FBO (Fulfillment By Ozon) is the model where your goods are sold directly from Ozon's warehouse. The seller only needs to make regular deliveries; Ozon handles the rest. It is a good fit for newcomers and for established sellers who want to offload logistics.
How the FBO model works
- The seller brings goods to an Ozon warehouse, packed to the marketplace's standards.
- Ozon places the products in the warehouse.
- Marketplace staff accept orders, pack the goods and hand them to the delivery service.
- The customer collects the order from a courier or an Ozon pickup point.
Secret 1: It works for almost every seller
The model suits nearly all merchants because they no longer have to manage delivery times, order status updates, handovers to couriers or pickup points, customer delivery, order issuing, or returns and their transport back to the warehouse.
A key advantage: you can place stock in warehouses located closer to your potential buyers. Shorter delivery times mean more sales - delivery speed directly affects sales on Ozon, and buyers increasingly care about how fast they receive an order.
The scheme also works for sellers who already run their own warehouse: FBO significantly reduces the load on your logistics team and staff, and it expands your sales geography.
On FBO, the Ozon commission is on average about 1% lower than under other schemes, and products tend to rank higher in search results.
Note that some product categories cannot be sold via FBO, for safety and preservation reasons, and not every warehouse can accept items heavier than 80 kg.
Secret 2: How to start correctly
Assume your seller account is ready, your products are uploaded and the contract with Ozon is signed. You have chosen FBO. What next?
- Create a supply request in your seller account. Describe the product, and specify the date and the warehouse where the goods will arrive.
- Ship the goods according to all marketplace rules, and do not forget the labels.
- Deliver the goods to the marketplace warehouse. That is all that is required from you.
Secret 3: How to calculate costs correctly
Before a product reaches the buyer, it goes through a long handling process at Ozon: goods acceptance, order assembly, payment processing, and logistics to a pickup point or to the customer's home. Each of these services has its own cost, which the marketplace deducts automatically from your revenue. The commission percentage is calculated individually in each case.
How to make money on FBO
Warehouse placement is paid, but in a number of cases you can store goods for free and save significantly. This applies to certain product categories (clothing, footwear, accessories, super-products) or to goods held in a warehouse in Kazakhstan.
Storage is also free if you have enough liter bonuses, which grow with each new supply. One liter bonus covers the placement of one liter of goods per day, and in total these bonuses can cover free storage for 30 days.
If a product sells within less than 120 days, no storage fee is charged either.
To understand whether this scheme fits you, calculate your unit economics and assess all marketplace commissions.
