Editing Product Information

Miningwatchdog Marketplace is a catalog based system, this means that there is a catalog of products that the admin has predefined in the system. A seller can use these predefined products to set up their shop inventory.

NB: The admin can restrict the seller from adding new products. If so, the seller will only be able to view the products added by the admin and can only add inventory for the same. Important Terminologies: It is important for the seller to understand a few terminologies before proceeding further with adding products. Understanding these terms will make it easy for the seller to navigate the ‘Products’ section.

Depending upon who added them in the system, the products available on website can be categorized among two categories:

i. Marketplace Products: These are the products that are added by the admin. The sellers can view these products but cannot make any kinds of changes.

ii. Private Products: These products are added by the seller itself. The products added by any seller will be shown only to that respective seller and only they can make changes in them.

There are two different types of products available on website:

a. Physical: These are the products that are tangible and can be shipped to the customers. For example clothes and electronic gadgets are physical products.

b. Digital: These are the products that are intangible but can be accessed online or as soft copies. For example, e-books and internet television channels are digital products. Such products cannot be shipped.

Seller Shipping: The seller has the choice of activating and deactivating the shipping option for any product added on the system. The products that are added by the admin can also be shipped by the seller by activating the ‘Seller Shipping’ option for those products. Each product displays its own ‘Seller Shipping’ option. The shipping options seen by any seller are:

● N/A: This option is available for products that do not require any shipping. All the digital products do not require any shipping. So, if any digital product is added by the admin or by the seller, it will display ‘n/a’ under the ‘seller shipping’ column. Additionally, any products added by the seller itself, will also display ‘n/a’ in the shipping section since it is presumed that the product added by the seller will be shipped by the seller only.

● Seller Shipping Deactivated: The grey toggle switch button displayed ahead of any product depicts that the shipping for that product has been deactivated by the seller.

● Seller Shipping Activated: The green toggle switch button displayed to the right of any product depicts that the shipping for that product has been activated by the seller. The ‘Edit Shipping’ icon is displayed to the right of products for which the seller has activated shipping.

This module includes tabs that are explained below.

i. Marketplace Products

This tab displays all the catalog products available in the system along with any seller defined custom products. The list displayed on this page includes products added by the seller as well as those added by the admin. Please note that the seller will not be able to view products of other sellers. When a newly registered seller visits this page they will either see no products or the products that are added by the admin.

NB: The seller can choose to ship the Marketplace products (products added by the admin) displayed in the list. The “Add Inventory” and “Product Info” action buttons are available to the extreme right of these products.

As shown in figure, a search bar is provided on the top of this page using which admin can search products through following filters:

● Keyword: Using keywords/ean/isbn/upc code.

● Product: Selecting product categories from a drop-down list which consists of three options: All, Marketplace Products and Private Products.

➔ Selecting ‘All’ will display both private and marketplace products.

➔ Selecting ‘Marketplace products’ will display the products added by admin.

➔ Selecting ‘Private Products’ will display the products added by the seller.

● Product Type: Selecting product type from drop-down list which provides three options: All, Physical or Digital products.

➔ Selecting ‘All’ will show both Physical as well as Digital products.

➔ Selecting ‘Physical’ will only show the tangible products.

➔ Selecting ‘Digital’ will show only the intangible products.

Clicking on the “Add New Product” button redirects the seller to the “Custom Product Setup” page as shown in figure. It includes five sub-tabs.

● Initial Setup: As shown in figure, the seller must:

➔ Product Identifier*: Enter a unique identifier for the product. The product identifier is not displayed in the front-end and is used only for the system's internal purpose.

➔ Product Type*: Select the type of product being added to define if it is ‘Physical’ or ‘Digital’.

➔ Brand*: Enter brand for the product. An auto-complete drop-down list will be displayed when the seller begins to enter the brand name. The seller can choose the brand from this list. However, the suggestions seen are only those that have been entered by the admin. If any particular brand is not available in the suggestion list, the seller can forward a request to the admin for the same.

