Setting up Amazon

Amazon has gone from being the largest internet book store to one of the leading universal shopping centres. Many customers appreciate the large portfolio, rely on the high product quality and expect best service such as fast delivery. With PlentyONE, you have full access to Amazon. Learn how to make items available, activate the interface for data exchange, use the FBA service by Amazon and many more. The abbreviation FBA stands for Fulfilment by Amazon, a service from Amazon where Amazon takes care of the entire stock management and logistics.

Information about the new catalogue-based Amazon integration (Listings Items API)

Information about the new catalogue-based Amazon integration (Listings Items API) can be found here.
This page will be updated regularly.

1. Registering with Amazon

Before carrying out the settings in PlentyONE, you have to register as a seller on Amazon. Amazon Seller Central is the central Amazon interface for sellers. On the Amazon UK platform, sellers who sell more than 35 items per month are considered Pro sellers and only have the possibility to upload item lists from this amount on. PlentyONE users need to select the Pro option. It is only possible to use automatic procedures and APIs to manage stock and offers with the Pro option. This option includes a monthly subscription fee as well as additional fees for each item sold. For further information, refer to the Amazon website.

2. Notes on Amazon accounts

Amazon has unified its European marketplaces. This allows you to create and manage product offers on any and all of our Amazon marketplaces in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. You decide which products you want to sell in which country. You manage your business from a single seller account interface. Your seller account is automatically enabled to allow you to sell on the following Amazon platforms:

  • Amazon.ae

  • Amazon.bel

  • Amazon.de

  • Amazon.co.uk

  • Amazon.es

  • Amazon.fr

  • Amazon.it

  • Amazon.ie (This Amazon platform is not yet fully integrated. Additional information is available here.)

  • Amazon.nl

  • Amazon.pl

  • Amazon.se

  • Amazon.tr

When you sign up, you will be asked to define your home marketplace. You can select any of the marketplaces listed above. However, Amazon recommends that you choose your home marketplace as the country from where you will be operating and fulfilling your orders. Refer to Amazon’s information about the European Marketplaces Account.

2.1. Amazon platforms

If you sell on multiple Amazon platforms with a European Marketplaces Account, then set up a new account for each platform in PlentyONE, depending on which options you want to use, and configure each platform separately. Set up separate accounts for the price synchronisation, the item data export and the import of pending orders. For example, if you only want to use stock synchronisation, do not create a separate account for each country platform.
The same access data is used for all platforms.

Amazon platforms

With PlentyONE, you can sell on the platforms Amazon.de, Amazon.ae, Amazon.bel, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon.com.mx, Amazon.es, Amazon.fr, Amazon.ie, Amazon.it, Amazon.nl, Amazon.pl, Amazon.se, and Amazon.tr.

2.1.1. Amazon.ie

The platform Amazon.ie (Ireland) is not yet fully integrated. At the moment, the following functions are available for Amazon.ie:

  • MFN and FBA orders which were generated on Amazon.ie are imported into PlentyONE.

  • Delivery and billing addresses are formatted correctly when they are imported.

  • After an order was marked as shipped in PlentyONE, a shipping confirmation is sent to Amazon.ie.

  • Invoices are generated in PlentyONE and uploaded to Amazon.ie. Invoice creation is supported in the following cases:

    • without Amazon VCS

    • with Amazon VCS Lite

  • The VAT rate is aligned with Ireland.

  • Credit notes which were generated on Amazon.ie are imported into PlentyONE.

3. Frequency of data exchange

After you have set up Amazon in PlentyONE, data is exchanged with the market in the intervals described in Table 1.

Table 1. Frequency of data exchange
Data Interval

Item export

once a day during the night

Stock changes

Depending on the setting Price changes in the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings » Tab: Item settings menu, stock changes are transferred every 15 minutes or once per hour.

Price synchronisation

Depending on the setting Price changes in the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings » Tab: Item settings menu, prices are transferred every 15 minutes or once per hour.

MFN order import

every 5 minutes

Import of pending orders

every 15 minutes

4. Setting up Amazon

You can set up the interface to Amazon in the Setup menu. To do so, you first create a user account for Amazon in PlentyONE.

4.1. Setting up an Amazon account in PlentyONE

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings.

  2. Click on New account.
    → The Create new Amazon Seller Central account window opens.

  3. From the drop-down list, select an Amazon platform.

  4. Enter the Email address that you use for the platform.
    Important: All PlentyONE email addresses which are used to send messages to Amazon have to be authorised first within your Seller Central account on Amazon.

  5. Click on Create new account.
    → The account is created.

  6. In the list of accounts on the left, click on the account you just created.
    → The Settings tab for this account opens.

  7. Carry out the settings in the Settings tab. Pay attention to the explanations given in Table 2.
    Note: All Access data fields are mandatory.

  8. Save () the settings.

Table 2. Settings for Access data
Setting Explanation

Amazon platform

A platform has to be selected when the account is created. The platform cannot be changed afterwards. If you have a European Marketplaces Account, then you can carry out the settings for each platform on which you want to offer your products separately. For further information, refer to the section Setting up an Amazon account.

Seller ID

Enter the seller ID that you have received from Amazon. If you have a European Marketplaces Account, then the same seller ID is used for every platform.

Allow access

This button gives PlentyONE access to your Amazon account so that data can be exchanged between Amazon and PlentyONE. You can either allow access now or wait until later when you activate the account.

  1. Click on the button Allow access.
    → You are forwarded to Amazon.

  2. Enter the login details of your seller account to log in.
    → The data PlentyONE will have access to is shown.

  3. Click on Confirm to allow access.
    → In PlentyONE, the window Complete authorization opens.

  4. Click on Complete.

Merchant token

Enter the merchant token that you can find on Seller Central.

Email address

Enter the email address that is used as user name for the Seller Central account.
Important: All PlentyONE email addresses which are used to send messages to Amazon have to be authorised first within your Seller Central account on Amazon.

Active

Place a check mark to activate the interface.
Note: Only activate the interface when you have finished setting up the Amazon interface. Otherwise, incorrect data might be transferred ahead of time.

B2B

Select to activate this account for Amazon Business.

Area Initial settings

Client

Select which client should be used for orders from Amazon.

SKU structure

The SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) is a unique reference number for all items and item variations on Amazon.
Select one of the following options:
Variation ID
GTIN if available, otherwise variation ID
Variation number if available, otherwise variation ID
The selected setting only goes into effect for items that are exported to Amazon for the first time. Amazon and your online store exchange data based on these SKUs.
Important: If you have already started selling your items on Amazon and now you want to start selling them with PlentyONE, you have to assign already existing SKUs in the Item » Edit item » [Open item] » Tab: Variation ID » Tab: Settings » Tab: Availability menu.

Catalogue was listed with SSW

  • Yes = Items are listed on Amazon with starsellersworld. The item SKU will be cut off right behind the last "-" when importing the items. This makes it possible to match the item in the system.

  • No = Items are not listed on Amazon with starsellersworld.

Generate invoice

Select whether invoices should be generated by PlentyONE or by Amazon. See also Setting up invoice generation for Amazon orders.
Note: If you want to use Amazon Business, activate the option VCS PlentyONE (VCS Lite) or VCS Amazon.

  • PlentyONE = PlentyONE calculates the VAT and generates the invoice. You set up an event procedure which uploads the invoices to Amazon via Amazon IDU. See Setting up Amazon IDU.

  • VCS PlentyONE (VCS Lite) = Amazon invoices are automatically generated by PlentyONE and transferred to Amazon. Amazon calculates the VAT. Amazon calls this option VCS Lite. See Setting up VCS plentymarkets.
    Note: VCS must be activated in Amazon Seller Central.

  • VCS Amazon = Invoices for Amazon orders are generated by Amazon.
    Invoices for Amazon orders and credit notes are imported into PlentyONE. See Setting up VCS Amazon.
    Note: VCS must be activated in Amazon Seller Central.

SKU settings and stock synchronisation

If the same settings for SKU numbers are selected for all platforms, then you can synchronise all platforms for the European Marketplaces Account with the stock synchronisation. If the settings are not the same, then the synchronisation must be carried out separately for each platform.

However, for European Marketplaces Accounts, the stock is managed globally. As such, you only need to activate the stock for your home marketplace. Nevertheless, the SKU settings must match.

4.2. Carrying out item settings

In the Item settings tab, you carry out settings related to the item export. For example, you can configure automatic processes and export filters. If you use export filters, then only items with the selected filters are exported.

Watch this video tutorial for further information about item settings for Amazon:

Amazon item settings

Carrying out item settings:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings.

