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Staples Account Integration

Overview

Staples is a U.S.-based retailer specializing in office supplies, technology, and furniture. It caters to both individual customers and businesses and offers a wide range of products, including electronics, cleaning supplies, and ergonomic office solutions, making it a one-stop shop for business essentials.

Integrating Staples into your Sellercloud account allows you to seamlessly import orders, upload tracking information, and ensure your Staples store is always up-to-date with the latest inventory data. This integration works through EDI documents, transmitting information between the two services via plugins and Scheduled Tasks. The document exchange goes through Rithum, previously known as CommerceHub.

If necessary, you can open a ticket with Sellercloud Support to request additional customizations or other plugins for this integration. Any such modifications will be billable.

To have a dedicated representative complete the testing for your account and ensure that the setup is configured correctly, we recommend Premium Support.

Prerequisites

Before you can integrate Staples into Sellercloud, complete the following requirements.

We recommend creating a Company where you will set up the Custom Company Settings and automate the plugins with Scheduled Tasks.

Rithum Support

Before going live, you must follow a testing plan provided by Rithum, which involves sending a test transaction for each test order in the plan. Rithum provides two main documents related to that—a Supplier Test Plan and a Supplier Guide. You must complete the entire test plan by following the outlined procedures.

Rithum will supply you with both the test and production credentials. Once you complete all test cases outlined in the test plan document, the platform will provide you with the production credentials and SFTP details that you can set in Sellercloud and start selling. 

The SFTP URL, passwords, and ISA IDs will differ between testing and production, but the SFTP folders and directories will remain the same.

Sellercloud Support

Open a ticket with Sellercloud Support and request the following plugins be installed on your server:

  • Staples Order Import EDI 850 – Imports orders from Staples to Sellercloud in EDI 850 format.
  • Staples Order Export EDI 855 – Sends order acknowledgment to Staples in EDI 855 format.
  • Staples Tracking Export EDI 856 – Exports tracking information to Staples in EDI 856 format.
  • Staples Inventory Export EDI 846 – Exports inventory to Staples in EDI 846 format.
  • Staples PDF Invoice – Generates a printable PDF packing slip in a format that complies with Staples’s requirements.

Custom Company Settings

Create the following Custom Company Settings.

On your default company:

  • STControlNumber
  • GSControlNumber
  • ISAControlNumber
ISAControlNumber, GSControlNumber, and STControlNumber can all start at 1. The tracking and inventory exports will increment this number accordingly as jobs are processed. If the settings already exist and have values in them, do not edit them.

On the company created for the integration:

  • Staples_ISAID – CommerceHub’s unique identifier for EDI document transmission. Contact them for the value of this setting.
  • Staples_ISAQualifier – Set to 12.
  • CustomerISAID_Staples – Enter a unique phone number that is not used for any other integration.
  • CustomerISAQualifier_Staples – Set to ZZ.
  • StaplesIsInProduction – Set to False during the testing stage and True when going live.
  • Staples_InternalVendorID – Defined by your Staples integration type. Ex. staples, staplesadvus, etc. Contact CommerceHub for the value of this setting.
  • (Optional) Staples_DefaultShippingService – Enter the name of the default Shipping Service for Staples orders. Click the Accepted Values dropdown below for a complete list of shipping services. If you don’t configure this setting, the default Shipping Service is USPS First Class Mail. When Rithum sends the code UNSP, the Shipping Service will be set to the default.

    Accepted Values
  • (Optional) Staples_UseInventoryIfOrderIsAccepted – If this setting is True, Sellercloud will check if your current inventory is enough for the order to be shipped. If the inventory is insufficient, the Staples_IsOrderRejected Custom Order Column will be set to True.
  • (Optional) Staples_SkipImportingPayment – This setting defaults to False. If you set it to True, order payments won’t be imported to Sellercloud.