Brand will be added to the list if the admin approves the seller's request. Clicking on ‘Request New Brand’ button, a pop-up menu bar will appear as shown in figure/

■Basic: Enter a unique brand identifier. After adding the brand identifier, the seller must click on the ‘Save Changes’ button.

■ Language Data: As shown in figure 7.2.4, the seller must select language type from the drop-down list. Then, the seller must enter the name of the brand in the “Brand Name” input field. The seller can select the check-box of “Update Other Languages Data” to enable automatic translation of data to other languages.

NB: The “Update Other Languages Data” option is only available if the admin has enabled the “Translate to Other Languages” button.

Once the seller has filled the required fields, they must click on the ‘Update’ button.

■ Media: Here, the seller can upload an image to represent the brand. The seller can select the preferred language from the ‘Language’ drop-down bar as shown in figure. The ‘Ratio’ section shows two ratios each having different dimensions. The seller can select any one of the ratios as per their requirement for ‘Preferred Dimensions’. Then, the seller can upload the image by clicking on ‘Choose File’. After selecting the image, the seller will be displayed a pop-up bar to edit the image. Clicking on ‘Crop’ will save the image successfully.

The ‘Brand Request Successfully Sent’ message is displayed as shown in figure, which confirms that the seller’s request has been forwarded to the admin for approval.

➔ Product Categories*: Select the appropriate category in which the product can be added. The auto-complete drop-down list will appear as the seller begins to type. This list is admin-manageable.

➔ Tax Category*: The tax category under which the respective product falls must be selected. This list is admin-manageable.

➔ Minimum selling price [Default Currency]: Enter the minimum selling price for the product.

➔ Status: Select the current status of this product from the drop-down list.

➔ Product Name*: Enter product name that will be displayed on the front-end.

➔ YouTube Video URL: Seller can add a YouTube video URL for the customers to have additional knowledge about this product.

➔ Description: Seller can add additional information describing the product in the ‘Description’ text box provided as shown in figure. This information can help customers know more about the product.

➔ ‘Translate to Other Languages’ Check-box: Selecting this check-box, the system will automatically update content to other languages. NB: The ‘Translate to Other Languages’ button is only displayed if permitted by the admin. The admin can choose not to display this button due to which if the seller wants to, they will need to enter the content manually in a different language.

➔ ‘Secondary’ Language Data: Seller can manually enter all the details in secondary language. The seller must then click on ‘Save and Next’ to proceed further to the next tab. If the seller wants to cancel adding this product, they can click on the Discard’ button which will redirect them back to the page displaying the list of products.

● Attribute & Specifications: This tab helps sellers add the attributes and specifications that define the product. As shown in figure, seller must:

➔ Model*: Enter the product’s model name or number.

➔ Product Warranty*: Enter the warranty of the product in ‘Number of Days’.

➔ Mark This Product As Featured? : Select the checkbox to display this product in the ‘Featured Product’ list on the homepage.

➔ Product Is Eligible For Free Shipping? : Select the checkbox to provide free of cost shipping to the customers for this product. NB: This option is not provided when adding a ‘Digital’ product.

➔ Product Is Available for Cash on Delivery (cod)? : Select this checkbox to enable the Cash on Delivery option for the product. NB: This option is not provided when adding a ‘Digital’ product. To add a specification for the product, three input fields are provided in this tab in which seller must:

➔ Specification Label Text*: Enter a particular label text name in this input field.

➔ Specification Value*: Enter the value of that specification.

➔ Specification Group: Add a group to the specification. The seller must then click on the “Add” button which will show the added specification in the list below. Two action buttons are provided on the right-hand side of each specification which are:

➔ Edit: Clicking on this icon seller can make changes in previously added specifications.

