Douglas: partner program guide

About this guide

This is a ChannelEngine guide on the Düsseldorf-based partner program Douglas. Here you can find information on how to request a Douglas account, how to configure this channel 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
• Categorization
• Mappings
• Pricing
• Listed products

FAQs

 

 

Commercial information

Headquarters	Düsseldorf, Germany
Area served (orders)	Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, Netherlands, Spain
Website	Douglas
Setup cost	none
Percentage of the purchase price	depends on the category
Other costs	none
Payment	within 30 days
Product categories	fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and health (supplements and nutrition)
Input language	Dutch, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish
Input currency	EUR, PLN
Content creation	yes
Minimum number of SKUs	no
Advertisement options	yes
Profile on ChannelEngine	Douglas

 

How to request an account

To start selling on Douglas, fill the contact form on their corporate website. Note that ChannelEngine only supports Douglas' B2C logistics setup.

When in touch with an employee from Douglas, make sure to mention that you are working with ChannelEngine.

 

Associated costs

Douglas does not charge any setup or monthly fees, but it does charge a percentage. The exact percentage is negotiated per partner.

 

Marketplace features

Supported	Not supported
Product offers (EAN matching)	Cancelations (marketplace)
Product content	Returns (marketplace)
Orders	Automatic relationships
Cancelations (merchant, only full cancelations)	Marketplace fulfillment service
Shipments	Repricing
Returns (merchant)	Sales channels*
Product variations (size or color)
Carrier mapping
HTML formatting
Multiple stock locations

* 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, once you add the marketplace:

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

Douglas is a Mirakl-based channel, so you can connect it to ChannelEngine using a Mirakl Connect SSO account. For more information on this, check out the Mirakl-based channels: SSO authorization article.

As Douglas does support repricing, the Mirakl seller name on the marketplace* field must be filled in.

* This field is shown across all Mirakl-based channels on ChannelEngine. However, Douglas is a partner program – not a marketplace.

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 enable the invoice upload to ChannelEngine via the Merchant API. For that, call the POST /v2/orders/{merchantOrderNo}/invoice endpoint. Note that only invoices in PDF are supported.

Invalid XML characters

To remove invalid XML characters from your product data, click Advanced settings and enable the Check and filter invalid XML characters setting. ChannelEngine checks product data submitted in the XML format for invalid characters (e.g.: Ã, ¢, â, etc.). Once identified, invalid characters are removed or converted to a valid equivalent.

Categorization

Categorization is mandatory if you want to create or update existing product information on Douglas. Both categorizations and mappings only result in updates if the content connection is enabled, and the relevant credentials have been entered (see the Setup section).

As Douglas is a German channel, categories and attributes are in German.

Mappings

Content

Douglas does not have a long list of required attributes. However, as always, it is highly recommended to map as much content as possible. The more content an offer has, the higher its chances to convert.

All products (required)

• Basis Verpackungsmenge (Base number of content units) - base unit for base price calculation according to Germany's price indication ordinance (PAngV).
• Bild 1 (Image 1) - the URL of the product's main image. The supported formats are TIFF and JPEG, and the resolution must be 1,063x1,063 px. The maximum file size is 5 MB, and the file must be named according to the product's EAN. E.g.: 3614272508224.tif.
• Brand - the brand or manufacturer of the product.
• EAN - the 13-digit European article number (EAN).

• Name (Basis) - used to show the product's title on the product page, in combination with classification or brand line. Keep the product title short and clear, and make sure that it is free of typos and grammatical errors.
• Name (Variante) - for color variants, the name must be the color variant name. For size variants, the name must be the size variant name. If both variations exist, group by size rather than color. If there is no variant, use the Name (Basis) attribute. E.g.: Nr. 01 - Honey, Nr. 02 - Beige (makeup products); XS, S, M (clothes); 50 g, 120 g (viscous products); 50 ml, 100 ml (liquid products); etc.
• Variant group code - defines which variants share a single base product. Map it to the EAN if it is a single variant, or to a value shared amongst all products that belong to the same variant (usually the Parent SKU). Using color images for size variants is not allowed.
• Verpackungseinheit (Content unit) - describes the entity of the Number content unit. E.g: cm, m, g, kg, ml, l, pieces, pair, etc.
• Verpackungsmenge (Number content unit) - describes the quantity of the content unit. E.g.: 50.
• Product family - the product's category.

