Help documentation is accessible online from this page and contains video.

If you prefer to download the text only version of this help documentation click here to download

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with some common terminology used to describe the functions of MultiChannelWorks:

Product Database – Your product catalog inside of your MultiChannelWorks account.

SKU – A ‘Stock Keeping Unit’ or ‘SKU’ for short is basically the inventory management and retail industry term that refers to a product identifier code. Every product entered into your MultiChannelWorks account must have a unique product code (SKU) as a unique identifier. You could think of your product SKU’s as being short codes to identify each product and without needing to type the full product name and brand name out every time a product is referenced.

Sales Channels – (Sometimes described as ‘Connections’ or ‘Marketplaces’) Sales channels are the websites where you advertise your listings for sale, for example eBay, Amazon or shopping carts like Woocommerce and Magento etc.

Inventory – Your physical stock of products

Channel Listings – These are the advertisements or ‘Listings’ that are listed on your marketplace accounts.

Fulfillment Center – A third party company that runs a warehouse where you’re able to store your inventory and have the company pick, pack and ship your orders on your behalf. Sometimes we refer to fulfillment centers as ‘fulfillment hubs’ since you’re able to subscribe to use these centers as your own ‘hubs’ to store your inventory in different regions around the world and deliver your orders regionally and globally.

Stockroom – We refer to ‘Stockroom’ as your own in-house physical warehouse or ‘stock room’ where your products are stored. (unlike a ‘fulfillment center’ which is a third party warehouse that stores your products on your behalf, your ‘stockroom’ refers to your own area where you store your inventory yourself).

Mapping – We refer to ‘mapping’ as being the method of ‘linking’ or ‘mapping data’ from one set of data to another set of data, so that when one set of data is referenced in one system, other systems can also reference the same data.

For example; Your products are ‘mapped’ from your MultiChannelWorks database to the products in your listings on your marketplace accounts.

For example; Shipping methods can be ‘mapped’ from marketplaces shipping method data to MultiChannelWorks shipping methods.

(The following quick setup guide assumes that you’ll be using selling channels like eBay and Amazon to advertise and sell your products. To setup your account for warehouse and fulfillment services only please instead contact us for information).

Step 1: Firstly you’ll want to connect your selling channels from Integrations > Selling Channels.

Step 2: Build your product catalog inside your MultiChannelWorls account automatically by importing products from your selling channels (you can also add products using the add product form or use the csv product file uploader although importing from selling channels is the faster method).

Step 3: To synchronize inventory across your selling channels first import your inventory quantities directly from a selling channel or by using the inventory file uploader.

Step 4: Before you begin to synchronize inventory and manage orders within MultiChannelWorks you’ll first need to apply the settings for each sales channel to let MultiChannelWorks know the rules for updating inventory on each channel. To update sales channel settings goto Integrations > Sales Channels > (click the edit settings icon)

Step 5: As orders are placed on your sales channels they will be imported into your account from your marketplaces. For example when an order is placed on eBay it will also be imported into your MultiChannelWorks account. You can automate tasks within MultiChannelWorks or you can manage orders by printing packing documents and shipping labels or by allocating orders to fulfillment centers and shipping vendors.  These actions are available from the Order Manager table.

Step 6: If you encounter any problems setting up your account use the help pages or request a chat or contact our help desk.

Adding your products to build your ‘product database’ inside of your MultiChannelWorks account is one of the most important steps to setup your account. MultiChannelWorks manages your orders, inventory and other functions by using your product product codes. Each and every product that you add to your account should have its own unique product code (product codes are also known as SKU codes. What is a SKU code?).

• 

  IMPORTANT! Before You Begin Adding Your Products

  MultiChannelWorks will only save product codes and associated product details to your database if the product codes (SKU code) does not already exist in your MultiChannelWorks account. This rule applies whether you’re importing products from channel listings or if you’re adding products using any other method described below. MultiChannelWorks prevents duplicate product codes from being added and saved to your product database. Therefore it would be a good business practice to only use one unique product code (SKU code) for each of your products.

You can use any combination of the 3 methods described below for getting your product details into your MultiChannelWorks account.

Import your products directly from your sales channels like eBay or Amazon listings or a supported shopping cart (if you have a large catalog of products and you don’t already have a spreadsheet with a list of all your products available to upload then importing products from sales channels is the quickest and easiest method to get your products into MultiChannelWorks):

Step 1: When importing your products from a marketplace or shopping cart for the very first time the best practice is to import your products by connecting your first marketplace or channel that has the MOST number of your products listed:

• (If you're importing products from a marketplace like eBay or Amazon or a shopping cart that IS already connected to your MultiChannelWorks account and you want to re-import your listings then continue to step 2).

Step 2: In your MultiChannelWorks account goto 'Products' and click the 'Import Data' button.

