Oriental Trading Company (OTC+): marketplace guide

About this guide

This is a ChannelEngine guide on the Nebraska-based marketplace Oriental Trading Company (OTC+). Here you can find information on how to request an OTC+ account, how to configure this channel on ChannelEngine, what the specific requirements are, and more.

Table of contents

Commercial information

How to request an account

Associated costs

Channel features

Settings and configuration

Channel-specific requirements and exceptions

• Setup
• Categorization
• Mappings
• Listed products

FAQs

 

Commercial information

Founded	1932
Founder	Harry Watanabe
Headquarters	Omaha, Nebraska
Area served (orders)	United States
Revenue	$150m in 2021
Number of monthly visits	8 million
Website	Oriental Trading Company
Setup cost	none
Commission	15%
Other costs	monthly fee
Payment	monthly, on the 15th of every month (for net sales for the month prior)
Product categories	DIY/gardening, food, furniture/interior design, games/toys, household appliances, kids/babies, sports equipment, office supplies/professional equipment, party supplies
Input language	English
Input currency	USD
Content creation	yes
Minimum number of SKUs	no
Advertisement options	no
Profile on ChannelEngine	Oriental Trading Company

 

How to request an account

To start selling on Oriental Trading Company, email OTCPlusSeller@oriental.com. To be considered for a seller account, you must provide existing storefront locations or website URLs to OTC+. You must also have US DTC capabilities and a US-based warehouse for forwarding expected returns. For more information, refer to the FAQ article Become a seller on OTC+'s website.

Associated costs

OTC+ does not charge a setup fee, but it does charge a monthly fixed fee of USD 39.99 excl. tax, in addition to a commission rate of 15% on every sale.

Channel features

Supported	Not supported
Product offers	Returns (channel)*
Product content	Returns (merchant)*
Orders	External fulfillment
Shipments	Carrier mapping
Repricing	Pick-up point delivery
Multiple stock locations	Refurbished products
	HTML formatting
	Cancelations (merchant)**
	Cancelations (marketplace)**

* Returns can only be initiated and issued by the OTC+ customer care team.

** It is only possible to cancel orders by contacting OTC+ customer care. Cancelations can be requested for either a single order line or for the entire order. It is not possible to cancel only part of an order line.

Settings and configuration

Setting up each marketplace on ChannelEngine follows the same flow, once you add the marketplace:

1. Go through the Setup.
2. Create a Product selection.
3. Complete the Categorization.
4. Set up the Mappings: content, offers, and carriers.
5. Configure the Pricing: rules and currency conversion.
6. Finish the Activation.
7. Check the Listed products overview.

Channel-specific requirements and exceptions

Setup

On ChannelEngine

Oriental Trading Company is a Mirakl-based channel, so you can connect it to ChannelEngine using a Mirakl Connect SSO account. For more information on this, check out the Mirakl-based channels: SSO authorization article.

Invoice uploads

To configure your invoice settings, click Advanced settings. You can then click the dropdown menu Enable invoice uploading, which contains the following options:

• ChannelEngine invoices - when ChannelEngine receives a shipment, it automatically generates an invoice and attaches it to the shipment before exporting it.
• Merchant invoices (optional) - when ChannelEngine receives a shipment, it exports it – even if there is no invoice attached to it.
• Merchant invoices (required) - when ChannelEngine receives a shipment, it only exports it if an invoice is attached to it. If not, you receive a notification.
• None - when ChannelEngine receives a shipment, it takes no action other than notifying you that no invoice is present.

If you select one of the Merchant invoices options, make sure to enable the invoice upload to ChannelEngine via the Merchant API. For that, call the POST /v2/orders/{merchantOrderNo}/invoice endpoint. Note that only invoices in PDF are supported.

Invalid XML characters

To remove invalid XML characters from your product data, click Advanced settings and enable the Check and filter invalid XML characters setting. ChannelEngine checks product data submitted in the XML format for invalid characters (e.g.: Ã, ¢, â, etc.). Once identified, invalid characters are removed or converted to a valid equivalent.

 

Categorization

Categorization is mandatory if you want to create or update existing product information on OTC+. Both categorizations and mappings only result in updates if the content connection is enabled, and the relevant credentials have been entered (see the Setup section).

