Trendy Foods: marketplace guide

About this guide

This is a ChannelEngine guide on the Petit-Rechain-based marketplace Trendy Foods. Here you can find information on how to request a Trendy Foods account, how to configure this marketplace on ChannelEngine, what the specific requirements are, and more.

Table of contents

Commercial information

How to request an account

Associated costs

Marketplace features

Settings and configuration

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

• Setup
• Categorization
• Mappings
• Listed products

Additional information

FAQs

Commercial information

Founded	1970
CEO	Francis Plunus
Headquarters	Petit Rechain, Belgium
Area served (orders)	Belgium
Revenue	EUR 8.7 million (2021)
Number of monthly visits	circa 90,000
Website	Trendy Foods
Setup cost	none
Commission	8-15%
Other costs	see the Associated costs section
Payment	on the 10th, 20th, and 30th of every month
Product categories	books, erotic products, food, games/toys, healthcare, pets, office supplies/professional equipment, telecommunications equipment, video games
Input language	Dutch, French
Input currency	EUR
Content creation	yes
Minimum number of SKUs	no
Advertisement options	yes (banners, folders, newsletters, etc.)
Profile on ChannelEngine	Trendy Foods

How to request an account

To start selling on Trendy Foods, fill out the registration form on their website. There are few requirements to become a seller on Trendy Foods, other than having a targeted product range and competitive pricing. 

Associated costs

Trendy Foods does not charge a setup fee, but there is a monthly fixed fee of EUR 40.00 that is waived in the event that no products were sold during that period. In addition to the monthly fee, Trendy Foods charges a commission on products you sell at a rate between 8-15%, based on the product category.

Marketplace features

Supported	Not supported
Orders	Automatic relationships
Product content	Product variations (size/color)**
Product offers	Carrier mapping
Cancelations (merchant)	Refurbished products
Returns (merchant)	HTML formatting
Returns (marketplace)	Repricing
Shipments	Pick-up point delivery
Multiple stock locations	Sales channels*
GTIN matching	Custom refund reasons
Bundles	Marketplace fulfillment service
Invoice uploads	Cancelations (marketplace)
Settlements

* A marketplace that supports sales channels allows merchants to list and sell products across multiple markets (e.g.: countries, regions, and states), all from the same connection. Trendy Foods does not support sales channels as the marketplace is only available in Belgium. 

** Trendy Foods does not support parent-child relationships for product variations. 

Settings and configuration

Setting up each marketplace on ChannelEngine follows the same flow, though not every marketplace includes the steps listed below.

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.

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

Setup

On ChannelEngine

Trendy Foods is a Mirakl-based marketplace, so you can connect it with 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 upload the invoice to ChannelEngine via the Merchant API or via the web interface. To learn more, check out the article ChannelEngine: merchant invoices.

Categorization

Categorization on Trendy Foods is straightforward, and all categories are provided in English. 

Mappings

Content

All attribute values must be provided in either Dutch or French. Trendy Foods does not support product variations, therefore attributes such as size and color can be specified in the product title and in the product long description. 

All products (required)

• Brand - the brand name selected from a set of fixed values. If your product's brand name does not appear, contact Trendy Foods to add it to the list. 
• Dutch/French product title - the product name in Dutch or French. The product name must be between 10-200 characters in length, and can contain information about the color or size. 
• EAN - the 13-digit GTIN for the product, which serves as the main product identifier on Trendy Foods. 
• Packaging language - the language displayed on the product's packaging. E.g.: Dutch, French, or bilingual. 
• Product image 1 - the main product image URL. Image requirements:
  • Format - JPG, PNG
  • Resolution - 1,024x1,024 px
  • Background - white
• Shop SKU - the product's internal unique identifier, usually the Merchant product number on ChannelEngine.
• Unit variable cost (UVC) - the number of products in a carton.

The following required attribute is common to all Mirakl-based marketplaces:

• Export strategy - choose a strategy for exporting the product data. You can select from the following export strategies:
  • Yes - export all of the product content to the marketplace, including its EAN (GTIN), category, and other mapped attributes. This option is ideal if you manage both product content and offers through ChannelEngine for the marketplace. Before you set this option, ensure that you map all required attributes.
  • No - do not export product content to the marketplace. Choose this option to keep the product content excluded from exports and only export the offers. This option is ideal if you do not want to export the product content yet, or you want to export only the product offers because the product content already exists on the marketplace.
     
    NB: the default export strategy is Yes, even if the Export strategy attribute is left unmapped.

