Onboarding Checklist

Welcome aboard. This page lays out the first weeks on Endless as ten stages, in the order they unlock each other. Some brands move through it in a few hours; others take a few weeks. Both are normal. What matters is that each stage builds on the one before, so the sequence is doing real work for you.

Use this as a reference point. When you finish a stage, come back to see what’s next.

Stuck? Ask early.

Don’t spend an hour trying to figure out where something lives. Your onboarding lead would much rather shortcut it for you.

Stage 1 — Set up shop

Why this matters. Endless is structured as Companies that hold Brands, with Users assigned across them. You set this up once; the rest of the platform reads from it.

Your company is created in Endless
Your first brand is created under the company
Stripe billing is connected
Your first teammates are invited and assigned roles (Admin, Operator, Guest)

What’s next: Get your products into the system.

Stage 2 — Get your products in

Why this matters. Products are the foundation of nearly everything else in Endless. Inventory, orders, and purchase orders all reference products. Get the catalog right and every downstream module works from good data. Get it wrong and every downstream module inherits the mess.

One mental model first

In Endless, a product is the atomic SKU — a single size, a single color, a single variant. Where some systems roll sizes up under one parent product, Endless treats each variant as its own record. You’ll roll them back up later using attributes.

Recommended: import a CSV using the Endless template

This is the cleanest path no matter where your product data lives today — a Shopify export, a master spreadsheet, a 3PL extract, or a bit of all three. The template gives you a predictable structure that maps directly onto Endless’s product fields, so the import is fast and the result is consistent.

Inside Endless, navigate to Products → Import Products and download the current import template from that screen.
Fill the template in. Only Name and SKU are required — everything else (UPC, dimensions, costs, customs data, custom attributes, images) is optional and can be enriched later. The full field reference and rules are in Importing & exporting products.
Upload the completed CSV via the same Products → Import Products screen.
Endless will report how many rows created new products, updated existing ones, were skipped, or failed. Failed rows are listed individually — fix them and re-upload, or fix in place if the issue is a missing SKU.

Speed up the data mapping with an LLM

If your product data is spread across several spreadsheets, an LLM is excellent at mapping your existing columns to the Endless template. Download the template and your source files into a single folder, point Claude (or your tool of choice) at both, and ask it to fit your data to the template. Import the result. This is the same workflow the Endless team uses to bootstrap a new brand.

Other ways to get products in

From Shopify (one-time bulk import). If your Shopify integration is set up, you can run a one-time product import from the integration’s actions menu. Variants come in as individual products. Drafts, archived items, and gift cards are skipped automatically. See Shopify integration.
A few products by hand. For small batches, add products directly in the app — start with Name and SKU, fill in the rest later.

Then enrich what you imported

The product catalog’s job is to answer any question anyone asks about your products — your team, a retailer, an API call from Amazon. Every unanswered question is a gap to fill. The richer your data, the more every downstream system can do: marketplace listings populate themselves, demand planning sees what’s actually moving, and EDI mappings just work.

Don’t try to do this perfectly in one pass. Pick one product, fill in everything you know, then bulk-update the rest from there.

Pick one SKU and complete every relevant field — dimensions, weight, UPC, HTS code, country of origin, cost breakdown, packaging hierarchy, and images. This is your reference SKU.
Set the product type so Endless knows what each record is. Most products are finished goods; parts, bundles, aliases, and non-inventory items behave differently downstream.
Define your custom attributes — anything specific to your brand that isn’t already a built-in field (NRF code, season, fit, retailer-specific identifiers). Add them on the Attributes page, not inline. Endless makes you do this on purpose so your data model stays tidy as your team grows.
Group your attributes so the catalog is easy to scan. Two patterns work well:
- By product type — e.g. Stovetop, Oven, Hood — for clusters of attributes that only apply to certain SKUs.
- By sales channel — e.g. Amazon, Target, Walmart — for channel-specific listing fields.
Bulk-fill the rest using the Product Sheet View or a CSV upload. Custom columns use the custom.<handle> format (e.g. custom.color).
Add images. Upload once and associate with every SKU that shares the image — no need to re-upload per size or color.
Set your Quick Filters on the Products and Inventory pages — pick the four or five attributes you actually want to slice by day to day.

Dimensions and costs pay off in the next stage

Stage 3 allocates landed cost across a shipment by weight or value. Filling in dimensions, weight, and cost now means that allocation is right the first time.

