JCPenney: marketplace guide

About this guide

This is a ChannelEngine guide on the US-based JCPenney Marketplace. Here you can find information on how to request a JCPenney Marketplace account, how to configure this marketplace on ChannelEngine, and what the specific requirements are.

Table of contents

About the marketplace

Commercial information

How to request an account

Associated costs

Marketplace features

Settings and configuration

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

• Setup
• Mappings
• Pricing
• Listed products

Additional information

FAQs

About the marketplace

JCPenney Marketplace is a third-party seller program on jcpenney.com, launched in June 2026. The marketplace gives merchants a seamless customer experience and access to millions of daily customers, while merchants handle their own pricing, promotion, shipment, and post-purchase customer service. JCPenney positions the marketplace as a curated extension of “over a century of trusted retail heritage,” aimed at expanding the lifestyle categories and depth of assortment that its loyal, multi-generational customer base expects.

Commercial information

*Fulfillment must originate from a US-based warehouse; international/cross-border fulfillment is not permitted.

How to request an account

To start selling on JCPenney Marketplace, you must first meet JCPenney’s mandatory onboarding criteria:

• A registered US business with a US Tax ID
• A US-based bank account and routing number, and US-based warehouse(s)
• GS1-certified UPC-12 or EAN-13 codes for all products
• A Payoneer account that has passed KYC (Know Your Customer) verification

You request access by filling out the JCPenney Marketplace intake form; JCPenney then determines next steps and assigns you an onboarding manager.

After you receive an onboarding manager:

1. You confirm your preferred integration method as ChannelEngine.
2. The Onboarding Manager sends integration-specific instructions and a deadline.
3. You receive a unique link by email (or a Mirakl Connect invitation) to create your Mirakl seller account and configure your shop (store name, contact details, return address, business calendar, and Certificate of Insurance).
4. Once initial products and offers are reviewed and approved, JCPenney activates your account, and your products go live on jcpenney.com (typically within one business day).

Associated costs

JCPenney Marketplace does not charge a setup fee for new merchants. You pay a $40/month store subscription fee, plus a category-specific commission on the final sale price (inclusive of tax and shipping), shared with you individually during onboarding.

Shipping costs are always borne by you; JCPenney charges the customer either free shipping (orders of $49 or more) or a flat $8.95 fee (orders under $49), which is allocated back to you proportionally by item value.

On in-store returns, you are charged a flat handling fee of $5 (small items) or $8 (medium items) per parcel, deducted from your payout. You may also deduct restocking fees from a refund: up to 15% (max $80) for oversized/bulky items returned directly to you, or up to 50% for items returned used, damaged, or incomplete.

Marketplace features

Settings and configuration

Setting up each channel on ChannelEngine follows the same flow, though not every channel 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. Fill in the Stock settings.
7. Finish the Activation.
8. Check the Listed products overview.

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

The section below describes exceptions to the standard settings and configuration steps required to set up this channel on ChannelEngine.

Setup

On ChannelEngine

Connection

1. This channel is a Mirakl-based channel. Therefore, you connect to it with your Mirakl Connect SSO account. For more information on configuring Mirakl Connect SSO with ChannelEngine, check out the Mirakl-based channels: SSO authorization article.
2. If you would like to test the order flow with this plugin, contact the ChannelEngine Support team to configure the connection of your plugin to support testing. For more information on testing orders, check out the article ChannelEngine: how to create test orders.

Invoice uploads

To configure your invoice settings, go to Advanced settings. Then, select one option from the dropdown menu in the Enable invoice uploading field, which contains the following options:

• ChannelEngine invoices - when ChannelEngine receives a shipment, ChannelEngine automatically generates an invoice and attaches it to the shipment before exporting the shipment.
• Merchant invoices (optional) - when ChannelEngine receives a shipment, ChannelEngine exports the shipment – even if there is no invoice attached to it.
• Merchant invoices (required) - when ChannelEngine receives a shipment, ChannelEngine only exports the shipment if an invoice is attached to it. If not, you receive a notification.
• None - when ChannelEngine receives a shipment, ChannelEngine 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: upload merchant invoices.

