Marketplace

INTRODUCTION

Owning a Marketplace is a great business model as you can offer a huge variety to your customers. To give a perfect shape to your business model; KIU BMP Multi Vendor Marketplace offers you a platform to sell the wide range of products without actually owning it.

The module allows you to connect with multiple vendors so that they can sell their products on your Online Store. Your business model can attract “Brick-Mortar sellers” to sign in for your KIU BMP Marketplace. As it gives an opportunity for them to place their markable impression to the wide audience.

As a Marketplace Owner (Admin), you have complete authority to approve/disapprove products, orders, sellers, etc, manage sellers’ payments, seller shops and much more.

FEATURES

Here is the concise list of the features.

Transform your KIU BMP Website into Online store for multiple vendors
Add terms and condition on the seller registration form
Admin can also sell his/her own products on the Marketplace
Only sellers approved by admin can upload their products on Online Store
Admin can set manual or auto-approval of seller products and their quantities.
Only approved products by admin are displayed on store
Assign individual warehouses and locations for all sellers for Effective inventory management.
Allows to show/hide seller’s information on the website such as sales count, Product count, Return Policy, Joining date, shipping policy, etc.
Allow customers to reach out to the seller through ‘Email to Seller’ button.
Each seller has a separate shop and profile page in the marketplace.
Sellers can set a unique profile page and provide shop description, shop name, tagline, etc on the website.
The seller can provide the shop’s term and conditions.
View total sales and easily manage all orders on your shop( sales order analysis )
Overview all shop related information like products approval requests, total orders on his account and seller payments directly on the seller dashboard.

WORKFLOW

Configuration

1) Login to your KIU BMP Database with Admin Credentials and go to the Seller Dashboard Module

2) Click on the ‘Configuration’ Tab>> Settings

3) You can set the “Auto Approval Settings“; like automatically approve the seller’s requests, product approval, and quantity approval. Moreover, you can set the internal category for all marketplace products.

4) Now, click on the ‘Payment Terms‘ Tab under Other Settings; set the global payment terms for all of your marketplace sellers; however, the payment terms set for each seller profile uniquely can override these settings.

5) Now, click on the ‘Mail & Notifications‘ Tab under Other Settings; Enable/Disable mail notifications for admins and sellers for different Marketplace Events. The events like seller’s requests, product approval, new order, and quantity approval.

6) Now, click on the ‘Website‘ Tab under Other Settings; manage marketplace website view settings; like show/hide reviews and the count, marketplace landing page for customers, display recently added products and so on.

Admin View

7) Now click on the Dashboard tab for the quick peek to all the approvals.

8) Go to the Sellers; from here you can view and manage the marketplace sellers

9) Open any pending Seller request; approve or deny the request and edit seller settings as per your requirements.

10) Enable the checkbox to Over-ride seller’s default settings and set the terms as per your requirements.

11) Now, go to the Seller Reviews under Sellers Tab to manage seller reviews and recommendations From customers

12) Under the Sales Tab go to the “Orders” to manage the orders; moreover, you can manage sellers payment history from the sales tab only; Click on the “Approve” button to approve the order.

13) Click on Pay to Seller menu to make the payment; fill the required details to pay to the sellers

14) Go to the Invoicing > Seller Bills to manage seller payments; click on the “Ask For Credit Note” button if needed

15) Go to the Product tab; from here you can create a new product and approve/disapprove the product request.

16) Go to the Inventory; from here you can manage sellers inventory request and view delivery orders for the marketplace.

Inventory Request

Delivery Order

SELLER

17) Login with a seller account for a quick glance to the Seller’s Dashboard;

18) Go to “My Profile” under Sellers Tab to manage payment settings, store policies, and profile page. Click on the “Request For Payment” tab to directly notify admin for the payment.

19) Navigate to the ‘Sales‘ Tab to manage orders and payments

20) Go to Sales > “Request For Payment” for payment request to the admin

21) Selers can Request admin to update inventory, orders and stock moves

Website View

22) Login as a customer in the marketplace; here, you can see the seller name in the product page

23) Click on the Seller’s name to view his/her details

24) Click on the “Rating & Reviews” tab to write a review for the seller and can see others review.

1.6.1. How to import data on KIU BMP

How to start

You can import data on any KIU BMP’s business object using either Excel (.xlsx) or CSV (.csv) formats: contacts, products, bank statements, journal entries and even orders!

Open the view of the object you want to populate and click Import.

There you are provided with templates you can easily populate with your own data. Such templates can be imported in one click; The data mapping is already done.

How to adapt the template

Add, remove and sort columns to fit at best your data structure.
We advise to not remove the ID one (see why in the next section).
Set a unique ID to every single record by dragging down the ID sequencing.

