The Bay: marketplace guide

About this guide

This is a ChannelEngine guide on the Toronto-based marketplace The Bay. Here you can find information on how to request a The Bay 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

Channel features

Settings and configuration

Marketplace-specific requirements and exceptions

• Setup
• Categorization
• Mappings
• Pricing
• Listed products

FAQs

Commercial information

Founded	2 May 1670
Headquarters	Toronto, Canada
Area served (orders)	Canada
Area served (shipments)	anywhere
Number of monthly visits	circa 20 million
Website	The Bay
Setup cost	none
Payment	twice/month
Product categories	books, music, films, cameras auto/motorcycle parts, fashion, cooking, DIY/gardening, electronics, food, furniture/interior design, games/toys, household appliances, kids/babies, musical instruments, cosmetics, pets, shoes, bags, luggage, sports equipment, office supplies/professional equipment, telecommunications equipment, video games, refurbished
Input language	English, French
Input currency	CAD
Content creation	yes
Minimum number of SKUs	no
Advertisement options	yes
Profile on ChannelEngine	The Bay

 

How to request an account

The Bay is curated to align with department store standards. To learn more about The Bay, check out the page The Bay Marketplace.

To start selling on The Bay, fill out the The Bay marketplace application form.

The following requirements apply:

• Goods and services tax (GST) registration number.
• Universal product codes (UPC) for products.

The Bay's team can assist merchants with sourcing these requirements, if needed, during the onboarding process.

Associated costs

The Bay does not charge a setup fee, but it does charge a monthly fee and a commission fee that varies according to the product category.

Channel features

Supported	Not supported
Product offers	Repricing
Product content	Marketplace fulfillment service
Orders	Returns (channel)
Cancelations	Sales channels
Returns (merchant)
Shipments
Carrier mapping
Refurbished products
HTML formatting

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

The Bay 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.

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 on The Bay is straightforward, and all categories are listed in English.

Mappings

Content

All products (required)

• Brand - the product's brand. Make sure to spell it exactly like the brand owner spells it. E.g.: adidas, instead of Adidas.
• Color - the product's color, written with the first letter in uppercase. If the product has no color value, use 'no color'. E.g.: Black, White, etc.
• Color group - the product's color group, written with the first letter in uppercase. This attribute is used in search filters. E.g.: if your product's color is defined as tangerine, its group color is orange.
• Country of origin - the two-letter ISO 3166 code of the country where the product was manufactured. E.g.: MX, VN.
• Enable giftwrap - defines if the product can be giftwrapped. Currently the only option is 'false'.
• Enable HBC points - defines if buyers receive Hudson's Bay points for buying the product. Currently the only option is 'true'.
• Enable product reviews - defines if the product can be reviewed by buyers. Currently the only option is 'true'.
• Enable Quicklook - defines if the product can be previewed by potential buyers before they access the product detail page (PDP) itself. Currently the only option is 'true'.
• Enable wishlist - defines if the product can be added to potential buyers' wishlists. Currently the only option is 'true'.
• Name (English) - the product's name, written in English and in title case. The product's brand, color, or size cannot be included in the name, and the maximum number of characters allowed is 200. The target gender can be added as a prefix. E.g.: Women's Handmade Alpaca Socks.
• Name (French) - the product's name, written in French and in title case. The product's brand, color, or size cannot be included in the name, and the maximum number of characters allowed is 200. The target gender can be added as a prefix. E.g.: Chaussettes En Alpaga Faites À La Main.
  NB: it is not allowed to add special characters to the Name attributes (e.g.: ®).
• PDP template - the template for the PDP. Currently the only option is 'standard'.
• Product details (English) - the product's description, written in English. HTML formatting is supported, and the maximum number of characters allowed is 7,000.
• Product details (French) - the product's description, written in French. HTML formatting is supported, and the maximum number of characters allowed is 7,000.
• Product image (main) - the product's main image. The following requirements apply:
  • Background - white.
  • Resolution - 300 dpi.
  • File size - at least 1 MB.
  • Dimensions - a minimum height 1,312 px and a minimum width of 984 px, with recommended dimensions of 2,000x2,000 px.
  • File format - PNG, JPEG, or GIF.
  • Images must be sharp and have a good contrast when zoomed in at 200%.
• Seller SKU - the product's Merchant product number.
• Size - the product's size, according to the North American standard. If the product has no size value, use 'one size'.
• Size refinement - see Size.
• Swatch HEX value - the product's hexadecimal color code, without the pound sign (#). If the product has no size value, use 'FFFFFF'. E.g.: 000000 (i.e.: black).
• UPC - the product's unique identifier.
• Variant group code - enables variations of the parent product.

