Codisto for Shopify - Quick Start Guide
Congratulations, you’ve just installed Codisto Codisto and now have the easiest way of selling on Amazon & eBay!
Codisto Codisto allows you to create & manage marketplace listings directly from Shopify. It will also automatically take care of inventory and marketplace orders.
After the initial sync has completed (takes a few minutes depending on the size of catalog) you’ll be given a quick tour around the app. You’re then ready to connect your first marketplace and grant access to Codisto Codisto.
Next, you’re invited to set “defaults”. These are used to pre-configure listings as new products are added in Shopify making it quicker and easier to list - but don’t worry they can be easily changed before listing if you wish.
Note Amazon & eBay have different default options so the defaults you are asked to set depends on which marketplace account you have connected (you can connect a different marketplace account and set defaults for that later).
This quick start guide is designed to help you get up and running quickly but remember, support is only a click away! Either via chat or email from within the app (orange support button at the bottom right of the screen).
Step 1 - Setting Defaults
- Price & Quantity - ‘Web Price’ creates a live sync to your Shopify prices (change a price in Shopify and marketplace listings get updated automatically) but you can also choose a constant value (no live sync), % or $ increase/decrease (relative to your web price with live sync) and apply rounding if desired.
‘Web quantity’ creates a live sync to your Shopify inventory (which gets automatically reduced after sales on marketplaces) but you can also choose a fixed value (no live sync), a buffer (e.g. choosing a buffer of 2 when your Shopify inventory is 5 will display 3 on listings) and max quantity (e.g. choosing a max quantity of 5 will always show 5 on listings unless Shopify inventory drops below 5 where it will show the actual inventory).
- Shipping & Returns - You can add multiple default shipping services for both domestic & international as well as specify ship to locations.
Return periods in days and returns type (exchange/money back) can also be set. For Amazon, you can choose merchant fulfilled or FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon)
- Categories –For eBay there is an option to enable ‘auto-categorization’ which compares the product being listed with similar products already on eBay and determines the most appropriate eBay category. Initially, items are listed in ‘Other’ and after a few minutes the category is updated (hence please be patient for auto-cat to finish). If you select ‘Disabled’, you will need to manually set categories for individual or groups of products in the Marketplace Listings grid (see below) prior to listing.
(Note - The quality of the automated category selected is determined by a number of factors (e.g. quality of product data and number of similar items on eBay). So whilst it can never be perfect, when applied in bulk across your entire Shopify catalog, auto-cat can save hours of setup time by automating the process of finding relevant categories. Of course, we recommend you check you are happy with the selected categories but generally it is far quicker to change any categories you aren’t happy with after auto-cat has finished than it is to manually set each one instead of using auto-cat. But it’s up to you, if your catalog is simple you can easily set manually prior to listing).
- Product identifiers – Set the field in Shopify containing your UPC/EAN/ISBN data so Codisto can match your product with existing listings on the marketplaces.
- Listing Duration – Set the duration of your eBay listings when items are enabled
- Auto-list - Choose if new products added to Shopify should be automatically listed on eBay with your chosen default settings (make sure you are happy with all your default settings prior to enabling this!)
- Orders – Choose whether Codisto should automatically send orders to Shopify from Amazon/eBay or not. You can decide if auto-send should be for all listings or only the products Codisto is managing (i.e. set to “enabled”). Be sure to consider other apps/channel you have connected and avoid duplicate orders being sent.
Also choose whether to receive orders in Shopify when the customer has committed to buy (eBay), when they have an order pending (Amazon) or when they have completed payment.
On eBay you can choose to have positive feedback sent to eBay customers once they have completed a transaction.
The default setting wizard is launched when you first connect a marketplace account but it can also be accessed to update defaults in Settings.
Step 2 – Understanding the Marketplace Listings Grid
The Marketplace Listings grid is a spreadsheet style interface that allows fast and easy creation and editing of marketplace listings.
Each tab represents a different Amazon & eBay connected marketplace and offers separate configuration for each.
Each row represents a single product in your catalog (any ‘child’ SKUs are found by clicking the ‘+’ symbol on rows). Scroll the grid vertically to see all your products.
Each column represents a different field for your products. The fixed left-hand side columns show the details from your product catalog in Shopify and their listing status on the marketplace tab you are on. The right-hand side shows the marketplace settings and values. Scroll the grid horizontally to view additional settings.
Column groups can be expanded & collapsed for easy viewing by clicking the '<>' icon. Additional columns (settings) can be added to (or removed from) the grid using the white “customize grid” button at the top.
You can filter, sort and bulk select to quickly make changes by using the check-box at the top-left to select all products (selects all filtered products if you have a filter applied). Or you can select individual product rows with the check-boxes against each product row in the first column.
