The quantity available can be determined with different levels of accuracy. Mercateo offers its suppliers the following options to indicate the quantity:

Please note:

No distinction will be made between the various versions in the shop. The most accurate indication possible is very useful for the customer as this may have an effect on their buying decision. Selection of a version is agreed between the supplier and Mercateo.

You can create a stock level query for catalogues on the public platform and for exclusive catalogues. We offer you 2 possibilities for technical implementation:

1. Real-time query, in which we request the stock levels in your system
2. CSV file, which contains stock levels and is transferred to Mercateo via FTP

For catalogues on the public platform, please coordinate with your supplier supervisor with regard to the update interval and transfer of stock levels.
For exclusive customer catalogues, clarify such questions in advance with your customer.

If you should provide stock levels in a format other than the ones mentioned above, please also contact your supplier supervisor in this case.

If you do not have a contact person at Mercateo, please send an e-mail to your Mercateo supervisor.

File format and structure

Stock levels can be transferred to Mercateo as a CSV file via FTP. Processing takes place automatically.

The format and structure of such stock level files are predefined. Each data record is composed of two data fields (columns). The first column contains the item number and the second column the associated stock. Here is an example:

Technical requirements:

• The header (SUPPLIER_AID;QUANTITY) in row 1 does not have to be stated
• Line break: (CR-LF (Chr(13),Chr(10))
• Delimiter: semicolon
• Character encoding: UTF-8

SUPPLIER_AID column:

• The item number in the CSV must correspond to the item number in the catalogue. Otherwise, it is not possible to allocate the stock level
• The item number is also called “SKU” – “Stock Keeping Unit”, “Supplier Article Number” or “Supplier AID”

QUANTITY column:

• Thousand separators are not used
• Please state positive integers

Naming of CSV file

The following naming is required for automatic processing:

Please note:

The catalogue ID will be provided by the Mercateo catalogue management. Please abide by the file naming. Without a correct name, the stock level file is either not processed or not allocated to the right catalogue.

Transmission of CSV file

The CSV files respectively are transferred via FTP. The FTP access data will be communicated to the supplier in the induction phase.

Hint: If the files are compressed in a ZIP archive, it will be possible to significantly reduce the file size for transmission.

For transmission please use the associated ftp folder „availability“ under the specific catalogue folder.

The frequency of data transfer will be agreed with the supplier. For the customer to always have current data in the shop, the availability file should be updated at least once a day. Shorter time periods from of as little as thirty minutes are also feasible.

Please note:

To activate the stock level query, please contact your supplier supervisor or catalogue manager at Mercateo.

General information

It is possible to display the real-time availability of the catalogue item on the product detail page. For implementation, please provide us with a link via which we request the item number and obtain the quantity (stock level).

During this procedure, Mercateo only accesses the availability data for the items required by the customer call. The availability is always as up-to-date as the data on your web server. As a supplier, you are responsible for the availability of your web server.

If you would like to activate the real-time query for your products, please contact your supplier supervisor or catalogue manager at Mercateo.

Technical requirements

In this procedure, Mercateo retrieves the availability data for the items required through customer request only. Availability will always be as current as the data of the supplier on its web server. The supplier will be responsible for the accessibility of his web server. HTTP is used for the “external link” procedure.

The following requirements apply to the returned value:

• Upon request of the item number through HTTP, a number must be fed back
• The number fed back is equal to the stock level
• The return value is a positive integer (including zero)
• Return values in the formats of “Yes”, “No”, “Availability is…” cannot be processed by Mercateo

Example link:

Example for real-time availability request

A CSV document must be created, and it must include the item number and associated stock. This CSV file is saved on your web server.

Example path (including CSV file name):

File structure:

Sample script: