Vendor Central Account Integration

Overview

Vendor Central is an Amazon program for qualified vendors to become suppliers of merchandise to Amazon. You, as the supplier, will ship the order to Amazon.

Sellercloud integrates with Vendor Central for Order Download and the Order Acknowledgement. Information on requesting routing and shipping orders can be found here.

After signing into Vendor Central here, go to EDI > Self Service Setup. If you have not started your EDI integration, you must complete the Basic Setup Survey. If so, click Get Started Here under the “Welcome…” message.

Basic Setup Survey

1. Welcome
   • Read the page and click continue
2. External IDs and Measurement Code Types
   • Product Identification Code: Vendor SKU
   • Measurement Type: EA
3. Identifiers
   • Sender/Receiver Identifier type: X12 Sender/Receiver Identifier
   • Your Production Identifiers:
     • Assuming you do not have EDI Identifiers already, ISA ID Qualifier should be ZZ
     • ISA ID and GS ID can be your phone number. If you have already gotten EDI identifiers for another purpose, you can use those here
   • In Sellercloud, click Settings > choose your company > Toolbox > Vendor Central Settings > General Settings > complete both your company’s and Amazon’s qualifiers and identifiers
   • On this same Sellercloud page, select the appropriate Freight Type that your Vendor Central account uses: Collect or Prepaid
   • Back in Vendor Central, leave Use different sender/receiver identifiers in test documents unchecked
4. Test Items
   • Complete the first In Stock Item row. VendorSKU should be your Sellercloud SKU. You can use any existing Sellercloud SKU or create a new SKU in Sellercloud for this purpose. Complete the Net Cost (with a number of your choice) and leave the optional fields blank
   • Repeat for the Discontinued Item. When confirming orders during testing, you must reject any Discontinued item
   • Leave the Invalid Items rows blank
   • Fill in one backorder item (Vendor SKU and Net Cost only). When confirming orders during testing, you will be asked to confirm these orders as backordered items
5. Review
   • Review and click Finish

The next step is setting up a Test Connection – a test and a production connection endpoint. A connection endpoint is the communication path that is used to exchange EDI transactions. We will be using the SFTP protocol for our connection endpoints.

Set up a Test (or production) Connection

1. After logging into Vendor Central, go to the EDI tab on the top menu > click Self Service Setup.
2. Under Connection Endpoints > click Add Test Connection (Or, in the case of a production connection, click Add Production Connection.)
3. Under How do you want to connect to Amazon? select Connect directly to Amazon (AS2, SFTP).
4. As the Connection Protocol > select SFTP (secure server maintained by Amazon)
5. You can edit the last part of the Connection Name or leave it as is. The system uses a date/timestamp as the name by default.

Receive Account

1. Download the public key attached to this article VS SSH PublicKey.ssh. In Vendor Central, browse for the file and upload it under Your Public Key.
2. In Sellercloud, click Settings > Companies > Manage Companies > select your company > Toolbox > Vendor Central Settings > General Settings.
3. Select the Use Secure FTP box at the top and click Save.
4. Copy the Directory for receiving files… from Vendor Central into the FTP Download Directory field.
5. In Vendor Central, click Save and Continue.

Receive Information

1. Copy the host (usually, sftp.amazonsedi.com) into the FTP Download Server field in Sellercloud.
2. Copy the port number (usually, “2222”) into the FTP Download Port field in Sellercloud Vendor Central Settings.
3. Copy the UserName into the FTP Download User Name field in Sellercloud Vendor Central Settings.
4. Select the Delete FTP files after processing box.
5. Click Continue.

Send Account

1. Under Your Public Key, upload the same public key as before.
2. Copy the Directory… to the FTP Upload Directory textbox on your Sellercloud Vendor Central settings.
3. Click Continue.

Send Information

1. Copy the host (ordinarily sftp.amazonsedi.com) into the FTP Upload Server field in Sellercloud Vendor Central settings.
2. Copy the port number (usually “2222”) into the FTP Upload Port field.
3. Copy the UserName into the FTP Upload User Name field.
4. Click Continue > Continue. This will bring you to the Connectivity Testing section.