When you add a new column, KIU BMPmight not be able to map it automatically if its label doesn’t fit any field in KIU BMP. Don’t worry! You can map new columns manually when you test the import. Search the list for the corresponding field.

Then, use this field’s label in your file in order to make it work straight on the very next time.

Why an “ID” column

The ID (External ID) is an unique identifier for the line item. Feel free to use the one of your previous software to ease the transition to KIU BMP.

Setting an ID is not mandatory when importing but it helps in many cases:

Update imports: you can import the same file several times without creating duplicates;
Import relation fields (see here below).

How to import from another application

In order to re-create relationships between different records, you should use the unique identifier from the original application and map it to the ID (External ID) column in KIU BMP. When you import another record that links to the first one, use XXX/ID (XXX/External ID) to the original unique identifier. You can also find this record using its name but you will be stuck if at least 2 records have the same name.

The ID will also be used to update the original import if you need to re-import modified data later, it’s thus good practice to specify it whenever possible.

How to import relation fields

An KIU BMP object is always related to many other objects (e.g. a product is linked to product categories, attributes, vendors, etc.). To import those relations you need to import the records of the related object first from their own list menu.

You can do it using either the name of the related record or its ID. The ID is expected when two records have the same name. In such a case add ” / ID” at the end of the column title (e.g. for product attributes: Product Attributes / Attribute / ID).

I cannot find the field I want to map my column to

KIU BMP tries to find with some heuristic, based on the first ten lines of the files, the type of field for each column inside your file. For example if you have a column only containing numbers, only the fields that are of type Integer will be displayed for you to choose from. While this behavior might be good and easy for most cases, it is also possible that it goes wrong or that you want to map your column to a field that is not proposed by default.

If that happens, you just have to check the ** Show fields of relation fields (advanced)** option, you will then be able to choose from the complete list of fields for each column.

Where can I change the date import format?

KIU BMPcan automatically detect if a column is a date, and it will try to guess the date format from a set of most commonly used date formats. While this process can work for many date formats, some date formats will not be recognized. This can cause confusion due to day-month inversions; it is difficult to guess which part of a date format is the day and which part is the month in a date such as ‘01-03-2016’.

To view which date format KIU BMP has found from your file you can check the Date Format that is shown when clicking on Options under the file selector. If this format is incorrect you can change it to your liking using the ISO 8601 to define the format.

Note

If you are importing an excel (.xls, .xlsx) file, you can use date cells to store dates as the display of dates in excel is different from the way it is stored. That way you will be sure that the date format is correct in KIU BMP whatever your locale date format is.

Can I import numbers with currency sign (e.g.: $32.00)?

Yes, we fully support numbers with parenthesis to represent negative sign as well as numbers with currency sign attached to them. KIU BMP also automatically detect which thousand/decimal separator you use (you can change those under options). If you use a currency symbol that is not known to KIU BMP, it might not be recognized as a number though and it will crash.

Examples of supported numbers (using thirty-two thousands as an example):

32.000,00
32000,00
32,000.00
-32000.00
(32000.00)
$ 32.000,00
(32000.00 €)

Example that will not work:

ABC 32.000,00
$ (32.000,00)

What can I do when the Import preview table isn’t displayed correctly?

By default the Import preview is set on commas as field separators and quotation marks as text delimiters. If your csv file does not have these settings, you can modify the File Format Options (displayed under the Browse CSV file bar after you select your file).

Note that if your CSV file has a tabulation as separator, KIU BMP will not detect the separations. You will need to change the file format options in your spreadsheet application. See the following question.

How can I change the CSV file format options when saving in my spreadsheet application?

If you edit and save CSV files in speadsheet applications, your computer’s regional settings will be applied for the separator and delimiter. We suggest you use OpenOffice or LibreOffice Calc as they will allow you to modify all three options (in ‘Save As’ dialog box > Check the box ‘Edit filter settings’ > Save).

Microsoft Excel will allow you to modify only the encoding when saving (in ‘Save As’ dialog box > click ‘Tools’ dropdown list > Encoding tab).

What’s the difference between Database ID and External ID?

Some fields define a relationship with another object. For example, the country of a contact is a link to a record of the ‘Country’ object. When you want to import such fields, KIU BMP will have to recreate links between the different records. To help you import such fields, KIU BMP provides 3 mechanisms. You must use one and only one mechanism per field you want to import.