  2. In the account overview to the left, click on the account.

  3. Carry out the settings in the Item settings tab. Pay attention to the explanations given in Table 3.

  4. Save () the settings.

Table 3. Settings in the Item settings tab
Setting Explanation

Automatic processes

Item export

Select whether you want to export item data to Amazon.

  • Yes: Item data is exported to Amazon.

  • No: Item data is not exported to Amazon.

Price changes;
Stock changes

Do not transfer the information or select how often the information should be transferred.

Export filter

Item availability;
Export categories;
BMVD categories;
Flag 1;
Flag 2;
Tags;
Store item

Only items with the selected filters are exported.

  • Item availability = If a parent (main item) has an availability that was not selected here, then it will not be transferred.

  • Flag 1 and 2 = These filters only apply to the daily export.

  • Tags = You can select one or more tags.

  • Store item = If you select the filter Only items visible in online store, the items which should be exported have to be activated for the shop which was selected for the Client in the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings » Tab: Settings menu for the selected Amazon account. If you select the filter All items, then all items are exported, independent of the selected shop.

Export settings

Item name;
Item description

The selected information is exported.

Allow HTML tags

The following tags are allowed: < br >, < b >, < i >, < p > ,< ul >, < li >, < table >, < tr >, < td >, < th >, < tbody > and < strong >.

Warehouse selection

Select one of the following options: Transfer stock quantity of distribution warehouse that currently has largest stock, Use item’s main warehouse, Transfer sum of the stock quantities from all distribution warehouses, or Select warehouses. If you select the option Select warehouses, then the setting Warehouse is displayed below.
Note: Since 19/5/2021, shipping confirmations to Amazon must contain the address details of the warehouse. In Seller Central, these address details are shown in the Ship from field. As such, make sure that address details are saved for all warehouses from which you want to ship Amazon orders. Go to Setup » Stock » Warehouse » [Open warehouse] » Settings to confirm that all necessary address details are saved.

Warehouse

Select one or more warehouses. This setting is only displayed if you selected the option Select warehouses under warehouse selection.
The stock of the selected warehouses is summed up and transmitted to Amazon. Buffers and maximum amounts are also taken into consideration. This allows you to systematically offer the stock of specific warehouses on specific Amazon accounts or Amazon platforms.
If you selected the option Select warehouses under Warehouse selection, but have not selected a warehouse, the item is not exported because the stock cannot be calculated.

Stock buffer

If an item is limited to net stock, the exported stock is reduced by the value entered.

Maximum stock

Defines the upper limit for exported stock for all items. This setting takes priority over the setting below Quantity for items not limited to stock.

Quantity for items that are not limited to the stock

For items with the setting no limitation, the maximum amount of the real stock and the quantity defined here is transferred.
Example: Setting 0, net stock 8. PlentyONE transfers 8.
Items with the setting Limited to net stock are not taken into consideration.

Average delivery period

Select Do not transfer, Transmit "average delivery time in days", or Transmit "average delivery time in days” + Additional delay in delivery.

Processing time

Enter a number of days for the additional delay in delivery. This option is only displayed if the Average delivery period option is set to Transmit "average delivery time in days + handling time.

Activate long lead time

Select Yes to increase the maximum processing time of Amazon orders from 30 up to 120 days.
Note: You can only activate this setting after it was unlocked for you on Amazon.
No is transferred by default.

Manufacturer part number

Select whether you want to transfer the SKU, variation number, GTIN, variation ID, external variation ID, model or no value at all for the CSV file’s field.

Additional SKU

Activate the data exchange for additional Amazon SKUs.
Activate ALL, the Stock update, or the Price update for additional SKUs.

4.3. Carrying out order settings

In the Order settings tab, you carry out settings related to shipping.

The abbreviation MFN stands for merchant-fulfilled network. This means that the seller takes care of order processing. Watch this video tutorial for further information about Amazon MFN:

Amazon MFN

Carrying out order settings:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings.

  2. In the account overview to the left, click on the account.

  3. Carry out the settings in the Order settings tab. Pay attention to the explanations given in Table 4.

  4. Save () the settings.

Table 4. Settings in the Order settings tab
Setting Explanation

Ship own orders (MFN)

Order import

Select whether you want to import order data.

  • Yes: MFN orders are imported into PlentyONE every 5 minutes.

  • No: MFN orders are not automatically imported into PlentyONE.

Order import start date

Enter a date. Only orders starting from this date will be imported into PlentyONE.
Note: Every order that was imported into PlentyONE will be billed.

Shipping confirmation

Select whether you want to export shipping confirmations to Amazon.

  • Yes: Shipping confirmations are exported to Amazon once an hour.

  • No: Shipping confirmations are not automatically exported to Amazon.

Order item

Defines how the item name is displayed in the order item. Select one of the following options:

  • Copy item name from store

  • Copy item name from Amazon - with SKU

  • Copy item name from Amazon - without SKU

Incoming payment

Select Incoming payment booked if the incoming payment should be displayed as booked when MFN and FBA orders are imported.
Note: This setting applies to both own shipping (MFN) and to shipping by Amazon (FBA).

Status for transmitted returns

Select the order status for returns that were successfully reported to Amazon.

Status for untransmitted returns

Select the order status for returns that were not reported to Amazon.

Pending orders

Select whether you want to import pending orders.

  • Yes: Pending orders are imported into PlentyONE every 15 minutes.

  • No: Pending orders are not automatically imported into PlentyONE.

Credit note import

Select whether Amazon credit notes for MFN and FBA orders should be imported into your PlentyONE system.

No (default)

Credit notes are not imported.

Yes

Amazon credit notes are imported into your PlentyONE system every 4 hours.

Note: This setting applies to both own shipping (MFN) and to shipping by Amazon (FBA).

Shipment by Amazon (FBA)

Active

Place a check mark to activate Amazon FBA.

Referrer

Select whether only orders from Amazon should be processed with FBA or whether orders from other referrers should be processed with FBA as well.

Status

Select the order status for orders that were imported from Amazon.

Warehouse

Select which Amazon FBA warehouse should be used for stock synchronisation with the account. This warehouse is also used to assign the FBA order to the account if no FBA order could be assigned to the country the order originates in.

Warehouse for unsellable stock

Select which Amazon FBA warehouse should be used for unsellable stock for this account. If you do not select a warehouse, the unsellable stock will not be imported.
Unsellable stock is defined as the number of units you have for a SKU in Amazon fulfillment centers in unsellable condition. In Amazon’s "Manage FBA Inventory" report, this stock is equivalent to the quantity in the column afn-unsellable-quantity.

Note: Do not select the same warehouse here that you already selected for the setting Warehouse (FBA warehouse), as stock will be overwritten if you select the same warehouse for both settings.

Outgoing items

Select whether outgoing items should be marked as booked or not. The option Mark as booked does not trigger an item movement. In order to trigger an item movement, select the option Do not mark as booked and set up an event procedure.

Returns import

Do not import returns or select daily import of returns.

Include coupons to returns

Select whether coupons can be used for returns or not. If the FBA order was paid fully or partly with a coupon, the coupon is added to the return. A minimum order quantity for the coupon is not taken into consideration.

Stock import

Select whether the stock should be imported hourly or never.

Status for transmitted orders

Select the order status for orders that were successfully transferred to FBA.

Ignore item discounts from campaigns during import

Amazon order reports do not specify if any item discounts were granted by the seller or by Amazon. In both cases, the discounted amount is deducted from the order value during the order import. However, if Amazon granted the discount, the order value differs from the amount that Amazon pays you for the order. In such cases, you need to manually adjust the order. Otherwise, you do not pay enough VAT on the order.

Select how to deal with item discounts when orders are imported.

No (default setting)

The discount amount is imported. If Amazon granted the discount, the order must be adjusted manually.

Discount granted by Amazon:

  • A customer buys one of your items for 10.00 GBP.

  • Amazon grants the customer a discount of 1.00 GBP.

  • The order is imported with an order value of 9.00 GBP.

  • Amazon pays you 10.00 GBP.
    → The order value and the amount that Amazon pays you do not match. The order must be adjusted manually.

Discount granted by the seller:

  • A customer buys one of your items for 10.00 GBP.

  • You grant the customer a discount of 1.00 GBP.

  • The order is imported with an order value of 9.00 GBP.

  • Amazon pays you 9.00 GBP.
    → All amounts are correct.

Yes

The discounted amount is deducted from the order value during the import. This setting is recommended for sellers that do not offer their own discount campaigns on Amazon platforms. If the seller granted the discount, the order must be adjusted manually.