All products (optional)

• Display - whether the products are in display format, e.g.: yes/no. 
• Dutch/French product description - the long description of the product, in either Dutch or French. You should include all additional information that is relevant to the product in this description, such as color, weight, dimensions, or other specifications. 
• EAN carton - the EAN number specific to the package containing the units. 
• Layer per pallet - the number of layers per shipping pallet. E.g.: 8. 
• License - indicate via yes or no if the product is associated with a registered trademark or license. E.g.: Bret's. 
• Packaging/condition - the type of packaging of the product, selected from a range of fixed values. E.g.: drum, box, canister, etc. 
• Pallet - the number of products contained in a shipping pallet. E.g.: 108. 
• Product images 2-4 - additional product images to support the main image. For the image requirements, refer to Product image 1.
• Product origin - the location where the product was manufactured or produced. 
• Product unit weight - the weight of the individual product units in grams. E.g.: 250.
• Themes - the theme of the product, which is an additional category on Trendy Foods. E.g.: salty drinks, gluten-free, trendy bakery, etc. 
• Unit product liter - the measurement of the individual product unit in milliliters. E.g.: 330.

Offer

The only mandatory offer mapping is Price. This is your desired sale price, after (re)price rules are applied.

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

• 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 all Mirakl-based marketplaces, if you use pricing v2:

• Allow promotion below min price - set it to ‘true’ to allow the promotion price to drop below your product's minimum price. To learn more, check out the article ChannelEngine: promotions.
• Fee groups - the ID of the fee group you want to assign to this product. To learn more, check out the article ChannelEngine: marketplace fees.
• Strike price - the regular selling price. Use it in combination with the Price attribute to set up a discount/strikethrough pricing. To learn more, check out the 'Working with discounts' section of this article. 

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

• Discount end date - the date until when the product's sale price is valid, if applicable. The date format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ZZ. E.g.: 2022-12-31 23:59:59 +00.
• Discount price - the product's sale price, if applicable. This attribute must have a lower value than the Price attribute.
• Discount quantity threshold - the minimum quantity required for the discount rate to be available.
• Discount start date - the date from when the product's sale price is valid, if applicable. The date format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ZZ. E.g.: 2022-12-31 23:59:59 +00.
• 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 use of logistic class codes, they can be found below.

Code	Label	Description
xs	Extra small	Longest side + shorter side = max. 35 cm. Between 0 and 2 kg.
s	Small	Longest side + shorter side = max. 50 cm. Between 2 and 5 kg.
m	Medium	Longest side + shorter side = max. 65 cm. Between 5 and 10 kg.
l	Large	Longest side + shorter side = max. 80 cm. Between 10 and 15 kg.
xl	Extra large	Max. circumference from 3 m, between 15 and 30 kg.
oversized	Oversized	Special format, up to 30 kg.

Working with discounts

Pricing v1

• 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.
• The discounted price is only exported if it is lower than the base price.
• If you do not want to set a bulk discount, leave the Discount quantity threshold attribute unmapped – otherwise, the export is broken.
• 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.

Pricing v2

• To set up a discount, you must map the Strike price attribute to your regular price. Also, map the Discount start date and Discount end date attributes to indicate the start and end date of your discount.
• Under Pricing, Price rules, map the Price attribute to the discounted price. Both Min. price and Base price fields must be mapped.
• The Price and Strike price attributes cannot be mapped with the same value. ChannelEngine only sets a discount if the value in Price is lower than the value in Strike price.
• Same as in pricing v1, if you do not want to set a bulk discount, leave the Discount quantity threshold attribute unmapped.
• 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 Trendy Foods. However, you can map your carrier to a specific list of carriers maintained by Trendy Foods. This allows for working tracking code links in the back-end, as well as for the buyer. If your default carrier is missing, please contact Trendy Foods.

• bpost
• DHL
• DPD
• GLS
• Mondial Relay
• PostNL
• UPS

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 use the Channel status filter (e.g.: products that ChannelEngine has failed to export, such as those with an empty GTIN or that do not exist on the marketplace yet, are shown as Invalid) or the Validation and feedback tab to see all known errors for specific products.

Alternatively, you can access the marketplace's back-end and download the error report generated by Mirakl. To do so:

1. Log in to the Mirakl back-end and go to Catalog, Product imports.
2. Identify the latest report and click the See details button by it.
3. Download the CSV file Non-integrated products report.

Additional Information

Order extra data items

When an order is imported to ChannelEngine, ChannelEngine also fetches extra data items related to the order itself – or to order lines. This extra data is specific to this marketplace. An explanation of each can be found below: 

Order extra data

Key	Conditional	Description
creditnotenumber	Yes	The credit note unique reference number

FAQs

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

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

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

Can I map attributes on ChannelEngine and in the Mirakl back-end?

No. Mapping attributes in the Mirakl marketplace back-end interferes with ChannelEngine's content export. Therefore, it is recommended to stick to categorizing and mapping content only on ChannelEngine.

Why am I not receiving feedback on my content and/or offer exports?

Chances are you are receiving the feedback. However, different types of error report can take a couple of hours or several days to be generated:

• Offer feedback
  • Error reports are mostly generated automatically, and are imported quickly.
• Content feedback
  • Transformation error report - this is automatically generated, and usually imported within a maximum of one day.
  • Conventional error report - this requires a manual review by the Mirakl-based marketplace, and not all do so. It can take several days for this report to be imported.

Note that the previous feedback report is not removed from ChannelEngine until both the latest transformation and conventional reports have been fully processed by ChannelEngine – or no new reports have been generated because there are no errors to report.