Note: Amazon zShops and Amazon Marketplace sellers should click here.
For Amazon Seller Central merchants who use Amazon's XML interface, the Stone Edge Order Manager communicates with Amazon.com using a program called "WASH" (WrinkleBrain Amazon Soap Handler), from a company called WrinkleBrain.
Wash checks with Amazon every few minutes to see if there are any "Order Reports" to download. Amazon only generates "Order Reports" once a day for most merchants. They are not generated at the time the order is placed by the customer. The time of day the order report generation takes place is usually established between the Merchant and their Amazon Representative.
To use the Order Manager with Amazon Seller Central's XML interface,
you will need the following:
1) An add-on license to use the Order Manager with Amazon Seller Central.
If you purchase the Order Manager for Amazon Seller Central, this license
will be included at no additional charge. If you purchased the Order Manager
for a different shopping cart system, there is a one-time fee for the
Amazon Seller Central add-on license.
2) A license for WASH from WrinkleBrain. Through a special arrangement with WrinkleBrain, Stone Edge can offer WASH to Order Manager users at a small fraction of its regular price.
To purchase the Order Manager for Amazon Seller Central, an Amazon Seller
Central add-on license, or a WASH license, please call Stone Edge Technologies
at 215-641-1837.
Installing and Configuring WASH
1) Download and install WASH on a PC that will act as Server between the
Order Manager and your Amazon store. Note that WASH must only be installed
on one computer at your office!
2) Start the WASH Service on your computer
a) Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and choose Manage.
b) On the left side of the Computer Management console, click on Services and Applications.
c) On the right side of the Computer Management console, double click Services.
d) In the list of services, look at the bottom of the list for WASH.
(If services not listed, see Troubleshooting Integration with Amazon Seller Central.)
e) Right-click the service you need to use (either MIP for Amazon's testing environment or Production for Amazon's live environment) and choose Properties.
f) On the General tab of the Properties window, select Automatic from the Startup Type drop down list.
g) Under Service Status, click Start, then click OK.
h) Close the Management Console.
Note: If you are testing in Amazon's MIP system, you will need to perform this step again to shut off the MIP Service and start the Production Service once you are approved for Amazon's production environment!
3) Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the "docs" folder that will be used with WASH service activated in the previous step. The location of the folder is dependant on whether you will be working with Amazon's test environment (MIP) or with their live environment (Production). Set up the "docs" folder to be shared on your network with full read/write privileges.
The default location of the docs folder for a normal installation of WASH is:
For MIP - Amazon's testing environment
C:\WASH\MIP\docs\
For Production - Amazon's live environment
C:\WASH\Prod\docs\
Note: If you do your setup for MIP, you will need to perform this step again to remove the MIP\docs share and set up the Prod\docs share once you are approved for Amazon's production environment.
4) Open a browser window (Internet Explorer) and enter the IP address and Port that WASH will use to Monitor for requests (usually port 8000). For Example: if the IP address of the PC is 192.168.111.10 and WASH is configured to use Port 8000, enter "http://192.168.111.10:8000" in the address bar to open the WASH configuration screen:
5) Click on the Config link on the left to enter the configuration screen.
6) Enter the following information sent to you by Amazon:
a) Amazon Merchant Token
b) Merchant Email
c) Merchant Password
7) To run in test mode, leave your License Key blank. When you are ready
to run "live" and work with real orders, enter the WASH Activation
Code that you received from Stone Edge Technologies.
8) Click [Submit] to enter the changes
9) Under the Advanced Configuration section note the "Outbound
Directory" and "Inbound Directory"
paths - you will have to enter them into the Order Manager. The URL displayed
will be for the Amazon MIP (test system). If you are
already on Amazon's production servers, then you will have to change the
URL to the production URL.
10) If you want to add an administrative password to WASH, enter the password in the "Admin Password" field in the Advanced Configuration section and click [Submit]. Make a note of the password for use in the Order Manager.
11) To be notified by the WASH system of any errors in that occur when
sending data to Amazon.com, enter your email address in the "Error
Notifications & Email Setup" screen then click [Submit] to
save the changes.
1) Go to the Maintenance Menu>Maintenance tab>Set System Parameters
2) Select the Amazon parameter group
3) Set the AmazonUseWASHSystem parameter to True and click [Save] (this
parameter can also be set for individual shopping carts)
4) Set the AmazonPaymentMethod parameter to the default method to use for
Amazon Orders should the order data not contain this information (this
parameter can also be set per individual shopping cart). The default is
Generic1.