All products (optional)

• ABDA Warengruppe (ABDA product group) - the product group, according to the Federal Association of German Pharmacists (Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Apothekerverbände).
• Awendung (Usage) - the product's usage instructions.
• Beschreibung (Description) - the product's description.
• Bild 2-5 (Image 2-5) - the product's additional images. For the requirements, see Bild 1.
• Bullet points - the product's main selling points. Up to five bullet points can be entered, separated by a pipe ( | ).
• Facettenfarbe (Facet color) - used for facetted searches. If the product's color is irrelevant, map this attribute to 'undefined'. If HEX-Farbe is not mapped, this attribute is used to generate the 'thumbnails' for the product's color-based variants.
• Farbkachel (Color tile) - the image for the thumbnails of the product's color-based variants.
• Geschlecht (Gender) - the product's target gender. E.g.: female.
• HEX-Farbe (HEX color) - defines the color of the thumbnail of a product's color-based variant.
• Inhaltsstoffe (Ingredients) - the product's ingredients.
• Is dietary supplement - defines if the product is a dietary supplement. E.g.: false.
• Is medical product - defines if the product is a medical product. E.g.: true.
• Is medicine - defines if the product is a medicine. E.g.: false.
• Is RX - defines if the product must be prescribed. E.g.: true.
• Kennzeichner (Identifier) - the product's partner SKU.
• Med contraindications - the product's contraindications.
• Med dosage - the product's recommended dosage.
• Med important patient advice - the product's important patient advice.
• Med indication - the product's indication.
• Med information leaflet - the link to the product's information leaflet.
• Med ingredients - the product's medical ingredients.
• Med instructions - the product's medical instructions.
• Med pharmacological action - the product's pharmacological action.
• Med side effects - the product's side effects.
• PZN - the product's Pharmazentralnummer (or pharmacy central number).
• Steuerklasse (Tax class) - the product's tax category. E.g.: full, half, low.
• Taric code - the product's customs tariff number.
• WEEE-Nummer (WEEE number) - the product's Waste Electrical and Electronic (WEEE) registration number.

Category-specific

Different product categories may have different required attributes, including Ingredients for food, nutritional products and cosmetics, WEEE number for electrical products, etc. Make sure to check the required attributes under each category.

Offer

The only mandatory offer mapping is Price, which is your buying price. As Douglas is the legal seller of the products in the platform, they are responsible for all prices. Therefore, changes to these can be requested by Douglas.

Optional

• Recommended retail price - the product's MSRP.

The following offer attributes are common to some Mirakl-based marketplaces, particularly in France and Germany:

• 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 Mirakl-based marketplaces:

• 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 uses of logistic class codes, they can be found below.

Code	Label	Description
base	Base logistic class	Standard parcel delivery for items between 0-31kg

Working with discounts

• If your discounted price is not lower than the base price, it is not exported.
• If you do not want to set a bulk discount, leave the Discount quantity threshold attribute unmapped – otherwise the export is broken.
• If you do want 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.
• Douglas does not support scheduled discounts, so make sure to leave the Discount start date and Discount end date attributes unmapped. Any discount applied to the Discount price attribute is permanent until removed.

Carrier

Unlike most channels, Douglas works exclusively with DHL in Germany and Poland. Therefore, you must ship all German orders via DHL. It is also mandatory to include a delivery note, return instructions (printed in landscape format), and pre-printed DHL return label in the parcel. Additionally, orders must be shipped within 1-3 days.

Returns are handled in a different way in Poland. Customers are able to generate return labels on their own websites, and parcels are returned to Douglas' Polish warehouse – which then ships them in bulk to its partners.

Shipping via different carriers is possible in different countries. For more information on the supported carriers per country, check out the Douglas Partner Portal.

Pricing

Douglas requires the prices to be submitted in EUR, except for Poland. If you do not have pricing attributes in EUR or PLN, 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 filter on Channel status (select Invalid to show all products that ChannelEngine has not exported, such as products with an empty GTIN or that currently do not exist on the marketplace) or use the Validation and feedback tab to see all known errors for specific products.

For detailed status reports, go to the Mirakl back-end. Their reports contain specific errors if a product or product offer cannot be created. To find them, go to My inventory, Import from file, Track offer imports/Track product imports. By hovering over the 'i' under the Status section, you can see how many products in the file were processed correctly and how many had errors, etc.

If there are errors, the last column shows a downloadable file in which they are listed. The same goes for the product file import, but this can contain multiple files because processing goes through several systems. There is also a manual check of your submitted content, which, once approved, goes to staging as well. Note that you need to map as much as possible to prevent products from not being created.

FAQs

Can I cancel orders?

Although partners are allowed canceling orders, only full cancelations are supported.

Can I accept return/refund requests?

Although partners are allowed processing returns and refunds, and partial returns and refunds are supported, no goodwill refunds on the price level are allowed. Note that partial cancelations are not allowed, though.

Can I delete an offer from Douglas?

No, deleting offers is not possible on Douglas. To remove an offer, set its stock to zero.

Where can I find more information on Douglas' partner program?

Douglas has a comprehensive portal for partners available online.

How often does each task run on Mirakl-based marketplaces?

By default, Mirakl-based marketplaces follow the schedule below:

Task	Frequency
Export product data to channel	every 60 minutes
Export product offers to channel	every 15 minutes
Import product offers from channel	every 15 minutes
Import orders from channel	every 15 minutes
Export order shipments to channel	every 15 minutes
Export returns to channel	every 30 minutes

Can I simultaneously set up mapping on ChannelEngine and in the Mirakl back-end?

Configuring mapping in the Mirakl marketplace back-end interferes with ChannelEngine's content export. For accurate product content export, stick to categorizing and mapping your products’ content on ChannelEngine only.