Otto Setup
Like every marketplace, Otto is set up on the merchantCENTRAL marketplace card: on the OTTO row of the Marketplaces page. The hub's settings are there – switching on, license, price list, customer (Data Protection), order import, order automation, cancellations – and below them, in the Otto Settings section, everything that concerns Otto only: connection and credentials, product safety, shipment confirmations, notifications and the job queue. This page describes the Otto part.
Opening the Page
- Via search: Marketplaces → row OTTO
- Via search: Otto Setup (the same settings, with the action Open in Hub)
- Via the Otto Dashboard → field Connection Mode
- Via the action Otto Setup in the lists Otto products, brands, categories, shipping profiles and return shipments
- Via the setup wizard: Assisted Setup → group "AD merchantCENTRAL - Setup"; on the marketplace card via the action Setup Wizard
Otto Setup as a page of its own
Set Up in the merchantCENTRAL setup opens the marketplace card on the OTTO row. The Otto Setup page shows the same settings without the marketplace card, plus the license; the links in error messages lead there as well. Open in Hub takes you from there to the marketplace card.
Setup Step by Step
- Marketplace card, General section: switch on Enabled. Without a license the demo registration opens.
- Otto Settings, Connection section: choose the Auth Mode. For a demo without an Otto account, switch on Simulation Mode – then no credentials are needed.
- Authentication: enter the Client ID and the Client Secret from the Otto Partner Center (for the Service Partner the developer credentials, then Connect with Otto (Service Partner)). Test Connection checks that Otto accepts the credentials.
- Product safety: enter the manufacturer and the EU responsible person if the items have no product safety data of their own.
- Marketplace card, Prices section: assign the sales price list in EUR in Price List Code.
- Marketplace card, Data Protection, Order Import and Order Automation sections: the customer of the sales orders, what happens with unknown items, and how far the sales orders are released and posted.
- Job Queue → Create Job Queue Entries, so that orders, stock, prices and shipment confirmations run by themselves.
What only the hub owns – Enabled, license, price list, customer, order import, order automation and Sync Inventory – is not repeated in the Otto Settings.
Fields
Connection
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Mode | Where the requests go: Simulation (amber) – nothing is sent to Otto or read from it –, Sandbox (amber) – the Otto test environment – or Live (green). |
| Simulation Mode | merchantCENTRAL only simulates the exchange with Otto: shipment confirmations, cancellations, return decisions, price reductions, products, prices and stock are confirmed in Business Central as if Otto had accepted them; orders, returns and receipts come in over the Channel Replay. Works without credentials. Only users who may change the Otto setup can switch it, after a question. |
| Sandbox Mode | The requests go to the Otto sandbox instead of the live account. Sets the API Base URL. |
| API Base URL | Base URL of the Otto Market API. Not editable; the Sandbox Mode sets it. |
| Auth Mode | Self App: you manage your own credentials. Service Partner: merchantCENTRAL acts as registered Service Partner. The matching section appears below. |
Authentication (Self App)
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Client ID | Client ID from the Otto Partner Center. |
| Client Secret | Not displayed – the field only shows Configured (green) or Not configured (red); click to enter or change. |
| Token Expires At | When the current access token expires. |
Service Partner Configuration
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Developer Client ID / Developer Client Secret | Developer credentials from the Otto Partner Center; the secret is shown only as Configured or Not configured, as above. |
| Service Partner App ID | The App ID Otto assigned to the Service Partner app. |
| Invitation Link | The invitation link from the Otto Partner Center. |
| Licensing Base URL | Base URL of the merchantCENTRAL Licensing API. |
| Installation ID / Connection Status | The installation the seller authorized; Connected (green) or Not connected (red). |
Only users who may change the Otto setup (permission set ALN MCO Admin) can enter or change the credentials. They apply to the company they are entered in only.
Products
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Product Sync Batch Size | Number of products per upload batch (at most 500). |
| Default VAT Rate | Default VAT rate for the product synchronization. |
| Default Shipping Profile | The shipping profile – delivery time and costs – new Otto products get. The field shows the name of the profile; choose it from the list of imported shipping profiles or type its name or the start of it. Empty: none. |
Prices
The Otto setup has no price fields of its own. The prices come from the sales price list assigned in the Price List Code field on the merchantCENTRAL marketplace card of Otto – usually the price list the Price Engine writes for Otto. Requirements:
- The price list is an active sales price list for customers with prices (not only discounts).
- It is kept in EUR (or without a currency if EUR is the company currency) – Otto sells in EUR, and merchantCENTRAL does not convert currencies.
- For a net price list, VAT Bus. Posting Gr. (Price) is filled in so that merchantCENTRAL can calculate the gross price for Otto.
Items without a price in the price list get a Price Error and are not sent; Otto then keeps the previous price.
Product Safety (GPSR): Manufacturer and EU Responsible Person
Otto requires product safety information with every product upload (compliance.productSafety.addresses). The connector takes it first from the central product safety data of merchantCENTRAL (economic operators per item). If none are maintained there for an item, the defaults from the Otto setup are sent: the manufacturer and – if filled in – the EU responsible person.