5) Select the Order group and find AssumePaidInFull. If you want the Order
Manager to assume that all Amazon.com orders have been pre-paid, set this
parameter to True. Otherwise the program will assume that no payment has
been received and will show all Amazon orders as having a "Balance
Due" (this parameter can also be set per individual shopping cart).
Import Orders from Amazon
Note: Make sure WASH is running on the computer where it is installed before you attempt to import orders; otherwise, you get an error indicating that the Order Manager cannot connect to the Internet.
During the day the WASH system will periodically retrieve order files
from Amazon and place them in the Inbound folder specified in the WASH
configuration. When you want to import orders, click on the Import Orders
button on the Order Manager Main Menu and select your Amazon Seller Central
shopping cart. Click on the Import Via Internet button and the Order Manager
will ask WASH for a list of order files. If any new files are found, the
Order Manager will import them from the Inbound folder specified in the
Shopping Cart setup form. At the completion of a successful import, the
file will also be copied to the DataArchives directory with the original
WASH file name.
Order Acknowledgements
When you approve an order (either at Order Import, View Orders or the
Multi Order Processor), an Order Acknowledgement will be recorded. This
does NOT get reversed should you un-approve the order.
Order Fulfillment
Whenever you add a tracking number or set an Actual Ship Date, the Order
Manager will generate a fulfillment record for the shippable line items
in the order.
Order Adjustment
When an action requires that a customer be issued a credit (i.e., when
you process a return or cancel a back-order), you can have the Order Manager
send back an Order Adjustment notification to tell Amazon.com to credit
the customer. This is done by clicking on the "Log Credit Issued"
button on the Pricing tab of the View Orders form. When the button is
clicked, the Order Manager will calculate what needs to be credited, taking
into account any other credits that have been issued for the current order,
and will display the amounts being credited. NOTE: The Order Manager assumes
that you will be crediting back the "principal" (the whole dollar
amount of the price of item(s) being returned minus any restocking fees),
the shipping charges for those item(s) (the Order Manager does NOT write
a shipping adjustment - that must be done by the user) and any sales tax
and/or taxes on shipping for those item(s). The values that are displayed
cannot be adjusted by the user at this point. If you DO NOT want to send
the displayed credit information to Amazon, choose the NO option on the
dialog box. You would then have to issue the credit at Amazon's website.
If you DO want the Order Manager to send the credit then DOUBLE CHECK
that the numbers in the dialog box correctly reflect the credit amounts
(especially shipping which must be credited by the user prior to the issuance
of the credit to Amazon). Click on the Yes option in the dialog box and
the Order Manager will generate the order adjustment record to send. Click
on the Cancel button to avoid taking any action on the credit.
Note: If you are unsure of the amount of shipping,
tax or tax on shipping that is applied to each item, you can view this
information on the Custom Detail Fields tab of the View Orders form. To
view the data you must first set up the Custom Order Detail Fields for
display:
1) Go to the Maintenance Menu>Maintenance tab>Set System Parameters
2) Select the Custom Order Details Fields group
3) Find DetailCurrencyField2 and enter "Amazon Commission" (no quotes) in the Parameter Text box then click [Save] - this field will display the commission you are charged by Amazon for the line item
4) Find DetailCurrencyField3 and enter "Shipping Charge" (no quotes) in the Parameter Text box then click [Save] - this field will display the shipping charge of an individual unit
5) Find DetailCurrencyField4 and enter "Tax Charge" (no quotes) in the Parameter Text box then click [Save] - this field will display the taxes charged on an individual unit
6) Find DetailCurrencyField5 and enter "Shipping Tax" (no quotes) in the Parameter Text box then click [Save] - this field will display the taxes charged against the shipping amount of an individual unit
7) Select the Custom group and find ShowCustomSortFields. Set this parameter to True and [Save]
When you return to the View Orders form, you should see a new tab called
Custom Detail Fields. There you can see the charges for each item on the
order as reported by Amazon. Those are the values that the Order Manager
will credit when an item is returned or a backorder is cancelled.
Should you charge a restocking fee against an item (for returns only),
the Order Manager will reduce the principal of the item to account for
the fee.
Should you offer the customer a discount, the Order Manager will add that
amount as a promotional discount against the item being credited.
Currently Discounts cannot be sent to Amazon without a line item adjustment.
See Also
