> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://nce-docs.bglobale.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Virtual Consolidation

**Virtual Consolidation** enables virtual shipment consolidation for FedEx **International Priority Distribution (IPD)**, allowing multiple individual orders to be processed, cleared through customs, and billed as a consolidated shipment, while remaining logically separated at the order level for both the merchant and the shopper.

## What This Means in Practice

The function addresses a cost and operational challenge inherent in international shipping for high-volume merchants:

* Normally, each individual shipment incurs its own customs clearance and processing fees.
* For merchants shipping dozens or hundreds of parcels per day, these per-shipment fees can become significant.
* FedEx IPD allows multiple individual orders to be grouped under a master shipment for customs and carrier handling.

## Function Behavior

### Virtual Consolidation

* Orders remain separate at the system and shipping label level.
* Behind the scenes, orders are grouped under one or more **Master Air Waybills**.
* This approach reduces per-package customs clearance and carrier fees.

### Carrier-Specific Automation

The platform automatically manages all FedEx IPD–specific consolidation logic:

* Assigns individual orders to master shipments.
* Generates all required consolidation and customs documents.
* Allows merchants to continue their standard order processing flow without modification.

### Enhanced End-of-Day Handling

Unlike standard **End-of-Day (EOD)** processing, consolidated shipments require multiple documents:

* Regular Manifest
* Master Air Waybill
* Consolidated Commercial Invoice

These documents must be provided to FedEx at pickup. The system surfaces all required document numbers in the admin interface.

### Merchant Abstraction

* Merchants process orders as usual.
* Shipping labels are generated in the same way as standard orders.
* The complexity of shipment consolidation is fully handled by the platform and hidden from the merchant.

The resulting value is reduced shipping and customs costs without additional operational overhead.

## Scope and Rationale

This functionality exists specifically because FedEx supports the IPD consolidation model, and the feature is FedEx-specific.

The function was developed to integrate FedEx IPD consolidation cleanly into Merchant Hub while maintaining a consistent merchant experience.