Discount granted by Amazon:

  • A customer buys one of your items for 10.00 GBP.

  • Amazon grants the customer a discount of 1.00 GBP.

  • Amazon pays you 10.00 GBP.

  • The order is imported with an order value of 10.00 GBP.
    → All amounts are correct.

Discount granted by the seller:

  • A customer buys one of your items for 10.00 GBP.

  • You grant the customer a discount of 1.00 GBP.

  • The order is imported with an order value of 10.00 GBP.

  • Amazon pays you 9.00 GBP.
    → The order value and the amount that Amazon pays you do not match. The order must be adjusted manually.

Note: To simplify the examples, the fees that you need to pay Amazon for the order are ignored.

Ignore shipping discounts from campaigns during import

Amazon order reports do not specify if any shipping discounts were granted by the seller or by Amazon. In both cases, the discounted amount is deducted from the order value during the order import. However, if Amazon granted the discount, the order value differs from the amount that Amazon pays you for the order. In such cases, you need to manually adjust the order. Otherwise, you do not pay enough VAT on the order.

Select how to deal with shipping discounts when orders are imported.

No (default setting)

The discount amount is imported. If Amazon granted the discount, the order must be adjusted manually.

Discount granted by Amazon:

  • A customer buys one of your items for 10.00 GBP plus 3.00 GBP shipping.

  • Amazon waives the shipping costs.

  • The order is imported with an order value of 10.00 GBP plus 3.00 GBP shipping.

  • Amazon pays you 13.00 GBP.
    → The order value and the amount that Amazon pays you do not match. The order must be adjusted manually.

Discount granted by the seller:

  • A customer buys one of your items for 10.00 GBP plus 3.00 GBP shipping.

  • You waive the shipping costs.

  • The order is imported with an order value of 10.00 GBP plus 3.00 GBP shipping.

  • Amazon pays you 13.00 GBP.
    → All amounts are correct.

Yes

The discounted amount is deducted from the order value during the import. This setting is recommended for sellers that do not offer their own discount campaigns on Amazon platforms. If the seller granted the discount, the order must be adjusted manually.

Discount granted by Amazon:

  • A customer buys one of your items for 10.00 GBP plus 3.00 GBP shipping.

  • Amazon waives the shipping costs.

  • The order is imported with an order value of 10.00 GBP plus 3.00 GBP shipping.

  • Amazon pays you 13.00 GBP.
    → All amounts are correct.

Discount granted by the seller:

  • A customer buys one of your items for 10.00 GBP plus 3.00 GBP shipping.

  • You waive the shipping costs.

  • The order is imported with an order value of 10.00 GBP plus 3.00 GBP shipping.

  • Amazon pays you 13.00 GBP.
    → The order value and the amount that Amazon pays you do not match. The order must be adjusted manually.

Note: To simplify the examples, the fees that you need to pay Amazon for the order are ignored.

Item bundles Multichannel

What order information for item bundles do you want to export to Amazon?

Background: Your selection depends on how your products are stored in Amazon warehouses. Are all bundle components of your item bundles stored together in a single package? Or does Amazon pick individual bundle components separately?

Transmit all order positions

Transmit all positions included in the order to Amazon. If you select this option, then both the package position and the contents of the package are transmitted to Amazon.

Transmit package position only

Only the package position is transferred to Amazon. Select this option if item bundles are prepackaged and stored as a single item in the Amazon warehouse.

Transmit without package position

Only the contents of the package are transferred to Amazon. Select this option if Amazon compiles your item bundles from individual items.

Shipping category

Select a shipping category.

Standard

Normal shipping

Expedited

Express shipping

Priority

Fastest shipping service

Select Tag for Orders with Incomplete Address Data

Allows you to tag orders (region North America), where adress data is missing. Missing address data will be filled with the placeholder N/A.

Additional settings for FBA

The following settings are located in the Ship own orders (MFN) area at the top of the menu. However, these settings apply to both own shipping (MFN) and to shipping by Amazon (FBA). As such, also select options for these settings:

Paid on

Select Incoming payment booked if the incoming payment should be displayed as booked when MFN and FBA orders are imported.

Credit note import

Select whether Amazon credit notes for MFN and FBA orders should be imported into your PlentyONE system.

  • No (default) = Credit notes are not imported.

  • Yes = Amazon credit notes are imported into your PlentyONE system every 4 hours.

Note: These settings apply to both own shipping (MFN) and to shipping by Amazon (FBA).

4.4. Activating the account

Have you completed all the settings? Then activate the account now to start exchanging data with Amazon.

How you activate the account depends on whether or not you have already granted access when you set up the account in PlentyONE.

  • Activate account and allow access

  • Activate account if access already is granted

Activating account and allowing access
  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings » [Open account].
    → The Settings tab for this account opens.

  2. Activate the option Active.

  3. Click on the button Allow access.
    → You are forwarded to Amazon.

  4. Enter the login details of your seller account to log in.
    → The data PlentyONE will have access to is shown.

  5. Click on Confirm to allow access.
    → In PlentyONE, the window Complete authorization opens.

  6. Click on Complete.

  7. Save () the settings.

Activating account if access already is granted:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings » [Open account].
    → The Settings tab for this account opens.

  2. Activate the option Active.

  3. Save () the settings.

5. Activating the order referrer

Go to Setup » Orders » Order referrer to activate the order referrer. This ensures that orders are assigned to the correct sales channel.

What is an order referrer?

An order referrer tags an order with the sales channel on which the order was generated. Sales channels can be e.g. your online shop or markets on which you sell your items. Each sales channel has an individual order referrer. Some order referrers are available by default in your PlentyONE system. Further order referrers are added e.g. if you install a new plugin. For further information about the order referrer, see the page Order referrer of the PlentyONE manual.

Activating the order referrer for Amazon:

  1. Go to Setup » Orders » Order referrer.

  2. Click Search (search).

  3. In the list, navigate to the Amazon platforms.

  4. On the right of the referrer’s line, click on Edit (edit).
    → The window Edit referrer opens.

  5. Activate the option Visible in selection (toggle_on).

  6. Click on Save (save).
    → The referrer is active.

6. Carrying out Amazon specific shipping profile settings

Since 19/4/2021, the names of shipping service providers and shipping services that are communicated to Amazon to register a shipping must be identical to the names used in Seller Central. To ensure that the names are identical, you need to link your shipping service providers and shipping services with the values that Amazon accepts. This is done in your shipping profiles.

Carrying out Amazon specific shipping profile settings:

  1. Go to Setup » Orders » Shipping » Settings.

  2. Click on the Shipping profiles tab.

  3. Open the shipping profile.

  4. Click on the Table of shipping charges tab.

  5. Expand the region ().

  6. Navigate to the area Amazon shipping settings.

  7. Select the drop-down list Transport service, select the shipping service provider.

  8. From the drop-down list Shipping service, select the type of shipping.
    Note: The drop-down lists contain values for most common services. If you want to send other values, select the option Other and enter the value in the input field.

  9. Save () the settings.
    → When registering the shipping, the selected values are sent to Amazon for this shipping profile.
    Note: If you do not select any values from the drop-down lists, the shipping profile’s default values are sent to Amazon.

  10. Optional: Repeat these settings for all shipping profiles that you use for Amazon.

7. Activating the data exchange

This chapter describes the settings that need to be configured in order to exchange data between your PlentyONE system and Amazon. You can import Amazon orders manually or via a CSV file. You will also learn how to send shipping confirmations to Amazon, how to synchronise FBA stock and how to reset order reports from Amazon.

7.1. Importing Amazon orders

Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Data exchange » Order import to set up the import of Amazon orders. Here, you can import orders manually via a CSV file.

Proceed as follows to set up the manual import of Amazon orders.

Setting up the manual order import:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Data exchange » Order import.

  2. Select the option Import CSV file from the Process for order import drop-down list.
    → The Settings area opens.

  3. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the explanations given in Table 5.

  4. Click on Preview () to show a preview of the import.

Table 5. Order import for Amazon
Setting Explanation

Book incoming payment

The payment is automatically booked when importing the order.

Use old format

Activate if you still use the old Amazon import format.

Client

Select the client for the order import.

Amazon account

Select the Amazon account.

CSV file

Select the CSV file for the order import.

Selecting the CSV file for the order import:

  1. Click on Select file.

  2. Select the CSV file for the import.

  3. Click on Open.

  4. Click on Preview ().
    → The available orders are displayed.

  5. For the orders that are to be exported, activate the option Import.

  6. Click on the gear-wheel icon to carry out the import.

Tip: Imported orders

If orders are imported from Amazon that you did not upload with PlentyONE and/or that contain items which have not yet been created in PlentyONE, then you can manually assign the items for these orders and set the corresponding status.