For example, to reference the country of a contact, KIU BMP proposes you 3 different fields to import:

Country: the name or code of the country
Country/Database ID: the unique KIU BMP ID for a record, defined by the ID postgresql column
Country/External ID: the ID of this record referenced in another application (or the .XML file that imported it)

For the country Belgium, you can use one of these 3 ways to import:

Country: Belgium
Country/Database ID: 21
Country/External ID: base.be

According to your need, you should use one of these 3 ways to reference records in relations. Here is when you should use one or the other, according to your need:

Use Country: This is the easiest way when your data come from CSV files that have been created manually.
Use Country/Database ID: You should rarely use this notation. It’s mostly used by developers as it’s main advantage is to never have conflicts (you may have several records with the same name, but they always have a unique Database ID)
Use Country/External ID: Use External ID when you import data from a third party application.

When you use External IDs, you can import CSV files with the “External ID” column to define the External ID of each record you import. Then, you will be able to make a reference to that record with columns like “Field/External ID”. The following two CSV files give you an example for Products and their Categories.

CSV file for categories.

CSV file for Products.

What can I do if I have multiple matches for a field?

If for example you have two product categories with the child name “Sellable” (ie. “Misc. Products/Sellable” & “Other Products/Sellable”), your validation is halted but you may still import your data. However, we recommend you do not import the data because they will all be linked to the first ‘Sellable’ category found in the Product Category list (“Misc. Products/Sellable”). We recommend you modify one of the duplicates’ values or your product category hierarchy.

However if you do not wish to change your configuration of product categories, we recommend you use make use of the external ID for this field ‘Category’.

How can I import a many2many relationship field (e.g. a customer that has multiple tags)?

The tags should be separated by a comma without any spacing. For example, if you want your customer to be linked to both tags ‘Manufacturer’ and ‘Retailer’ then you will encode “Manufacturer,Retailer” in the same column of your CSV file.

CSV file for Manufacturer, Retailer.

How can I import a one2many relationship (e.g. several Order Lines of a Sales Order)?

If you want to import sales order having several order lines; for each order line, you need to reserve a specific row in the CSV file. The first order line will be imported on the same row as the information relative to order. Any additional lines will need an addtional row that does not have any information in the fields relative to the order. As an example, here is purchase.order_functional_error_line_cant_adpat.CSV file of some quotations you can import, based on demo data.

File for some Quotations.

The following CSV file shows how to import purchase orders with their respective purchase order lines:

Purchase orders with their respective purchase order lines.

The following CSV file shows how to import customers and their respective contacts:

Customers and their respective contacts.

Can I import several times the same record?

If you import a file that contains one of the column “External ID” or “Database ID”, records that have already been imported will be modified instead of being created. This is very usefull as it allows you to import several times the same CSV file while having made some changes in between two imports. KIU BMP will take care of creating or modifying each record depending if it’s new or not.

This feature allows you to use the Import/Export tool of KIU BMP to modify a batch of records in your favorite spreadsheet application.

What happens if I do not provide a value for a specific field?

If you do not set all fields in your CSV file, KIU BMP will assign the default value for every non defined fields. But if you set fields with empty values in your CSV file, KIU BMP will set the EMPTY value in the field, instead of assigning the default value.

Part 4: User Settings

Users can easily take some normal settings related language and login information in App.

Step 1 – Go Settings	Step 2 – Choose Language

Step 1 – Go Settings	Step 2 – Update new password	Step 3 – Confirm

Part 3: Report

We support 4 types of reports: Sales, Expenses, Bills, Cash flow

Sales, Expenses, and Bills reports have the same format with time range : Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly. Data is automatically updated when user uses the App.

Reports	Sales report	Expenses report

Cash Flow report will provide users an overview of business status. Users can check how Cash in/ out and Net profit fluctuates in a time range.

NOTE: Cash in on POS will update when user closes POS Session.

Set time range for filter	Apply for checking Cash Flow report

5. Loan Application

This is the part which helps users can send a loan request to a credit institution or bank. Only with invoices which are in payment can request a loan.Users can easily follow the status of each loan request on tab Loan Application: Sent, Approved, Funded, Repaid and Rejected.

When users meet demand of using Loan, user will receive notification that App is updated	Loan menu will appear on App	In order to create a Loan Application, go to Sell menu, click on Transactions

Click on invoice, detail of invoice will shown with the button “Apply for Loan”	A pop up to request for taking survey will be shown in the 1st time create Loan Application	Credit Score Survey screen will appear, click on “Start Survey” to start

Answer the list of mandatory questions, then click “Submit” for end of survey	Submit successfully notification. Score result will be shown on SaaS.	After done survey, click on “Apply for Loan” again to fill in Loan Application. Max amt is set up as 80% of invoice amount

Loan Application submit successfully notification. Invoice will be marked with tag “Loan requested”	Go to Loan menu to see a list of Loan Application.	Loan Application detail screen

4. Expenses

This part helps you control expense incurred (such as: Rent, Salaries, Mobile Bill,… and so on)

Step 1 – Click “+” button	Step 2 – Select Expense	Step 3 – Fill Expense info

Step 4 – Expense detail	Step 5 – Click filter to search	Step 6 – Choose expense category

3. Invoices

Invoices is one of the most important menus in The Bookkeeper application. This menu help you sell products like in POS menu: sell multi products, enter discounts (if any) by creating new invoices for your customers. But the best thing in this menu is you can let your customer pay partially instead of immediate payment in POS. You also can choose payment methods, payment terms when record invoices.