What’s next: Record what you have already ordered, so Endless knows what is on the way.

Stage 3 — Set up your supply chain

Why this matters. Most of what you will sell this season is already on order somewhere. Recording suppliers, purchase orders, and inbound shipments now means every product’s inventory page shows what is on hand, what is on a PO that has shipped, and what is on a PO that has not. Those numbers are the basis for demand planning, landed cost calculations, and knowing about a stockout before it happens.

Add your suppliers.
Create your open POs in Endless. Match them to what you actually issued to your factories.
Create shipments against those POs. A single shipment can pull line items from multiple POs, because factories combine containers.
Fill in shipping details: carrier, BOL, container number, and expected arrival.
Record cost estimates on the products you are buying, so landed cost has something to work from.

Receiving waits for Stage 4

Checking a shipment into inventory needs a building to check it into, so that step comes once you have added one. Everything above works before then, and your inbound numbers are visible immediately.

What’s next: Tell Endless where your stuff actually lives.

Stage 4 — Map your physical world

Why this matters. A building in Endless is anywhere your inventory sits and orders ship from — a warehouse you run, a 3PL, even a virtual location. Each building has one Inventory Source (where its numbers come from) and any number of destinations (where they get pushed). Modeling this carefully means inventory stays accurate everywhere, and orders route to the right place.

Add your first building — name, address, and whether it’s the default for the brand.
Set the Inventory Source to Endless. You’ll switch this to an integration later if you connect a system that should own the inventory numbers (e.g. a 3PL syncing real warehouse counts).
Set the fulfillment service to Endless. Same idea — you’ll point it at your downstream integration in Stage 5 once that’s wired up.
Add locations inside the building if you run the warehouse yourself — bins, shelves, pallets, and zones for receiving, picking, and shipping.
Receive the shipments you created in Stage 3. Costs allocate automatically by weight or value if your product dimensions are right.

Who owns the count

Whoever has physical possession of the goods is the source of truth for the count. If a 3PL holds your inventory, their system owns those numbers and Endless reads them. If you hold it, Endless owns them.

What’s next: Wire up where orders go out.

Stage 5 — Connect downstream

Why this matters. Once buildings are mapped, the next step is wiring up the systems that actually ship orders out — a 3PL’s warehouse management system, ShipStation for label creation. Setting these up before you turn on order ingestion means orders never pile up with nowhere to go.

Add a downstream integration for each building that needs one (3PL/WMS, ShipStation).
Update each building’s fulfillment service to point at that integration so Endless knows where to send the order.
Switch the building’s Inventory Source to the integration if that system now owns the counts.
Test by routing one real-but-not-critical order through the integration manually. Did inventory deduct correctly? Did the label print?

What’s next: Open the upstream pipe so orders start flowing in.

Stage 6 — Connect upstream

Why this matters. Stage 5 wired up where orders go out. This stage wires up where they come in.

Upstream integrations are the technical connections to systems that originate orders — your ecommerce platform, marketplaces (Walmart, Nordstrom Marketplace), EDI partners (Wayfair, Best Buy, Macy’s). Most orders Endless processes will arrive through an upstream integration, though you can also create orders manually inside Endless when you need to.

Integrations vs. sales channels

These are easy to confuse. Integrations are the technical connections (often called “pipes”) that bring orders into Endless. Sales channels (Stage 7) are the rules and labels Endless applies to those orders once they’re in. One integration can feed multiple sales channels — for example, a single ecommerce integration can carry both your DTC orders and your marketplace orders, which then get routed to different sales channels by tag.

Add an upstream integration for each system that originates orders. Anything you set up in Stage 2 may already be wired here.
For each integration, turn on order listening so Endless ingests new orders, paid orders, fulfilled orders, and updates as they happen.
Test by placing or generating one order in the upstream system. Confirm it appears in Endless within a few minutes.
If marketplace orders currently flow through your ecommerce platform (e.g. via Mirakl or Disco), you can keep that connection as-is, or work with us on a direct integration when you’re ready.

What’s next: Set up the rules that label and route incoming orders.

Stage 7 — Wire your sales channels

Why this matters. Now that orders are flowing in from upstream integrations, sales channels are how you organize, route, and price them. A sales channel is a record in Endless that represents where demand comes from — your DTC store, a specific marketplace, wholesale, an EDI partner. The integration brings the order in; the sales channel decides what to do with it.

