ChannelAdvisor/Magento

Bridge User Guide

Revised 02/2015

Table of Contents

1.

Make a full backup and install on your Dev site first

2.

Install Ecomitize ChannelAdvisor Bridge to your Magento Site

3. _ Getting Developer Access and your Account Profile ID from ChannelAdvisor

4.

Configure Settings of Ecomitize Inventory Bridge

5. _ Import Attributes & Relationships from ChannelAdvisor

6. _ Map Shipping Methods from ChannelAdvisor
7. _ Complete the Custom Attribute Mapping
8. _ How to configure Profile settings
9.

Misc. Features of the Bridge

Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

Step by Step Installation Instructions

1. Make a full backup and install on your Dev site first
We strongly encourage you NOT to install this extension unless you have knowledge of
Magneto and the ChannelAdvisor system and API. If you have not purchased our install
service, this user guide is the only support we offer. Information about the install service
is on the last page.
2. Install Ecomitize ChannelAdvisor Bridge to your Magento Site
*Please refer to the installation user guide for this procedure.

Minimum System Requirements

Must be installed ionCube PHP Loader v4.4.4 or later.
Set the following hosting parameters
mysql max_allowed_packet

32M

php_value max_execution_time

18000

php_value memory_limit
1024M
Enable CRON to perform every 5 minutes.
For additional monitoring and debugging purposes, we recommend that you install AOE Scheduler
along with our module.
Enable on the site in order to create the log files process.
SOAP client is required in order to work with the API.

3. Getting Developer Access and your Account Profile ID from ChannelAdvisor

Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

1)
To begin using this extension you will need to get developer access to your ChannelAdvisor
Profile. Navigate to
System
->
Configuration
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
->

CA
, then open
this link
and
follow instructions. Its the official ChannelAdvisor Developer Network page.
2)
Get Developer Credentials:
Visit
this page

to get developer credentials. Next, go to

ChannelAdvisor
->
My Account
->
Account
Authorizations

. Open the
Account List
and copy your
Profile ID
.

3)
Go to the ChannelAdvisor admin panel,
ChannelAdvisor
->
My Account
->
Account
Authorizations
. Find the new developer and enable it. If you are unable to find the new
developer, check the authorization data.

4)
After enabling the new developer, copy the Account ID. (This is found on the account
authorizations page for pre-existing developers. This field is the ChannelAdvisor customers
account, not the developers). Insert it on the Magento System Tab (
System
->
Configuration
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
->

Settings
).
4. Configure Settings of Ecomitize Inventory Bridge
There are many variations that can be used here. Please read carefully below and make sure that
the settings are configured for the outcome you would like. To configure settings, go to the
Magento System Tab (
System
->
Configuration
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
).
Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

1) License

You will need to have a license that has been purchased from

www.ecomitize.com
.
Make sure there are no spaces when you copy and paste the license.
2) Insert your Profile ID into the ChannelAdvisor Profile ID field on the Magento System Tab

(
System
->
Configuration
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
). Also enter your developer key and password
(which you received during the first step). Click the
Save
button. Then push the Get Developer
Access button. Click the
Save
button when youre finished.
3) Direction of sync
On the Magento Admin panel in ChannelAdvisor settings you can set the
direction for the synchronization of data between Magento and ChannelAdvisor. You can set one
of two directions:
ChannelAdvisor
->
Magento
OR
Magento
->
ChannelAdvisor
*This will make one system Primary and copy changes to the other
4) Tax class for Imported Products
This option allows you to set the tax class for new products.
5) Enable Export Order to ChannelAdvisor
This process runs every time you save an order in
Magento. You will need to map shipping methods for this feature to work. (See page 9 for
shipping methods).
6) Enable sending of new Qty to CA on Place Order
This option allows you to update the product

quantity in CA every time Magento creates an order.

*This function only works if the option Export Orders to CA is disabled.
7) Import Orders from ChannelAdvisor
This process runs every hour and takes all orders from
ChannelAdvisor
with parameters like:

Payment Status
Cleared
Checkout Status
Completed
Shipping Status
Shipped
Payment Status
Canceled
8) Add all new products into Magento DB
If you choose this option, all products from CA will be
created in Magento.
*This only works if Direction of sync is from CA -> Magento.
9) Update products with this flag

This option allows only items you flag in ChannelAdvisor to be

Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

imported into Magento.