Step 3: On the next page and from the 'Import Channel Listings' tab click the 'Import/Update Listings' button next to the channel you wish to import/update listings from. (If you don't see any channels or import/update buttons on this page then you first need to connect your first sales channel)

Step 4: After you click 'Import/Update Listings' on the next page you will see options to re-import listings from your selected sales channel. Select 'Yes' to automatically auto build products from listings if they do not already exist in your product catalog and select 'No' to simply import listings and not add products automatically to your product database.

If you select 'No' and you only import the listings (and not auto build products to your database) then you'll need to ensure that every listing that you want MultiChannelWorks to manage on the channel is mapped to a product in your product database. You can manually add products from channel listings to your product database from the 'View Listings' page.

Its usually safe to select 'Yes' to import all of your products from the selected sales channel if your products listed use the same SKU codes as your MultiChannelWorks account.

(NOTE: If you list the same products on different sales channels using different SKU codes then its always better to select 'No' when importing/updating listings and you can then map your products to listings manually from the 'View Listings' page. Otherwise you could potentially end up with the same product duplicated in your product database but stored under different SKU codes).

Click 'Begin Import'.

Requests to update/re-import listings are queued and usually complete within 5-10 minutes.

Step 5: Once your listings have been re-imported and updated and if you clicked 'Yes' to import and add your products, any new products associated with your imported listings will automatically be added to your MultiChannelWorks product database. Its important to note that MultiChannelWorks will not duplicated or add product codes that already exist in your products database.

If you selected 'No' during the import process you can manage listings and product mapping from the View/Manage Listings page.

Method #2. Add Products Using the ‘Add Product Form’

You can add products to your MultiChannelWorks database by typing the details and submitting them manually using the add product form. This method is useful if you only have a very small product catalog and you’re not using sales channels OR if you want to simply add additional products manually rather than importing them from connected sales channels.

Goto ‘Products’ > ‘Add Product’ to complete and submit products using the form method.

(Note: Only fields marked with * are mandatory fields).

Product SKU – Enter a unique product code for your product.

Product Title – Enter your products name/title.

Purchase Price – This is the cost to replace the product at the wholesale price. It is not mandatory to use it although it is useful if you intend to use fulfillment centers. When fulfillment centers ship orders, international orders require customs declaration of value. Also this can be used as an insurance value for your products stored at third party fulfillment centers.

Retail Price – This is selling price and is used to for your reporting for example sales reports.

Brand – Enter the products brand name. This is used for listing builder and for categorization.

Manufacturer – Enter the manufacturer. This is used for categorization.

Category – Select the best category for the product. (This is a default category used in MultiChannelWorks, you can select marketplace specific categories in the listing builder.

Package Dimensions – The outer dimensions of your product and its packaging. (Used by fulfillment centers and for sometimes calculating shipping estimates and costs).

Quantity – Enter the quantity of this product that you currently have on hand in your stockroom. (You can also add and update inventory levels later using Inventory Manager).

Step 1. To add products from a .csv spreadsheet file goto ‘Products’ and click the ‘Import Data’ button.

Step 2. On the next screen click the ‘Import Product Data’ tab and submit your .csv file using the file up-loader tool.

Step 3. Note that if your file is in Excel or other spreadsheet format you must first save the file as a .csv file to be able to submit your product data file using the up-loader tool. You can also download a sample file from this tab to view the formatting required to submit your product data in a .csv file.

If after reading the above article you need help to add or import your products into MultiChannelWorks contact us (opens in new window)

Your Inventory Manager screen is where you’re able to view your product inventory levels. You can also update your inventory levels from here if you need to. You can also use Channel Inventory Rules to manage your available inventory levels to automatically and periodically ‘push’ your inventory levels to selling channels of your choice to prevent over selling.

Overview of the Inventory Manager Screen Features

1. Search Box and Controls. Search your products by part sku code/title/brand, etc.

2. Manage Product. Click to switch to the Product Manager view.

3. Import Data. Click to goto import data screen to import/update inventory via .csv files.

4. Export Data. Click to download a current stock list in .csv format.

5. Product Table. Your product details including main image, sku and product title.

6. Location. This field will display either the words ‘stock room’ or ‘multiple’.

• ‘Stock Room’ will display if you’re simply using your own stockroom to store inventory in one location.
• ‘Multiple’ will display if you’re using multiple fulfillment centers/stock rooms. Click the word ‘Multiple’ to view a breakdown of your inventory by location.