 

Mappings

Content

All products (required)

• Air-shippable - if the product is viable for shipping via air carrier. 
• Battery operated - if the product is operated by battery. 
• Delivery areas - choose an available delivery area from the dropdown menu, and select the fixed value to apply to all products. E.g.: continental US.
• Item is discontinued - whether or not the item is still being manufactured. Select from the fixed values yes or no to apply. 
• Main image - the product's main image. If images are not provided in the correct format and do not adhere to these guidelines from the first attempt, it may delay your content approval and publishing on the marketplace. The requirements are:
  • Format - OTC+ only supports images in JPEG format. No other types of images are accepted.
  • Orientation - do not forget to provide the image orientation for each image uploaded within Mirakl. Indicate your image orientation from the following options only: front, back, top, bottom, left, tight. To ensure proper placement, only use each orientation option once – with your main image always selected as ‘front’. If you would like to submit two main/front images, select ‘front’ for one image and ‘back’ for the other.  
  • The main image should be a silhouette of the front or top of the product. Show the main product label with the brand and product name, and be sure to use a white background. The image should represent how the product will be sold and should show only one item. Each image uploaded should also fit OTC’s requirement on resolution and dimension,  as indicated below:
    

    	Preferred	Minimum
    Resolution	300 dpi	225 dpi
    Dimension	5"x5"	3"x3"
    File type	JPG	JPG
    Outline/Clipping path	Clipping path off	Working paths

  Important: changes to images requires manual override and, as a result, corrections or additions can take 2-4 weeks. If OTC+ determine that your main product image does not meet their criteria, they may make the decision to manually replace your image with that of another merchant.
• Primary solution - the overall OTC+ product category your product falls under. E.g.: awareness, crafts, education, faith, grand events, holidays, parties, and weddings. Select an option from the dropdown menu to apply a fixed value. 
• Product color - the overall color of the product. Select an option from the dropdown menu to apply a fixed value. 
• Product height - the product's height in inches, using the decimal format.
• Product length - the product's length in inches, using the decimal format.
• Product material - the product's main material. E.g.: foil, latex, acrylic, cardboard, etc. 
• Product name - the product's title, up to a maximum length of 40 characters. 
• Product weight - the product's weight in lbs, using the decimal format.
• Product width - the product's width in lbs, using the decimal format.
• Selling unit of measure - the way the product is sold. E.g.: count, dozen, pair, piece, set, etc.
• Selling unit piece count - the number of pieces within the sold product. E.g.: 1 piece, 2 pieces, 100 pieces, etc. 
• Shop SKU - your internal variant identifier, usually the Merchant product number on ChannelEngine. E.g.: ABC123-Yellow-Medium.
• UPC - the product's 12-digit UPC or 13-digit EAN. This is the main product identifier for products listed on OTC+. 
• Web long description - the product's main description, up to a maximum length of 2,000 characters. HTML is not supported. This should be three to four sentences in length, using approximately 300-400 characters to describe the product. You should not include special characters, including pipes (|). Your description may be rejected if it is too short.
• Web product title - the title of the product, up to a maximum length of 160 characters. The product title is the single-line product name that appears on the product detail page, used to introduce the product. This is how the product is displayed to customers browsing or searching for products on OTC+. 
  • Structure - [Brand] + [Size, if applicable] + [Color, if applicable] + [Special attributes/Event use, if applicable] + [Product name]".  
    
    • • Brand - the name of the brand, as presented to the consumer on the product packaging and in advertising, including registered trademark symbols (™,®) where applicable. 
      • Special attributes/Event use - the key selling point to influence the buyer's decision. This helps to differentiate between products, and improve relevance within search results.
  • The product title should be in title case, meaning the first letter of each word is capitalized. Avoid using all caps or lowercase letters. 
  • Do not include subjective comments such as “Best Seller”, or ”Hot Item”, as this results in your product not being approved. 
  • Avoid special characters, including pipes (|)
• From whom - only applicable to products in the Arts & Craft Kits category. Refers to the intended audience for the product (e.g.: kids, adult, or senior).

