Marketplacer Sellers
When sellers create products in Marketplacer, they’re automatically linked to those products. This ensures orders, shipping, and product details are managed correctly.
Since sellers don't exist natively in Shopify Plus, Marketplacer syncs seller names and addresses to Shopify vendors and locations.
For product syncing, Cerberus connects to Shopify Plus almost instantly, but Shopify limits how many changes can happen at once. Lots of products or big updates will cause slowdowns. Cerberus is best for smaller stores; bigger ones need a custom connection.
Brand
Brands are product attributes visible only in Marketplacer. Shopify Plus does not have a built-in Brand field, so this information is not synced by default.
To work around this, the SI, technical partner, or operator can create a Brands feature in Marketplacer that sends brand names to Shopify Plus as tags. These tags can then be used as storefront filters, managed by the SI or technical partner.
Categories
Marketplacer taxonomy includes categories, brands, and option types. Operators manage this structure, which all sellers use to map their products. Any attributes defined apply site-wide across all sellers.
Shopify Plus doesn’t use categories, instead, it uses Collections. The SI or technical partner can create collection pages and navigation menus to meet business needs.
Marketplacer taxonomy
| TERM | DESCRIPTION | EXAMPLE |
| Category |
|
Beauty > Face > Lips |
| Feature | An attribute that is applied to the master product data. These are mandatory for Sellers to map to the product. | Material, Energy star rating |
| Variant |
An attribute that is applied to the variant of the product. These are mandatory for Sellers to map to the product. |
Size - S, M,L Color - Red, Black |
| Option Type |
Another term for Features and Variants. |
Color or size |
| Option Value | The actual value entered for a feature or variant attribute. A list of possible values will be uploaded to Marketplacer by the operator. | Wood, Large, Small, Red, etc |
In Marketplacer, product attributes are grouped into prototypes, and each category must have one assigned. Prototypes define product features and variants.
The lowest level of each category is synced to Shopify Plus as the product type.
Example: In the dark blue fields below, those values appear as the product type in Shopify Plus.
Marketplacer products (adverts) and variants
Marketplacer products and their variants are created by sellers and synced to Shopify Plus as products and variants. Sellers use the categories, features, and variants defined by the operator to classify products for the consumer experience.
All product updates, including attribute changes or removals, must be made in Marketplacer to prevent data errors.
- Stock levels in Shopify Plus may not match Marketplacer. Shopify Plus includes item reservations, so its stock count is always equal to or higher than Marketplacer’s.
- Developers set the product sync default (Live to sales channel or Draft) during vertical setup, but it can be changed later if needed.
Taxes
Marketplacer verticals are configured to the region that Operators sell in, which allows the Marketplacer platform to include or not include tax in the product price. The tax codes and rates are not synced by Cerberus to Shopify Plus as part of the standard product sync. You cannot set up a sync for tax codes using the custom mapping feature.
For tax rates, the System Integrator or Technical Partners could use either native Shopify Plus features or third-party apps to support the business requirements of the operator. Native Shopify Plus features can be found here. Cerberus accepts the tax amount calculated (line item level) by Shopify Plus on the order.
Shipping Rules
Marketplacer (Core) and Shopify Plus have certain disparities when it comes to shipping logic. Marketplacer works to assign the appropriate shipping charge at the line item level while Shopify Plus logic sits at the cart or order level.
An optional feature for shipping charges is Marketplacer Shipping Rules (with shipping rates) when using the Cerberus. When Operators or SI or Technical Partners create Shipping Rules in Marketplacer, these shipping rules are synced to Shopify Plus as "DeliveryProfile" through Cerberus. A DeliveryProfile contains multiple shipping rates. Cerberus assigns the DeliveryProfile to all related Shopify ProductVariants.
When the Shipping Rule is created by the operator, its DeliveryProfile is applied to all ProductVariants within the vertical, except ProductVariants from sellers who have already had their own Shipping Rule or DeliveryProfile.
When the Shipping Rule is created by the seller, its DeliveryProfile is applied to all ProductVariants of that seller only. If both the operator and seller have Shipping Rules, the Accelerator uses the seller rules.
When the order is created in Marketplacer, the correct shipping fee is applied to the line item or the invoice can be remitted.
If an order contains first-party products, not supporting both "Standard" and "Express", Shopify shows the one rate combined with the cheapest shipping rate for each line item.
Limitations
- Does not support zone or product weight or dimensions shipping fees.
- Only supports 1 Shipping Profile created by the Operator.