 7. Table Inventory Levels. The table will display the breakdown of your current inventory including:

• Total – The total amount of physical inventory you hold in stock.
• Reserved – The reserved amount of inventory is an automatic calculation that takes into account the inventory required to complete all of your open orders that are either in ‘processing’ or ‘new order’ status in your order manager. When new orders are imported, inventory is immediately deducted from your ‘available’ inventory column and transferred to your ‘reserved’ inventory column. When an order status is changed to ‘shipped’ the reserved inventory is then released from reserved and deducted altogether from your inventory. If an order status is changed to ‘cancelled’ before changing to ‘shipped’, in this case the inventory would be allocated back to your available inventory again.
• Available – The amount of inventory available to list and sell (i.e. total inventory – reserved inventory = available inventory)

Managing inventory levels is one of MultiChannelWorks core features. It keeps accurate records for all of your inventory at all times and if you choose to use the InventorySync™ feature it will also update your sales channel inventory levels with the accurate inventory data available in your MultiChannelWorks account.

How Does InventorySync™ Work?

Once you enable InventorySync™ in your account, MultiChannelWorks will update your sales channels for you with the accurate inventory level data in your MultiChannelWorks account so that you can avoid over selling and avoid missing out on sales.

For example,

Let’s say you have 50 blue widgets in stock in your MultiChannelWorks account and you list your blue widgets across 3 sales channels as follows..

1. eBay; 50 widgets
2. Amazon; 50 widgets
3. Woocommerce Shopping Cart; 50 widgets

If you were to receive an order in your eBay sales channel for let’s say 5 blue widgets, MultiChannelWorks would import the order and automatically record and adjust your inventory levels in MultiChannelWorks accordingly to accommodate the new order. It would also push the new inventory levels back to your sales channels and your sales channel listings would then show the correct amount of available inventory as follows..

1. eBay; 45 widgets
2. Amazon; 45 widgets
3. Woocommerce Shopping Cart; 45 Widgets

As the example shows, by using the InventorySync™ feature MultiChannelWorks will automatically maintain accurate inventory levels across all of your sales channels at all times and without you needing to update channels manually every time you receive or ship an order -whilst simultaneously protecting you from overselling and losing out on lost sales.

To enable MultiChannelWorks to begin managing your inventory and to enable InventorySync™, first you’ll want to import and set your inventory levels in your account and ensure that your channel listings are mapped to your product catalog SKU codes. You can use any combination of the 3 methods described in this user guide for importing and updating inventory levels in your MultiChannelWorks account.

How Do I Activate InventorySync™ In My Account?

MultiChannelWorks enables you to control InventorySync™ and the inventory management rules for each and every sales channel that you connect individually. This means that you could potentially set specific inventory management rules for each of your sales channels individually so you’ll have full control over every aspect of how your inventory is updated on each channel.

First ensure that you’ve  already connected your sales channel to MultiChannelWorks and mapped your channel listings to your product catalog SKU codes.

A note about importing your inventory levels from a sales channel.

MultiChannelWorks will only import inventory levels from a sales channel during the very first time that you connect your first sales channel to your MultiChannelWorks account. This is becasue when you add additional sales channels you should already have accurate inventory levels setup in your account and we wouldn’t want your existing inventory levels to be affected when you decide to connect additional sales channels to your account.

• 

  NOTE! Importing Inventory Levels From Sales Channels For The Very First Time Only

  When you add a sales channel connection to MultiChannelWorks for the very first time and your products are imported, MultiChannelWorks will also import the associated inventory levels from the selling channel at the same time. This will ONLY apply to the very first channel that you connect to your MultiChannelWorks account. Subsequent attempts to connect channels will NOT trigger inventory levels to be imported.

  You can import inventory levels from a .csv file or update and edit inventory levels manually at any time from within your MultiChannelWorks inventory manager screen.

You’re able to manually override, edit and update inventory levels for any product stored in your stockroom at any time from the Inventory Manager screen. Simply search for the product that you would like to edit the inventory level for and click to edit the amount in the ‘Available ‘ column.

Enter your new amount in the popup, click save and your new inventory level is all set.

• 

  A Note About Fulfillment Center Inventory Levels

  If you’re using fulfillment centers to store and ship your products for you then you’ll notice that MultiChannelWorks does not allow the inventory amount fields to be manually edited or updated for fulfillment centers. This is becasue when you use a fulfillment center your inventory is counted and managed exclusively by the fulfillment center and any data in your MultiChannelWorks account would already reflect the most accurate inventory level data received from the fulfillment center. For this reason there is no need for you to edit the inventory level fields for fulfillment centers as they’re already updated by the fulfillment centers with the most accurate data available.

MultiChannelWorks enables you to update your inventory levels using .csv files.

(Firstly if you need to download a current csv inventory file go to Products > Inventory Manager and click the ‘Export’ button).

Step 1. To upload a .csv spreadsheet file go to Products > Inventory Manager and click the Import Data button.

Step 2. On the next screen click the Import Inventory Data tab and submit your .csv file using the file up-loader tool.

Note that if your file is in Excel or other spreadsheet format you must first save the file as a .csv file to be able to submit your inventory data file using the up-loader tool.