Connectivity testing for your test (or production) connection

1. Click Receive test file from Amazon.
2. In Sellercloud, click Settings > Companies > Manage Companies > select your company > Toolbox > Vendor Central Settings > General Settings.
3. Select Actions > Test FTP Download Server Credentials and Delete files. The message should read “Download Server Credentials tested successfully. 1 files found, downloaded and deleted. Settings Saved successfully.” If not, please verify that you entered your Vendor Central settings correctly. If the problem persists, contact Sellercloud Support.
4. In Vendor Central > Click Refresh. The table under Receiving Test should refresh with a row showing an attempt with a status of Completed. Click Continue.
   If the status does not display or displays as InProgress, wait several minutes before re-clicking Refresh. The page should refresh with a row showing the attempt. The status of that attempt should be Completed.
5. You do not need to download the test file. In Sellercloud, Select Actions > Test FTP Upload Server Credentials. The message should read “Upload Server Credentials tested and file uploaded successfully. Settings Saved successfully.” If not, contact Sellercloud Support.
6. Back in Vendor Central, click Refresh.
7. Select Apply to All > Save. Click Continue in the pop-up window. In the Schedule to Go Live window, click Close > Dashboard to exit the connectivity testing wizard.

Purchase order message (EDI Transaction 850)

Each EDI Message, including the Purchase Order (850), Purchase Order Acknowledgement (855), Advance Shipment Notification (856), and Invoice (810), must be configured as a 3-step process. The first step of this process is to complete the survey; the second is to do the actual testing of the message import or export (AKA Integration Testing); and the third is to go live with that message.

In Vendor Central, go to EDI > Self Service Setup. After you complete the above steps, you should have a  test connection with a “Ready” status.

Complete the Survey: Under the EDI Message Configuration Status section, next to “Purchase Order,” click the Action dropdown and select “Edit Survey.”

1. Purchase Order (PO-850) Requirements
   • Read the requirements, check the checkbox, and press “Next”
2. Item Identification
   • (This assumes you selected “Vendor SKU” when completing your basic survey, as instructed)
3. Line Item Limit
   • Select No.
4. Ship To Codes
   • Select No.
5. Review Survey.
   • Click submit. You will be brought back to the EDI Dashboard.

Integration Testing: Under the EDI Message Configuration Status Section, next to “Purchase Order”, click on the Action dropdown and select “Integration Testing”.You will be brought to a page with a header of “Purchase Orders: Validating support…”. There are 3 steps on this page that you must complete.

1. Click Create Documents. The creation of the documents can take up to 30 minutes, but usually takes less. Once the documents are created, proceed to Step 2.
2. Download each of the documents. For each one, perform the following steps:
   • In SellerCloud, click Settings > “Company” > Toolbox > Vendor Central Settings > General Settings from dropdown. Enable the “Enable Order Download” checkbox and press “Save”.
   • Navigate to Orders > Import Orders.
   • Choose VendorCentral as the Channel, and browse for the file you downloaded.
   • After the order imports, go to the order detail page to make sure that the address and items have imported correctly.
   • From the order detail page, go to “Check Availability” in the Action Menu.
   • Verify that the Delivery/Ship Window and the “Allow Backorder” display correctly.
   • Once you have verified the above for all 3 documents, please return to Vendor Central to continue.
3. Select “Yes” and click Submit.
   • You can then click “Return to Summary.” The Purchase Order message should have a Status of “Ready to Go Live.”

Going live with the EDI 850

1. In Vendor Central, click EDI > Self Service Setup. Select Action Menu > EDI Message Configuration Status > Purchase Order > Go Live. You will see a page similar to the following:
   1. You can either choose the going live date that Amazon suggest, or select another date, and then click Submit.
   2. Click Return to Summary.  The status of the Purchase Order should be Scheduled to Go Live.
2. IMPORTANT: In Sellercloud, go to Settings > Company > Toolbox > Vendor Central Settings > General Settings. Select the Enable Order Download > Save. The Delete FTP Files after processing must also be enabled, so please do that now if you have not done so already.

   

Purchase order acknowledgement (EDI Transaction 855)

Complete the Survey: Under the EDI Message Configuration Status section, next to Purchase Order Acknowledgement, click the action dropdown > Edit Survey.

