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Understanding Sales Channels

Sales channels in Endless serve as the foundation for managing different types of sales operations within your brand. Whether you're running an e-commerce store, managing wholesale operations, or coordinating retail locations, each sales channel can be tailored with specific settings for order routing, fulfillment, and packaging.

Understanding Channel Types​

Endless offers a flexible range of channel types to accommodate various business models. You can set up channels for e-commerce operations, wholesale distribution, physical retail locations, marketplace integrations, distributor networks, or drop shipping operations. This versatility allows you to manage all your sales channels from a single platform while maintaining distinct configurations for each.

Channel Origins​

The origin of a sales channel in Endless Commerce defines how orders are created and managed within that channel. This setting is crucial for determining the workflow and integration requirements for each sales channel.

Endless supports five distinct channel origins:

  • API: Orders created through API integrations. This origin is used when you're integrating with external systems through Endless Commerce's API. It's ideal for automated order creation and management through programmatic means.
  • EDI: Orders created via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). This origin is specifically designed for B2B transactions that use EDI protocols for order exchange. It's commonly used in wholesale and distribution scenarios where standardized electronic document exchange is required.
  • External: Orders created in an external system. This origin is used when orders are managed in a third-party system and synchronized with Endless Commerce. It's particularly useful for marketplace integrations or when using external order management systems.
  • Imported: Orders created through data import processes. This origin is used when orders are bulk imported into Endless Commerce, typically from spreadsheets or other data sources. It's useful for migrating historical data or processing large batches of orders.
  • Manual: Orders created manually within Endless Commerce. This origin is used when orders are entered directly into the system by users. It's suitable for small businesses or special cases where automated order creation isn't necessary.

To create a new sales channel, you'll need to provide some basic information, including a descriptive name and an optional description that explains the channel's purpose.

When selecting your channel type, consider your specific business needs. Each type comes with its own set of default configurations and available options. For instance, wholesale channels have special requirements for order templates and automatically disable auto-fulfillment to ensure proper order processing.

Configuring Channel Settings​

The heart of your sales channel configuration lies in its settings. You can designate a channel as the default for your brand, which is particularly useful when you have multiple channels but one primary sales channel. The custom packing slip option allows you to generate specialized documentation for orders from this channel, while auto-fulfillment can streamline your order processing workflow.

For order routing, you have several strategies at your disposal. You can opt for single shipping, which routes all orders to a single location, or use the shortest distance algorithm to optimize delivery times. The building preference option lets you prioritize specific fulfillment locations based on your business rules.

Sales Channels vs Integrations​

Sales Channels and Integrations seem similar but they are not quite the same.

  • Sales Channel: Represents a specific point of sale or order source (like an online store, retail location, or marketplace)
  • Integration: Represents the connection to an external system (like Shopify, Amazon, or a custom API)

This separation allows for:

  • Flexible configuration of how orders are handled from different sources
  • Multiple sales channels from the same integration to have different behaviors
  • Independent management of integration connections and sales channel configurations
  • Better organization of business rules and order processing logic

Relationship​

  • A sales channel can be connected to an integration, but it doesn't have to be
  • One integration can be connected to multiple sales channels
  • The relationship is managed through the integration_id field in the sales channel

Integrations are responsible for:​

  • Importing sales channels from external systems
  • Syncing data between systems
  • Managing the connection details

Sales channels are responsible for:​

  • Defining how orders from that source should be handled
  • Setting business rules for that specific channel
  • Managing channel-specific configurations