For example, to change the marketplace price for a listing expand the pricing column and change the pricing rules on individual products. Or for bulk edits use filters/check-boxes to select the group of products you want to change in bulk and set new price rules using the Xpress Grid Multi Edit (green) row at the top of the grid.
Step 3 – Listing Products
eBay
- Select the products you wish to create eBay listings for using check-boxes on the left. Remember you can use filters if you wish and select all chosen products with the top check-box. (Note, if you have existing eBay listings you want to link so you can sync them from Shopify see ‘Link eBay Listings’ in the ‘Additional Views’ section below).
- Check the marketplace settings in the right-hand columns are all set correctly
- ‘Enable’ and click the ‘Save and Publish to eBay’
The flashing Codisto icon means the listings are being created, and when completed will either turn blue if the listings have been successfully created, or red in the case of an error (click on the icon to read the error from eBay).
Amazon
- Select the products you wish to list on Amazon using check-boxes on the left (remember you can use filters if you wish and select all chosen products with the top check-box)
- Check the marketplace settings in the right-hand columns are all set correctly
The next step depends on what kind of products you are selling on Amazon. There are two options:
There is useful flow chart of the following information here: Amazon Listing Flowchart using Codisto.
- Selling existing products already on Amazon - your product will need to be linked with an existing ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification number) i.e. an existing Amazon’s listing
- Selling your own unique branded product or a product new to the Amazon marketplace - you will need to create a new ASIN i.e. an entirely new listing.
Codisto will use product identifiers (UPC/EAN/ISBN) in Shopify and attempt to automatically match your products with existing listings on Amazon and find an ASIN for you. If you have previously created your own listings and they exist in Amazon Seller Central, then Codisto will attempt to match the SKU code from your ecommerce platform with the SKU code that exists in Seller Central and retrieve the existing ASIN. Please note - SKU code match is only possible for products that are on Seller Central - it is not possible to match SKU codes from your ecommerce platform with products in the general Amazon catalog (i.e. those not in YOUR Seller Central) because Amazon doesn't use SKU code product identifiers.
If a match is found, the product’s ASIN will be visible and the Amazon status toggle button becomes active allowing you to ‘enable’:
However, if you’re product has not been automatically matched with an ASIN you can choose to:
- Manually search for the item on Amazon and (if it exists) apply the ASIN and use the existing Amazon product data to list your product
- Create a new ASIN (add a new, unique product to the Amazon catalog). To create a new ASIN (listing on Amazon) just select a ‘Category’ and “Enable” and Codisto will create an ASIN and listing for you. (Category column is 5 columns right of “Amazon Status”). Note, Multi-variant listings require you also need to select a ‘Variation theme’ e.g. Size/Color. (Variation theme is found by expanding the ‘Catalog Data’ column group on the far right of the grid).
Once you save using the white Amazon save button (top left), the flashing Codisto icon means the listings are being created, and when completed will either turn blue if the listings have been successfully created, or red in the case of an error (click on the icon to read the error from Amazon).
You have now successfully created your first listings and are on your way to increasing sales! There are many more features available in Codisto that don’t qualify for this quick start guide but at this point it’s worth providing a brief overview of the other menus that you’ll find in the product.
Additional views in Codisto
Marketplace Orders
The Marketplace Orders view allows you to view the status of your marketplace orders and control when they are sent to Shopify. Your actual orders are in Shopify but this view is an easy way to see the status of the orders and gain comfort over what has been sent. You can also control automated buyer feedback on eBay.
Attribute Mapping
Whilst the Marketplace Listings grid is the easiest way to visualise your products and related marketplace settings, Attribute Mapping is a powerful way of using pre-existing data from your Shopify custom meta-fields to drive marketplace configuration. Once a field is mapped it is applied for all current and future products added to Shopify. If you map an attribute you don’t have to rely on the default values set in Codisto or configure listings using the grid – we simply read your existing mapped data. You can even use formulas to drive what happens to the attribute.
eBay Store Categories
This view allows you to create and manage your store categories for eBay or sync them with your Shopify categories. It is the easiest way of creating a store on eBay.
Link eBay Listings
Codisto can be used to sync Shopify with your existing eBay listings – you don’t have to end existing listings and create new ones. Remember, once linked Shopify is your source of truth to push to eBay – Shopify products are not updated from changes to eBay (if you change a listing directly on eBay, it will get overwritten with the product data in Shopify and eBay settings in Codisto)
To link your existing eBay listings, you will first need to map them to their corresponding products in your Shopify catalog. See Link Existing eBay Listings for how to do this quickly and easily.
Settings
Settings allows you to:
- Update defaults
- Connect additional marketplaces
- Manage currencies
- Configure dimensions, weights, payment methods, your logo and default item location
- Choose to override price and inventory sync (if using other applications such as warehouse management systems & re-pricers)
Account
Here you can change your monthly plan (you can do this at any time) and make other account related changes.
Why am I asked to approve billing during the trial?