10)
CA Attribute with Category ID
This feature will automatically place items into the Magento
Category that you designate. This feature has a small monthly license fee of $25. You will need to
send a custom attribute to Magento with the name Cat_ID. These IDs will need to match the
numeric category ID that is in Magento.
If Cat_ID =1 Item will be placed in Category 1 in Magento.
If Cat_ID = 1, 2 is updated for the same sku then the item will be in Category 1 & 2 in Magento
If Cat_ID = 1 If the skus is updated again with just one category ID then the item will only be in
this Category.
5. Import Attributes & Relationships from ChannelAdvisor
There are two methods for getting ChannelAdvisor attributes into Magento:
1) Upload them directly via CSV file - CSV Import Method:
For the first step, go to the ChannelAdvisor admin panel and export all attributes in a CSV file. Go
to
Inventory
->
Attributes
(Grouping tab), and click the export button. In the popup window,
check all links and select CSV format.

Next, go to the Magento Admin panel (

System
->
Configuration
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
) and upload
the CSV file on the ChannelAdvisor Data tab.

Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

2) Import Method
Navigate to Catalog
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
->
Import Data
from CA, and click
Get Data
on the
ChannelAdvisor Data Manager tab. If the settings configurations are right, youll see a successful
uploading message within a few minutes. After reloading the page, the ChannelAdvisor
Attributes Grid will display the ChannelAdvisor attributes.
*
WARNING!
Attributes uploading might take a while. It depends on the quantity of attributes you
have.*

Uploading ChannelAdvisor Relationships in Magento

You will need to export Variation Relationships from Channel Advisor to a .
csv
file.
Go to
Inventory
->
Products
->
Product Variations
and press the export button.

Navigate to
System
->
Configuration
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
->
Upload ChannelAdvisor Variation
Relationships and use the csv file that you get from
Channel Advisor. Once the import is finished you
will find the results in the relationships grid
Catalog
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
->
Relationships
.

Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

6. Map Shipping Methods from ChannelAdvisor

Shipping mapping is necessary for the correct import and export orders between CA and Magento.
1) First, you should upload CA shipping data into Magento. Use the top menu and go to
Catalog
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
->
Import Data
from ChannelAdvisor. Press the
Get shipping methods
button
on the ChannelAdvisor Shipping Manager Tab. You will see a confirmation message after a
successful upload.
2) To add new mapping go to
Catalog
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
->
Manage
ChannelAdvisor shipping
methods. Press the
Add Shipment Mapping
button and go to the next page. Here you will see
the Shipping Carrier mapping tab with two options to select.
Shipping Carrier
this is all
Magento shipping and
ChannelAdvisor Carrier
. Both fields are required. When you set both
fields, press the
Save
button.
*
WARNING!
You cant set multiple ChannelAdvisor Carriers for one Magento shipping carrier. For
example, for Magento FedEx you can set only one combination of ChannelAdvisor Method and
Class.
7. Complete the Custom Attribute Mapping
1)
Navigate to the Manage Attributes page
Catalog
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
->

Manage Attributes
. On
this page you can see the Attributes Mapping Grid. Click the
Add Attribute Mapping
button to
open the mapping page. On this page, select the Magento attribute set and ChannelAdvisor
Classification for mapping.
*This mapping is ONLY for Custom attributes. All other attributes are hard coded and can be seen
on pages 11 & 12.

Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

2)
When you set data in both fields, the attributes mapping button will appear. Click the
Add New
Attribute
button to add a pair of attributes.

This mapping allows you to set the data from ChannelAdvisor attributes to Magento attributes.
Click Save to finish.
*
WARNING!
All ChannelAdvisor Reserved Classifications will be set automatically during products
import (See chart below).
Below is a chart of all hard coded attributes. These cant be changed without customization.
Magento Attribute