Missing invoice address

If the invoice address is missing from the orders that were retrieved from Amazon, then contact the Amazon support. Amazon has to carry out this setting.

Original currency and standard currency are different

Additional information is saved for orders that are imported with a different currency than the standard currency saved in PlentyONE. In this case, both the original currency and the original gross and net amounts are saved for every item included in the order.

7.2. Sending shipping confirmations to Amazon

As soon as the Amazon order was processed in your PlentyONE system and the goods were shipped, you have to inform Amazon of the new status so that the sales figures can be credited to your account. Your PlentyONE system automatically takes care of this important step via the interface as well.

Orders have to meet the following requirements in order for the shipping confirmation to be sent to Amazon:

  • Referrer: Amazon or an Amazon sub-referrer

  • Status range 7 (less than 8)

  • External order number

  • Imported order (not created manually)

  • Outgoing items booked (time must not be in the future)

If the shipping confirmation is not automatically transferred, for example because the servers are temporarily unavailable, or if you want orders to be manually confirmed shortly before an accounting deadline, so that they will still be taken into consideration during the next payment, then you can also transfer shipping confirmations manually to Amazon. No shipping confirmation is sent to Amazon for Prime orders (Amazon_Prime, Amazon_PrimeSame_Day, Amazon_Prime_NextDay, and Amazon_Prime_SecondDay).

Manually sending shipping confirmations to Amazon:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Data exchange » Shipping confirmation.

  2. Select an Amazon account from the drop-down list.

  3. Enter a date next to Items shipped on.
    → All of the outgoing items from this date are transmitted to Amazon.

  4. Click on Send shipping confirmation.

Note: Currently it is not possible to send shipping confirmations for orders of the type delivery order to Amazon via PlentyONE. In this forum post you can find information on the background, the current status of the project and suggestions for alternative solutions.

7.3. Managing Amazon reports

The Setup » Markets » Amazon » Reports » Processing menu provides an overview of the processing status of your Amazon reports. In this menu, you can see which reports have already been processed and which reports are still in the queue.
You can also reset or skip your Amazon reports here. That way, you can define which reports should be processed first. Or you can reduce your system’s workload by skipping reports.
Besides that, you can also download your Amazon reports in this menu.
Note: When importing reports, orders are imported asynchronously. This means that when reports are imported, orders are imported in parallel.

Table 6 contains an overview of the Amazon reports in the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Reports » Processing menu.

Table 6. Reports in the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Reports » Processing menu
Column Explanation

Seller ID

The seller ID of your Amazon seller account.

Report ID

The report ID of the Amazon report.

Processing status

The processing status of the report.
Reports can have the following statuses:
Pending (circle) = The report has not been processed yet.
Processing (circle) = The report is currently being processed.
Skipped (circle) = The report was skipped and has not been processed.
Done (circle) = The report was processed.
Done with errors (circle) = One or more errors occurred while processing the report, but at least one order was processed successfully.
Error (circle) = None of the orders could be processed successfully. The import of the report information failed.

Report type

The report type. An overview of all Amazon report types is available here.
If you hover over a report type, a tooltip with information about this report type is shown.

Report created on

Shows the date and the time when the report was created.

Report updated on

Shows the date and the time when the report was last updated.

Actions

Which Amazon report types are available?

The table below contains an overview of all Amazon report types.

Table 7. Report types
Report type What does the report do?

Amazon Fulfillment Network - Stock report

  • Stock synchronization for FBA stock

Amazon Fulfillment Network - Returns

  • Importing FBA returns

Amazon Fulfillment Network - Order report - EU

  • Importing FBA orders for EU sellers

Amazon Fulfillment Network - Order report - NA

  • Importing FBA orders for North American sellers

VCS Lite - Data

  • Correcting orders for VCS Lite and VCS PlentyONE

  • Generating missing invoices

VCS - Invoices generated by Amazon

  • Correcting and importing external invoices and credit notes based on VCS/VCS Amazon

Merchant Fulfilled Network - Order report - EU

  • Importing FBM orders for EU sellers

Merchant Fulfilled Network - Order report - NA

  • Importing FBM orders for North American sellers

7.3.1. Applying search filters

If you only want to take a look at certain reports, then you can apply filters and narrow down the reports which are displayed. To do so, click on Filters (tune) at the top of the menu. Table 8 contains an overview of all available filters.

Applying filters:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Reports » Processing.

  2. Click on Filters (tune) at the top of the menu.

  3. Select one or multiple filters. All available filters are listed in Table 8.

  4. Click Search (search).
    → The selected filters are applied and the appropriate reports are displayed.
    → The filters that were applied are displayed at the top of the menu.

Tip: You can also reset (refresh) the selected filters. Then all Amazon reports will be displayed again.

Table 8. Filters for Amazon reports
Filter Explanation

Seller ID

Select a seller ID from the drop-down list to only display reports with this seller ID.

Note: You have to select a seller ID. If you do not select a seller ID, no reports will be displayed.

Report ID

Enter a report ID to search for a specific report.
Note: You can only enter one report ID here.

Processing status

Select Skipped, Pending, Done, Processing, Error or Done with errors from the drop-down list. Only reports in this status will be displayed.

Report type

Select a report type from the drop-down list to only display reports of this type.

Added from

Enter a date in the format D.M.YYYY or select a date via the calendar (today). You can also enter a time in the Added time from line or select a time via (schedule).
Only reports which were created starting from this date and time will be displayed. Reports which were created earlier will not be displayed.

Added to

Enter a date in the format D.M.YYYY or select a date via the calendar (today). You can also enter a time in the Added time to line or select a time via (schedule).
Only reports which were created up until this date and time will be displayed. Reports which were created later will not be displayed.

Updated from

Enter a date in the format D.M.YYYY or select a date via the calendar (today). You can also enter a time in the Updated time from line or select a time via (schedule).
Only reports which were updated starting from this date and time will be displayed. Reports which were updated earlier will not be displayed.

Updated to

Enter a date in the format D.M.YYYY or select a date via the calendar (today). You can also enter a time in the Updated time to line or select a time via (schedule).
Only reports which were updated up until this date and time will be displayed. Reports which were updated later will not be displayed.

7.3.2. Requesting reports

In the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Reports » Request menu, you can request the creation of Amazon reports. For example, this can be useful if data is missing in your Amazon reports and you want to request a new report.

Notes on requesting reports:

  • You can only request reports of a period of a maximum of one week.

  • The timeframe of the requested report should be as short as possible, as processing big reports can cause issues due to the amount of data.

  • The number of requests is limited. For example, you can only request certain report types 2 or 5 times per day.

Reports without data cannot be created

If no data exists for the requested time frame of the report, then Amazon will not create the report. Currently, it is not possible for PlentyONE to inform customers that a report could not be created.

Requesting a report:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Reports » Request.

  2. Carry out the settings. Pay attention to the explanations given in Table 9.

  3. Click on Request.
    → The requested report is created by Amazon. As soon as the report is available, you can retrieve it in the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Reports » Processing menu in your PlentyONE system.
    → It can take several minutes until the report is available in your system.

Table 9. Requesting the creation of a report
Setting Explanation

Start date (mandatory)

Enter a date in the format DD.MM.YYYY or select a date via the calendar (today).

Start time (mandatory)

Enter a time or select it via (schedule).

End date

Enter a date in the format DD.MM.YYYY or select a date via the calendar (today).

End time

Enter a time or select it via (schedule).

Seller ID (mandatory)

Select the seller ID of the Amazon seller account that you want to request reports for.

Report type (mandatory)

Select the report type. If you hover over a report type in the drop-down list, a tooltip with information about this report type is shown.
Note: The number of requests is limited. After you selected a report type, you will see how often per day you can request it below the report.

7.4. Retrieving Amazon feeds

The Setup » Markets » Amazon » Feeds menu provides an overview of the processing status of your Amazon feeds. You can also download the feed requests sent by PlentyONE to Amazon and the feed submission results received from Amazon. This allows you to see which data PlentyONE has sent to Amazon for processing a specific feed type and whether Amazon has successfully processed this data.

Note: You can retrieve and view the data that PlentyONE has sent to Amazon for updating prices and stock levels in the data log. If errors have occurred during the price or stock update, you can download the error reports in the data export menu.

What is an Amazon feed?

An Amazon feed is a structured data file that contains information about your items, orders, listings or invoices. This data file is sent to Amazon to create listings on the Amazon marketplace or update item data, order data, listing data and invoice data. Amazon feeds contain data such as product titles, prices, images and stock levels. Depending on the task, the Amazon feeds are divided into different feed types.