Custom Product Columns

Create the following Custom Product Columns:

  • STAPLES_SKU – The product’s SKU at Staples.
  • (Optional) Staples_Enabled – Enable only specific products for Staples. Set to True for any products you want to send with the Inventory Export plugin.
  • (Optional) ExportMultipleWarehousesOnStaples846 – Set to True to enable the warehouse mapping setting below.
  • (Optional) Staples_WarehouseCodeMapping – Map your Sellercloud warehouses to those at Staples following this format: {WarehouseID},{WarehouseCode},{SafetyQty} where WarehouseID is the ID of a warehouse in Sellercloud, the WarehouseCode comes from Staples, and at the end, you can define a Safety Quantity. For example:
    • WarehouseID in Sellercloud = 123, WarehouseCode = California, Safety Quantity = 0
    • WarehouseID in Sellercloud = 234, the WarehouseCode = Florida, Safety Quantity = 5
    • Setting value: 123,California,0;234,Florida,1

Custom Order Columns

Create the following Custom Order Columns:

  • Staples_IsOrderRejected – This column defaults to False, and is automatically set to True when you have insufficient inventory to fulfill an order. You must have the Staples_UseInventoryIfOrderIsAccepted Custom Company Setting set to True.
  • STAPLES_CUSTOMER_ID
  • STAPLES_STORE_ID
  • STAPLES_ORDER_TYPE – This column is automatically populated by the Order Import plugin with one of the following values:
    • Staples: COM or LOMS
    • Staples Advantage: CNT
    • Staples Canada – BDD
    • Quill – QUL
    • All HiTouch variants – HTCH, HTCH1AJS, HTCH2, HTCH2AJS, or HTCH3
  • STAPLES_RELEASE_NUMBER
  • (Optional) STAPLES_REFERENCE_NUMBER

Order Import

This plugin imports order data from Staples to Sellercloud in EDI 850 format. The plugin matches products in the two services as follows:

  1. First, it matches the Staples Vendor SKU from the EDI file to Sellercloud’s ProductID (SKU)
  2. If the above don’t match, it matches the Staples Merchant SKU from the EDI file to Sellercloud’s STAPLES_SKU Custom Product Column.

Automate Order Import

To create a Scheduled Task that imports orders:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Scheduled Tasks > Manage Scheduled Tasks.
  2. Click the green + icon: Create New Scheduled Task.
  3. Complete as follows:
    1. Click Task Type and select Import Orders.
    2. Set the Task Name.
    3. Select the Company.
    4. Select the Start Time.
    5. Click CREATE.
  4. On the Scheduled Task page, click the Edit button at the top right corner.
  5. In the Details panel:
    1. Click Create Orders For Company and select the company designated for this integration.
    2. Click the Plugin menu and select Staples Order Import EDI 850.
  6. In the Import Options panel, set Import From to FTP and fill out the FTP fields. Make sure to check Use Passive and Use Secure FTP.
  7. In the Frequency panel, specify the task frequency. For optimal performance, select a range between thirty minutes and one hour.
  8. In the General panel, click the Enable button.
  9. Click Save.

Order Acknowledgment

This plugin sends order acknowledgment to Staples following the 855 EDI format and marks orders as acknowledged after export.

Before you move on, create a Saved Search for orders filtered by:

  • Company – The company you created for the integration
  • Order Status – InProcess Or Completed
  • Payment Status – Charged
  • Exported – Not Exported
  • Order Ack (Accept) – No

Automate Order Acknowledgment

To create a Scheduled Task that sends order acknowledgment:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Scheduled Tasks > Manage Scheduled Tasks.
  2. Click the green + icon: Create New Scheduled Task.
  3. Complete as follows:
    1. Click Task Type and select Export Orders.
    2. Set the Task Name.
    3. Select the Company.
    4. Select the Start Time.
    5. Click CREATE.
  4. On the Scheduled Task page, click the Edit button at the top right corner.
  5. In the Details panel:
    1. Click the User ID menu and select your email.
    2. Click the Saved Search menu and select the saved search you created earlier.
    3. Click the Export Via menu and select Staples Order Export EDI 855.
    4. Check Mark Orders As Exported.
    5. Check This is Order Ack (Accept).
  6. In the Export Options panel, set Export To to FTP and fill out the FTP fields. Make sure to check Use Passive and Use Secure FTP.
  7. In the Frequency panel, specify the task frequency. For optimal performance, select a range between thirty minutes and one hour.
  8. In the General panel, click the Enable toggle button.
  9. Click Save.