All products (optional)

• Dangerous goods - specifies if a product is regulated as a dangerous good or if it contains hazardous material.
• Mirakl product status - the product's availability. The options are 'active' or 'discontinued'.
• Product image 2-7 - the product's additional images. The following requirements apply:
  • Resolution - 300 dpi.
  • File size - at least 1 MB.
  • Dimensions - a minimum height 1,312 px and a minimum width of 984 px, with recommended dimensions of 2,000x2,000 px.
  • File format - PNG, JPEG, or GIF.
  • Images must be sharp and have a good contrast when zoomed in at 200%.
• REF-responsible - the product's sustainability credential. The options are:
  • Canadian - the product has a Canadian designer or was made in Canada.
  • Planet conscious - the product is organic, reused, reusable, upcycled, or somewhat recycled.
  • Pre-loved - the product is second-hand.
  • Refurbished - the product is refurbished.
  • Responsibly sourced - the product uses sustainable farming, for instance.
  • Vintage - the product was made between 20 and 100 years ago.

Offer

All products (required)

The only mandatory offer mapping is Price, which is your desired sale price.

All products (optional)

• 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.
• 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.
• Eco contributions - the environmental tax that applies to the product. The format is: [manufacturer identifier] | [amount, including decimals]. Multiple taxes can be split with a comma. E.g.: Fabricante | 2.50, Fabricant | 1.00.
• Product tax code - determines the taxation that applies to the product.
• Duties - the product’s duties value, if applicable. If you add duties, the value you enter in the Price attribute should be inclusive of duties. All products must be delivery-duty paid (DDP), so buyers are not charged duties for their purchases.

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.
• Minimum quantity alert - map this attribute to receive a notification from ChannelEngine 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. Below you can find the codes used by this marketplace:

Code	Label	Description
s	small	Small items. Less than 2 lbs., and dimension less than 3 feet (LxWxH).
m	medium	Medium items. Between 2 and 10 lbs., and dimension less than 6 feet (LxWxH).
l	large	Large items. Between 10 and 30 lbs., and dimensions less than 12 feet (LxWxH).
o1	oversize	Oversized items. over 30 lbs., or dimension more than 12 feet (LxWxH).

Working with discounts

• Do not leave the Discount end date attribute unmapped. If you want to set a permanent discount, use a date in the far future instead. Otherwise the offer is not exported, and errors are shown on the Validation and feedback tab.
• 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.

Carrier

Carrier mapping is not required on The Bay. However, you can map your carrier to a specific list of carriers maintained by The Bay. This allows for working tracking codes in the back-end, as well as for the buyer. If your default carrier is missing, contact The Bay.

Note that if you select Unknown as the carrier, you still need to provide a working tracking code.

Pricing

The Bay requires the prices to be submitted in CAD. If you do not have pricing attributes in CAD, you need to set a currency conversion.

Note that pricing on The Bay should be competitive with the pricing on other marketplaces where you sell.

Listed products

If you have problems with products not appearing on The Bay (especially if you are trying to create products), check the Listed products section for more information.

You can either filter on Channel status (Invalid for all products that ChannelEngine has not exported, such as products with an empty EAN or products that currently do not exist on The Bay) or use the Validation and feedback tab to see all known validation errors for specific products. Also, as The Bay uses the Mirakl marketplace framework, you can see detailed status reports in their back-end. These reports contain specific errors if a product or product offer cannot be created.

The reports can be found under My inventory, Import from file, Track offer imports/Track product imports in the Mirakl back-end. 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

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

Tasks run according to the following schedule on Mirakl-based channels:

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