Otto only knows two roles. The manufacturer is sent as MANUFACTURER, every other economic operator (EU responsible person, importer, authorised representative, fulfilment service provider) as DISTRIBUTOR. Otto expects at least one address with the role distributor.
Manufacturer Information (Compliance)
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Manufacturer name for Otto product listings |
| Address | Complete manufacturer address in one line (street, postal code, city, country) |
| Country/Region Code | Country of the manufacturer; Otto receives it as a region code (ISO 3166). Default: DE |
| Contact email (email or URL is required) | |
| Phone | Contact phone number (at most 20 characters at Otto) |
| URL | Contact page of the manufacturer |
EU Responsible Person (Compliance) – same fields as for the manufacturer. If the name is left empty, no responsible person is sent.
Safety documents of the item (safety data sheet, user manual/instructions for use, warning label) with a public URL are sent as media (SAFETY_DATASHEET, USER_MANUAL, WARNING_LABEL), provided they are selected for Otto.
Auto-Processing Pipeline
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Pipeline Enabled | Switches on the Otto steps of the order flow together: Auto Create Sales Order and Auto Send Shipment Confirmation. Releasing and posting the sales orders is set on the marketplace card under Order Automation. |
Order Integration
Which customer the sales orders get is set on the marketplace card under Data Protection, what happens to an order with an unknown item under Order Import.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Auto Create Sales Order | Creates the sales orders of the Otto orders whose positions Otto has released, on import, see From Otto order to sales order. |
| Default Item No. | Fallback item for positions whose SKU cannot be resolved to an item – meant for test orders with fictitious SKUs. |
Shipment Confirmation Settings
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Auto Send Shipment Confirmation | As soon as merchantCENTRAL registers a tracking number for an Otto order – from a shipping label or a number entered on the posted shipment –, the shipment confirmation is queued and sent to Otto by the job queue. |
The ship-from address and the carrier are no settings; they come from each delivery:
- Ship-from address: for a drop shipment the buy-from address of the purchase order – that is, of the vendor or its order address –, otherwise the address of the location of the posted shipment (before posting: of the sales order), otherwise the company information – its ship-to address if filled in, otherwise the company address. A location without a city counts as a location without an address. An address without a country gets the country of the company information. Your own extension can change the address through the event
OnAfterGetShipFromAddress(codeunit ALN MCO Ship-From Address). - Carrier: from the shipping agent of the tracking number, through the Otto Carrier Mapping or the code of the shipping agent. Without a carrier the shipment confirmation waits until the shipping agent is mapped.
An order shipped partly from the warehouse and partly as a drop shipment results in separate shipment confirmations: each carries only the positions of its delivery and its ship-from address.
Multiparcel Shipment Confirmations
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Return Carrier for Multiparcel Shipments | Carrier of the return label that new positions of a multiparcel shipment confirmation get. For multiparcel shipments, Otto needs the return tracking of every position. |
Email Notifications
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Notify on New Orders / on Listing Errors / on Returns | Sends an email when new orders or returns are imported or products have listing errors. |
Sponsored Product Ads (SPA)
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable SPA | Switches on the SPA campaigns. Otto's SPA API is currently available in the sandbox only. |
Status
Time and result of the last synchronization of products, orders, shipment confirmations, returns, availability and SPA campaigns.
Actions
The actions of the Otto Settings are in the menu of the section.
Connection
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Test Connection | Checks the connection to the Otto Market API with the stored credentials. |
| Refresh Access Token | Requests a new access token from Otto now instead of when the current one expires. |
| Connect with Otto (Service Partner) | Service Partner only, while there is no installation: opens the Otto installation page where the seller authorizes the Service Partner app. |
| Check Installation Status | Checks afterwards whether the seller completed the installation and takes over the Installation ID. |
| Disconnect Otto | Connected Service Partner only: removes the Installation ID and the tokens after a question. |
| Generate Test Orders | Sandbox Mode only: creates 8 test orders in the Otto sandbox (6 processable, 1 announced, 1 cancelled). |
Job Queue
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Create Job Queue Entries | Creates the job queue entries for the automatic synchronization. |
| Enable All Jobs | Sets all Otto job queue entries to Ready and schedules them; an entry that is Ready but was never scheduled is restarted. You need the permission to schedule tasks. Asks first with the number of entries. An entry that is running is left alone. |
| Disable All Jobs | Puts all ready Otto job queue entries On Hold. Asks first with the number of entries, defaulting to No – until they are enabled again, Business Central and Otto no longer exchange orders, shipment confirmations and stock. |
| Open Job Queue Entries | Shows the job queue entries. |
Lists
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Shipping Profiles / Carrier Mapping / Shipment Confirmations / Returns / Receipts / Price Reductions / Sync Errors | Open the respective list. Orders and products are opened by the marketplace card itself. |
Sync Inventory on the marketplace card sends the stock.
Setup tips
- Test the connection after every change of the credentials.
- Set up the job queue to automate the synchronization.
- For a demo without an Otto account the Simulation Mode is enough.