ChannelAdvisor Application

Platforms: KCCP OMS + Catalog

ChannelAdvisor is cloud-based eCommerce software that connects retailers and manufacturers to multiple online sales channels, including Amazon, Google, eBay, and more. The ChannelAdvisor application syncs your eCommerce products, orders, and customers with any number of third-party marketplaces to optimize sell-through and customer reach. For more details about ChannelAdvisor, refer to their user guides and API documentation.

Application Features

It's important to understand that Kibo is the system of record for products and inventory, which flow from Kibo to ChannelAdvisor. Meanwhile, ChannelAdvisor aggregates orders from your marketplace and passes them to Kibo for fulfillment. Shipment updates made in Kibo will send details like the tracking number and carrier to ChannelAdvisor, which then relays it to the associated marketplace to share with the customer.

 The application maintains these connections with the following features.

• Map sites on your tenant to one or many ChannelAdvisor marketplaces.
• Automatically send the following data to ChannelAdvisor whenever changes are made in Kibo:
  • Product creates, updates, or deletes
  • Inventory changes
  • Order status changes
• Schedule regular order imports from ChannelAdvisor to ensure timely fulfillment.

Install the App

For assistance installing the application, please reach out to your SI partner or Kibo's professional services and enablement team.

Configuration Requirements

Before you use the application, ensure you have the following requirements:

• The ChannelAdvisor Application must be installed on your tenant.
• You must have a ChannelAdvisor developer account.

Configure the Application

Once the application is installed, you will need to configure the mappings and sync process between ChannelAdvisor and Kibo. You can set up different configurations for specific sites on the same tenant if needed.

1. In Admin, go to System > Customization > Applications.
2. Click the ChannelAdvisorOmsConnector app.
3. Click Configure Application in the top right. This will open a modal displaying a list of existing site configurations, if any. 
4. Click Create a new Site Configuration.
5. Ensure the Kibo Tenant field is prepopulated with the current tenant ID.
6. Enter a Kibo Site ID for site-specific settings, or enter "All" if you want to use the same configurations across all sites on your tenant. If you choose All, you will still be able to map specific ChannelAdvisor channels to specific Kibo sites.
7. Expand the Channel Advisor Settings tab.
8. Enter your Channel Advisor Refresh Token. You typically generate this within the developer console according to ChannelAdvisor's documentation.
9. Enter the Kibo Catalog Site Id that you want to use as the source for the product catalog. This is required for syncing products and their associated pricing from Kibo to ChannelAdvisor.
10. In the table below, use the dropdown menus to map each ChannelAdvisor Channel to their corresponding Kibo Site and Distribution Center. These mappings dictate inventory sources/destinations and order routing. Use meaningful Kibo Site names that help you identify their purpose, such as those that align with the channel or fulfillment center.
    • For example, you may map the Kibo site "Amazon Fulfillment" to the ChannelAdvisor channel "Amazon Seller Central" and the ChannelAdvisor distribution center "Primary DC." The inventory sync respects these mappings, meaning that inventory updates on Amazon Fulfillment will update that DC linked to the Amazon Seller Central channel.
    • After making a row of selections, click the plus button on the right to add it to the table. Remove existing mappings with the trash button if needed.
    
11. In the Workflows section, check the boxes to enable the order, product, and inventory synchronizations that you want automatically performed. Kibo recommends using all of these, but you can also initiate syncs manually if needed.
    • Orders created in ChannelAdvisor will be automatically synced into Kibo after a few minutes if the sync job is enabled. The order's External ID displayed in Kibo will match its ChannelAdvisor ID.
12. To Schedule a sync, enter its desired frequency using standard cron syntax (such as 0 */15 * * * * to run every 15 minutes). Leave blank if you only plan to run that sync manually.
13. In the Shipping Methods section, click Add Shipping Method.
14. Map a ChannelAdvisor Shipping Class to its corresponding Kibo Shipping Method Code and repeat for all necessary shipping methods. This is required if you plan to fulfill orders with Kibo. Remove any mappings with the trash button if needed.
15. Click Save Changes.

Once created, you can edit these site configurations again by clicking Edit/View from the initial site configurations page.