➔ Delete: Clicking on this icon will delete the specification from this list. (Secondary) Language Specification helps sellers add any specification manually in the secondary language. The seller must then click on the ‘Save and Next’ button to proceed to the next tab. To make changes in previous sections, sellers must click on the ‘Back’ button.

Options and Tags: The product options such as the availability of different sizes or color options for the product can be mentioned in this tab as shown in figure. This section has two fields that are:

➔ Add Associated Product option Groups: This is an auto-complete drop-down bar which helps sellers provide specification labels to their product. The seller can add specifications related to size, color, brands and models. The options being displayed as suggestions are added by the admin.

➔ Product Tags: The product tags are useful in displaying products in search results made by customers. The tags help sellers promote their products by displaying them as suggestions to the customers who are searching for similar products. So, the seller must assign easy, relevant and commonly used tags for the product in this input field. To enter the product tags, the seller must enter the tag and then press Enter.

To proceed further, the seller must click on the ‘Save and Next’ button. To make changes in previous sections, sellers must click on the “Back'' button.

● Shipping Information: Please note that this tab is not available when adding ‘Digital’ products. As shown in figure, admin must:

➔ Dimensions Unit*: Select the unit of dimensions to be entered.

➔ Length*: Enter value of length of product.

➔ Width*: Enter value of width of product.

➔ Height*: Enter value of height of product.

➔ Weight Unit*: Select unit of weight to be entered.

➔ Weight*: Enter the value of weight.

➔ Country the Product Is Being shipped From: Select the country from which product is to be shipped from the drop-down.

➔ Add Shipping Details: In this section, details of the shipping company and their pricing are entered and saved. Sellers can add multiple shipping options and select one of them later when processing orders for this product.

■ Destination Country: Select the destination country, in other words, the country in which product is to be delivered.
■ Shipping Company: Select the name of the shipping company from the drop-down list. This is admin-manageable.

■ Shipping Service Type: Select the service type defining duration of delivery from the drop-down list. This is admin-manageable.

■ Minimum Quantity: Minimum Quantity range can be configured based on a specific region.

■ Maximum Quantity: Maximum Quantity range can be configured based on a specific region.

■ Rate [Default Currency]: Enter the price that will be charged when shipping this product (per unit).

■ Additional per Item [Default Currency]: Enter the price that will be charged per additional quantity. If not defined, the shipping cost will not change with variation in quantity.

Note: Region wise slabs can be added with Minimum Quantity and Maximum Quantity.

● Media: This tab helps sellers add images to be displayed for their products as shown in figure below. Seller must:

➔ Image File Type: Select an option from the drop-down list. This displays “For All Options” by default. This means that the image provided will be displayed when the customer views all the product options. The drop-down list will show the product options for the product mentioned by the seller in the “Add Associated Product option Groups” under the “Options and Tags” section. This means that sellers can choose a different image for each option.

➔ Language: Select the preferred language from the drop-down list.

➔ Photo(s): Add images for the product and its options by clicking on the “Choose File” button.

The seller must then click on the “Finish” button which will redirect them to the product homepage. To make changes in previous sections, sellers must click on the “Back'' button.

Once the seller has finished adding the product and arrived back at the product homepage, the product will begin to be displayed in the list. On the extreme right of the list, each product has few short-cut buttons provided for the seller to perform certain actions. The ‘Products’ list provides seller certain functionalities:

● Seller Shipping: Since sellers can see products added by admin as well, they can enable shipping for products they want to sell, through this toggle button. The toggle button displaying ‘Green’ means that the seller has enabled shipping and ‘Grey’ means that the seller has disabled shipping for this respective product.

● Add Inventory: This shortcut helps sellers add products to the inventory. Clicking on this icon redirects the seller to the “Inventory Setup” page shown in figure. The seller must:

➔ Title*: Update or continue with existing heading for the product.

➔ URL Keyword*: Add the keyword URL in this input field.

➔ “System Should Maintain Stock Levels” Check-box: Select this check-box to enable the system to automatically keep a track on the remaining stock levels.

