Proposal · parent and child stores
Order processing, proposed
How orders, money, returns and alerts will move between a parent brand and its stores.
October 2026 · Design, not yet built
Why change
From a working skeleton to a full operation
Area
Today
Proposed
Getting paid
A tally; settled by hand
Wholesale split off at checkout
Cash orders
Tracked outside the system
Running balance, settled weekly
Records
Orders and a tally
One ledger for both sides, CSV
Returns
After shipping: by hand
Fault-based rules, with disputes
Alerts
Emails for a few events
Inbox, email and WhatsApp
Stock
Counts per item
Dashboard, low-stock and restock alerts
The order itself, the shared cart, stock and the fulfillment queue already work and stay as they are.
The lifecycle
Eight steps from order to settled
1 · Placed
Prices and stock re-checked; stock held.
2 · Paid
Card: share split now. Cash: added to the balance.
3 · Queued
Each shipper is alerted to its own items.
4 · Shipped
Tracking added; slip in the store’s name.
5 · Tracked
The shopper sees a carrier link in their order.
6 · Completed
Delivered or collected.
7 · Return window
30 days; fault decides who pays.
8 · Settled
Every line in the ledger; balances cleared.
Steps 1, 3 and 4 work today. The rest are proposed.
Responsibilities
Who does what
Step
Shopper
ballcaps.com
clothing.com
Order and pay
Does it
Receives payment
Alerted
Confirm cash payment
–
Marks paid
Sees balance
Ship the store’s items
–
Ships
–
Ship the parent’s items
–
Watches
Ships, adds tracking
Ask for a return
Asks
Picks the reason
Can dispute
Settle the balance
–
Pays from console
Receives
Set the rules
–
Chooses within limits
Sets defaults
“–” means no action needed at that step.
Card orders
Each business is paid at the moment of sale
Shopper
$20
Pays by card
ballcaps.com’s Stripe
The store is the seller. Its name is on the card statement.
$10.00
to clothing.com, split off now
$10.00
stays with ballcaps.com, which pays the card fee
No invoices to chase and nothing to reconcile for card sales. The parent’s share is never reduced by fees.
Proposed. Built on Stripe Connect; availability depends on both businesses’ countries.
Cash and PromptPay orders
A running balance, settled on a schedule
The store keeps the cash; each sale adds clothing.com’s wholesale to what the store owes.
  • Paid from the store’s console in a few clicks
  • Weekly by default; clothing.com picks the schedule
  • A maximum balance a store may owe
  • Refunds and fees adjust it automatically
ballcaps.com’s console
You owe clothing.com
$238.00
Due Friday · limit $1,000
Pay now
Proposed. Figures are an illustration.
The store ledger
One record both sides agree on
Date
Entry
Sale
Parent share
Card fee
Owed
Oct 20
#1042 Hoodie, card
$20.00
$10.00 paid
$0.88
$0.00
Oct 21
#1043 Tee ×2, cash
$44.00
$18.00
–
$18.00
Oct 22
#1043 Tee refund, faulty
−$22.00
−$9.00
–
$9.00
Oct 24
Settlement paid
–
–
–
$0.00
Discounts show who paid for them
Restocking and private-label fees
CSV export
Proposed. Illustration only. Accounting-software links (Xero, QuickBooks) come later.
If a balance goes unpaid
Clear steps, announced in advance
When due
Reminder in the console
Day 7
clothing.com’s items hidden from the store
Day 14
Store suspended
30 days later
clothing.com may close the store
What the parent gets back
Its products, and any store address it supplied.
What stays with the store owner
Its own domain, content, items and customer list, exported to them.
Proposed. Timings are clothing.com’s settings. Wording needs a lawyer’s read before signing.
Returns
Whoever caused it, pays for it
Faulty or wrong item
clothing.com returns its full share. Card: Stripe reverses the split. Cash: it comes off the balance.
Change of mind
The store absorbs the refund. The item goes back to clothing.com’s stock, less an optional restocking fee.
Reason and dispute
The store picks the reason; clothing.com can dispute it.
30-day window
The shopper pays return postage, subject to local law.
Direct returns
Optional: parent items go straight back to clothing.com.
Proposed. The store sets the shopper-facing return policy for the whole order.
Alerts
The next person to act is told
Console inbox · always on
Email · optional
WhatsApp · optional
clothing.com hears about
  • A new order to ship
  • A cancellation or return
  • Low stock
  • A store’s overdue balance
ballcaps.com hears about
  • clothing.com shipped an item
  • Balance due or overdue
  • New products or offers
  • A price floor that changed
Proposed. Urgent alerts are pinned to the top, such as an order unshipped too long.
Inventory
Every product, every store, one screen
Product
House store
ballcaps.com
pincaps.com
Sold, 30 days
Classic Hoodie, M
14
3 · low
8
41
Heavyweight Tee, L
30
12
0 · sold out
66
Knit Beanie
22
9
5
18
Low-stock alerts
At a threshold per product, before a store sells out.
“Notify me”
Shoppers ask for a sold-out size; they’re emailed when it’s back.
History
Sell-through and restock history per product.
Proposed. Illustration only. Per-store counts and restocking work today.
The shopper’s side
Quiet accounts that reward coming back
Every order is tracked against the shopper’s email. No password and no forced sign-up.
  • Sign in with a one-time code, only when they want
  • Order history with a carrier tracking link
  • One-click reorder and restock alerts
  • Groups such as VIP, earned by spend or added by hand
Perks, both sides choose
clothing.com decides which perks stores may offer; each store switches on its own.
Every discount records who pays: store, parent or shared.
Proposed. Accounts belong to each store; a ballcaps.com VIP isn’t a VIP elsewhere.
Settings
clothing.com sets the rules; stores choose within them
Setting
Default
Per-store deal?
Settlement schedule
Weekly
Yes
Maximum balance
[$__]
Yes
Unpaid steps
7 / 14 / +30 days
Yes
Restocking fee
None
Yes
Direct returns
Off
–
Alerts stores can’t switch off
None
–
Uses the store-rules system that is already built: defaults, locks, limits and per-store deals.
Build order
Money first, then what happens after the sale
First
Resilience
Rehearsed rebuild from backups; backups every few minutes.
1 · Largest
Money
Card split, balance, ledger, unpaid steps.
2 · Medium
Returns
Fault rules, disputes, direct returns.
3 · Small
Alerts
Inbox, then email, then WhatsApp.
4 · Small
Inventory
Dashboard, low-stock and restock alerts.
5 · Largest
Accounts
Shopper accounts, groups, perks.
Each step ships on its own, tested and reviewed, so the parent gets value at every stage.
Order can change around clothing.com’s priorities.
Still to decide
Questions to settle before building
Card split across borders
Confirm Stripe supports it for the first licensee’s country.
Unpaid-store wording
A lawyer’s read of the store terms before anyone signs.
For clothing.com
Settlement schedule, maximum balance and restocking fee.
Which perks first
The launch set of shopper perks for the accounts phase.
Shaded cards are questions for clothing.com.
In short
Each business paid for its own items, with one record both sides trust
Paid at checkout
Card sales split automatically.
Fair after-sale
Returns follow fault.
Nobody waits
The next person to act is alerted.
Which matters most to you first: automatic payment, or returns?
[Your name] · [email] · mostlyhostly.com
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