Nordstrom: marketplace guide

This is a ChannelEngine guide on the Seattle-based marketplace Nordstrom. Here you can find information on how to request a Nordstrom 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

Commercial information

How to request an account

To start selling on Nordstrom, contact the Nordstrom team. To qualify as a merchant, you must meet the following requirements:

• All products must have a valid, scannable barcode (i.e.: UPC, GTIN, or EAN).
• You must have a business registration number issued in the United States to verify your legal entity.
• You must provide one of the following: EIN, Tax ID, or LEI.
• You must submit W-9 documentation.
• You must have a US bank account.
• You must provide a US shipping and return address – PO boxes are not accepted.
• You must use a Nordstrom-approved shipping carrier. I.e.: UPS, USPS, FedEx, or DHL eCommerce.
• Your website must have at least 50,000 visitors per month – or you must be actively selling on other marketplaces.

Associated costs

Nordstrom does not publicly disclose setup, commission, or monthly fees. These fees are discussed with each merchant during an initial call with Nordstrom.

Marketplace features

* 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

Nordstrom 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)

Ensure that attributes with 'Copy' in their name have unique values for each product size/color variation.

• Age - the age for which the product is intended.
• Brand label name - the product's brand.
• Color description [variant attribute] - the product's exact color.
• Color family [variant attribute] - the product's color family.
• Copy description - the product's description displayed on the product detail page. The first 165 characters – known as the selling statement – appear below the product's title and price. The full description appears in the 'Details & care' section. E.g.: A thick Quad Retro sole boosts a smooth leather mid-calf boot with an '80s-rewind profile.
• Copy details and care - the product's features or highlights that appear under the 'Copy description' on the product detail page. Use a pipe ( | ) to separate each value, Nordstrom formats these values into bullet points. E.g.: Surface washable | Material: 100% Cotton | One size fits most.
• Country of manufacture - primary - the country where the product was manufactured.
• Gender - the gender for which the product is intended. E.g.: unisex.
• NRF color code [variant attribute] - the product's color as a three-digit color code. E.g.: 878.
• Product image 1 URL (main) - the product's main image. The requirements are:
  • Formats - JPG or PNG.
  • Resolution - 2,640 x 4,048 px.
  • Background - white or light gray.
  • File size - up to 10 MB.
• Product title - the product's title. Use the title case. E.g.: Lola Quilted Leather Crossbody Bag.
• Shop SKU - the product's stock keeping unit, or Merchant product number on ChannelEngine.
• Variant group code - the unique code used to group variations. If the product has variations, provide a parent product code.

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)

There are multiple optional attributes that apply to all products on Nordstrom. The list below highlights some of the most important ones:

• Copy ingredients - a complete list of ingredients in a beauty or food product.
• Countries of manufacture - secondary - the countries where the product was manufactured, aside from the primary country of manufacture.
• Countries of product origin - the list of countries where the product originally comes from.
• CPSC compliant for sharp points? (kids products) - indicate if the product meets the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standards for sharp points.
• CPSC small parts warning - not intended for children under 3 (kids products) - indicate if the product complies with CPSC standards for small parts, which apply to products not intended for children under three years of age.
• Customization message allowed special characters - special characters allowed in the customization message. E.g.: : !, ?, #, &.
• Customization message line 1-3 max length - the maximum number of characters allowed in each line (1, 2, or 3) of the customization message, including spaces.
• Customization message line count - how many lines are allowed in the customization message. The value must be between 1 and 3.
• Customization required - indicate if the product must be customized before it can be sent to the buyer.
• Fit info - the text displayed in the 'Fit info' section, which appears below the product images on the product detail page. E.g.: True to size.
• Fit info details - additional fit details that are not included in the Fit info attribute. E.g.: Band fits loose. We recommend ordering one band size down.
• GPC Brick - Global Product Classification (GPC) code recognized by Nordstrom. Used to identify the product category.
• Hazmat indicator - indicate if the product is hazardous and requires special handling, packaging, or transport procedures.
• Is set/multipack? - indicate if the product is sold as a set with multiple items or as a multipack of identical units.
• Material details - additional information about the product's material and composition. Use this field if the product material is not included in the provided list, or if more specific details are required. E.g.: 30% CoolMax® EcoMade polyester.
• Measurement details - additional information about the product's measurements. Use this if a product has multiple sizes, measurements are in a different unit of measure, or more specific details are needed. E.g.: 8" blade length.
• NRF size code [variant attribute] - the five-digit size code from the National Retail Federation (NRF) list. E.g.: 50555.
• Product image 2-10 URL - the product's additional images. For image requirements, check Product image 1 URL (main).
• Prop 65 chemicals - chemicals listed under California’s Proposition 65 regulation.
• Prop 65 warning type - the applicable warning in compliance with California's Proposition 65 regulation.
• Set/multipack includes - the description of all items included if the product is sold as a set or multipack.
• Set/multipack number of pieces - the total number of pieces included in the set or multipack.
• Size description [variant attribute] - the textual description of the product's size.
• VPN - the product's vendor product number, a.k.a. a style ID or product ID. Provide a unique value for each color variation within a style group.

Offer

Required

• Price - the product's regular selling price, excluding VAT. If you use pricing v2, this attribute is not mapped under Offer mappings. Instead, it is configured under Pricing, Price rules.
• UPC - the product's universal product code. This attribute is used to connect product data and product offers.

Optional

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. This attribute only applies if you use pricing v1.
• 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.

Working with discounts

Pricing v1

• To set up a discount, 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, 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. Note that ChannelEngine exports the higher of the two values – typically the Base price. To learn more, check out the ChannelEngine: price rules v2 article.
• The Price and Strike price attributes cannot be mapped with the same value. ChannelEngine only sets a discount if the value in Price (Base 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 Nordstrom. However, you can map your carrier to a specific list of carriers maintained by Nordstrom. This allows for working tracking codes in the back-end, as well as for the buyer. If your default carrier is missing, please contact Nordstrom.

Pricing

Nordstrom requires the prices to be submitted in USD. If your pricing attributes are not in USD, 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:

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:

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.