What are feed request and feed submission result?

The feed request contains the data that PlentyONE transmits to Amazon. The transmitted data varies depending on the feed type (e.g. Order Fulfillment Feed, Upload VAT invoice Feed, etc.). In the feed submission result, you can see whether Amazon has successfully processed the data from the feed request.

Table 10 contains an overview of the Amazon feeds in the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Feeds menu.

Table 10. Amazon feeds in the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Feeds menu
Column Explanation

Seller ID

The seller ID of your Amazon seller account.

Feed type

The feed type. An overview of the feed types for Amazon feeds is available here.

Processing status

The processing status of the Amazon feed.
Amazon feeds can have the following statuses:

  • Uploaded (circle) = The Amazon feed has been sent to Amazon but has not yet been processed. The feed submission result will be ready for download in several minutes.

  • Ready to request (circle) = The feed submission result can be requested manually. To do so, click on Request Feed Submission Result on Amazon (schedule_send) in the row with the desired Amazon feed.
    Note: This status is only available for Amazon feeds of the feed type Upload VAT invoice. For the feed type Upload VAT invoice, the feed submission results are not automatically available for download. They have to be requested manually first.

  • Done (circle) = The Amazon feed has been processed by Amazon. The feed request and the feed submission result are available for download.

  • Done with warnings (circle) = The Amazon feed was sent to Amazon, but warnings occurred during processing. The feed request and the feed submission result are available for download. You can view the warnings in the feed submission result.

  • Done with errors (circle) = The Amazon feed was sent to Amazon, but errors occurred during processing. The feed request and the feed submission result are available for download. You can view the errors in the feed submission result.

  • Unparseable (circle) = The file format of the feed submission result is not readable.

Feed ID

The feed ID of the Amazon feed.

Marketplace IDs

The marketplace IDs of the Amazon marketplaces to which the Amazon feed is applied.
The marketplace ID corresponds to the country code of the Amazon URL, e.g:

  • de = Germany

  • nl = Netherlands

  • co_uk = United Kingdom

Actions

  • Request Feed Submission Result on Amazon (schedule_send): The feed submission result is requested on Amazon. After clicking Request Feed Submission Result on Amazon, the button is deactivated and greyed out.
    Note: The system checks every 5 seconds whether the feed submission result is available. As soon as the feed submission result is available for download, the processing status changes to Done, Done with warnings or Done with errors.

  • Download Feed Request (sim_card_download): The feed request is downloaded.
    Note: The feed submission result is downloaded as an XML, CSV or PDF file. The file type depends on the feed type and cannot be selected individually.

  • Download Feed Submission Result (file_download): The feed submission result is downloaded.
    Note: The feed submission result is downloaded as an XML or CSV file. The file type depends on the feed type and cannot be selected individually.

Which feed types are available for Amazon?

The table below contains an overview of the feed types used for Amazon.

Table 11. Feed types
Feed type What does the feed do?

Order Fulfillment Feed

  • Directing Amazon:

    • to charge the buyer,

    • to credit the amount to the seller’s account, and

    • notify the buyer that the order is on the way.

Order Adjustments Feed (refunds)

  • Issuing a refund for an order

Flat File Listings Feed

  • Creating a listing for a product that is not yet in Amazon’s catalogue

Flat File Inventory Loader Feed

  • Creating or updating a listing for a product that is already in Amazon’s catalogue

Upload VAT invoice

  • Submitting a VAT invoice for a shipment

FBA Inbound Shipment Carton Information Feed

  • Submitting carton content information for inbound shipments with Amazon shipping (Amazon FBA)

7.4.1. Applying filters

If you only want to take a look at certain Amazon feeds, then you can apply filters and narrow down the Amazon feeds which are displayed. To do so, click on Filters (tune) at the top of the menu. Table 12 contains an overview of all available filters.

Applying filters:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Feeds.

  2. Click on Filters (tune) at the top of the menu.

  3. Select one or multiple filters. All available filters are listed in Table 12.

  4. Click Search (search).
    → The selected filters are applied and the appropriate Amazon feeds are displayed.
    → The filters that were applied are displayed at the top of the menu.

Tip: You can also reset (refresh) the selected filters. Then all Amazon feeds will be displayed again.

Table 12. Filters for Amazon feeds
Filter Explanation

Seller ID

Select a seller ID from the drop-down list to only display Amazon feeds with this seller ID.
Note: You have to select a seller ID. If you do not select a seller ID, no Amazon feeds will be displayed.

Feed type

Select a feed type from the drop-down list to only display Amazon feeds of this type.

Feed processing status

Select Uploaded, Ready to request, Done, Done with warnings or Done with errors from the drop-down list. Only Amazon feeds in this status will be displayed.

Feed ID

Enter a feed ID to search for a specific Amazon feed.
Note: You can only enter one feed ID here.

Has feed

Select Yes or No from the drop-down list. If Yes is selected, only Amazon feeds for which a feed request is available for download will be displayed.

Has feed result document

Select Yes or No from the drop-down list. If Yes is selected, only Amazon feeds for which a feed submission result is available for download will be displayed.

Marketplace ID

Select Marketplace ID from the drop-down list to search for Amazon feeds that have been applied to specific marketplaces.
Note: You can select multiple marketplace IDs here.

Created at - from

Enter a date in the format DD.MM.YYYY and a time in the format HH:MM or select a date and time via the calendar (date_range).
Only Amazon feeds for which a feed request was sent starting from this date and time will be displayed. Amazon feeds for which feed requests were sent earlier will not be displayed.

Created at - to

Enter a date in the format DD.MM.YYYY and a time in the format HH:MM or select a date and time via the calendar (date_range).
Only Amazon feeds for which a feed request was sent up until this date and time will be displayed. Amazon feeds for which feed requests were sent later will not be displayed.

Feed created at - from

Enter a date in the format DD.MM.YYYY and a time in the format HH:MM or select a date and time via the calendar (date_range).
Only Amazon feeds for which a feed request was received by Amazon starting from this date and time will be displayed. Amazon feeds for which feed requests were received earlier will not be displayed.

Created at - to

Enter a date in the format DD.MM.YYYY and a time in the format HH:MM or select a date and time via the calendar (date_range).
Only Amazon feeds for which a feed request was received by Amazon up until this date and time will be displayed. Amazon feeds for which feed requests were received later will not be displayed.

Updated at - from

Enter a date in the format DD.MM.YYYY and a time in the format HH:MM or select a date and time via the calendar (date_range).
Only Amazon feeds which were updated starting from this date and time will be displayed. Amazon feeds which were updated earlier will not be displayed.

Updated at - to

Enter a date in the format DD.MM.YYYY and a time in the format HH:MM or select a date and time via the calendar (date_range).
Only Amazon feeds which were updated up until this date and time will be displayed. Amazon feeds which were updated later will not be displayed.

7.4.2. Downloading feed requests

In the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Feeds menu, you can download feed requests and feed submission results for Amazon feeds. This can be useful if an Amazon feed has the processing status Done with warnings or Done with errors. The feed submission result provides you with further information about the warnings and errors. In addition to a warning or error message, this information also includes an Amazon order ID and a message ID or an original record number and a SKU. In the feed request, you can use this information to find and view the data for which the warning or error has occurred.

Downloading a feed request:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Feeds.

  2. Click Search (search).
    A table with the transmitted Amazon feeds opens.
    Note: The Amazon feeds are sorted by feed ID in ascending order by default.

  3. Select the desired Amazon feed.
    Tip: You can apply filters to narrow down the Amazon feeds displayed.

  4. Click Download Feed Request (sim_card_download) in the row with the desired Amazon feed.
    → The feed request is downloaded as an XML, CSV or PDF file. The file format depends on the feed type.

7.4.3. Downloading feed submission results

In the Setup » Markets » Amazon » Feeds menu, you can download feed requests and feed submission results for Amazon feeds. This can be useful if an Amazon feed has the processing status Done with warnings or Done with errors. The feed submission result provides you with further information about the warnings and errors. In addition to a warning or error message, this information also includes an Amazon order ID and a message ID or an original record number and a SKU. In the feed request, you can use this information to find and view the data for which the warning or error has occurred.

Notes on downloading feed submission results:

  • Feed submission results are only available for Amazon feeds which are in the processing status Done (circle), Done with warnings (circle) or Done with errors (circle).

  • For Amazon feeds which are in Ready to request (circle) processing status, the feed submission result must first be requested before it can be downloaded. To do so, click on Request Feed Submission Result on Amazon (schedule_send) in the row with the desired Amazon feed.

