Step by Step Onboarding

Video: How to Setup Your Integration



Getting Started: Onboarding

To get started, you’ll need to go into your Add Integration option on the left-hand side of your dashboard after logging into your Inventory Source account. 

Haven't created an account just yet? We recommend doing so (it's free to create!) in order to browse the Supplier Directory. To do so, please click here to create an account.

Once you’re in there you’ll do the following steps:

  1. Confirm your Supplier Account
  2. Connecting your Supplier and your Sales Channel
  3. Complete Order
    1. Choose an Automation Plan
    2. Review your Pricing & Order
    3. Proceed to Complete Purchase
  4. Onboarding & Configuring your Automation Tools (Unlocks after purchase & during Onboarding setup)
  5. Activate your Feed (Unlocks after purchase & during Onboarding setup)

Please keep in mind, to avoid confusion, that the above information is as follows:

  • Step 1 touches on necessary information we recommend reviewing ahead of time. 
  • Step 2 and 3 are a part of the Add Integration process. 
  • Step 4 and 5 above will cover your Pending Integration process. 
Both the Add Integration and Pending Integrations have their own steps within them.

Step 1: Confirm Supplier Account

In order to add an integration and activate the feed with many of our suppliers, you must have a reseller account with them first. In most cases, you will also need your account specific information provided by the supplier to get set up with Inventory Source. This information is usually custom feed information that will be unique to your particular account with that supplier.
Since your supplier will be your business partner, you should have a great understanding of how they ship out your customer's orders, how refunds are placed, how returns are handled, and more. You can find out more about this here: Reaching out to your Suppliers. You can find your supplier's contact information from the "More Info" button which is shown once you click on any supplier in the Supplier Directory.

 
If you have not yet been approved or set up an account with them, we recommend doing this before setting up your integration to ensure that there are no issues in the onboarding process.

Step 2: Connecting your Supplier and Sales Channel

For Steps 1, 2, and 3 within your Add Integration section, you’ll be setting up the initial integration process to determine what supplier and sales channel you’re going to use. Once you’ve selected your Supplier and Sales Channel, proceed through the steps and select your plan.

 
There are three different price plans to choose from within our two different plan options. One plan is Inventory Automation only; whereas, the other is Full Automation. Full Automation refers to Inventory Automation + Order Automation. 

 
For additional information on how Full Automation works and the differences, please see Our Plans: Inventory Automation vs. Full Automation.

Step 3: Complete Order

In order to reach the Pending Integrations page, you will have to complete the ordering process. The ordering process will start at the "Add Integrations" tab on the left-hand side menu bar. You can return to the Pending Integrations page by accessing it on the left navigation menu item once the order is completed.

Step 4: Onboarding & Configuring your Automation Tools

When connecting to your sales channel, the information we may require varies depending on the sales channel. For some online stores (Shopify and BigCommerce), installing our app and providing your domain is all we need. For others, we may need FTP or API details in order to connect.
Once this information is provided we will need to manually verify connection and confirm we are able to upload. This can take up to 24 business hours. If you do not hear from us within 24 hours, please reach out to us.
While you are waiting on the Pending Sales Channel connection, we recommend setting up your tools in Step 4.  For your tools within Step 4, it is extremely important to configure these automation tools to be sure your products load to your store correctly before activating your feed in Step 5.

We recommend watching the tutorial videos and reading through the automation tool FAQs:

Setting your Pricing Rules is very important to review and set up to avoid issues where listings on marketplaces are accidentally set as a low list price–which can result in dozens of unwanted or unprofitable sales. We give you the tools to best fit your pricing strategy as best as possible.

 
All supplier feeds come with a two-level category structure. However, in many cases, you will want to rename, group, and exclude certain categories or subcategories from their upload. You will want to be sure to configure these settings in the Category Mapping tool before your first upload. Once we upload a category to your store, you will need to manually delete it to remove the category on your sales channel if you later decide to rename the category.
Helpful organizational tools within and limited to Inventory Source are also available by saving your searches and using tags or by searching via Category.

Step 5: Activate Your Feed

Once your Sales Channel connection has been confirmed ( Step 3 in Pending Integration), and you have configured your tools (Step 4), you are ready to activate your feed. Our Onboarding team will notify you via email once we have confirmed the connection and everything is ready for you to activate your feed.

 
The time it takes for the first upload to complete depends heavily on the amount of product data you are uploading and the sales channel to which we upload the products. Depending on the size of your first product upload, it can take anywhere from one to 48 hours. We will send you an email once the sync is complete, and also update it in your dashboard on the integration itself.

Did this answer your question? Thanks for the feedback There was a problem submitting your feedback. Please try again later.