B&Q: marketplace guide
About this guide
This is a ChannelEngine guide on the Eastleigh-based marketplace B&Q. Here you can find information on how to request a B&Q account, how to configure this marketplace on ChannelEngine, what the specific requirements are, and more.
Table of contents
Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions
Commercial information
Founded | March 1969 |
Founder | Richard Block, David Quayle |
Headquarters | Eastleigh, UK |
Area served (orders) | UK |
Area served (shipments) |
UK |
Website | B&Q |
Setup cost | none |
Commission | 7-15% |
Other costs | GBP 39.00/month |
Payment | twice a month |
Product categories | DIY/gardening, furniture/interior design, household appliances, pets, office supplies/professional equipment |
Input language | English |
Input currency | GBP |
Content creation | yes |
Minimum number of SKUs | no |
Advertisement options | no |
Profile on ChannelEngine | B&Q |
How to request an account
To start selling on B&Q, go to their Partner with Merchant Hub page and fill out the form. Note that you need to be VAT-registered.
Associated costs
B&Q does not charge a setup fee. However, it does charge a monthly fee of GBP 39.00 and a commission fee between 7% and 15% – depending on the product category.
Marketplace features
Supported | Not supported |
Product content | Automatic relationships |
Product offers | Bundles |
Cancelations (merchant)* | Sales channels** |
Returns (merchant) | Refurbished products |
Carrier mapping | Repricing |
Orders | Cancelations (marketplace) |
Product variations (size/color) | Returns (marketplace) |
Shipments | Multiple stock locations |
Stock locations | HTML formatting |
Marketplace fulfillment service |
* You are not required to accept incoming orders, as they are automatically accepted by B&Q.
** 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.
Settings and configuration
Setting up each marketplace on ChannelEngine follows the same flow, though not every marketplace includes the steps listed below.
- Go through the Setup.
- Create a Product selection.
- Complete the Categorization.
- Set up the Mappings: content, offers, and carriers.
- Configure the Pricing: rules and currency conversion.
- Finish the Activation.
- Check the Listed products overview.
Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions
Setup
On ChannelEngine
B&Q 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.
Mappings
Content
All products (required)
- EAN - the product's unique identifier.
-
Main image 1 - the product's main image.
- Resolution - at least 500x500 px, at 300 dpi.
- File size - 10 MB at most.
- Crops - all images to be squared. If using lifestyle images, make sure to use a full crop – suitable to either landscape or portrait formats.
- File format - JPEG or PNG.
- Cut-out images in JPEG must have an accurate clipping path embedded in the file, with a pure white background. PNG files must be provided with a transparent background.
- Color space - RGB.
-
Name - the product's title. The requirements are:
- The recommended structure is [brand] [color] [product type] [size] [quantity in the pack].
- The minimum and maximum numbers of characters are 30 and 130, respectively.
- Include key details such as brand, color, and product type.
- Do not repeat terms.
- Do not use special characters. E.g.: ?, /, |. \, _.
- Do not capitalize entire terms, except for LED.
- Do not use trademarks or protected words (e.g.:. Velcro), unless you are legally allowed to do so.
- Do not use terms from the banned list, which was shared with you by B&Q.
- Shop SKU - the product's Merchant product number.
All products (optional)
There are no optional content attributes under the All products category.
Category-specific
- Core pack quantity - the number of items in the package. The minimum value is 1.
- Product diameter - the product's diameter in millimeters. The minimum value is 0.01.
- Product length - the product's length in millimeters. The minimum value is 0.01.
- Product weight - the product's weight in grams. The minimum value is 0.01.
Offer
Required
The only required attribute on B&Q is Price, which is the desired selling price for the product in GBP.
Optional
- 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.
- Price establishment date - the date when the current price was set. This value is used to determine the next date when the Was price can be shown for this offer.
- Was price - the current Was price, also known as the 'from price' or the 'strikethrough price'.
- Was price expiry date - the date when the current Was price expires, if applicable.
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:
- 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 |
S |
Standard | Standard shipping. |
B |
Bulky | Large and/or heavy items that cannot be shipped via regular shipping carriers. E.g.: products heavier than 30 kg. |
MTO |
Made to order | Products manufactured specifically for a customer. E.g.: print on demand or paint mixing. |
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.
- 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.
Carrier
Carrier mapping is not required on B&Q. However, you can map your carrier to a specific list of carriers maintained by B&Q. This allows for working tracking codes in the back-end, as well as for the buyer. If your default carrier is missing, contact B&Q.
Note that B&Q does not offer shipping options. The only delivery promise available is 'delivered in 7 days', and the shipping cost is included in the cost of the product.
Pricing
B&Q requires the prices to be submitted in GBP. If you do not have pricing attributes in GBP, 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 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:
- Log in to the Mirakl back-end and go to Catalog, Product imports.
- Identify the latest report and click the See details button by it.
- 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
Keys | Conditional* | Description |
consignment-reference |
No | The consignment number for the return logistics for this product. |
* Conditional fields are only displayed if the marketplace provides a value.
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 |
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.