Vente-unique: marketplace guide

About this guide

This is a ChannelEngine guide on the Le Pré-Saint-Gervais-based marketplace Vente-unique. Here you can find information on how to request a Vente-unique 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
• Pricing
• Listed products

FAQs

Commercial information

Founded	2006
Headquarters	Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, France
Area served (orders)	Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland
Revenue	EUR 143 million (2022)
Number of monthly visits	circa 2 million
Website	Vente-unique
Setup cost	none
Commission	13-15%
Other costs	see Associated costs section
Payment	1st, 11th, 21st of every month
Product categories	DIY/gardening, furniture/interior design
Input language	Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish
Input currency	EUR, CHF
Content creation	yes
Minimum number of SKUs	20
Advertisement options	no
Profile on ChannelEngine	Vente-unique

How to request an account

To start selling on Vente-unique, send them a business request via Mirakl or fill out the form on their Become a partner/seller page.

For sellers in France, the requirements to become a seller on Vente-unique are as follows:

• Declare VAT in France.
• Adhere to eco-tax requirements (e.g.: DEA and DEEE).
• Have customer support available in French.
• Able to provide tracking codes to buyers for all orders.
• Offer the recovery of old furniture to buyers in your delivery methods.
• Manage customer relations and after-sales services until the end of the warranty period.

Associated costs

Vente-unique does not charge a setup fee, however, there is a monthly fee of EUR 39.00. In addition, Vente-unique charges a commission on products you sell at a rate of 15% across all categories – except for the outside furniture and DIY categories, which have a commission of 13%. 

Marketplace features

Supported	Not supported
Product content	Automatic relationships
Product offers	Sales channels*
EAN matching	Refurbished products
Product variations (size/color)	Repricing
Returns (merchant)	Returns (marketplace)
Carrier mapping	Marketplace fulfillment service
Shipments
HTML formatting
Orders
Cancelations
Multiple stock locations
Bundles

* 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. Only one Vente-unique marketplace can be activated per country.

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

Vente-unique 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 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 on Vente-unique is straightforward, and all categories are listed in English.

Mappings

Content

All products (required)

• Description [country] - the product's description.
• EAN - the product's EAN. This is the unique identifier used by Vente-unique.
• SKU - the product's SKU, which is usually the Merchant product number on ChannelEngine.
• Title [country] - the product's name. The maximum number of characters recommended by Vente-unique is 90.
• URL image 1 - the product's main image. The requirements are:
  • Resolution - at least 750x750 px.
  • File size - 10 MB at most.
  • File formats - JPG, JPEG, PNG.
  • Background - white or transparent, but preferably white. If a transparent background is used, it is automatically turned into white.

All products (optional)

• Brand - the product's brand, which you can select from a list. If your brand is not listed, contact Vente-unique.
• Made in - the country where the product was manufactured.
• SKU parent - the SKU of the product's parent, which can be used to create variations based on color or size.
• URL image 2-10 - the product's additional images. For the requirements, see Image 1.
• URL video 1-2 - the product's video. Only YouTube links are supported.
• User manual [country] - the product's user manual, written in the language of the country where you are selling it.

Offer

Required

• Price - the product's price.

Optional

• Pays d'expédition (Shipping country) - the country where the product is shipped from.

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.
• Export to - defines the sales channels where your offers should be available. For more information, check out the Mirakl-based marketplaces: setting up sales channels article.

The following offer attributes are common to all 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 use of logistic class codes, they can be found below.

Code	Label	Description
INIT	Famille logistique par défaut (Default logistics family)	INIT
XXS	Classe logistique XXS (Logistics class XXS)	-
XS	Classe logistique XS (Logistics class XS)	-
Small-furniture	Petit meuble (Small furniture)	Meuble de moins de 15 kg (Furniture of less than 15 kg)
SM	Classe logistique SM (Logistics class SM)	-
Medium-furniture	Meuble moyen (Medium furniture)	Entre 15 et 30 kg (Between 15 and 30 kg)
ML	Classe logistique ML (Logistics class ML)	-
Big-furniture	Gros meuble (Large furniture)	Supérieur à 30 kg (More than 30 kg)
XL	Classe logistique XL (Logistics class XL)	-
XXL	Classe logistique XXL (Logistics class XXL)	-
Free	Gratuite (Free)	Livraison gratuite (Free delivery)

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.
• 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 mandatory on Vente-unique. If your preferred logistics service provider is not included, you can add it as an unregistered carrier.

Pricing

Vente-unique requires the prices to be submitted in EUR or CHF (for Switzerland). If you do not have pricing attributes in the respective currency, you need to set a currency conversion.

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 exported, 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.

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.