To ensure that setting up an integration runs smoothly, you create some master data in Xentral beforehand. The integration needs it to import orders completely, for example for shipping costs, discounts, payment methods, and shipping methods. If you already use Xentral, you have probably completed many of these steps. In that case, check whether the information matches your sales channel, for example whether payment methods have the same name in both systems.
What is important depends on which data the integration transfers:
-
Order import: Shipping costs product, discount product, shipping methods, and payment methods, a correct tax configuration (including delivery thresholds if needed), and a correct basic configuration including master data and variant creation.
-
Product synchronization: The product number in Xentral matches the one in the sales channel. If this is not the case, you maintain external numbers per channel, through which Xentral assigns the product in the channel to the product in Xentral.
-
Stock transfer: The stock levels are maintained correctly per product. With multiple warehouses, warehouse management is set up correctly.
-
Administrator rights in Xentral
-
Project for the integration
-
Postage item
-
Discount item
-
Payment methods
-
Shipping methods
-
Tax configuration (including delivery thresholds if needed)
-
Basic configuration including master data and variant creation
-
External numbers (only for differing product numbers)
-
Stock per product
-
Warehouse management (with multiple warehouses)
-
Delivery terms (optional)
-
Default customer (optional)
-
POS customer (optional)
Currently, only a user with administrator rights in Xentral can install, set up, and test an integration.
Every integration needs at least one project in Xentral to which it is assigned. If you work with multiple sales channels in your sales channel system, you can, depending on the integration, create multiple projects and assign a separate project to each sales channel. This way, you separate, for example, reports, documents, and processes per sales channel.
Note
Note on Amazon FBA: For Amazon FBA orders, you need a separate FBA project. In this project, set the Picking method to Without stock booking. This prevents FBA orders from being shipped via Xentral by mistake, and the sales order traffic light stays green for FBA orders.
With a postage item, Xentral displays the shipping costs of an order as a separate position in the document. Without a postage item, the integration cannot import shipping costs from the sales channel.
-
Navigate to Sell > Products and click on + Add product.
-
Enter a suitable name, for example “Shipping costs”, and fill in the general data.
-
In the area Item options, activate the option Item is postage.
-
Click on Save.
You enter the product number of the postage item later in the tab Workflows of the integration.
With a discount item, Xentral displays discounts from the sales channel as a separate position with a negative amount in the document, for example “Promotional discount 10%”.
-
Navigate to Sell > Products and click on + Add product.
-
Enter a suitable name, for example “Discount”, and fill in the general data.
-
In the area Item options, activate the option Item is discount. Leave the field for the percentage empty because the sales channel sends the discount values along.
-
Click on Save.
So that Xentral sets the matching payment method for every imported order, you create your payment methods in Xentral. To do so, search for Payment methods using the Smart Search.
Later, in the integration, you assign the payment methods of your sales channel to the payment methods in Xentral. There you also define:
-
the payment method that Xentral sets if the sales channel does not send a payment method,
-
how the payment methods of the sales channel correspond to the payment methods in Xentral, for example “Credit card” or “Prepayment”,
-
whether Xentral does not ship orders with certain payment methods automatically, for example to check the payment receipt beforehand.
You find these settings under Settings > Integrations > gear icon of your integration > tab Workflows in the Orders section.
Note
Create the payment methods in Xentral and in the sales channel with the same spelling. Pay attention to uppercase and lowercase as well as spaces.
So that Xentral sets the matching shipping method for every imported order, you create your shipping methods in Xentral. To do so, search for Shipping methods using the Smart Search. Later, you carry out the assignment to the shipping methods of your sales channel in the tab Workflows of the integration.
Note
Create the shipping methods in Xentral and in the sales channel with the same spelling.
For Xentral to import orders with the correct tax rates, the tax configuration must be correct. If you deliver to other EU countries, this also includes delivery thresholds if needed. Also check the basic configuration of your Xentral including master data and variant creation.
The integration recognizes a product by the fact that the product number in Xentral matches the product number (SKU) in the sales channel. If the numbers differ, you store external numbers for these products. Then, in the general settings of the integration, you activate the option Use external numbers and enter the designation of your external numbers under External numbers designation.
For Amazon, using external numbers (SKUs) is mandatory.
The integration transfers the stock levels that you maintain in Xentral. Therefore, maintain the stock correctly per product. If you work with multiple warehouses, also set up warehouse management correctly so that the right stock levels arrive in the sales channel.
If you want to assign a fixed delivery term to orders from your sales channel, create the delivery term beforehand. To do so, search for Delivery terms using the Smart Search.
During the order import, Xentral automatically assigns customers from your sales channel to a customer in Xentral. If this is not possible, for example because the address data is not unambiguous, Xentral assigns the order to a default customer. Whether and how Xentral uses the default customer, you define later in the integration.
-
Navigate to Sell > Addresses and click on + NEW.
-
Enter a suitable designation as the name, for example “Default customer shop”, and save.
-
In the subsequent role prompt, leave the option Mark as customer activated and click on Mark now.
If you also sell in a brick-and-mortar store (point of sale) via your sales channel, you create a general customer for these sales instead of maintaining a separate account for each customer. Proceed as you do for the default customer, for example with the name “POS customer”.