1. Step 1: Purchase Order Response (POA-855) Requirements
   • Read the requirements, check the checkbox, and press Next
2. Step 2:
   • “Amazon requires that all purchase orders be confirmed…” – Select Yes
   •  “To provide the best possible item availability…” – Select Within one business day of receipt of a purchase order
   •  “In order for a purchase order to confirm…” – Select Yes
3. Step 3:
   • “Amazon prefers to receive a response for all items on the PO-850…” – Select Yes
   • “All valid items must be acknowledge in your POA-855…” – Select Yes
4. Step 4: Price/Cost Information
   • Select Yes for all 3 options
5. Step 5: Estimated Shipping/Delivery Dates
   • Select Yes for all 3 options
6. Accepted Items Acknowledgement Codes
   • “Will you send an ANSI X12 accepted code when accepting an item…” – Select Yes
   • “Will you send any non ANSI X12 standard codes…” – Select No
7. Step 7: Backorder Items
   • “If your company receives a backorder indicator…” – Select Yes
   • “Is your system capable of providing the estimated ship date…” – Select Yes
   • “Is your system capable of providing the estimated delivery date…” – Select Yes
   • “Will you send an ANSI X12 backorder code…” – Select Yes
   • “Will you send any non ANSI X12 standard codes…” – Select No
8. Step 8: Cancelled, Rejected, or Obsolete Items
   • “If valid items in the PO-850 will not be fulfilled…” – Select Yes
   • “Do you support the ANSI X12 codes for rejecting items?” – Select Yes
   • “Will you send any non ANSI X12 standard codes…” – Select No
   • “There are certain acknowledgment codes for obsolete items…” – Select No
   • “Amazon systems will not accept the following codes…” – Select Yes
9. Step 9:
   • “Amazon prefers to receive a single POA-855 for each PO-850…”. Select Yes, and click Submit Survey
10. A page should display with a message stating that “Survey Submission Successful.” Click Return to Summary. 

Integration testing

Under EDI Message Configuration Status Section > Action dropdown > Integration Testing.

1. The page appears with a header of “X12 855: Test the following scenarios.” Here, you will be required to upload a test 855 file for each of the POs that you imported in the 850 integration test.
2. For each PO:
   • Find the order in Sellercloud. You can search in Manage Orders using the PO Number, which is the OrderSourceOrderID in Sellercloud.
   • Select Check Availability from the Action Menu on the Order Detail page > Go.
   • On the next page, you must confirm, backorder, or reject each of the items on each PO according to the Expected Action from Vendor Central.
   • To confirm the item, enter the appropriate quantity into the Qty to Confirm field of that item’s row, and set the Ship Date (or Delivery Date, in some cases) to the appropriate date. It is highly recommended to ensure that the ship/delivery date chosen is within the window provided by Vendor Central, although they will accept a later date.
   • To reject, enter 0 in the Qty to Confirm field, and select a Reject Reason for the dropdown. (IR, R, and CA are all soft reject codes. R is a hard reject.)
   • To backorder, enter the appropriate backorder quantity in the Qty to Backorder field, and the set the Backorder Date.
   • You can also choose to backorder only part of an item (and confirm or reject the rest). This will cause the order to split, and the Qty to Backorder of that item will be put into a new order.
   • Click the Save and Split Order button, then return to the Order Details page.
   • There, go to Download Order ACK Accept File (855) on the Action Menu > Go. A file will download to your computer.
   • Back in Vendor Central, under the section for the appropriate PO, browse for the file that just downloaded and upload it.
   • The page will refresh with a message next to the PO We are in the process of validating this document. You must wait several minutes to see if your upload passed. To refresh the status of the page and see if the tests were successful, click Click here to refresh this page on the top. You can continue with the other POs as you wait.

After you passed the test for all the POs, you can click Return to Summary on the bottom of the page. The Status of the Purchase Order Acknowledgement should now be Ready to Go Live.

Going live with the EDI 855

1. After completing the setup and test of your production connection, proceed below.
2. In Vendor Central, navigate Action menu > EDI > Self Service Setup > EDI Message Configuration Status > Purchase Order Acknowledgement > Go Live. You will see a page similar to the following:
   1. You can either choose the going live date that Amazon suggests, or select another date, and then click Submit.
   2. Click Return to Summary.  The status of the Purchase Order message should be Scheduled to Go Live. 

Going live process

1. Set Up and Test a Production Connection – You must set up a production connection before going live with any EDI messages. You can do this by following the instructions in the sections above:
   • Setting Up a Test (or Production) Connection
   • Connectivity Testing for your Test (or Production) Connection
2. After you have completed the setup and testing of your production connection, you must go live with each EDI message, one by one.
3. To go live with the Purchase Order (X12 850) Message, refer to the “Going Live with the EDI 850” section under the Purchase Order Message (EDI Transaction 850), above.
4. To go live with the Purchase Order Acknowledgement (X12 855) Message, please refer to the “Going Live with the EDI 855” section under the The Purchase Order Acknowledgement (EDI Transaction 855) section, above.