Mappings

Content

All products (required)

The following required attribute is common to all Mirakl-based marketplaces:

• Export strategy - choose a strategy for exporting product data. Select from:
  • Yes - export all product content to the marketplace, including the EAN (GTIN), category, and other mapped attributes. This option is ideal if you manage both product content and offers on ChannelEngine for the marketplace. Ensure that you map all required attributes.
  • No - do not export product content to the marketplace. Choose this option to keep 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.

• Additional images 1-2 – the second and third product image URLs. JCPenney requires a Primary Image plus two additional images at minimum. Minimum resolution 500x500px (rejected below this), 1500x1500px recommended, 3000x3000px maximum.
• Brand – the official brand name exactly as registered with the manufacturer (no variations or abbreviations). Must be selected from JCPenney’s approved brand dropdown; new brands take about three business days to be added. Drives site navigation, brand-specific search, and coupon eligibility.
• Care instructions – how the product should be cleaned or maintained, selected from JCPenney’s approved list of values (e.g. Hand Wash, Wipe Clean, Dry Clean Only, Hang Dry). For sets (e.g. a suit set), use the free-text field to list care instructions per component.
• Color [en_US] [variant attribute] – the product’s color, used together with size/pattern to group items into a Product Variant Group (PVG) (e.g. Rich Maple, American Navy, Oak Moss).
• Color family – the broader color grouping used for on-site left-hand navigation and filtering (distinct from the specific Color value above).
• Country of origin – the country where the product was manufactured, produced, or assembled, selected from JCPenney’s approved list. Required to support “Made in USA”/origin-claim compliance; unqualified U.S.-origin claims are not permitted unless substantiated.
• Primary image – the main image shown on the Product Detail Page (PDP). Minimum resolution 500x500px (rejected below this), 1500x1500px recommended, 2560x2560px optimal for zoom, 3000x3000px maximum. Must show only the item being sold, centered, on a clean background (category-specific background rules apply, e.g. gray for jewelry, blue for swimwear).
• Product description [en_US] – the detailed product description. Must be written in complete sentences (no bullet points unless enabled for the category template), be factual and free of subjective/promotional claims (e.g. “Best Seller”, “lowest price”), include all legally required warnings/disclosures, and stay consistent across the variant group unless a material regulatory or safety difference exists between variants.
• Product title [en_US] – the PDP title. Format: Brand Name + Gender + Product Descriptor(s) + Product Name. Maximum 75 characters. Capitalize the first letter of each word; no all caps/lowercase, subjective claims, or abbreviations; must match across the entire variant group.
• Prop 65 warning – the required California Proposition 65 warning text for products that need one; must be accurate for the exposure type/chemical basis and displayed to California consumers before purchase.
• Shop SKU [en_US] – your own unique internal SKU, used for inventory tracking and order processing. Not shown to customers.

All products (optional)

• Additional title key words (future phase) [en_US] – reserved for a future SEO keyword-enrichment phase of the product title; not yet in active use.
• Additional images 3-5 – further product image URLs beyond the three required images. Recommended to give customers more product context; same resolution requirements as the required images.
• Diversity ownership – a diversity-owned business designation for the seller/brand (e.g. woman-owned, minority-owned), used by JCPenney for merchandising and marketing purposes.
• Event – a marketing/seasonal event tag used to group products for a promotional campaign.
• Gift group by interest (JCP internal use only) – internal gift-guide categorization used by JCPenney merchandising; not customer-facing.
• Gift strategy (JCP internal use only) – internal gift strategy classification used by JCPenney merchandising; not customer-facing.
• Marketing theme (JCP use only) – internal marketing theme classification used by JCPenney; not customer-facing.
• Swatch_image_1 – a swatch image representing the product’s color, pattern, or finish. Minimum 200x200px at 300 dpi. If not supplied, JCPenney generates a swatch from the Color attribute or falls back to the primary image.
• Variant group code [en] – the code that groups related variations (size, color, pattern) into one Product Variant Group. Every item in the group must share the same parent product and category, use only approved variant attributes, and have a unique UPC/EAN. Once submitted, this code cannot be edited by you; the JCPenney operator must delete it, and you must resubmit.
• Video – a product video URL. Recommended 30-50 seconds, with clear audio explaining the product; no strict file-size limit.

