Keep orders moving and protect your customer experience by agreeing, in writing, who does what—and who owns each mistake—before your stock leaves your hands.
This practical checklist helps you replace vague promises with clear tasks, evidence, reporting and escalation rules, so you spend less time chasing handovers and answering avoidable order queries.
What is a fulfilment agreement checklist for?
A fulfilment agreement should spell out the work your partner will perform, how each handoff is recorded, how problems are reported, and how responsibility is determined when something goes wrong. Use the checklist below to make expectations clear before the first order is processed.
Which fulfilment activities should you list in the agreement?
Write down each task individually. For every item, state whether it is included, excluded or handled only when you agree it in advance.
- Receiving stock: specify what delivery details you provide, what the partner checks, and how received quantities, visible damage and discrepancies are recorded.
- Inventory and storage: define how stock is identified, counted and tracked, and how you can access stock-on-hand and movement records.
- Order processing: state how orders are submitted, what information is required, and when an order counts as received, processed and ready for dispatch.
- Picking and packing: describe how items are matched to orders, what packaging and packing instructions apply, and how completed parcels are recorded.
- Delivery handoff: define what dispatch confirmation you receive and what evidence records the handover to the delivery provider.
- Returns and exchanges: say who receives returned items, inspects and records their condition, updates inventory, and handles the next agreed step.
- Extra tasks: explicitly include or exclude relabelling, kitting, special packing, customer updates and any other work your operation may need.
Who owns each fulfilment error? Agree this before it happens
Avoid a vague “we’ll look into it” clause. For each issue, name who investigates, who tells you, who updates the customer, what evidence is kept, who can approve a correction or replacement, and how responsibility or costs are decided under the agreement.
- Stock arrives short, damaged or with a quantity discrepancy.
- Inventory records are incorrect or a count does not match the stock on hand.
- The wrong item is picked, an item is missing, or an order is packed against your instructions.
- A parcel is handed over but a dispatch record or status update is missing.
- A delivery-provider exception needs investigation or a customer update.
- A return arrives damaged, incomplete or unsuitable for resale.
How should exception reporting and customer updates work?
Set the reporting routine before orders start. Agree which events trigger an alert, who receives it, which channel is used, what information the alert includes, and when an unresolved issue must be escalated. Also agree how often you receive order and stock reports, so you can spot a stalled handoff before a customer has to ask where their order is.
- Choose a named day-to-day contact and a route for urgent exceptions.
- Ask for records you can use: receipt counts, discrepancy notes, order status, dispatch confirmation and returns inspection results.
- Define operating days and order cut-offs, and connect any performance measure to a clear event, data source and reporting period.
- Agree how missed targets are reviewed and what follow-up is recorded.
Easy-to-miss fulfilment agreement terms
These details can become friction later if they are left open. Review them before signing and make sure the wording fits how your business actually handles stock and orders.
- Additional-charge activities: identify work that falls outside the agreed task list and how you approve it before it is done.
- Stock-count disputes: specify which records are compared and how a discrepancy is investigated.
- Damaged or unsellable returns: agree how condition is recorded and what happens next.
- Insurance, liability limits and dispute handling: understand how the agreement allocates responsibility and how disagreements are addressed.
- Changes and exit: set out how contract changes are agreed, what notice applies to ending the relationship, and how remaining stock and records are returned or disposed of.
- Customer data: agree who may access it, how it may be used and protected, how suspected data issues are reported, and what happens to the data when the relationship ends. If your partner handles customer personal data, get appropriate local advice on the requirements for your arrangement.
Ready to plan the delivery handoff?
Once your warehouse handoff is clear, make the delivery step just as easy to plan. Moveka is Kenya’s largest courier and one of Kenya’s most deeply connected courier networks. Start on Send to see the options and prices that apply to your parcel.
