On Ozon FBO it is not enough to bring the goods in - the warehouse also has to be ready to take them: every shipment needs a booked time slot, and the volume it can accept is capped by limits. In season, slots and limits are exactly the bottleneck that keeps goods off the shelf. Here is how it works and how to plan your shipments.
How an Ozon inbound shipment works
- Supply request in your seller account: contents, quantity, packaging.
- Choice of warehouse or cluster - where the goods will go.
- Time slot booking - the date and time the warehouse is ready to accept the truck.
- Delivery and acceptance - a check against quantity and labeling.
A step-by-step breakdown with packaging and labeling is in the Ozon inbound shipment guide.
What supply limits are
A limit is the volume a given warehouse is ready to accept from a seller within a period. It floats depending on warehouse load, your inventory turnover and the season: the faster your stock sells, the more willingly the platform takes new shipments. In peak months, limits at popular warehouses are the first to shrink, and oversized goods are counted separately - how dimensions affect logistics.
The platform changes the units of measure and the exact rules for calculating limits from time to time - check your seller account for the current mechanics.
Time slots: the rules of the game
- A slot is booked for a specific date and time; without a booking the truck will not be accepted.
- Arriving late or not at all means the shipment is rescheduled or canceled: days lost while competitors keep selling.
- Free slots on convenient dates are taken well ahead of time - especially before sales events.
- On WB the same role is played by paid acceptance: the inbound acceptance coefficient - different mechanics, same problem.
How to plan shipments
- From turnover, not from the moment stock runs out. A shipment is planned around sales velocity with a buffer for transit and acceptance: the method.
- Several warehouses instead of one. Watch the limits at backup clusters - a shortage at the central warehouse should not stop your sales.
- Regions also mean rankings. Delivery speed is a ranking factor: stock in demand clusters lifts the product card in local search results - how Ozon search works. It also raises your localization index - and makes logistics cheaper.
- Do not over-ship. An overstocked warehouse means paying for storage and getting cut limits on the next shipments.
- Choose the warehouse by calculation. The selection logic, accounting for demand and rates, is in the warehouse selection guide.
Related guides: Ozon FBO inbound shipment.
FAQ
"What is a time slot on Ozon?" A booked date and time when the warehouse is ready to accept your shipment. Without a booking the truck will not be accepted; arriving late leads to the shipment being rescheduled or canceled.
"Why are there no free slots at a warehouse?" The warehouse is overloaded - usually in season or before sales events. The options: other dates, neighboring warehouses in the cluster, or regional warehouses with a lighter load.
"What is a supply limit and why is mine so small?" It is the volume a warehouse is ready to accept from you within a period. The limit depends on warehouse load and your inventory turnover: the faster your stock sells, the more you are allowed to bring in.
"What happens if I miss my time slot?" The shipment will be rescheduled or canceled - you will have to rebook and lose selling days. Build in a buffer for transit and paperwork.
"How should I ship goods before sales events?" Early: book slots and check limits several weeks before the peak, spread the volume across several warehouses and do not count on bringing everything in three days before the start.
