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ITscope Supplier Connector

The merchantCENTRAL Supplier ITscope connects the B2B trading platform ITscope to your merchantCENTRAL platform. Unlike a classic supplier connector, it does not know one supplier but as many distributors as your ITscope export contains: the same item is offered by many distributors at once, each with its own price and stock. The connector does not merge them — every offer stays a source of supply of its own, bound to the vendor you buy from at that distributor.

The connector is an add-on to the merchantCENTRAL Hub. The offers flow into the central supplier data (ALN MC Supplier Data), where the price engine, the stock calculation of the sales channels and the item creation pick them up. With an ITscope API contract, the connector also orders through ITscope and brings order confirmation, dispatch notification and invoice back into the purchase order.

Feature Overview

Feature Description
Catalog import (full export) Product master, distributor offers, project prices and accessories from the ITscope export ZIP
Update import Prices and stock from the small update export — for hourly runs during the day
Multi-distributor Every offer is bound to a Business Central vendor of its own through the vendor mapping
Product master staging Manufacturer part number, EAN, descriptions, weights, dimensions, tariff number, energy label, marketing texts, images
Project prices Your project price becomes the unit cost while it is valid on the work date — afterwards the distributor price returns
Accessories Original and compatible accessories as item relations in the hub, for every sales channel
Manufacturer selection The first import fills the manufacturer catalog; restrict it on the supplier card at any time
Product images and catalog links Bring images into the hub; Show on ITscope on the item card and in the supplier data
Import from file Download the export ZIP by hand and feed it in as often as needed
Ordering (API, preview) Prepare a cart in ITscope or send the order as a binding OpenTrans order to the distributor — automatically from procurement or by hand from the purchase order, with an order test mode
Document feedback (API, preview) Fetch order confirmation, dispatch notification and invoice and write them into the purchase order: dates, quantities, prices, serial numbers, charges, goods receipt and invoice
Availability (API, preview) Stock, incoming stock, availability date and price of all distributors for the open lines of a purchase order
Invoice PDF (API, preview) The distributor's invoice as a PDF — from the ITscope invoice, the posted purchase invoice and the vendor ledger entries
Document navigation From purchase order, sales order, posted receipts and invoices and vendor ledger entries to the ITscope order and back, with tracking for each parcel
API usage Every API call is counted per month and category and set against the booked quota
License & demo Tenant- and module-bound license with a free demo (module code ITSCOPE)

Getting Started

  1. Make sure the merchantCENTRAL Hub is installed, set up and licensed.
  2. Install the connector AD merchantCENTRAL Supplier ITscope.
  3. In your ITscope export configuration, create the full export and, if you like, the update export, and copy their download links with Share.
  4. Run the setup wizard. Only the full export link is required; leave Switch ITscope On selected in the last step.
  5. Start Run Full Import on the dashboard. The first run writes no offer yet — it collects the distributors of the export.
  6. Give every distributor you buy from a vendor of its own: ITscope Connection Setup → Assign Distributors (see Import Setup).
  7. Start Run Full Import again — now the offers arrive.
  8. Create the job queue entries for the regular imports on the supplier card ITSCOPE and restrict the manufacturers if needed.
  9. Only with an ITscope API contract: set up ordering and the document feedback.

Catalog import without an API contract

The download links are all the catalog import needs — the access token is embedded in the link itself. Account ID and API key are only required for the optional API functions: cart, ordering, document feedback, availability check and invoice PDF.

Page Overview

Page Description
Dashboard Daily work: import overview, orders and API, actions
Setup The ITscope settings: export links, API, ordering, document feedback
Setup Wizard First-time configuration in five steps
Import Setup Import definitions, full and update import, distributors, schedule
Product Staging The product master read from product.csv
Orders Cart or binding order, order card, statuses, availability
Invoices The distributors' invoices and the invoice PDF
Serial Numbers The reported serial numbers and their assignment
Document Navigation The action group ITscope on the Business Central documents
Document Feedback Job queue, what a run does, document automation
Deal Documents Every document exchanged with ITscope, as it was
API Usage The call counter and the API quota
Troubleshooting Messages, causes and fixes

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         ITscope                          │
│                                                          │
│  Export (share link)           REST API (preview)        │
│  ├── Full export (ZIP)         ├── Cart                  │
│  │   product master, offers,   ├── Order (OpenTrans)     │
│  │   project prices, accessory ├── Deal status           │
│  └── Update export (ZIP)       ├── Availability          │
│      prices, stock             └── Confirmation, dispatch│
│                                    notification, invoice │
│                                    (also as PDF)         │
└─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬──────────────┘
              │ token in the link           │ account ID + API key
┌─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴──────────────┐
│             merchantCENTRAL Supplier ITscope             │
└────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                             │ Events
┌────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┐
│                   merchantCENTRAL Hub                    │
│      (supplier data, price engine, stock, tracking)      │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Try It Without an ITscope Account

Three small sample exports in the format of the real ITscope export let you walk through every step before you look up your own links. Every manufacturer, distributor, price and project in them is fictitious.

File Content How to use
Full export, day 1 10 products, 21 offers from 3 distributors, 1 project price, 6 accessory relations Enter the address as Full Export URL in the setup wizard
Update export Prices and stock of the same offers, three of them changed Enter the address as Update Export URL in the setup wizard
Full export, day 2 The state after the update, one offer missing Download it and feed it in with Import from File — the missing offer drops to quantity 0 and status Draft

The two addresses for the setup wizard:

https://help.merchantcentral.de/assets/downloads/itscope-sample/ITscope_Sample_Full_Export.zip
https://help.merchantcentral.de/assets/downloads/itscope-sample/ITscope_Sample_Update_Export.zip

Assign first, then import

The first import only collects the three distributors. Use Assign Distributors → Create Vendors to give each distributor a vendor of its own, then import again. In a sandbox, switch on Allow HttpClient Requests for the connector and the hub.

Prerequisites

  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central online, version 28 (2026 release wave 1) or later, localization Germany, Austria or Switzerland
  • merchantCENTRAL Hub version 2.114 or later, installed, set up and licensed
  • A license or demo for the module ITSCOPE — in a sandbox, too
  • An ITscope account with access to the export configuration
  • For the API functions only: a paid ITscope API contract; for orders to come about automatically from the sales order, AD merchantCENTRAL Trading as well
  • In sandboxes: Allow HttpClient Requests for the connector and the hub (Extension Management → Configure)

Help & Support

Manual as PDF

The complete user manual (German) is available as a PDF: Handbuch merchantCENTRAL Supplier ITscope