How to Track Coupon Funding: Seller vs Platform

Why the funding split decides your real margin

A customer sees one price. Your books see several: the price you listed, discounts you funded, discounts the marketplace funded, and what finally reaches your bank. If you cannot tell who paid for each rupee of discount, you cannot tell whether a payout is correct.

Many brands only look at the net settlement figure. Funding errors then surface months later, when the claim window in your agreement may already have closed. Tracking funding at campaign and order level turns a vague margin dip into a specific, claimable variance.

Understand the funding models you are dealing with

Most promotions fall into one of three buckets:

• Seller-funded: the discount comes out of your revenue, and you bear it in full.
• Platform-funded: the marketplace absorbs the discount, and you should still receive your agreed price.
• Shared: the cost is split by a ratio or capped amount defined in the promotion terms.

Do not assume the split from the last campaign applies to this one. Confirm it in your seller agreement, the campaign enrolment page or email, and the current rate card. Also check whether commission and tax are computed on the pre-discount or post-discount value. This differs by marketplace and agreement, so verify the latest terms and ask your tax adviser about tax treatment.

Build a promotion register before the sale starts

A simple sheet, one row per promotion, is enough. Fill it in when you enrol, not after the money arrives.

Keep the source document with each row. In a dispute, a dated screenshot of the terms is far stronger than memory.

Map funding to lines in your settlement report

Every marketplace labels things differently, so work from a real report rather than a template. Open a recent settlement file (for Myntra, the Excel report) and find the columns that show selling price, discount or coupon amounts, promotional adjustments, and any amount recovered from or credited to you.

Create a mapping sheet: each register field on one side, the matching report column on the other. Where the report does not show funding separately, ask your account manager in writing how the split is reflected. Save that reply with your register.

Reconcile order by order, then campaign by campaign

1. Pull order-level sales and settlement data for the campaign period.
2. Tag each order to a campaign using order date and SKU.
3. Calculate your expected share: discount amount multiplied by your agreed funding share.
4. Compare the expected share with the discount actually borne in settlement.
5. Flag variances and group them by cause, such as wrong split, out-of-scope SKU or late-ending campaign.
6. Roll up to campaign totals so you can raise one organised claim, not hundreds of loose ones.

Include returns. When an order is returned, the coupon or discount treatment should reverse consistently with the original split. A return where you lose your share but the platform keeps its share back is a common gap.

Common leaks and a monthly routine

• A platform-funded discount deducted from your payout.
• A coupon applied to SKUs you never enrolled.
• A shared cap exceeded, yet your share is still charged.
• Returned orders where the discount is not reversed correctly.
• A campaign running past its agreed end date.

Run the reconciliation at every month close, and raise cases within the window stated in your agreement. Tools help at scale: MarketplaceMetrics by Fundle reconciles marketplace sales and settlements, checks commissions and fees against agreed terms, and tracks returns and recovery cases. Myntra Excel reports are reviewed today, and other marketplaces are in scope discussion.