  • Downloading the feed submission result

  • Downloading the feed submission result when you have just downloaded the feed request

Downloading feed submission result:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Feeds.

  2. Click Search (search).
    A table with the transmitted Amazon feeds opens.
    Note: The Amazon feeds are sorted by feed ID in ascending order by default.

  3. Select the desired Amazon feed.
    Tip: You can apply filters to narrow down the Amazon feeds displayed.

  4. Click Download Feed Submission Result (file_download) in the row with the desired Amazon feed.
    → The feed submission result is downloaded as an XML or CSV file. The file format depends on the feed type.

Downloading the feed submission result when you have just downloaded the feed request:

  1. Click Download Feed Submission Result (file_download) in the row with the desired Amazon feed.
    → The feed submission result is downloaded as an XML or CSV file. The file format depends on the feed type.

7.4.4. Analysing information in the feed submission result

If you have downloaded the feed submission result for an Amazon feed, you can open it to see whether the Amazon feed has been successfully processed by Amazon. If an Amazon feed has been processed with the status Done with warnings or Done with errors, the feed submission result will give you more information about the warnings and errors. Table 13 contains an overview of the information in the feed submission result.

Note: This table only contains the information that is relevant for analysing the feed submission result.

Table 13. Content of a feed submission result
Content Explanation

Feed submission result in CSV format

Feed Processing Summary:

The summary of the feed processing.

Number of records processed

The number of processed data records. The number after Number of records processed indicates how many records have been processed from the feed request.

Number of records successful

The number of successfully processed data records. The number after Number of records successful indicates how many records have been successfully processed by Amazon.

Note:

  • If the numbers after Number of records processed and Number of records successful are identical, the Amazon feed was processed successfully.

  • If the number after Number of records successful is smaller than the number after Number of records processed, errors have occurred during the processing of the Amazon feed.

original-record-number

The number of the processed data record.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

Tip: You can use the original-record-number and the SKU to find and view the data for which the warning or error occurred in the feed request.

sku

The SKU of the processed data record.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

Tip: You can use the original-record-number and the SKU to find and view the data for which the warning or error occurred in the feed request.

Error code

Code to identify the error or warning.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

Error type

  • Warning = Warnings occurred when processing the data record.

  • Error = Errors occurred while processing the data record.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

error-message

Description of the error or warning and how to proceed.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

Feed submission result in XML format

Note: Feed submission results in XML format are only available in English.

MessageID

The message ID. It identifies the processed data set.

Tip: You can use the MessageID and the AmazonOrderID to find and view the data for which the warning or error occurred in the feed request.

ProcessingReport

The processing report. It contains the summary of the feed processing and, in the case of warnings or errors during feed processing, further information on the warnings and errors.

ProcessingSummary

The summary of the feed processing.

MessagesProcessed

The number of successfully processed data records. The number after MessagesProcessed indicates how many records have been processed from the feed request.

MessagesSuccessful

The number of successfully processed data records. The number after MessagesSuccessful indicates how many records have been successfully processed by Amazon.

MessagesWithError

The number of data records for which errors occurred during processing. The number after MessagesWithError indicates the number of data records for which errors occurred during processing.

MessagesWithWarning

The number of data records for which warnings occurred during processing. The number after MessagesWithWarning indicates the number of data records for which warnings occurred during processing.

Result

The result of the feed processing. If warnings or errors occurred during feed processing, further information is provided here.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

ResultCode

Result code. It identifies the type of processing result.

  • Warning = Warnings occurred when processing the data record.

  • Error = Errors occurred while processing the data record.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

ResultMessageCode

Code to identify the error or warning.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

ResultDescription

Description of the error or warning and how to proceed.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

AdditionalInfo

Additional information on the affected data record.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

AmazonOrderID

The Amazon order ID.

Tip: You can use the MessageID and the AmazonOrderID to find and view the data for which the warning or error occurred in the feed request.

Note: This content only appears if warnings or errors occurred when processing the data records.

7.4.5. Find data in the feed request using the information from the feed submission result

If you have downloaded the feed request and the feed submission result for an Amazon feed, you can open the feed submission result to see whether the Amazon feed has been successfully processed by Amazon. If an Amazon feed has been processed with the status Done with warnings or Done with errors, the feed submission result will give you more information about the warnings and errors. In addition to a warning or error message, this information also includes an Amazon order ID and a message ID or an original record number and a SKU. In the feed request, you can use this information to find and view the data for which the warning or error occurred.

  • Find data in an XML feed request

  • Find data in a CSV feed request

Find data in the feed request using Amazon order ID and message ID:

  1. Go to the location with the downloaded feed request and the downloaded feed submission result.

  2. Open the feed submission result.

  3. Search the document for the message ID of the data record where the warning or error occurred.

  4. Open the feed request.

  5. Navigate to the line with the corresponding message ID.
    → This is the data record where the warning or error occurred.

Find data in the feed request using original record number and SKU:

  1. Go to the location with the downloaded feed request and the downloaded feed submission result.

  2. Open the feed submission result.

  3. Search the document for the original record number of the record where the warning or error occurred.

  4. Open the feed request.

  5. Navigate to the line with the corresponding original record number.
    → This is the data record where the warning or error occurred.

8. Retrieving Amazon orders

Anyone who has worked with another shop system in the past can certainly remember just how time-consuming daily order processing in the Seller Central portal can be. All that is made significantly easier with PlentyONE. Here, all orders from all connected markets are collected together into one order folder. Amazon orders automatically become PlentyONE orders, which you can quickly and effectively work with according to the fulfilment procedure that you are accustomed to. You do not even have to worry about the order import. The interface takes care of that for you in the background. A few requirements have to be fulfilled so that everything works correctly. These are summarised in the following.

Orders are retrieved every 15 minutes. However, in some cases it can take up to 90 minutes until an order that was generated in Amazon will appear in your PlentyONE system. That is not a malfunction, but rather is the only possibility due to technical reasons. Usually, an email from Amazon informs you about the sale beforehand and you can already see the order in Seller Central.

Discounts on invoices

The invoices that PlentyONE generates for Amazon orders only show the amount that customers were billed for by Amazon. Due to technical reason, it is not possible to differentiate between discounts granted by Amazon and discounts granted by sellers.

8.1. Carrying out settings for the interface in PlentyONE

The basic settings Incoming payment and Shipping confirmation are relevant for importing orders. We assume that you transfer orders with the status [5] Cleared for shipping and that you let the daily shipping confirmation be generated automatically by your PlentyONE system. Check these settings once again.

8.2. Editing returns for Amazon orders

Even with Amazon, you have to anticipate the occasional order cancellation after a shipment has taken place. The customer then has to send the items back to you directly. For further information about creating a return in PlentyONE and resetting the outgoing items again, refer to the Booking items out page of the manual.

Amazon received the customer’s payment on your behalf. As such, the reversal also has to take place via Amazon. You also have to take care of this in the order folder in Seller Central.

Carrying out a reversal manually or with the help of an event procedure

The interface does not automatically trigger the refund of the purchase price with Amazon. Rather, this has to be carried out manually or automatically with the help of an event procedure. If you forget to manually refund the sum or if you forget to set up an event procedure for automatically refunding the purchase price, you risk a customer complaint with Amazon and negative feedback.

MFN returns (= shipment by the seller) can be reported to Amazon in form of credit notes with an event procedure. Returns for Amazon can only be created for orders of the type credit note. Proceed as described below.

8.2.1. Creating order statuses

First, create an order status for Amazon returns in the Setup » Orders » Order status menu, for example [9.6] Return sent to Amazon. You need this order status for the Amazon settings.

8.2.2. Setting the order status

Set this order status in the Amazon settings as described below.

Setting an order status for returns:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Settings.

  2. Select the Amazon account.

  3. Click on the Order settings tab.

  4. For the setting Status for transmitted returns, select the order status that you previously created for Amazon returns.

  5. Save () the settings.

8.2.3. Sending returns to Amazon automatically

Set up an event procedure to automatically send returns in form of credit notes to Amazon. As soon as the event procedure Create a return at Amazon is triggered in PlentyONE, the credit note created at Amazon is repayed.

Setting up an event procedure
  1. Go to Setup » Orders » Events.

  2. Click on Add event procedure ().
    → The Create new event procedure window opens.

  3. Enter a distinct name for the event procedure.

  4. Select the event according to Table 14.

  5. Save () the settings.

  6. Carry out the additional settings according to Table 14.

  7. Select the setting Active ().

  8. Save () the settings.

Event procedures and credit note import

Use event procedures to initiate refunds in PlentyONE. The automatic credit note import (option "Credit note import" in the order settings) ensures that credit notes are not duplicated in your system. If you manually create credit notes or have them created by a third-party system and there are no credit notes in your PlentyONE system, a credit note is created during the import.

