BrandAlley: marketplace guide

About this guide

This is a ChannelEngine guide on the London-based marketplace BrandAlley. Here you can find information on how to request a BrandAlley 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
• Mappings
• Pricing
• Listed products

FAQs

About the marketplace

BrandAlley is the United Kingdom's market leader for time-limited, members-only, private sales. They work with premium brand partners across all product categories including fashion, lifestyle, homewares, and beauty.

Commercial information

Founded	2008
Founder	Sven Lung
Headquarters	London
Area served (orders)	UK, France
Area served (shipments)	UK, EU countries
Revenue	circa GBP 100 million (2024)
Number of monthly visits	circa 6 million
Website	BrandAlley
Setup cost	none
Commission	depends on product and volume of offers
Other costs	depends on merchant
Payment	every 10 days
Product categories	beauty, electronics, fashion, garden, home appliances, homewares, home improvement, lifestyle, sports, toys
Input language	English, French
Input currency	EUR, GBP
Content creation	yes
Minimum number of SKUs	no
Advertisement options	yes
Profile on ChannelEngine	BrandAlley

How to request an account

The requirements to sell on BrandAlley are as follows:

• Collaborate with BrandAlley to curate products.
• Comply with UK VAT regulations if you plan to sell in the UK.

To start selling on BrandAlley, you can:

• Request a seller account through Mirakl Connect.
• Contact BrandAlley to request a seller account.

Associated costs

BrandAlley does not charge a setup fee. However, it charges a variable monthly fee based on the merchant, and a variable commission fee based on the products you sell, and the volume of offers you send to the marketplace. 

Marketplace features

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

* 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.

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

BrandAlley 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)

• Image 1 - the product's main image. The requirements are:
  • Size - 1,000 KB.
  • Format - PNG and JPG.
  • Dimensions - 500x500 px.
• Product brand - the product's brand.
• Shop SKU - the product's SKU, a.k.a. the Merchant product number on ChannelEngine.

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)

• Color - the product's color.
• Country of manufacture - the country where the product was made.
• Image 2-9 - the product's additional images. For image requirements, check Image 1.
• Product description [FR, GB] - the product's main description in French or English. Map this attribute for each sale channel in which you want to list the product, in French for France, and in English for United Kingdom. HTML formatting is supported
• Product short description [FR, GB] - the product's short description in French or English. Map this attribute for each sale channel in which you want to list the product, in French for France, and in English for United Kingdom. HTML formatting is supported.
• Size [FR, UK] - the product's size. Select the variation option per sales channel.
• SKU height cm - the product's height, in cm.
• SKU length cm - the product's length, in cm.
• SKU original RRP - the product's recommended retail price. 
• SKU volume cm - the product's total volume, in cm.
• SKU weight kg gross - the product's weight, in kg.
• SKU width cm - the product's width, in cm. 
• Variant group code - the unique code used to group variations. If the product has variations, provide a parent product code.

Offer

Required

• Price - the product's default selling price. If a discount price is set, Price becomes the 'discounted from' price. Enter a numeric decimal value and do not include the currency.
• SKU barcode - the product's valid GTIN. E.g.: 13-digit EAN. This attribute links product data to product offers on BrandAlley.

The only mandatory offer attributes are Price, which is the default price attribute, and SKU barcode. If you only sell the product in France, you can map the Price to whatever price you charge in France. If you also sell the same product in the UK, and its price there differs from your French price, make sure to map the optional Price [GB] field accordingly.

Optional

• Price [FR, GB] - use this attribute to map a country-specific price, which is different from default. For more information, check out the article Mirakl-based marketplaces: setting up sales channels.

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
INIT	Default logistic family	-
XXXS	Dimensions up to 30 x 20 x 4 cm and weight less than 500 g	Dimensions up to 30 x 20 x 4 cm and weight less than 500 g
XXS	Dimensions up to 40 x 30 x 10 cm and weight between 0.5-1 kg	Dimensions up to 40 x 30 x 10 cm and weight between 0.5-1 kg
XS	Dimensions up to 40 x 40 x 40 cm and weight between 1-2 kg	Dimensions up to 40 x 40 x 40 cm and weight between 1-2 kg
S	Dimensions up to 60 x 45 x 45 cm and weight between 2-5 kg	Dimensions up to 60 x 45 x 45 cm and weight between 2-5 kg
M	Dimensions up to 60 x 45 x 45 cm and weight between 5-10 kg	Dimensions up to 60 x 45 x 45 cm and weight between 5-10 kg
L	Dimensions up to 100 x 45 x 35 cm and weight less than 5 kg	Dimensions up to 100 x 45 x 35 cm and weight less than 5 kg
XL	Dimensions up to 100 x 45 x 35 cm and weight between 5-10 kg	Dimensions up to 100 x 45 x 35 cm and weight between 5-10 kg
XXL	Dimensions up to 100 x 100 x 100 cm and weight less than 10 kg	Dimensions up to 100 x 100 x 100 cm and weight less than 10 kg
0S1	Dimensions up to 120 x 120 x 120 cm and weight less than 15 kg	Dimensions up to 120 x 120 x 120 cm and weight less than 15 kg
0S2	Dimensions over 120 x 120 x 120 cm OR weight between 15-20 kg	Dimensions over 120 x 120 x 120 cm OR weight between 15-20 kg
0S3	Dimensions over 120 x 120 x 120 cm OR weight over 20 kg	Dimensions over 120 x 120 x 120 cm OR weight over 20 kg

 

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 BrandAlley. However, you can map your carrier to a specific list of carriers maintained by BrandAlley. This allows for working tracking codes in the back-end, as well as for the buyer. If your default carrier is missing, contact BrandAlley.

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.

 

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.