Step 3. You can also download a sample file from this tab to view the formatting required to submit your inventory data in a .csv file.

If after reading the above article you need help to add or import your products into MultiChannelWorks contact us (opens in new page)

Marketplace integrations enable you to easily connect new selling channels to your MultiChannelWorks account.

From the main menu goto Integrations > Marketplace Integrations and choose marketplace integrations from the Add New Channel column.

Use the Add Channel buttons and follow the on screen instructions to enter your marketplace account details to connect your marketplace accounts.

As you connect marketplaces you may see on screen prompts to login to your marketplace account to allow MultiChannelWorks permissions to receive and send data between your MultiChannelWorks account and the sales channel.

Once your marketplace is connected you’ll see the channel integrations page again and you’ll be able to click the ‘View Listings‘ button.

You’ll then see import listings manager. Click ‘Import/Update listings‘ to begin the import process.

During the import process you’ll be prompted with options to import your listings and products.

For specific step-by-step information for connecting each marketplace see the following articles: (articles open in new window)

• How to connect your eBay account to MultiChannelWorks
• How to connect your Amazon account to MultiChannelWorks
• How to connect your Magento store to MultiChannelWorks
• How to connect your WooCommerce store to MultiChannelWorks
• How to connect your 1ShoppingCart account to MultiChannelWorks

If after reading the above article you need help to add or import your products or add sales channels contact us (opens in new window)

Use channel settings to control how your inventory is updated and how your sales orders are managed, processed and shipped when imported from the specified sales channel.

NOTE: Every channel that you connect will have its own ‘Channel Settings’ so you can set specific rules individually for each of your channels.

To update settings for a specific sales channel goto ‘Integrations’ > ‘Sales Channels’ and click the ‘Edit Channel Settings’ icon for the channel that you want to update.

You’ll see the main channel settings page for the selected channel.

1. Account Nickname – Update/edit sales channel nickname

• Out Of Stock Control Preference – The ‘Out Of Stock Control Preference’ is a setting in your eBay account. We’ve included a remote control switch in eBay channel settings for your convenience to save you needing to login to eBay to turn this on. When turned On eBay will maintain all your ‘buy it now’ listings as active listings even when the quantity in the listing reaches zero. The listing would be hidden from eBay’s search results but will still remain active for the purpose of adding more inventory. If you intend to replenish your ‘Buy it Now’ eBay listings with inventory after they run out of stock then you should keep this setting turned On. Read more about this setting on the eBay help pages.

2. Inventory Settings – Controls how inventory is handled and managed on this channel

• Update inventory on channel site from: Select the stock list that will support this sales channel and to synchronize inventory levels with.
• InventorySync™: Toggle inventory synchronization on/off for this sales channel. When turned ‘ON’, MultiChannelWorks will begin synchronizing inventory on this sales channel from your selected stock list.
• Minimum Stock Level: This is the minimum stock level that will always apply to your channel listings, (your sales channel listings will always show the minimum stock level even if your actual available inventory falls below this minimum).
• Maximum Stock Level: This is the maximum stock level that will apply to your channel listings, (your sales channel listings will always show the maximum stock level even if your actual available inventory increases above this maximum).

3. Warehouse Locations – Select active warehouses (your own stockroom and any fulfillment center subscriptions) to support this sales channel. Orders received from this sales channel will be allocated to your stockroom or fulfillment center(s) that you place in the ‘Active’ column.

Your own ‘Stock Room’ is always active by default when you first connect a sales channel. When an order is imported it will be allocated to the warehouse in your warehouse priority list if inventory is available. If no inventory is available in your first warehouse MultiChannelWorks will look if inventory is available in each warehouse in order of priority and allocate the order to the warehouse that holds the inventory.

NOTE: When you use a fulfillment center to support your sales channel, the order details will be forwarded to the 3rd party fulfillment center where your inventory is being stored and the order can then be processed, picked, packed and shipped by the fulfillment center.

Next Steps:

Mapping Shipping Methods When Assigning Warehouses to Sales Channels

When you assign a warehouse to ship your orders received from a sales channel you'll also need to map your sales channel shipping methods to actual shipping methods offered by the fulfillment location. Read about how to map warehouse shipping methods to sales channels.

What is a product SKU code?

A ‘Stock Keeping Unit’ or ‘SKU’ for short is basically the retail industry term that refers to a product identifier code. Every unique product that you stock and keep in your product catalog needs to be identified by a product name and should also be assigned a product SKU code, so you and everyone in the retail supply chain is able to reliably recognize it. You could think of SKU codes as short names that represent your products.

Why do I need SKU codes?

Product names can be long and contain more than several words. Using names only to identify products becomes less reliable when transferring data and its much more convenient for everyone involved in the retail supply chain to identify products with products codes (SKU’s).