After recording a new invoice, you can save then register payment or save and sending an pdf invoice version for your customer by email

This app provides Invoices tab in Sale Transactions menu let you follow how much your customers paid, due amount in each invoice

You also can adjust your invoices if record wrong. Invoice status must be submitted. The invoice number will be kept the same after you adjust but the total amount and inventory will be updated.

To make a new invoice follow these step:

Step 1 – Go to Create Invoices	Step 2 – Choose customer	Step 3 – Enter quantity, discount

Step 4 – Confirm to proceed	Step 5 – Choose payment term	Step 6 – Review invoice

Step 7 – Save invoice	Step 8 – Pay now or pay later	Step 9 – Enter paid amount, journal

● Users can pay partially or pay full amount by enter amount in box
Step 10 – Confirm to proceed	Step 11 – Payment Recorded

● If users want to write off for a partially paid invoice, they can turn on “File as loss” as steps below:
Step 1 – Record payment	Step 2 – Choose “File as loss”	Step 3 – Invoice status updated

To view how much you customer paid in each invoice or adjust invoices, go to Sale Transaction:

Step 1 – Choose POS order	Step 2 – Detail order

Note that “Paid partially” Invoice and “Paid” Invoice can not adjust.
Step 1 – Choose Invoice	Step 2 – Click on adjust invoice	Step 3 – Tap to edit quantity

Step 4 – Edit quantity	Step 5 – Click Confirm to save	Step 6 – Invoice updated

2. Selling at POS

This is the most important part, helping you manage the quantity and amount of goods sold during the day. The system automatically calculates grand total amount in case customer buy multiple products at the same time or help you calculate excess amounts to be returned to the customer.

To check out products, you should follow steps below:

In Step 2: Users set opening balance in this box.

Step 1 – Go to POS menu	Step 2 – Open session	Step 3 – Choose product

Step 4 – Choose product quantity	Step 5 – Click on Check out button	Step 6 – Choose customer

Step 7 – You can search customer	Step 8 – Click on Check out button	Step 9 – Enter paid amount

Step 10 – Order completed	Step 11 – Sales Transactions	Step 12 – Inventory updated

To Close session, users can do as steps below:
Step 1 – Close session	Step 2 – Check cash in drawer

● If Cash in your drawer is not the same as calculated in App, you should click on “Adjust Cash”
Step 3 – Adjust Cash	Step 4 – Type amount and reason	Step 5 – Confirm and close

To view POS orders, go to Dashboard, click on Sale Transactions menu > tab POS

Step 1 – Go to Sale Transactions	Step 2 – Choose POS order	Step 3 – Detail POS order

Voiding POS orders means canceling the order you recorded before, products will be returned and money is refunded. Each POS order only can void one time. A new refund order will be created if you complete voiding a transaction.

Step 1 – Go to Sale Transactions	Step 2 – Choose POS order	Step 3 – Click on Void Transaction

Step 4 – Confirm to void	Step 5 – POS order after voiding	Step 6 – A refund order created

If your product quantity is not enough to sell or less than the minimum quantity set up before, the system will alert and do not let you sell. To continue selling at POS, you have to adjust quantity more than the minimum

Step 1 – Click on Edit product quantity	Step 2 – Enter quantity	Step 3 – Quantity updated

1. Vendor Bills

This part helps you manage the quantity of products in stock and the products’ cost price

Note that in step 4&5, it is necessary to update cost price of products because if not, unit price will be the same as Sale price.

Step 1 – Go to Vendor Bill module	Step 2 – Select Vendor	Step 3 – Select Products

Step 4 – Choose qty	Step 5 – Choose qty	Step 6 – Click “Next” button

● Each time clicking “Upload Bill Image”, users can only choose one picture. In order to upload another picture, users continue to click “Upload Bill Image”
Step 7 – Review Bill info	Step 8 – Upload Bill Image	Step 9 – Select image

Step 10 – Create Vendor Bill	Step 11 – Vendor Bill detail	Step 12 – Inventory updated