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, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland
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	CHF, 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
Bundles

* 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, though not every marketplace 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. Finish the Activation.
7. Check the Listed products overview.

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

Setup

On ChannelEngine

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

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 upload the invoice to ChannelEngine via the Merchant API or via the web interface. To learn more, check out the article ChannelEngine: merchant invoices.

Categorization

Categorization is mandatory 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 marketplace, 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 variations, the name must be the color variation name. For size variations, the name must be the size variation name. If both variations exist, group by size rather than color. If there is no variation, 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 variations share a single base product. Map it to the EAN if it is a single variation, or to a value shared amongst all products that belong to the same variation (usually the Parent SKU). Using color images for size variations 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.

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

• Export strategy - choose a strategy for exporting the product data. You can select from the following export strategies:
  • Yes - export all of the product content to the marketplace, including its EAN (GTIN), category, and other mapped attributes. This option is ideal if you manage both product content and offers through ChannelEngine for the marketplace. Before you set this option, ensure that you map all required attributes.
  • No - do not export product content to the marketplace. Choose this option to keep the 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.
     
    NB: the default export strategy is Yes, even if the Export strategy attribute is left unmapped.

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 variations.
• Farbkachel (Color tile) - the image for the thumbnails of the product's color-based variations.
• 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 variations.
• 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:

• 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 all Mirakl-based marketplaces:

• Discount end date - the date until when the product's sale price is valid, if applicable. The date format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ZZ. E.g.: 2022-12-31 23:59:59 +00.
• Discount price - 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 be available.
• Discount start date - the date from when the product's sale price is valid, if applicable. The date format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ZZ. E.g.: 2022-12-31 23:59:59 +00.
• 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 use 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

• To set up a discount, you must 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 – otherwise, the export is broken.
• 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.

Carrier

Unlike most marketplaces, 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 use the Channel status filter (e.g.: products that ChannelEngine has failed to export, such as those with an empty GTIN or that do not exist on the marketplace yet, are shown as Invalid) or the Validation and feedback tab to see all known errors for specific products.

Alternatively, you can access the marketplace's back-end and download the error report generated by Mirakl. To do so:

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

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 marketplace	every 60 minutes
Export product offers to marketplace	every 15 minutes
Import product offers from marketplace	every 15 minutes
Import orders from marketplace	every 15 minutes
Export order shipments to marketplace	every 15 minutes
Export returns to marketplace	every 30 minutes

Can I map attributes on ChannelEngine and in the Mirakl back-end?

No. Mapping attributes in the Mirakl marketplace back-end interferes with ChannelEngine's content export. Therefore, it is recommended to stick to categorizing and mapping content only on ChannelEngine.

Why am I not receiving feedback on my content and/or offer exports?

Chances are you are receiving the feedback. However, different types of error report can take a couple of hours or several days to be generated:

• Offer feedback
  • Error reports are mostly generated automatically, and are imported quickly.
• Content feedback
  • Transformation error report - this is automatically generated, and usually imported within a maximum of one day.
  • Conventional error report - this 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 conventional reports have been fully processed by ChannelEngine – or no new reports have been generated because there are no errors to report.