Why does MultiChannelWorks recommend that you use SKU codes?

Firstly please don’t blame the messenger we didn’t invent SKU codes however there are benefits to using SKU codes that will become apparent when you use them in your business. One benefit is that its much easier to track your products from ordering from your suppliers through to delivery to your customers.

Every product entered into your MultiChannelWorks account must have a unique product code (SKU) as a unique identifier so that MultiChannelWorks is able to identify your products and track orders, inventory and listings across multiple channels.

If you do not use product SKU’s then MultiChannelWorks would generate random SKU codes for your products as they are imported. However its probably in your own interest to assign your own SKU codes because you can then decide to use short descriptors in your codes so you can identify products easily just from the SKU code. Click here to see an article about how to create your own SKU codes.

What is product mapping?

We’ve already discussed why you should be using SKU codes and that MultiChannelWorks uses SKU codes to build your product catalog and to identify and track your products.

Some sales channels such as Amazon make is mandatory for you to list your products using a SKU code however other channels such as eBay and others do not make this mandatory, therefore its possible that you could have mixed SKU codes.

• 

  IMPORTANT! MultiChannelWorks will automatically link SKU codes

  MultiChannelWorks will automatically link SKU codes imported from sales channel listings to products in your product catalog so you’ll have absolutely no need to map products if you’re SKU codes match. This is why it is highly recommended that you update your SKU codes on your sales channels before importing those particular channel listings into MultiChannelWorks.

  MultiChannelWorks also offers you ‘mapping tools’ so that if your products ARE identified on sales channels using different SKU codes then you’ll be able to ‘link’ or map those product codes to the SKU codes in your product catalog so that MultiChannelWorks can link channel listings to the products in your product catalog.

Product mapping is simply the term used that means to ‘link’ identical products that are not yet using a unique code to identify them.

For example if you list a pair of shoes on eBay using the code ‘x50010trainer‘ and you list the same exact shoes on Amazon using ‘SHOE001‘ these two codes are not the same even though you’re listing the same product on both channels.

In this case MultiChannelWorks wouldn’t be able to track orders and inventory for this product as one product – it would instead be tracking these product codes as two different products.

Of course it would be ideal if you’re already using the same product codes on every sales channel (or if you updated all your listings to use standardized SKU codes before importing them), however we’ve found that in the real world this doesn’t always apply.

How do I know if I’m using unique product codes on different sales channels? 

You can easily check to see if you have listed your products on different sales channels with the same SKU codes or not. Simply login to the sales channel and search for your listings and identify what product codes you’ve assigned. Then compare those codes to the same products on other channels that you’ve listed you’re products on.

How do I map product codes in MultiChannelWorks?

There are currently 2 methods for mapping products in MultiChannelWorks:

Method 1: Map product codes individually (this is useful if you don’t have many products to map).

Method 2: Map product codes in bulk (this is useful if you need to map many product codes in one go and you haven’t used standardized SKU codes for your listings on more than one sales channel).

Method 1: How to map product codes individually

To see and manage product mapping go to ‘Integrations’ > ‘Marketplace Integrations’  and click the view listings button next to the channel you want to manage product mapping for.

As previously mentioned and unlike some other systems, MultiChannelWorks will always automatically link your channel listings to products in your product catalog when there is a SKU match.

For example if you import eBay listings containing products with SKU codes that already exist in your product catalog, the link will be made automatically because the SKU codes match.

There may be instances though when you want to manually link products to channel listings or unlink products from channel listings or map listings to products manually. To do this open the channel listings and click on the ‘link’ icon to show the following options:

View Linked Product – Click this to view the product in your catalog that the listing is currently mapped to.

+ Unlink from Product – Click this to unlink the channel listing from all products in your catalog

+ Link Manually/Create A Bundle – Click this to map the listing to a product in your catalog. You’ll be able to map the listing to one or more products in your catalog.

EXPERT TIP: You can also map listings to multiple products in your catalog to create bundles (ie, if you sell one or more product in one listing as a set, package or bundle).

Method 2: How to map product codes in bulk

To map products in bulk goto ‘Inventory > Import Manager’ and click the ‘Map products in bulk’ tab.

1. Download the sample csv file.
2. Enter your product SKU codes into the csv file and the corresponding codes to map to. (If you need a list of your existing SKU codes in your product catalof you can also download one from the ‘Products’ menu). 
3. Upload the csv file using the uploader tool
4. Done, you’re codes are mapped.
5. To check that your products are mapped go to Integrations > Marketplace Integrations > View Listings and click the ‘link product’ icon to see mapped products.

How to map channel listing variations sometimes called ‘child’ variations to products in your catalog

Listing variations (or child SKU’s) can be linked in the exact same way as listings (or parent SKU’s).