This split is what lets one integration carry orders from multiple channels (DTC, marketplaces, wholesale) and have each behave differently in routing, fulfillment, pricing, and reporting.

Add your first sales channel. Your primary online store is often the default.
Add additional channels for marketplaces, wholesale, and EDI partners as they apply.
Set up automation rules that map incoming orders to the right channel — for example, orders tagged Nordstrom route to the Nordstrom Marketplace channel.
For each channel, configure auto-fulfillment, routing, and price tier rules.

Read more: Sales channels overview · Integrations overview

What’s next: Learn how an order moves through Endless once it lands.

Stage 8 — Run your orders

Why this matters. Orders are now arriving from upstream integrations, getting labeled by sales channel, and routing to a building. This stage is about reading what Endless produced and knowing where to look when an order behaves unexpectedly.

Endless splits every order into three record types: a Sales Order for what the customer bought, one or more Fulfillment Orders for the work of shipping it, and Shipments for what actually left the building. One Sales Order produces several Fulfillment Orders when items ship from different places.

Open a real order and follow it through all three records. Confirm the Fulfillment Order went to the building you expected.
Check that inventory moved the way you expected: allocated when the order was created, deducted when it shipped.
Learn the inventory numbers your team will use daily — On Hand, Allocated, Available to Sell, and Incoming. Each answers a different question, so check which one a report is showing you before acting on it.
Cancel a test order and confirm the allocation is released.
When an order looks wrong, start with the troubleshooting page. It explains the behavior that surprises people most often.

What’s next: Connect an assistant so you can ask your data questions directly.

Stage 9 — Connect your AI assistant

Why this matters. Every stage before this one put your operational data in one place. The Endless MCP server lets an AI assistant read that data directly, so you can ask a question in plain language instead of building a report or clicking through screens. Setup takes about two minutes. There is nothing to install and no API key to request.

Add the connector in your AI client. The server URL is https://mcp.endlesscommerce.com/mcp, and it is the same for every client.
Sign in with your normal Endless email and password when the browser window opens, then approve the access request.
Confirm it works by asking for something only Endless can answer, such as “List the companies I have access to in Endless.”
Have each teammate who wants it connect with their own account.

The connection acts as you

Every call runs against your own Endless permissions, so you see only the companies, orders, and products your account can already see. Connecting an assistant does not widen your access, and sharing one login across a team is not supported.

The connector is read-only, so nothing your assistant does will change your Endless data. If you want read-write access for your brand, contact support and we will scope it against the governance rules your business wants to keep.

Read more: MCP overview · Connecting your assistant

What’s next: Settle into running the platform day to day.

Stage 10 — Monitor and adjust

Why this matters. You’ve been live throughout this sequence, not just at the end. Value has been compounding for weeks: your catalog is centralized, your inbound supply chain is visible, your buildings are mapped, integrations are running, and orders are flowing. This stage covers the ongoing work of running on the platform — watching what’s working, fixing what isn’t, and expanding into the parts of Endless you haven’t used yet.

Watch your dashboard for restock thresholds, slow-moving SKUs, and order anomalies.
Revisit Quick Filters and attribute groups as your catalog grows.
Use ECHO when you want to analyze history rather than run today’s business. ECHO reduces orders and shipments into daily records you can review, chart, export, and feed into other analytical tools.
Import your pre-Endless order history into ECHO so your reporting starts earlier than your go-live date.
Expand into adjacent capabilities when you’re ready: more sales channels, EDI partners, demand planning, and deeper supply chain visibility.
You can answer the question “where is SKU X right now, and how much do I have?” without leaving Endless.

Read more: ECHO overview · ECHO order history · Inventory overview

If a question isn’t answerable from these docs, that’s an opportunity — please tell us, and we’ll add it.

Stage 1 — Set up shop​

Stage 2 — Get your products in​

Recommended: import a CSV using the Endless template​

Other ways to get products in​

Then enrich what you imported​

Stage 3 — Set up your supply chain​

Stage 4 — Map your physical world​

Stage 5 — Connect downstream​

Stage 6 — Connect upstream​

Stage 7 — Wire your sales channels​

Stage 8 — Run your orders​

Stage 9 — Connect your AI assistant​

Stage 10 — Monitor and adjust​