ChannelEngine: go live on a channel in five steps

About this article

This article explains how to go live on a new channel in five easy steps, from importing your product data to publishing listings.

Table of contents

Introduction

Overview

Requirements

Step 1: provide your product data

Step 2: add and authorize the channel

Step 3: select products and map fields

• Product selection
• Categorization
• Mappings
• Pricing and stock

Step 4: activate and publish

Step 5: validate and resolve errors

Common issues

Next steps

Introduction

To configure a channel on ChannelEngine and make your products available for sale on it, follow a similar set of steps – submit your product data to ChannelEngine, add a channel, tell ChannelEngine which products to send and in which format, activate the channel, and fix any errors.

This is a quick-start guide for your first channel. Each marketplace has its own requirements, so read the relevant marketplace guide before you begin.

Overview

Refer to the diagram below to visualize how your product data travels from your system, through ChannelEngine, to the channel.

Requirements

Make sure you have the following ready:

• Product data from your PIM, ERP, webstore, or available as a product feed.
• An approved seller account on the marketplace you want to sell on. Check common requirements that marketplaces ask of sellers.
• The credentials that ChannelEngine requires to access your marketplace account, such as API keys or marketplace login details. The credentials differ per channel, so consult the respective marketplace guide.
• Access to your ChannelEngine tenant with sufficient permissions to add and configure channels.

Step 1: provide your product data

ChannelEngine imports product data from your source system and uses it to prepare and send product data to your connected channels. Your PIM, ERP, webstore, or feed remains the source of truth.

When you add or update a product in your source system, that change flows to every channel you list it on. There are three main ways to get the data into ChannelEngine.

Read more:

• ChannelEngine: how ChannelEngine works

Step 2: add and authorize the channel

Adding a channel connects your ChannelEngine tenant to your seller account on the marketplace. See ChannelEngine: add a channel.

1. In your ChannelEngine tenant, go to the Dashboard.
2. Click + Add channel.
3. Search for the channel and click + Add on its card.
4. Complete the Setup step: enter the credentials the channel requires, or complete its authorization flow.

Authorization differs per channel. Some channels ask for an API key from your seller account, others use a login redirect. E.g.: Mirakl-based channels use a Mirakl Connect SSO account.

Each channel has its own marketplace guide in the Help Center that lists the authorization and configuration steps for that channel. Read it before you start the setup.

Step 3: select products and map fields

Step 3 is where you tell ChannelEngine which products to send to the channel, and how to translate your data into the structure the channel expects. It is the longest step and the one that determines how many errors you see when product data is exported to the channel.

Product selection

In the Product selection step, define which part of your catalog goes to this channel. You can select all products, or filter by brand, category, stock level, price, or any other field. Selections are per channel, so you can sell a different assortment on each marketplace.

Categorization

In the Categorization step, match your own category names to the categories of the channel. The category you choose determines which fields the channel requires, so categorizing is essential before you map fields.

If your catalog is large, generate category recommendations with AI category mapping and accept or reject them per category or per product.

Mappings

In the Mappings step, match your content and offer fields to the attributes of the channel. Start with the fields that apply to All products, then work through fields specific to each category. See ChannelEngine: content mappings and ChannelEngine: offer mappings.

Each line shows how many attributes are required to map, conditionally required, and optional, and how many of them you have already mapped. Unmapped required attributes can prevent a product from being exported or accepted.

Below is an example showing how your own fields map to commonly required attributes:

It is possible and often required to map your carriers to the carriers that are supported and accepted by a channel. Do so at Mappings, Carrier mappings.

Pricing and stock

In the Pricing step, map the price fields that the channel expects. In Pricing, Price rules: each price field of the channel appears as a separate tab, and per tab you map at least a Base price and a Min. price. Use price rules if you wish to adjust the price value before it is exported. E.g.: subtract a fixed amount, add a percentage to cover the commission of the channel, or convert to another currency.

The Stock step controls how much of your available stock is communicated to this channel. Exporting more stock than you can fulfill may lead to undesired cancelations. If needed, cap the stock quantity the channel sees using Stock limit or Stock buffer.

Step 4: activate and publish

Complete the Activation step of the channel. From that moment on, ChannelEngine exports your offers and content to the channel on a schedule and keeps prices, stock, and content in sync.

After activation:

• Check the Listed products overview to confirm your products reach the channel. Do so by checking the status of the product's export to the channel in the Overview tab.
• Allow time for the channel to publish. A successful export means ChannelEngine sent the data successfully. The marketplace may still, however, need to validate or manually approve the listing on its own timeline.
• Place a test order if the channel supports it, and confirm that the order, shipment, and return flows work end to end.

Step 5: validate and resolve errors

ChannelEngine sends your products to the channel, and the channel validates them. Typical checks are whether required fields are present, whether values use the expected format, whether field lengths are within limits, and whether the product meets the rules of its category.

To review the results, go to the Listed products step in the channel configuration and open the Validation and feedback tab. While the Listed products tab shows the general status of your offers and content, this tab shows the reason a specific product was not exported or was rejected.

Work through the errors as follows:

1. Group the errors by message. One missing mapping usually explains multiple failed products.
2. Decide where the fix belongs: in your mapping, or in your source data. A wrong field pairing requires a mapping update, an empty or malformed value requires a source data update.
3. Update and wait for the next export cycle, or trigger a new import if you changed the source data.
4. Check the tab again and repeat.

Common issues

Next steps

Once your first channel is live, you can:

• Monitor synchronization and resolve recurring errors.
• Optimize your content and pricing.
• Handle orders, shipments, and returns.
• Add new channels and configure them in a similar fashion.