Tracking Export

This plugin exports tracking from Sellercloud to Staples following the 856 EDI format.

Before you move on, create a Saved Search for orders filtered by:

  • Company – The company you created for the integration
  • Order Status – InProcess Or Completed
  • Shipping Status – FullyShipped
  • Payment Status – Charged
  • Tracking Uploaded – No

Automate Tracking Export

To create a Scheduled Task that exports order tracking:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Scheduled Tasks > Manage Scheduled Tasks.
  2. Click the green + icon: Create New Scheduled Task.
  3. Complete as follows:
    1. Click Task Type and select Export Orders.
    2. Set the Task Name.
    3. Select the Company.
    4. Select the Start Time.
    5. Click CREATE.
  4. On the Scheduled Task page, click the Edit button at the top right corner.
  5. In the Details panel:
    1. Click the User ID menu and select your email.
    2. Click the Saved Search menu and select the saved search you created earlier.
    3. Click the Export Via menu and select Staples Tracking Export EDI 856.
    4. Check This Is Tracking Export.
  6. In the Export Options panel, set Export To to FTP and fill out the FTP fields. Make sure to check Use Passive and Use Secure FTP.
  7. In the Frequency panel, specify the task frequency. For optimal performance, select a range between thirty minutes and one hour.
  8. In the General panel, click the Enable toggle button.
  9. Click Save.

Inventory Export

This plugin exports inventory from Sellercloud to Staples in EDI 846 format. 

Optionally, you can enable only specific products for Staples by setting their Staples_Enabled Custom Product Column to True:

  • For one product at a time: go to the Product Details Page > click Toolbox and select Custom Columns > click Edit, update the Staples_Enabled column, and Save.
  • For multiple products in bulk: follow the steps to Bulk Update Products and use the Staples_Enabled column – set it to True for all products you want to enable.

Unlike core integrations, plugin integrations don’t require products to be in the company with the scheduled tasks. The export will include the products you select with your Saved Search.

Next, create a Saved Search for products filtered by Staples_Enabled – True. Optionally, you can add more filters to the search to narrow down the export further.

Automate Inventory Export

To create a Scheduled Task that exports inventory:

  1. Navigate to Settings > Scheduled Tasks > Manage Scheduled Tasks.
  2. Click the green + icon: Create New Scheduled Task.
  3. Complete as follows:
    1. Click Task Type and select Export Products.
    2. Set the Task Name.
    3. Select the Company.
    4. Select the Start Time.
    5. Click CREATE.
  4. On the Scheduled Task page, click the Edit button at the top right corner.
  5. In the Details panel:
    1. Click the User ID menu and select your email.
    2. Click the Saved Search menu and select the saved search you created earlier.
    3. Click the Export Via menu and select Staples Inventory Export EDI 846.
  6. In the Export Options panel, set Export To to FTP and fill out the FTP fields. Make sure to check Use Passive and Use Secure FTP.
  7. In the Frequency panel, specify the task frequency. For optimal performance, select a range between thirty minutes and one hour.
  8. In the General panel, click the Enable toggle button.
  9. Click Save.

Configure PDF Invoices

With the Staples PDF Invoice plugin set up under your designated company, you can print PDF invoices with information about your Staples orders and the products they include through Sellercloud or Shipbridge. Based on the value of the STAPLES_ORDER_TYPE Custom Order Column, you can print the following invoice types:

  • Staples
  • Staples Advantage
  • Staples Canada
  • Quill
  • All HiTouch variants

To set up the invoice plugin:

  1. Go to the Company Settings of the company you created for the integration
  2. Click Toolbox and select Invoice Settings.
  3. Click Per Channel Preferences.
  4. For Website, select Plugin > Staples PDF Invoice.
  5. Click Save.
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