- Only supports 1 Shipping Rule created by Operator and 1 Shipping Rule created by Seller that is assigned to that 1 Shipping Profile.
- Only supports 2 Shipping Rates per Shipping Rule explicitly called "Standard" and "Express" Naming convention must be exact so that Shopify can combine the shipping cost correctly when the order has items from different sellers.
- It only supports 1 Shipping Profile for all Sellers across all products. All the seller products have "Standard" and "Express" rates, whether it is Operator or Seller-created.
- Does not support click-and-collect.
Refer to these articles for detailed instructions on creating shipping rule with two shipping rates:
- Creating a shipping rule with two shipping rates for Operators
- Creating a shipping rule with two shipping rates for Sellers
Orders
The orders placed on the Shopify Plus storefront that contain items sold by a Marketplacer seller are created as FulfillmentOrders on Shopify Plus. These orders are synced to Marketplacer as individual invoices for each Seller that has sold the item within the Order. The Shopify Plus Order ID and Fulfilment Order ID are synced to the Marketplace external ids field through Cerberus. These IDs can be useful when reconciling orders across platforms.
Shopify Plus orders may contain both first-party and Marketplacer products, only the Marketplacer items are visible in Marketplacer.
If an order is created on Shopify Plus which cannot be fulfilled on Marketplacer (sample scenario: out of stock), the fulfillment request from Shopify is rejected automatically.
For example:
A customer purchases 4 items on Shopify - A, B, C, and D
- Items A and B are sold by a seller on Marketplacer - Doug’s Uggs
- Item C is sold by the Shopify Plus store owner - Slipperworld (first-party)
- Item D is sold by a seller on Marketplacer - Sue’s Shoes
In this example, two invoices are created in Marketplacer, one for each seller. Each time a Marketplacer seller marks their item as shipped, the order is updated in Shopify Plus, with the item marked as Fulfilled, and the tracking link is provided.
Shipments or Fulfilments
The shipment details for Marketplacer products are added by the seller in Marketplacer Seller Portal. These details can be synced to Shopify Plus. The shipment information can also sync with tracking information that is attached to the original order. The partial shipments are likewise supported.
For example, if an order is made for 3 of the same item, the Marketplacer Seller can ship them in multiple Shipments, and each one will feedback to Shopify with the item tracking number.
Shipping carriers must first be set up in Marketplacer for the details to come through successfully.
Returns, Refunds, and Cancellations
Return or Refund requests must be initiated and approved in Marketplacer and not from Shopify Plus, using the standard Marketplacer Return or Refund workflows.
If operators are looking to have an automated solution to create refund or return requests, the SI or Technical partners can create the request using the Marketplacer GraphQL API refundRequestCreate mutation. The implementation options are determined by how shoppers or businesses create return or refund requests.
Customization in Cerberus is not required in this use case because Ceberurs and Marketplacer have the product and order information required to create the request. Cerberus will process the approved request based on the default implementation and notify Shopify Plus of the order status change.
When a return or refund request is approved in Marketplacer, Cerberus notifies and creates a refund in Shopify Plus. The amount approved is then refunded to the shopper.
There are different kinds of refund or fulfillment statuses in Shopify with Marketplacer:
- Payment Status is “Refunded” or “Partially Refunded”.
- Fulfillment Status is “Unfulfilled” if pre-dispatched.
- Fulfilment Status is “Fulfilled” or “Partially fulfilled” if post-dispatched.
Pre-dispatch Scenario
If a seller is unable to fulfill an item or full order, Cerberus syncs only the items that have been fulfilled. In Shopify Plus, the order has the "Unfulfilled" section for unfulfilled items. Only when the refund request from the seller is approved in Marketplacer by the operator, will the order in Shopify Plus appear as "Partially Refunded" and "Partially Fulfilled".
Post-dispatch Scenario
If a customer returns an item wanting a refund for an item that has been shipped, the Seller or Operator must create a refund or return request in Marketplacer. The process follows the normal Marketplacer workflow, once it is approved by the operator, Cerberus triggers the refund notification to Shopify Plus.
Considerations when implementing:
- Will you allow shoppers to cancel orders pre-dispatch
- How will shoppers request refunds/returns?
- How will refund/return requests be generated in Marketplacer
- What agreement do you have with Sellers for refunds/returns/cancellations
Payment Capture
Payment capture on Shopify Plus can happen automatically or manually depending on the Shopify Plus store's configuration. The SI or Technical Partner is responsible for payment solutions. This is managed separately from Marketplacer.
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