To use fulfillment centers such as Amazon FBA, as soon as you have enabled the fulfillment center in your account by subscribing to the addon module, you’ll then need to let the fulfillment center know which shipping methods should be used to ship your orders using shipping mapping.

Its important to note that orders cannot be shipped from fulfillment centers including Amazon FBA unless you have already mapped shipping methods.

You’ll only be required to setup shipping mapping one time, so that your orders can be shipped from the fulfillment center using the shipping methods that you want to use.

Mapping eBay Shipping Methods To Ship Orders From Amazon FBA

Every sales channel has its own unique requirements for shipping methods. In this example below you can see how to map eBay shipping methods to Amazon FBA so that when you receive orders from eBay those orders can then be shipped from your Amazon FBA account.

To access the shipping mapping settings go to ‘Integrations > Selling Channels’ and you’ll see the small truck icon next to each sales channel connected to your account:

1. Click the truck icon to open shipping mapping for the channel.

2. From the eBay shipping methods drop down menu you can select the eBay method that you want to map.

3. From the Fulfillment center shipping methods drop down menu you can select the shipping method to map to.

4. Click submit.

5. Repeat shipping mapping for every shipping method that your listings are using in this channel.

* * This feature is currently in beta which means we are testing. Please feel free to use this feature and we would appreciate you report any bugs that you might see.

* * Currently this feature enables you to allocate orders from your orders table to shipping vendors. Assigning orders to shipping vendors in bulk and automation is coming soon.

Setup Shipping Vendor Accounts

To add your shipping vendor accounts follow the steps:

1. From the top navigation go to ‘Intergations > Setup Shipping vendors’ and select the shipping vendor from the list on the right hand side.
2. Enter a reference (give your shipping account a nickname that you can easily recognize for example ‘Your Company UPS Account’) and enter a description (for example, ‘Your Company UPS Account’)
3. Enter your shipping vendor account details.
4. Click ‘Create’ and your shipping vendor account will be added to your account.

Allocate Orders Individually to Shipping Vendors

To assign any order in your orders table usually with order status ‘New Order’ to a shipping vendor follow the steps:

1. From the top navigation go to ‘Orders’ and select the check box next to the order you want to allocate to the shipping vendor
2. Click the ‘Action Button > Ship By’
3. Complete the shipping vendor form and follow the on page instructions to complete the order shipping request.

Allocate Orders in Bulk to Shipping Vendors

Note that allocating orders to shipping vendors in bulk and shipping vendor automation are new features in development and are coming soon.

MultiChannelWorks integrates with fulfillment warehouses to enable you to outsource your warehousing and shipping. Currently integrations are available with fulfillment centers in many countries. You can use any fulfillment center in any country regardless of where you or your business is based.

Storing your products in local warehouses in different countries allows you to ship your orders to your customer quickly and also removes the hassle and lowers the costs of needing to ship your orders internationally across borders. When you decide to use a fulfillment center our integrations streamline the entire process of automating shipping your orders and allows you to automatically update and synchronize shipment and tracking statuses across your sales channels.

To add a fulfillment center goto ‘Integrations’ > ‘Modules & Addons’

You’ll see all the current available modules and addons including integrations with fulfillment centers. Simply subscribe to the service you would like to use and follow the on screen prompts to add the module to your account.

When you join the fulfillment center service and the warehouse location is added to your account you’ll see the warehouse enabled on your dashboard under Your Active Modules..

Warehouse Stock Lists

You’ll also notice a new warehouse stock list appear in your inventory manager screens for the active warehouse location. When you ship inventory to the warehouse locations and your inventory is received by the warehouse, the corresponding stock lists will show the inventory quantities held at the corresponding warehouses.

1. To see the warehouse location stock lists go to Products > Inventory Manager.
2. Click a product to see the inventory details.
3. On the inventory details tab you’ll see all the stock lists for all your active warehouse locations.
4. In the example below we have ‘stockroom’ and United Kingdom Warehouse’ stock lists activated..

Instruct A Warehouse to Ship Orders Using ‘Add Order’ Form

Also new shipping methods to support the warehouse location will appear in the Orders > Add Order form. You’ll be able to use the form to input orders to be shipped from the new warehouse location and you’ll be able to ‘select shipping method’ and choose shipping methods offered by the fulfillment warehouse from  drop down menu..

Account Verification to Use Warehouses

Before any fulfillment center can begin accepting your shipments of inventory you must fist verify your account. When you add a fulfillment center to your account you’ll see the ‘Account Verification‘ link appear on your dashboard. You must first complete account verification before sending your products to the warehouses.

To obtain the fulfillment center receiving address please contact us once you have completed the above steps to add the fulfillment center to your account.

Next Steps:

Assign Warehouse Locations to Automatically Ship Orders for Your Specific Sales Channels

MultiChannelWorks enables you to assign warehouses to ship orders imported from all or any specific sales channel.