Configure Product Attribute

In order to sync a product, you must create a ChannelAdvisor Label product attribute for it. When product data syncs from Kibo to ChannelAdvisor, the value assigned to this attribute is used to populate the "Label" field within ChannelAdvisor. These labels act as tags that help you categorize products and control which are listed on specific marketplaces. 

By assigning a value like "Amazon-Marketplace-US" to this attribute in Kibo, ChannelAdvisor will tag that product with the "Amazon-Marketplace-US" label, which can then be used in ChannelAdvisor rules or templates to push that product to your Amazon storefront. 

Follow the instructions in the Property Attributes documentation to set the channeladvisorlabel attribute with appropriate values for the channel labels you want to use on products.

Product Synchronization

Your product catalog originates in Kibo and is synchronized with the below file upload process. The connector application ensures this data is accurately reflected in ChannelAdvisor, as long as the label attribute has a value assigned on the product.

1. Export from Kibo: Scheduled jobs (channelAdvisorProductStartSyncJob and channelAdvisorProductFinishSyncJob) trigger a product export from Kibo, referencing the Catalog Site ID specified in the configuration for product and pricing data.
2. Process and Format: The connector retrieves the exported Kibo product data, filters by products with a value for the channeladvisorlabel attribute, maps fields (including label values) to ChannelAdvisor's template, and generates a CSV.
3. Upload to ChannelAdvisor: The connector uploads the CSV to ChannelAdvisor for processing. ChannelAdvisor uses the label information in the file to tag the products accordingly.

Inventory Synchronization

Inventory levels originate in Kibo and are synchronized with scheduled file uploads and real-time API updates. For a file upload:

1. The inventorySync workflow exports inventory from mapped Kibo Sites, such as Amazon Fulfillment.
2. These exports are configured to output to an S3 bucket.
3. The connector processes data, associates quantities with the correct ChannelAdvisor distribution center based on your mappings, and uploads the file.

For real-time API updates:

1. The inventorySync workflow listens for Kibo inventory events (such as InStock and OutofStock) on your Kibo Sites.
2. Upon receiving an event, it fetches the current inventory level for the specific product from Kibo and makes an API call to update the quantity in the site's mapped ChannelAdvisor distribution center.

Order Synchronization

The following example shows how orders are synchronized and fulfilled.

1. Order Placed: The customer places an order on Amazon.
2. Order in ChannelAdvisor: ChannelAdvisor imports the order from the "Amazon Seller Central" channel.
3. Connector Polls: The channelAdvisorOrderSync job finds the new Ready order.
4. Connector Retrieves and Maps: The connector retrieves order details and uses mapping configurations to determine the destination Kibo Site ("Amazon Fulfillment").
5. Order Created in Kibo: An order is created in the Amazon Fulfillment site on Kibo.
6. Order Acknowledged: ChannelAdvisor marks the order as "Exported."
7. Fulfillment in Kibo: The order appears in Kibo's Order Admin UI under the Amazon Fulfillment site for processing.
8. Shipment Update: Shipping updates in Kibo (such as moving into the Fulfilled shipment status) trigger the connector to send shipping details to ChannelAdvisor, which creates corresponding shipment records and then relays it to Amazon.

Manual Sync and Monitoring

If you are not automatically syncing products or orders from ChannelAdvisor or if you want to sync data in between scheduled imports, you can force a sync from the application configurations:

1. In the application configuration modal, click the site configuration.
2. In the Workflows section, click the play button to the right of the appropriate sync job.
3. Click Run in the pop-up that appears to confirm the action.  

To check the progress of a sync, click the history button to the left of the play button shown above. This will display a log of all events with their status (Success or Failure).

View Product Inventory in ChannelAdvisor

After a sync, the current inventory of the product will be updated in the ChannelAdvisor products table. Note that any configurable parent products won't display inventory or pricing, as those values are tracked on their child variants instead. 

Enable the App

Complete the following steps to enable the ChannelAdvisor application:

1. In Admin, go to System > Customization > Applications.
2. Click the ChannelAdvisorOmsConnector app.
3. Toggle on Enable App in the top right.

You can now sell your products on third-party marketplaces through ChannelAdvisor.