ChannelEngine: custom channels

About this guide

This guide describes ChannelEngine's custom channels.

Table of contents

Introduction

Channel features

Settings and configuration

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

• Setup
• Product selection
• Mappings
• Pricing

Use cases

Video

Examples

Introduction

For merchants, custom channels create one-way, automated product feeds for any channel that requires a product feed. Generate a dedicated feed URL for the product data that you already store on ChannelEngine. The product feed that you generate from a custom channel has a fixed, predetermined set of attributes. 

Use a custom channel to:

• Generate a product feed for an affiliate or click-and-ad channel based on the standard template of attributes that is available on ChannelEngine.
• Forward product data to a partner, e.g.: a third-party website that sells your overstock.

Merchants that require a deeper configuration of their product feeds should use the custom feed builder. Check out ChannelEngine: custom feed builder [add-on].

For marketplaces, custom channels are the foundation of a dedicated plugin between ChannelEngine and your marketplace, if ChannelEngine does not yet connect to your marketplace. Build a live, two-way integration between your marketplace and the custom channel via the Channel API. 

Channel 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

This section describes extra steps and deviations from the standard settings and configuration steps that are required to successfully configure the custom channel plugin on ChannelEngine.

Setup

On ChannelEngine

Add the Custom channel plugin to your dashboard.

General

Change the name and logo of the custom channel to make it easier to identify, e.g.: Awin.

Conversion tracking

• Cost Per Click (CPC) (ex. VAT) - if the click-and-ad channel charges you a cost per click (CPC), indicate the CPC excluding tax. 

Product selection

This channel accesses your product data directly from source files that ChannelEngine generates. In the Product selection step, you see two URLs. These are placeholders for two versions of the product feed that this channel receives from ChannelEngine – one in CSV and one in XML format.

To generate the product feed files for this channel:

1. Create a product selection for this channel.
2. Check which attributes the channel requires you to map, and make sure these attributes are stored in either the standard ChannelEngine fields or your custom fields.
3. If your product data contains custom fields, mark them as public. For guidance on marking custom fields as public, see the Custom fields section below.
4. Complete the remaining steps in Settings and configuration.
5. Let ChannelEngine run its export task for the first time. This task runs every 60 minutes.

The feed content is visible after you finish the Activation step and ChannelEngine completes its export task.

Custom fields

To include your custom fields in the generated feed and, therefore, expose your custom fields to this marketplace, mark them as public on ChannelEngine.

To mark your custom fields as public:

1. Go to Products, Custom fields.
2. Locate the custom field that you want to expose to this channel.
3. Change the Include in channel product feed status by selecting the pencil icon and setting it to enabled.

For more guidance on custom fields, check out ChannelEngine: custom fields.

Mappings

The mappings contain the standard ChannelEngine attributes that you mapped when you imported your product feed to ChannelEngine. Some can be left empty, even though they are marked as required. However, it is recommended to map as many attributes as possible. The more you map, the greater the product's visibility on the channel. 

Content

All products (required)

• Brand - product brand name. E.g.: fancy t-shirts inc.
• Catalog price - MSRP (including VAT/sales tax). E.g.: 59.95.
• Category - the product's full category path (with each category separated by >). E.g.: men's > t-shirts > crew neck.
• Color - product color. E.g.: black.
• Description - product description. E.g.: A simple black t-shirt from Sustainable T-shirts Inc.
• Details - the product's details. E.g.: a simple t-shirt. color: black. brand: sustainable t-shirts inc.
• Extra image URL 1-9 - deep link to the product's additional images.
• GTIN - the product's universal identifier (e.g.: EAN, ISBN, UPC, etc.). E.g.: 8710400311140.
• Image URL - deep link to the product's image. E.g.: http://www.theshirtshop.com/images/products/192354.jpg.
• Merchant product no - your unique product number. SKUs, GTINs, or any other unique IDs from your source system are the most commonly used. 
• Name - product name. E.g.: Black t-shirt with crew neck.
• Parent merchant product no - the merchant product number of the parent product. All child products of the same family share the same parent merchant product number. 
• Price - product price (including VAT/sales tax). E.g.: 49.95. The price attribute must have a value (even for grandparent/parent products). Use a period (.) or a comma (,) as the decimal separator. Do not use a comma as a thousand separator.
• Product URL - deep link to the product's details page. Only for affiliate networks/click channels.
• Shipping cost - product shipping costs. E.g.: 5.95.
• Shipping time - delivery time indication. E.g.: ordered before 22:00, shipped today.
• Size - product size. E.g.: xl.
• Stock - product stock. E.g.: 25. must be a positive integer. Text and decimal values are not supported.
• Vendor product no - manufacturer/supplier product number. E.g.: fti-blk-xl.

All products (optional)

• Discount percentage - the difference between the sale price and the MSRP as a percentage. E.g.: 47.92.
• Purchase price - product purchase price (excluding VAT/sales tax). E.g.: 35.00.

Offer

• Price before (re)price rules - the selling price of the item, before price rules and discounts are applied. Typically, this attribute is mapped to the ChannelEngine Price field. 

Carrier

There is no carrier mapping on custom channels.

Pricing

In the Pricing step, add price rules or a currency conversion in the Price rules tab. For guidance on price rules, check out ChannelEngine: price rules v2. 

Use Cases

List products on an affiliate/click-and-ad channel

Affiliate channels/click-and-ad channels, such as Google Shopping and StyleSearch, allow prospective buyers to quickly compare multiple offers for the same product across different marketplaces and webstores. When the prospect clicks one of your offers, they are redirected to the related product page – either in your webstore or on a marketplace.

List or sell with niche partners

If you work with a third party to sell your overstock or work with a dropshipper, monitor the third party's sales and process its orders via a custom channel.

To use your custom channel to list or sell with your partners:

1. Configure the custom channel on ChannelEngine.
2. To keep the third-party up-to-date on your product offers, share your product feed in either CSV or XML format.
3. To import orders and further process the orders in your own systems, share your API key with the third party. The third party sets up automated integrations via the Channel API. E.g.: the third party you are working with is a dropshipper. It can sell products on your behalf, and you can focus on fulfilling the orders.

Create a channel on ChannelEngine

One of the features of a custom channel is customization of two-way data flows via the Channel API. A custom channel can be used to initially develop and test a custom integration with a new marketplace. ChannelEngine can later convert the custom channel into an established channel that all ChannelEngine users can use.

For details on the Channel API, check out Channel API: main resources. 

Video

Examples - generated product feeds