Offer

Required

• Price – your offering/regular sales price, in USD, entered as a decimal value with no currency symbol. If using pricing v2, map this attribute in the Pricing step.
• UPC/EAN [en_US] – the GS1-certified product identifier: a 12-digit UPC or 13-digit EAN, unique per product and per variant. This is also the value used as the Product ID to link the offer to the corresponding product. Reused, counterfeit, or non-GS1 codes are not permitted.

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.
• Category-specific ECO attributes - depending on your sales country, you might be required to map additional ECO attributes for products in specific categories. Review which ECO attributes to map within each category.

If pricing v2 is activated in your environment, you will see the following offer attributes, which are common to all Mirakl-based marketplaces:

• Allow promotion below min price - set to true to allow the promotion price to drop below your product's minimum price. To learn more, check out the article ChannelEngine: promotions.
• Strike price - the regular selling price. Only map this if you set up a discount. For guidance, check out the Working with discounts section of this article. 
• Map your current selling price in Price in Pricing, Price rules. 
• Additionally, the Fee groups attribute appears in Mappings, Fee group mappings, if pricing v2 is activated. Map the marketplace fee group ID of the product there.  

The following offer attributes are also common to all Mirakl-based marketplaces:

• Available start date - the date from which the product becomes available for sale on the marketplace. The date format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ZZ.
• Available end date - the date from which the product is no longer available for sale on the marketplace. The date format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ZZ. 
• Discount start date - the date from which the product's sale price is valid, if applicable. Input the date as a fixed value. The date format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ZZ. All dates follow ISO month-day formatting, and all times follow 24-hour formatting in the UTC timezone. E.g.: 2026-10-25 15:30:00 +01 will start your discount on 25 October 2026 at 3:30 PM, one hour ahead of UTC time.
• Discount end date - the date until which the product's sale price is valid, if applicable. Input the date as a fixed value. The date format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ZZ. All dates follow ISO month-day formatting, and all times follow 24-hour formatting in the UTC timezone. E.g.: 2026-10-30 23:59:59 +01 will end your discount on 30 October 2026 at 11:59 PM and 59 seconds, one hour ahead of UTC time.
• Discount price - (appears only if you use pricing v1) 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 become available.
• Leadtime to shipment - the number of days before you ship the product. 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 the shipping class using the marketplace’s codes and not with the labels that are visible in the partner portal's user interface. These codes vary per marketplace. If this marketplace makes use of logistic class codes, they can be found below.

Logistic class codes

Carrier

Carrier mapping is not required on Mirakl-based marketplaces. However, with carrier mapping, you can map your carrier to a specific list of carriers maintained by this marketplace. Carrier mapping enables ChannelEngine to automatically send the tracking codes to this marketplace, allowing buyers to eventually track the shipment themselves. If your carrier is missing from the list, please directly contact the marketplace.

JCPenney works with a set of approved carriers. Check out the Shipments section below for more details.

Pricing

Working with discounts

These instructions apply to most Mirakl marketplaces. If there are any exceptions on this marketplace, these are noted below. 

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.
• To set a bulk discount, the Discount quantity threshold must be set to a value higher than 1. For example, a value of 2 indicates that the buyer must purchase two or more products at the same time to benefit from the discount.

