Merchant of Records (MoR): an opportunity for your e–commerce

Managing the billing and legal aspects of e–commerce online payments can be complex and time-consuming.

For this reason, many entrepreneurs find in the MoR (Merchant of Record) a simple and safe option for not managing taxation and not having to invoice customers directly, in order to devote themselves to other activities useful to increase their profits. 

To talk about Merchant of Records we invited Emilio Lodigiani from Strategia eCommerce.

What is the MoR?

When we talk about “MoR” – Merchant of Records, we refer to the “seller on paper”. What does it mean? Sometimes, generally for tax or accounting reasons, a company does not take deal with invoicing directly, but turns to a Merchant of Records who intervenes by offering customers, that is those who sell the goods, a service. 

In the video of Strategia eCommerce you can clearly (and quickly!) understand what is a Merchant of Records and how it works. 

How does it work? 

Once the goods have been located in an external logistics, the MoR acts as an intermediary between the seller and the final customer who makes the purchase. Therefore, the MoR buys the goods from the manufacturer and sells them to the customer. 

This involves the stipulation of contracts in which precise details are defined with the real owner of the e–commerce, for example monthly rates, percentages for sales, and so on. Consequently, the MoR will be responsible for:

• all legal disputes 
• general conditions of purchase 
• sales contract (e.g. the privacy policy).

The MoR is an interesting option that can greatly simplify internal accounting, especially when you want to create an e–commerce but do not want to manage taxation, or if you are dealing with large volumes of business.   

The first step must always be that of putting the goods in an external warehouse, which is why this logic does not normally apply when making dropshipping sales. There are some companies that deal with both logistics and MoR, usually keeping the goods on consignment. So a single interlocutor who takes care of the whole e-commerce aspect! 

As explained by Emilio Lodigiani, founder and CEO of Tunca, Shopify Expert agency and Shopify Education Partner specialized in e–commerce consulting,    

«The use of a Merchant of Records for your online sale is a very interesting solution when the company does not want or cannot handle the accounting part. Or, again in the logic of outsourcing, it wants to charge the variable costs of logistics / administrative management on the product.

The MoR solution, previously used for merchandising only, represents a valid tool to support a modern e–commerce».

The advantages of choosing a Merchant of Records

If your business takes financial responsibility for all payments, you need to invest your time and energy to resolve any problems that may arise.   

For this reason, choosing to delegate all financial activities to the MoR offers a series of advantages to companies. Let’s see them together: 

• Payment processing is full of complexities, such as managing multiple payment methods, calculating taxes and different commissions. The MoR takes control of all these aspects. 
• Conquering other markets is no longer that complicated: the MoR takes care of currency conversion and ensures that your business complies with local tax laws.   
• Instead of having to work directly with clients and financial service providers, outsourcing allows you to communicate with a single entity: your MoR. 
• You won’t have to manage refunds and chargebacks directly. 

How can ShippyPro facilitate the work of the MoR?

Do you own a large e–commerce and are you thinking of delegating the sale of your products to the MoR? Or are you a MoR and you take care not only of the administrative part but also of the logistics? 

ShippyPro can be the solution to facilitate your entire shipping process. In fact, managing large quantities of orders requires a lot of time and energy.     

With ShippyPro your orders will be imported automatically, you can print bulk labels, track your packages, send shipping notifications and automate the return process making it easier for you and your customers.    

How can you optimize the entire management of your orders? Let’s see specifically some of the ShippyPro features that allow you to save time but also money! 

Label Creator: ship more, in less time

Label Creator allows you to print labels in just one click, drastically reducing the time spent printing waybills. How does it work? We explain it to you in these simple steps:   

1. Your orders from one or more Marketplaces are automatically imported into the platform. Forget about manual work and the possibility of mistakes!   
2. Choose the most convenient rates of your Carriers and save on your shipments. 
3. Select the orders to be shipped and print the labels in bulk, with just one click!  
4. Once shipments have started, your orders are automatically marked as shipped, each with its own tracking number. 

Track and Trace: real-time tracking and smart notifications

With this powerful feature you and your customers can monitor order tracking at any time. 

Track and Trace is much more than a simple tracking platform: thanks to this feature you can access all the analytics related to your shipments, identify late orders and send branded tracking notifications. Within these emails you can also upsell and cross-sell by inserting additional products or ad hoc discounts for your customers!    

Easy Return: automate and simplify the entire return process 

The ease with which your customers can return your products is what can make you stand out from your competitors.  

Easy Return automates the entire return process: the return experience will be simple and pleasant. You can insert the return rules in a portal ready to be integrated into your site, and your customers will have the possibility to print return labels in a few clicks. 

Plus, by combining Easy Return with the Live Checkout feature, you can also show them a map with the closest pick-up points!