idealo Direktkauf: marketplace guide
About this guide
This is a ChannelEngine guide on the Berlin-based marketplace idealo Direktkauf. Here you can find information on how to request an idealo Direktkauf account, how to configure this channel on ChannelEngine, what the specific requirements are, and more.
Table of contents
Channel-specific requirements and exceptions
Commercial information
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founders | Martin Sinner, Albrecht von Sonntag, Christian Habermehl |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany |
| Area served (orders) | Germany |
| Number of monthly visits | circa 47 million (2021) |
| Website | idealo Direktkauf |
| Setup cost | none |
| Commission | see the Associated costs section |
| Other costs | see the Associated costs section |
| Payment | instantly for idealo Direktkauf (via PayPal); 14 days after shipment for idealo Direktkauf Checkout Payments |
| Product categories | car and motorcycle parts, baby and child products, electrical and electronic goods, food and drinks, home and garden, fashion and accessories, sports and outdoor, pet supplies |
| Input language | German |
| Input currency | EUR |
| Content creation | no* |
| Profile on ChannelEngine | idealo Direktkauf |
* Note that products must be listed in the idealo catalog to qualify for idealo Direktkauf. Products that do not perform well or are not offered by enough sellers may not qualify.
How to request an account
Checkout
- Create an idealo Direktkauf Business account on the idealo Business website:
- Create an account in German
- Create an account in English
- Through your idealo Direktkauf Business account, sign up for the German idealo Direktkauf site and select the option 'Marketplace' or 'Marketplace merchant'.
- Your registration is checked by idealo Direktkauf (check of master data, assessment of offer portfolio, etc.).
- After the check, the idealo Direktkauf sales team contacts you to set up your account.
- Once the supporting documentation and contract are in place, the onboarding team ensures that your feed and order integration are ready to start.
Associated costs
idealo Direktkauf does not charge any setup or monthly fees. However, it does charge a fee per order. idealo Direktkauf merchants pay according to a cost-per-order (CPO) model. For more information on this, check out idealo Direktkauf's pricing page (in German). Note that idealo Direktkauf does not share its CPO breakdown publicly.
Channel features
| Supported | Not supported |
| Product content | Returns (channel) |
| Product offers | External fulfillment |
| Orders | Carrier mapping |
| Returns (merchant) | Repricing |
| Shipments | Cancelations (merchant) |
| Refurbished products | |
| Cancelations (channel) |
Settings and configuration
Setting up each channel on ChannelEngine follows the same flow, once you add the channel:
- 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
Channel-specific requirements and exceptions
Setup
On idealo Direktkauf
The idealo Direktkauf team needs access to your product feed, so make sure to have it ready during the onboarding process.
To retrieve the required Client ID and Client secret, go to idealo Direktkauf's Shop settings page.
On ChannelEngine
Once you gain access to the idealo Direktkauf Business back-end, add the idealo Direktkauf channel on ChannelEngine and enter your Client ID and Client secret under the Setup section. When creating the credentials, select Produktiv (production) instead of Sandbox.
Product selection
To have a product feed generated, you need to create a selection of all the products to be listed on idealo Direktkauf. Note that, after saving the selection, it can take up to one hour before the feed is first generated. After this, it is regenerated hourly.
You can find the product feed location on ChannelEngine under the Product selection section. This URL does not change, unless you remove the channel and re-add it later, and is what you need to share with idealo Direktkauf.
Categorization
Although idealo Direktkauf does not have a category tree per se, its specific attributes are used by ChannelEngine to build a list of categories similar to most other channels.
The categorization process is straightforward, and all categories are listed in German. It is recommended to categorize most of your products under the General category, unless your products fit into one of the specific categories.
Mappings
Content
All products (required)
- Brand - the product's brand or manufacturer.
- Category path - the product's category.
- Checkout - defines whether an offer is available for Direct Checkout, so it must be set to true.
- Color - the product's color. Make sure to provide variations for different colors. A color variant can also be a combination of several colors. E.g.: red, yellow/black.
- Delivery costs: [carrier name] - a list of delivery types and corresponding costs. At least one should be selected.
- Delivery time - delivery time information for the offer. Imprecise phrases such as "ready for shipment" and qualifying additions such as "presumably" are not allowed. The maximum number of characters is 1,000. E.g.: 1-3 working days.
- Description - a short description of the offer. The maximum number of characters is 1,000.
- EAN or GTIN - the product's 13-digit EAN or GTIN.
- Fulfillment type - the product's fulfillment type. The options are: FREIGHT_FORWARDER, PARCEL_SERVICE, DOWNLOAD, LETTER. For FREIGHT_FORWARDER, during checkout customers must provide a phone number for delivery time consultation.
- Image URL - the product's main image. The image file must be in PNG or JPEG format, and the maximum file size is 1 MB. The RFC 3986 standard applies to the URL itself, i.e.: URLs must start with either http:// or https://.
- Payment cost: [payment method] - a list of payment methods and corresponding costs. Costs can be zero (i.e.: 0.00). At least one should be selected.
- Product URL - the URL to the product page in your own shop. For product variants, make sure to use parameterized URLs directed to the respective variant. The RFC 3986 standard applies to the URL itself.
- Size - the product's size. If possible, avoid abbreviations (e.g.: S, M, L). Make sure to provide variations for different sizes.
- SKU - your unique, internal identifier. Make sure to provide it without any spaces. Usually this is your Merchant product number.
- Title - the product's name, as shown on the channel. The title should contain relevant product attributes and be unique, with a maximum of 255 characters. E.g.: Canada Goose Carson down-jacket men, navy blue, Size: XXL.
All products (optional)
- Minimum price - the minimum price you are willing to sell the product for on idealo Checkout. This price is only applied to the product, and shown to customers, if yours is the best offer among the competition.
Category-specific
For certain categories, such as textiles and electronics, there are other mandatory attributes. E.g.: according to the latest amendment to the German ElektroG3 act, effective from 1 January 2022, buyers of products such as monitors and large appliances must be informed about the possibility to have their waste equipment collected. The Disposal fee attribute must be mapped accordingly, with either 0.00 to indicate free collection or a value including VAT.
For more information on mandatory attributes per category, check out idealo Direktkauf's CSV Feed Import article.
Carrier
There are no carrier mappings on idealo Direktkauf.
Listed products
idealo Direktkauf does not provide feedback via the API, so if you need information regarding the status of a product you need to check the Offer data page on idealo Direktkauf's back-end.
FAQs
How often does each task run on idealo Direktkauf?
| Task | Frequency |
| Export product data to channel | every 25 minutes |
| Import orders from channel | every 20 minutes |
| Export order shipments to channel | every 60 minutes |
| Export returns to channel | every 60 minutes |
Where can I find statistics on my idealo Direktkauf store?
idealo Direktkauf provides an overview of your ratings, including a breakdown of the ratings, on their Shop ratings page
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