Pricing v2

1. To set up your strikethrough price, map the Strike price attribute to your regular price in Offer mappings. 
2. Then, indicate the discount period. Map the Discount start date and Discount end date attributes to indicate the start and end dates of your discount.
3. If you do not want to set a bulk discount, leave the Discount quantity threshold attribute unmapped. 
4. If you do not set up a bulk discount, set up your discount price:
   1. Go to Pricing, Promotions.
   2. Choose your discount method, e.g.: percentage discount, and configure the start and end dates.
   3. Select the products to which the discount is applied.
5. Keep in mind:
   • Your discount price and Strike price cannot have the same value. 
   • ChannelEngine only sets a discount if your discount price is lower than Strike price.
6. If set up correctly, your product displays a discount label and a strikethrough price on the channel.

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. Use the Channel status filter or the Validation and feedback tab to view all known errors for specific products.

If you see either of the below statuses, refer to the article ChannelEngine: why is my product listed as 'Product not found' in the inventory report?:

• Product not found in inventory report
• Product not in offer file

Products that ChannelEngine has failed to export are shown as Invalid, e.g.: products with an empty GTIN or that do not yet exist on the marketplace.

Alternatively, download the error report generated by Mirakl. To do so:

1. Log onto the Mirakl platform and go to Catalog, Product imports.
2. Identify the latest report and click the See details button.
3. Download the CSV file Non-integrated products report.

Additional information

Seller performance thresholds

JCPenney recalculates quality metrics daily (at 1:00 AM CST) once a shop has nine or more orders after channel activation. Exceeding the alert threshold triggers a warning; exceeding the suspension threshold can trigger automatic suspension.

You must also maintain a cancelation rate of 2% or less and a refund rate of 50% or less within a rolling 30-day period; noncompliance with either can independently lead to warnings, selling restrictions, or suspension. 

All customer communication (including phone support) must be conducted in English, with a response time of 24 hours or less.

Content

JCPenney reviews all submitted content for compliance. Common rejection reasons include fiber-content percentages that don’t total 100%, missing mandatory attributes, duplicate variant submissions, swatch images that don’t match the color/pattern, non-compliant title formats, promotional/subjective language in descriptions, and primary images that show props, multiple items, or a non-clean background. Rejected products move to a “Changes required” status and must be corrected before they can be republished.

Shipments

Approved shipping carriers are UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL, Lasership, and OnTrac, plus “Other” for any last-mile carrier that delivers directly to the customer (not a prohibited method). PO Box deliveries must use USPS or FedEx Ground Economy; military base deliveries must use USPS. Amazon Logistics, multi-channel fulfillment from other retailers, and non-U.S.-based carriers are prohibited.

FAQs

How often does each task run on Mirakl-based marketplaces?
By default, Mirakl-based marketplaces follow the schedule below:

Can a Variant group code be corrected after submission?
No. Once a Variant group code is submitted to Mirakl, it cannot be edited by you. The JCPenney operator must delete it, and you must then resubmit it.

Why is my offer stuck pending instead of active or inactive?
An offer’s activation depends entirely on the state of its linked product. If the product is new (not yet reviewed) or accepted but not yet synchronized by JCPenney, the offer stays pending. Pending offers are automatically deleted after ten days if the linked product is still not validated and synchronized. If that happens, resubmit the same offer (same shop SKU) once the product is validated – Mirakl recreates it. However, a new system-generated offer ID is likely assigned if the retention window passes.

Can I map attributes on ChannelEngine and on the Mirakl platform?
No. Mapping attributes on the Mirakl marketplace platform interferes with ChannelEngine's content export. Therefore, it is recommended to categorize and map content only on ChannelEngine.

Why am I not receiving feedback on my content and/or offer exports?
Some Mirakl-based marketplaces manually review content and/or offers before products can go live. Because of this, feedback reports may take a few hours or several days to become available.

Offer feedback - error reports are mostly generated automatically and are imported quickly.

Content feedback

• Transformation error report - automatically generated and usually imported within a maximum of one day.
• Conventional error report - 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 the conventional reports have been fully processed by ChannelEngine. If there are no errors to report, no new reports are generated.