Table 14. Event procedure for automatically sending returns to Amazon
Setting Option Selection

Event

Select an event.
Important: Do not select the event Order generation: New credit note. This may lead to credit notes being created multiple times at Amazon.

Filter

Order > Referrer

Amazon or a suitable Amazon sub-referrer, for example Amazon France.
Note: Do not select an Amazon FBA referrer such as Amazon FBA Germany for the Order > Referrer filter if you use the automatic credit note import.

Procedure

Return > Create a return at Amazon

8.3. Reserving stock for pending orders

Pending orders are imported in status [1] Incomplete data into your PlentyONE system and remain there until Amazon approves the orders. Until the approval, no addresses or prices will be saved for the order. After the approval by Amazon, the order is updated and addresses and prices are saved. The automatic stock update decides in which status the order is placed.

If Amazon does not approve the order, the order is not updated, but instead automatically set to status [8] Cancelled.

There are two ways to reserve stock for pending orders in PlentyONE: either with an event procedure or in the basic order settings.

  • Setting up the event procedure

  • Order base settings

The following event procedure is used to put the order from status 1 to a status where stock is reserved.

Setting up an event procedure
  1. Go to Setup » Orders » Events.

  2. Click on Add event procedure ().
    → The Create new event procedure window opens.

  3. Enter a distinct name for the event procedure.

  4. Select the event according to Table 15.

  5. Save () the settings.

  6. Carry out the additional settings according to Table 15.

  7. Select the setting Active ().

  8. Save () the settings.

Table 15. Event procedure for automatically updating order statuses
Setting Option Selection

Event

New incomplete order

Filter 1

Order > Order type

Order

Filter 2

Order > Referrer

Amazon referrers

Procedure

Order > Change status

Select the status in which stock is reserved.

In the basic settings of the order you can define in which order statuses stock is reserved with the setting Status for order reservation.

Defining order status for stock reservation:

  1. Go to Setup » Orders » Settings.

  2. For Status for order reservation, select the statuses for which stock should be reserved.

  3. Save () the settings.

9. Setting up invoice generation for Amazon orders

Invoices for your Amazon orders can be generated in different ways, depending on the settings you select in the Setup » Markets » Amazon » [Select Amazon account] » Tab: Settings.

Table 16. Options for generating invoices
Option Explanation

Amazon Invoice Document Uploader - IDU

PlentyONE calculates the VAT. PlentyONE generates the invoice via an event procedure.
Note: You need to create the event procedure manually.
Tip: In the Setup » Markets » Amazon » [Select Amazon account] » Tab: Settings menu, this option is called plentymarkets.
How to set up Amazon Invoice Document Uploader - IDU

VCS Amazon

Amazon invoice numbers and credit notes for Amazon orders are imported into PlentyONE.
Note: VCS must be activated in Amazon Seller Central.
Important: Invoices for Amazon orders can no longer be created manually or with an event procedure.
How to set up VCS Amazon

*VCS PlentyONE. (VCS Lite)

Amazon calculates the VAT. Amazon invoices are automatically generated by PlentyONE and transferred to Amazon.
Tip: Amazon calls this option VCS Lite.
Note: VCS must be activated in Amazon Seller Central.
Important: Invoices for Amazon orders can no longer be created manually or with an event procedure.
How to set up VCS PlentyONE (VCS Lite)

Best practice for Amazon VCS

Also read the best practice for Amazon VCS. This contains additional information about setting up Amazon’s invoice service VCS in PlentyONE.

9.1. Setting up Amazon IDU

VCS is an optional service. If you activate this service in Amazon Seller Central, Amazon calculates the VAT for your Amazon orders. If you do not want to use Amazon VCS, you can upload invoice documents created in PlentyONE to Amazon (Amazon Invoice Document Uploader - IDU). To do so, proceed as described below.

  • You can only upload invoices to Amazon after a shipping confirmation was sent to Amazon.

  • Amazon rejects invoices if the invoice number contains spaces. As such, make sure that your number range for invoices does not contain any spaces.

Activating Amazon IDU in PlentyONE.

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » [Select Amazon account] » Tab: Settings.

  2. For the setting Generate invoice, select the option plentymarkets.

  3. Save () the settings.
    → PlentyONE calculates the VAT for Amazon orders.
    → Invoices for Amazon orders are created by PlentyONE.

  4. Set up the event procedure described below to upload invoices to Amazon.

Set up the following event procedure to upload invoices created by PlentyONE as well as invoices created with an external software to Amazon. However, invoices created by PlentyONE always take priority over external invoices. This means that all invoice documents are checked and if invoices created by PlentyONE are found, they are uploaded first. If there is no PlentyONE invoice, the external invoice will be uploaded to Amazon.

Setting up an event procedure
  1. Go to Setup » Orders » Events.

  2. Click on Add event procedure ().
    → The Create new event procedure window opens.

  3. Enter a distinct name for the event procedure.

  4. Select the event according to Table 17.

  5. Save () the settings.

  6. Carry out the additional settings according to Table 17.

  7. Select the setting Active ().

  8. Save () the settings.

Table 17. Event procedure for uploading invoices to Amazon
Setting Option Selection

Event

Select an event, for example Order change: Status change or Documents: Invoice generated

If you selected the event Order change: Status change, select a status.

Filter

Order > Referrer

Amazon or a suitable Amazon sub-referrer, for example Amazon France

Procedure

Order > Upload invoice to Amazon

9.2. Setting up VCS plentymarkets/VCS Lite

If you select VCS PlentyONE. Amazon calculates the VAT, but invoices for Amazon orders are created by PlentyONE and automatically uploaded to Amazon. Amazon calls this option VCS Lite.

  • You can only upload invoices to Amazon after a shipping confirmation was sent to Amazon.

  • Amazon rejects invoices if the invoice number contains spaces. As such, make sure that your number range for invoices does not contain any spaces.

9.2.1. Activating VCS plentymarkets/VCS Lite in Amazon Seller Central

To get started, activate the VCS service in Amazon Seller Central.

Activating VCS plentymarkets/VCS Lite in Amazon Seller Central:

  1. Log into Amazon Seller Central.

  2. Go to Settings » Tax settings » VAT calculation settings.

  3. Navigate to the area Invoice generation.

  4. Select the option I will upload my own VAT invoices.

  5. Optional: Select the date that you want the Amazon VAT calculation service to start.

  6. Save the settings.
    → The date on which the VCS service is activated is displayed.

  7. Write down the date shown.
    Tip: On the activation date, the VCS service is activated at 12 pm Universal Time (UTC).

  8. Set yourself a reminder for the day on which you need to activate Amazon VCS in PlentyONE.

9.2.2. Activating VCS plentymarkets/VCS Lite in PlentyONE

On the date Amazon activates the VCS settings, you also need to activate *VCS PlentyONE. in PlentyONE. To do so, proceed as described below.

Activating VCS plentymarkets/VCS Lite in PlentyONE.

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » [Select Amazon account] » Tab: Settings.

  2. For the setting Generate invoice, select the option VCS plentymarkets.
    Important: Only activate VCS PlentyONE on the date on which Amazon VCS is activated in Amazon Seller Central.
    Tip: On the activation date, the VCS service is activated at 12 pm Universal Time (UTC).

  3. Save () the settings.
    → Invoices for Amazon orders are automatically generated by PlentyONE and transferred to Amazon.
    → Amazon calculates the VAT for Amazon orders.
    → Invoices for Amazon orders can no longer be created manually or with an event procedure.

  4. Important: If you have used Amazon IDU up to now, deactivate the event procedure that uploads invoices to Amazon. Otherwise, invoice documents are uploaded to Amazon in douplicates. This can overload the interface so that some invoices are not uploaded to Seller Central at all.

9.3. Setting up VCS Amazon

If you activate VCS Amazon, Amazon calculates the VAT and generates the invoices for your Amazon orders. Amazon invoice numbers and credit notes for Amazon orders are imported into PlentyONE.

9.3.1. Activating VCS Amazon in Amazon Seller Central

To get started, activate the VCS service in Amazon Seller Central.

Activating VCS Amazon in Amazon Seller Central:

  1. Log into Amazon Seller Central.

  2. Go to Settings » Tax settings » VAT calculation settings.

  3. Navigate to the area Invoice generation.

  4. Select the option I want Amazon to automatically generate VAT invoices..

  5. Optional: Select the date that you want the Amazon VAT calculation service to start.

  6. Save the settings.
    → The date on which the VCS service is activated is displayed.

  7. Write down the date shown.
    Tip: On the activation date, the VCS service is activated at 12 pm Universal Time (UTC).