To specify a fulfillment location to ship orders received from specific sales channels in MultiChannelWorks see the Channel Settings page.

Once you’ve assigned the warehouse in channel settings you’ll also want to map your sales channel shipping methods to actual shipping methods offered by the fulfillment location. Read about how to map warehouse shipping methods to sales channels.

Once you subscribe to and activate the Amazon FBA module and complete the setup steps below, you’ll be able to:

– Use Amazon FBA as your fulfillment center to automatically ship orders in your MultiChannelWorks account.
– Synchronize Amazon FBA inventory levels with other sales channels.
– Receive tracking and shipping status from Amazon FBA.

Here are the 4 steps you’ll need to complete:

1. Select which Amazon account will be used as your FBA fulfillment center
2. Map shipping methods
3. Select which channels will use FBA to ship orders
4. Turn on AutoFulfill (Or ship orders manually)

(If you prefer to download the Amazon FBA setup guide as a pdf file then: Right click and save as here)

Step 1 – Enable and select which Amazon account will be used as your FBA fulfillment center.

1. If not already enabled, activate the Amazon FBA fulfillment center module by subscribing. Goto Integrations > Addon Modules.

2. Once the Amazon FBA module is enabled for your account you’ll need to select the Amazon marketplace channel that is to also act as your Amazon FBA warehouse.

Goto ‘Integrations > Marketplace Integrations’ and click ‘Edit Channel Settings’ for the Amazon account you want to act as your Amazon FBA warehouse.

3. Select the checkbox ‘This is an Amazon FBA warehouse’

4. Scroll down and click ‘Save and Close’

Step 2 – Setup Shipping Mapping. Touse fulfillment centers such as Amazon FBA you’ll need to let the fulfillment center know which shipping methods should be used to ship your orders.

Its important to note that orders cannot be shipped from fulfillment centers including Amazon FBA unless you have already mapped shipping methods.

You’ll only be required to setup shipping mapping one time, so that your orders can be shipped from the fulfillment center using the shipping methods that you want to use.

Example: Mapping eBay Shipping Methods To Ship Orders From Amazon FBA

Every sales channel has its own unique requirements for shipping methods. In this example below you can see how to map eBay shipping methods to Amazon FBA so that when you receive orders from your eBay channel.

eBay orders can then be allocated and shipped from your Amazon FBA account either manually or by using auto fulfill. To access the shipping mapping settings go to ‘Integrations > Marketplace Integrations’ and you’ll see the small truck icon next to each sales channel connected to your account:

1. Click the truck icon to open shipping mapping for the channel.

2. From the eBay shipping methods drop down menu you can select the eBay method that you want to map. (In addition to eBay, shipping mapping would also be necessary for other sales channels that you have connected to your account).

3. From the Fulfillment center shipping methods drop down menu you can select the shipping method to map to.

4. Click submit to save the mapping.

5. Repeat shipping mapping for every shipping method that your listings are using in this channel.

Step 2 – Assign Amazon FBA To Ship Orders Received From Sales Channels Now that you have mapped your shipping methods you’ll need to let MultiChannelWorks know which sales channels will use Amazon FBA as the warehouse to ship orders from.

You can do this by going to ‘Integrations > Marketplace Integrations’ then click the ‘channel settings’ icon to open the settings for your connected sales channel.

On the settings page scroll down to the ‘Warehouse Locations’ section. From here, on the right hand side table you can see the warehouses that are currently available in your MultiChannelWorks account.

From the table on the left side you will see the warehouse locations that are currently ‘Active’ to support this sales channel. (This means that the warehouse locations in the left column are the warehouses assigned to fill orders for this sales channel).

Your in house ‘stockroom’ will always be the default warehouse when you connect a sales channel. To change this and assign Amazon FBA to fill all orders on this channel simply click and drag the Amazon FBA Warehouse from the ‘Available Warehouse Locations’ (table on the left side) to the ‘Active Warehouses’ column (table on the right side).

MultiChannelWorks supports multiple warehouse locations therefore you can prioritize which warehouse will receive the orders to ship. Orders received from this sales channel will then be allocated to your fulfillment center(s) that you place in the ‘Active’ column.

NOTE: Your sales orders from this sales channel will only be allocated to the highest priority active warehouse that holds enough inventory to fill the order. If your primary warehouse becomes out of stock then your secondary warehouse in the ‘Active’ column will receive the order details, instead. If all warehouses in your ‘active’ column become out of stock then your orders will be tagged as ‘back order’ until you add more inventory to an active stockroom or warehouse assigned to this sales channel.

Step 3 – Turn On Auto-Fulfill Now that you have mapped shipping methods for the sales channel and assigned Amazon FBA as your fulfillment center for the specified sales channels, the final step is to turn on Auto Fulfill.