ChannelAdvisor Attribute

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Sku

Sku

Stock Status:
Qty
is_in_stock

Available
1

Status:
enabled
disabled

Blocked:
false
true

Name

Title

Price

Buy It Now Price

Weight

Weight

Visibility:
configurable and qty > 0
configurable and qty = 0
simple

Is Parent:
Catalog, Search
Catalog
Not visible individually

Category

Default Category

Website

Default Website

Description

Description

Short Description

Short Description

StoreId

Default Store

TypeId:
configurable
simple

Is Parent:
true
false

Manufacturer's Suggested Retail

Retail Price

Reserve Price

Reserve Price

Starting Price

Starting Price

Second Chance Offer Price

SecondChanceOfferPrice

Seller Cost

Cost

Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

Manufacturer

Manufacturer

8. How to configure Profile settings

All import and export profiles can be found at
Catalog
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
->
Manage Profiles
.
1) Direction of Inventory flow to go from ChannelAdvisor -> Magento
When you are ready to start the import process for this scenario you will need to enable profile
1, 3 & 4 described below.
*Once you start this process data will be copied to another database.
I
mport products from ChannelAdvisor to Magento = Profile 1
This process runs every 5 minutes until all ChannelAdvisor products have been uploaded to the
Magento database. NO OTHER UPDATES WILL WORK WHILE THIS IS RUNNING. Once completed
it will disable it.
Update products data = Profile 3
The update products process starts every night. It retrieves all products that have been updated
that day and uploads the new data into Magento.
QTY updates = Profile 4
Products that have a change in quantity in ChannelAdvisor will update Magento every 5 minutes.

2) Direction of Inventory flow to go from Magento -> ChannelAdvisor

When you are ready to start the import process for this scenario you will need to enable profile
1,2.

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10

Magento-ChannelAdvisor Products Synchronize = Profile 2

This action exports all product data from Magento to ChannelAdvisor every time you save a
product in Magento or a new order is created.
*This will not work if products are updated directly in database
To send inventory items from Magento to ChannelAdvisor
: You will need to navigate to
Catalog
->
Ecom/CA Bridge
->
Manage
Items

.
On the bottom section select the items you wish to update to

ChannelAdvisor. Then use the dropdown next to word

Action
and select
Add to Export Queue
.
This will trigger your items to sync to ChannelAdvisor.

On the top grid you can execute the following actions

Delete

This action will delete checked products from the top grid in the
Magento and ChannelAdvisor database. When this process has finished,
checked products will show on the bottom grid.

Synchronize

With this action checked, products from the top grid still exist in
ChannelAdvisor. When the process is finished on the top grid, you
will see the products that are still present in ChannelAdvisor. Other
products will be moved from the top grid to the bottom grid.

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11

9.
Misc. Features of the Bridge

1) Sync data from CA to Magento on demand. If needed, there is a feature that will update data on
demand. You need to go to
QS Bridge
->
Manage Profiles
->
Select profile 3
update Products
data from ChannelAdvisor.
On the drop down to the right you will see an option to
RunProcessNow
. If selected, this will
update any product data that has changed in CA and move these changes to Magento.
All images will be added to the products automatically. The first image that the API returns will
be set as Thumbnail, Small Image, and Base Image.
2)
Images will not update on nightly sync if changed in CA or Magento. You will need to run full
image sync (this can take a long time depending on number of images) or upload them directly to
CA or Magento.

Although we have taken care to ensure the accuracy of our content in this user guide, mistakes do
happen. If you find a mistake in the guide or have a suggestion for improvement, we would be
grateful if you would report this to us. Even though we feel this bridge is the best solution on the
market, we are constantly looking at ways to improve it for our customers. If new features have
been added to the bridge that are not referenced in the version of user guide that you have, please
contact us or visit our website, www.ecomitize.com, for the most current version. If you would like
to provide feedback on the bridge, please email
chris@ecomitize.com
. Thank you for your business!

Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

12

Thank you for your purchase of the Ecomitize ChannelAdvisor/Magento Bridge!

We are grateful for your business and look forward to serving your company in the future.
Please feel free to reach out to us at anytime.
You may also be aware that we offer a complete and highly optimized Magento solution
for ecommerce merchants as well.

Some of the services we provide

1. Market research to optimize site design and wire frames.
2. Optimized Magento websites build on Community or Enterprise editions either template based
or fully custom built.
3. Third party extension installation or development.
4. Graphic design.
5. SEO marketing.
6. Custom technical services.
7. Development/programming services.
8. Optimized Magento hosting.
Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

13

We provide a discount on all hourly services and monthly extension fees for hosted Ecomitize clients.
We can send you more information on all of this per your request.
Contact 1-855-735-4313 and use the sales extension or email
chris@ecomitize.com
with questions.

Copyright 2015, Ecomitize. LLC | Confidential and Proprietary Information; All Rights Reserved

14