All products (optional)

• Alt image 1-3 - the product's alternative images. For the requirements, check the Main image attribute. 
• Batteries included - whether or not batteries are included with the product, if it is battery-operated. 
• Battery quantity - the number of batteries required for the operation of the product. 
• Battery size - the size/type of battery required by the product. E.g.: 9 volt, AA, AAA, button cell, C, D, etc. 
• Brand - the product's brand or manufacturer.
• Character for web navigation - Recommended character to support web navigation. Find your option from the dropdown menu by selecting the fixed value to apply to all. 
• Secondary material - the product's secondary material. E.g.: foil, latex, acrylic, cardboard, etc. 

Offer

The only mandatory offer mapping is Price, which is your desired sale price.

The following offer attributes are common to some Mirakl-based marketplaces, particularly in France and Germany:

• ECO #1-5 - Amount - the amount due for the eco-contribution related to the product. E.g.: 2.50.
• ECO #1-5 - EPR category code - the extended producer responsibility (EPR) code that applies to the product. For a list of category codes, check out the article Providing data to comply with circular economy regulations in Mirakl's help center (note that you need to be logged in to Mirakl to access this page). E.g.: DE-WEEE, FR-DEA, etc. 
• ECO #1-5 - Producer ID - your producer ID, received upon registering with a packaging register, such as Germany's LUCID. The maximum number of characters is 255.

The following offer attributes are common to Mirakl-based marketplaces:

• Leadtime to shipment - the number of days before you ship the product. By default, this is set to two. You can create your own unique rules, if applicable. For more information on this, check out the article Lead time to ship in Mirakl's help center.
• Minimum quantity alert - map this attribute to receive a notification from Mirakl if your stock drops below the threshold defined.
• Offer state - the product's condition. Find your option from the dropdown menu by selecting the fixed value to apply to all.
• Product tax code - the taxation code applicable to the product.
• Logistic class - your optional shipping class. Make sure to map it using the marketplace’s codes, not the labels visible in the front-end. These codes vary per marketplace. If this marketplace makes uses of logistic class codes, they can be found below.

Code	Label	Description
s	Default	This is the only available logistics class for this marketplace.

 

Working with discounts

• To set up a discount, you must map the Discount price, Discount start date, and Discount end date attributes. If you want to set a permanent discount, map the Discount end date attribute with a date in the far future instead of leaving it unmapped. Otherwise the offer is not exported, and errors are shown on the Validation and feedback tab.
• If your discounted price is not lower than the base price, it is not exported.
• If you do not want to set a bulk discount, leave the Discount quantity threshold attribute unmapped – otherwise the export is broken.
• If you do want to set a bulk discount, the Discount quantity threshold must be set to a value higher than 1. E.g.: a value of 2 indicates that two or more of the product must be purchased at the same time for the buyer to benefit from the discount.

Carrier

Carrier mapping is not required on OTC+ . However, you can map your carrier to a specific list of carriers maintained by OTC+. This allows for working track-and-trace links in the back end and for the buyer. If your default carrier is missing, please contact OTC+.

Listed products

If you have problems with products not appearing on Mirakl-based marketplaces – especially if you are trying to create products – check the Listed products page for more information.

You can either filter on Channel status (select Invalid to show all products that ChannelEngine has not exported, such as products with an empty GTIN or that currently do not exist on the marketplace) or use the Validation and feedback tab to see all known errors for specific products.

For detailed status reports, go to the Mirakl back-end. Their reports contain specific errors if a product or product offer cannot be created. To find them, go to My inventory, Import from file, Track offer imports/Track product imports. By hovering over the 'i' under the Status section, you can see how many products in the file were processed correctly and how many had errors, etc.

If there are errors, the last column shows a downloadable file in which they are listed. The same goes for the product file import, but this can contain multiple files because processing goes through several systems. There is also a manual check of your submitted content, which, once approved, goes to staging as well. Note that you need to map as much as possible to prevent products from not being created.

FAQs

How often does each task run on Mirakl-based channels?

By default, Mirakl-based channels follow the schedule below:

Task	Frequency
Export product data to channel	every 60 minutes
Export product offers to channel	every 15 minutes
Import product offers from channel	every 15 minutes
Import orders from channel	every 15 minutes
Export order shipments to channel	every 15 minutes
Export returns to channel	every 30 minutes

Can I simultaneously set up mapping on ChannelEngine and in the Mirakl back-end?

Configuring mapping in the Mirakl marketplace back-end interferes with ChannelEngine's content export. For accurate product content export, stick to categorizing and mapping your products’ content on ChannelEngine only.