  8. Set yourself a reminder for the day on which you need to activate Amazon VCS in PlentyONE.

9.3.2. Activating VCS Amazon in PlentyONE

On the date Amazon activates the VCS settings, you also need to activate VCS Amazon in PlentyONE. To do so, proceed as described below.

Activating VCS Amazon in PlentyONE.

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » [Select Amazon account] » Tab: Settings.

  2. For the setting Generate invoice, select the option VCS Amazon.
    Important: Only activate VCS Amazon on the date on which Amazon VCS is activated in Amazon Seller Central.
    Tip: On the activation date, the VCS service is activated at 12 pm Universal Time (UTC).

  3. Save () the settings.
    → Amazon calculates the VAT for Amazon orders.
    → Invoice numbers for Amazon orders are generated by Amazon and imported into PlentyONE.
    → Invoices for Amazon orders can no longer be created manually or with an event procedure.

  4. Important: If you have used Amazon IDU up to now, deactivate the event procedure that uploads invoices to Amazon. Otherwise, invoice documents are uploaded to Amazon in douplicates. This can overload the interface so that some invoices are not uploaded to Seller Central at all.

9.4. Troubleshooting: Manually uploading invoices

If all your settings for the invoice creation are correct, invoice information is exchanged with Amazon automatically. Were not all invoices for your Amazon orders uploaded to Amazon?

  • Make sure that you have set up the upload of invoices for Amazon orders correctly as described in this chapter.

  • If all settings are correct and only some invoices are missing, you can upload these invoices to Amazon manually. To do so, proceed as described below.

Manually uploading invoices to Amazon:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Data exchange » Reports.

  2. Open the tab Upload invoices.

  3. From the drop-down list Order ID type, select the option Order ID.
    Tip: If part shipments exist in the system, not all invoices are uploaded when you select the option Amazon order ID. As such, we recommend the option Order ID.

  4. Enter the ID of the invoice.
    Tip: Enter more than one order ID separated by commas.

  5. Click on Apply ().
    → PlentyONE starts to upload any missing invoices for valid orders to Amazon.

9.5. Troubleshooting: Unlocking VCS orders for manual invoice creation

When you use the VCS service, you do not generate invoice documents yourself. Instead, all order documents are generated automatically when the VCS reports are imported. As such, orders are locked for manual invoice generation. However, in some cases you need to manually generate invoices for VCS orders:

  • Amazon is the customer.

  • You did not save a VAT identification number (VATIN) for the country in which the order originated in Seller Central.

  • The order is not really a VCS order and was imported retroactively. This happens if the order was placed before you activated VCS but imported after you activated VCS.

In such cases, you need to unlock the VCS orders manually. This allows you to generate the necessary invoice documents.

VCS reports still have the highest priority. That includes unlocked orders for which you have manually generated invoice documents. If Amazon sends invoice documents in a subsequent VCS report, the invoices you generated are cancelled and a new invoice is generated.

Unlocking VCS orders:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Data exchange » Reports.

  2. Open the tab Unlock VCS orders.

  3. In the drop-down list Order ID type, select if you want to enter the Amazon order ID or the PlentyONE Order ID to search for the orders.

  4. In the field Order ID list, enter the ID of the orders. To enter several IDs, separate them by commas.

  5. Click on Unlock VCS orders ().
    → The Results area shows how many orders were unlocked. The table shows the status of each order.
    → You can manually generate invoice documents for the unlocked orders.
    Important: If Amazon transfers their own documents in a subsequent VCS report, the invoice documents that you created manually will become invalid: As a result, your invoice documents are cancelled and a new invoice is created.

Viewing unlocking events in the data log

Go to Data » Log to find out when and by which user orders were unlocked. Table 18 shows the filters you can use to find unlocking events in the log.

Table 18. Recommended filters for unlocking events
Filter Selection

Integration

PlentyLegacy\\ModMarkets

Identifier

AmazonUnlockVcsOrder

References

  • amazonOrderId

  • orderId

Viewing unlocking events in the data log:

  1. Go to Data » Log.

  2. In the column to the left, select appropriate filters from the drop-down lists.

  3. Optional: Select filters for dates and/or times to only show entries from a specific period.
    Tip: For further information about the filters, refer to the Data log page of the manual.

  4. Click on Search ().
    → The results are shown.

10. Permitting payment method in customer classes

As soon as an active Amazon account exists, the Amazon payment method is automatically available in your PlentyONE system. No separate configurations are needed for this. You just need to permit the payment method in one or more customer classes.

Permitting the payment method in a customer class:

  1. Go to Setup » CRM » Customer classes.

  2. Open the customer class for which you want to permit the payment method.

  3. For the setting Allowed payment methods, activate the option Amazon.

  4. Save () the settings.

11. Viewing the data log for price and stock updates

Events in your system are logged in the menu Data » Log. This allows you to check the data log for errors without relying on our support.
For Amazon, you can view log files for price and stock level updates here.

Viewing the data log:

  1. Go to Data » Log.

  2. Click on Filters (tune) at the top of the menu.

  3. In the Integration field, enter the option AmazonItemExportWorker.

  4. In the Identifier field, enter the option:

    • AmazonPriceUpdate to retrieve log files for price updates
      or

    • AmazonStock to retrieve log files for stock level updates.

  5. In the Reference type field, enter the option sku to search for a specific SKU.

  6. In the Reference value field, enter the SKU of the variation.

  7. Optional: Select a date if you only want to see entries for a specific day.

  8. Click on Search () to display the results.

In the log files, you will find important information, including the following:

  • Log file for prices

  • Log file for stock

Table 19. Important information in the log file for prices:
Property Explanation

errors:

The error message, if errors have occurred during the process. If the field is empty, the transmission was successful.

issues:

The issues regarding the data.

productType:

The Amazon product type.

prices:

The price that was transferred to Amazon.

createdAt:

The timestamp at which the log file was created.

identifier:

The identifier of the log file assigned by PlentyONE.

Table 20. Important information in the log file for stock levels:
Property Explanation

errors:

The error message, if errors have occurred during the process. If the field is empty, the transmission was successful.

issues:

The issues regarding the data.

productType:

The Amazon product type.

quantity:

The stock level that was transferred to Amazon.

createdAt:

The timestamp at which the log file was created.

identifier:

The identifier of the log file assigned by PlentyONE.

12. Downloading error reports for price and stock updates

If issues occurred during price or stock updates, you can download the corresponding error reports. To access the reports, go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Data exchange » Data export and navigate to the section Price and stock update errors.
In this section, a new report is generated daily whenever errors are detected during the price or stock update. Each report includes information about both price and stock update errors, helping you to identify the problem without having to contact support.

Note: If no errors occur during price and stock updates on a given day, no report will be generated.

Table 21 contains an overview of the reports in the Price and stock update errors section.

Table 21. Reports in the Price and stock update errors section
Column Explanation

Seller ID

The seller ID of your Amazon seller account.

Price and stock update errors

The file name of the error report. It contains the creation date in the format YYYY-MM-DD.

Actions

  • Download (): The report is downloaded in CSV format.

Downloading a report on price and stock update errors:

  1. Go to Setup » Markets » Amazon » Data exchange » Data export.

  2. Navigate to the section Price and stock update errors.

  3. In the drop-down list Seller ID, select the desired seller ID.
    → The reports for the selected seller ID are displayed.

  4. Click Download () on the right in the line with the report.
    → The report is downloaded in CSV format.

13. Viewing the API log

The Data » API log menu contains a history of processes that run via the Amazon interface. The following formats are available for Amazon:

  • Amazoncatalog

  • AmazonControllerOrders

  • AmazonFBAOrders

  • AmazonOrder

  • AmazonOrderFulfillment

  • AmazonPayments

  • AmazonPaymentsAdvanced

  • AmazonPaymentsFulfillment

  • AmazonPriceUpdate

  • AmazonRequestReport

  • AmazonOrderRefund

  • AmazonStock

  • ArticleAmazonCSV

  • Reader_ArticleAmazonCSV_Execution

Viewing the API log:

  1. Go to Data » API log » Tab: API log.

  2. Select a format from the Process drop-down list.

  3. Optional: Select a date if you only want to see entries for a specific day.

  4. Click Search ().
    → The processes are displayed.

14. Next steps

After you have set up the interface to Amazon, it is now time to prepare your variations for the export to Amazon.