping label is created when shipments are exported. bol.com does not provide the label immediately, so ChannelEngine has to wait until the next shipments export task to retrieve it.
• During the next shipments export, ChannelEngine downloads the finalized label. Only then the shipment is exported to bol.com.
• The shipping label is then available to download via the ChannelEngine web application and via the API.