Go to ‘Orders’ and scroll to the bottom of the orders table to see the Auto Fulfill control. You can toggle Auto-Fulfill on or off using this control.

NOTE: When orders are shipped from external fulfillment centers the tracking information will be returned to your MultiChannelWorks account usually within 20 minutes after the orders have been shipped by the fulfillment center.

Step 4 – How to Allocate Orders Manually To Ship From Amazon FBA There may be times when instead of using Auto-Fulfill to ship all orders from a specified sales channel, instead you may want to ship orders from fulfillment centers by allocating them manually.

This is useful if you do not want all of your orders from a specific sales channel to be allocated to the fulfillment center. In this case you can allocate orders individually from the orders table to ship from fulfillment centers.

1. Go to ‘Orders’ and select the orders you want to allocate to the fulfillment center.

2. Click the ‘Actions’ button above the orders table and select ‘Ship By’ > Select the fulfillment center to ship from.

3. The order status in the orders table will change from ‘New Order’ to ‘Processing’ and will be updated again to ‘Shipped’ as soon as shipping information is received back from Amazon FBA.

How to Add And Allocate New Orders Through The ‘Add Order’ Form

Alternatively if you are inputting orders directly into MultiChannelWorks via the ‘Add new order’ form you can select the Amazon FBA shipping method and select Amazon FBA as the fulfillment center to ship the order. Goto ‘Orders > Add Order’

A Note About Warehouse Stock Lists

You’ll also notice a new warehouse stock list appear in your inventory manager screens for the active warehouse location. When you ship inventory to your warehouse location (in this case Amazon FBA,) and your inventory is received by the warehouse, MultiChannelWorks will fetch the inventory data and display the quantities against the corresponding stock list in your account.

1. To see the warehouse location stock lists go to Products > Inventory Manager.

2. Click a product to see the inventory details.

3. On the inventory details tab you’ll see all the stock lists for all your active warehouse locations.

4. In the example below we have ‘stockroom’ which is the default in house location and also a warehouse called the ‘United Kingdom Warehouse’ activated. Of course when adding Amazon FBA the stock list will display the Amazon FBA inventory.

How MultiChannelWorks Manages Your Inventory When Using Amazon FBA

When you select Amazon FBA as your allocated fulfillment warehouse for any sales channel, MultiChannelWorks will reserve inventory for orders imported from those channels in your Amazon FBA stock list within MultiChannelWorks. The inventory is moved from ‘available’ to ‘reserved’ inventory. (This will prevent the same inventory being sold on any other channel if you’re using the ‘InventorySync’ tool.) Your ‘reserved’ inventory is only released once Amazon FBA confirm the order as shipped. Once the order is shipped your ‘on hand’ inventory will also be deducted, the ‘reserved’ inventory will be released and your ‘available’ inventory will continue to show the true available amount, (i.e. the ‘on hand’ minus the ‘reserved’ amount).

The next time Amazon FBA sends fresh inventory data (every 15 minutes) your ‘on hand’ inventory amount will be confirmed with live data.

More help:

To see the support options please click here

The following is a list of known bugs:

In Google Chrome browser when re-loading order manager table with 25, 50, 100 orders, on the 2nd selection and load Chrome stalls for several minutes.

Temporary solution:

Stop the page loading and refresh the page or use another recommended browser for example Mozilla Firefox

Rejected order status can occur when MultiChannelWorks does not have all the information required to assign the order with any other order status.

This can occur due to various reasons although it usually indicates that some setting needs to be applied in your account to accommodate these orders. if you see rejected orders use the ‘Rejected Orders’ manager to identify the reason for the rejection and apply the correct settings.

Access ‘Rejected Orders’ manager by clicking the icon in the top right corner:

Next you’ll see a list of all orders that have ‘Rejected’ status and an error message next to each order. The error message will attempt to provide you with information about why the rejection occurred. You’ll be able to decide whether to fix the error and then click the ‘Re-Process’ button or to ‘Ignore’ the error.

If you click to ‘Ignore’ the error the order status will change to ‘New Order’ status and will remain in this status until you process the order manually. However when you ignore an error it will not fix the error that caused the rejection to prevent any future similar errors occurring. It would simply skip the error and assume that you will be processing this order manually.

Examples of errors could include orders that are imported with SKU codes that are not mapped to SKU codes in your product catalog. Or, importing an order with a shipping method that is not mapped to a shipping method in your MultiChannelWorks account would also cause an error.

To fix the error follow the on screen directions to fix the error in your account settings, then come back to ‘Re-Process’ the order again.

For example,if the rejected status was caused due to a mapping issue you can apply the mapping and then ‘Re-Process’ the order. MultiChannelWorks will then attempt to process the order again and assuming the mapping was applied correctly, the order should process successfully.

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