➔ “System Should Track Product Inventory” Check-box: Selecting this check-box will enable the system to generate an alert for the seller notifying them about the number of products left in the inventory. For instance, if the seller wants that an alert be generated when the inventory is left with only 2 products, the seller will select this check-box. The system will generate an alert and notify the seller about missing stock. If the seller has not selected this option, the seller will not be notified about the missing stocks and orders for missing products will be received anyhow.

➔ Quantity at Which Stock Level Alerts Are Sent: Enter the minimum number at which the system must generate an alert notifying the seller about the products left in inventory.

NB: This input box will only be active if the seller has enabled the “System Should Track Product Inventory” check-box.

➔ Minimum Purchase Quantity*: The seller must enter the quantity below which the customer cannot place an order for the product.

➔ Publish: This drop-down list has two options: Yes and No. The seller must select ‘Yes’ if they want to display this inventory under the list of products and on the homepage. The seller must select ‘No’ if they want to hide this inventory from the list of products and the homepage.

➔ Date Available From*: The seller must select the date from which the current inventory can be available. By default it is selected for the due date. However, if the seller chooses a date in the future, the product will only be visible on the homepage from that date onwards.

➔ Product Condition*: The seller can mention if the product is ‘New’, ‘Used’ or ‘Refurbished’ by selecting any one of these options from the drop-down list. By selecting ‘New’ the seller confirms that the product will directly go from the manufacturer to the customer and has its complete warranty. By selecting ‘Used’ the seller confirms that the product was used for a certain time period and then sold by another customer. By selecting ‘Refurbished’ the seller confirms that the product was returned by a customer shortly after the sale due to certain reasons (mostly due to the presence of any kinds of defects) and is now available for sale with a new warranty and better quality.

➔ “Use Shop Return and Cancellation Policy” Check-box: Selecting this check-box will enable the system to use the same return and cancellation policies for this product as entered by the seller in the “Manage Shop” module. If the seller doesn’t select this check-box, they can mention new return and cancellation periods for this product in the input boxes appearing below.

➔ Product Order Return Period (days): Enter the time period (in days) within which the buyer can place an order return request.

➔ Product Order Cancellation Period (days): Enter the time period (in days) within which the buyer can place an order cancellation request.

➔ Available for Cash on Delivery (COD): Select ‘Yes’ to make the product available for COD. The seller must select ‘No’ to disable COD for this product.

Scrolling below, a list of variants/options generated for each product will be displayed that can be added by the seller in their inventory. Each variant/option can be managed separately by the seller. As shown in figure, the seller must:

➔ Cost Price: Enter the cost paid to buy or the manufacturing cost of the respective variant.

➔ Selling Price: Enter the cost at which the respective product variant is to be sold.

➔ Available Quantity: Enter the number of articles/products available for each variant/option.

➔ SKU: It stands for Stock-Keeping Unit (SKU). Enter the SKU for the respective product variant. SKU is a unique code provided to each product available. The vendors can easily track the movement of inventory using this code. The admin can set this field as mandatory. If so, the seller must enter the SKU to proceed further.

➔ ‘Copy to Clipboard’ Icon: If the seller wants to copy the filled entries and paste in the below rows, they can click on this icon which will copy the entries. To paste them in the below row, the seller must click in any of the input-boxes of the respective row and press ctrl + V (shortcut to paste).

➔ Additional Comments for the Buyer: The seller can add any additional information that can help customers know more about the products.

➔ Translate to Other Languages: The seller must select this check-box if they want for the system to automatically convert their data into other languages. NB: This option is only visible if the admin has enabled it from their end.

The seller must click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to finish the process of adding inventory. The seller will be redirected to the “Shop Inventory” page which will display all the added inventories. Now, if the seller opens their shop, they will be able to see their product displayed for sale along with the active inventory products.

NB: If there is no ‘Add Inventory’ icon displayed besides any product in the list, this means that all the possible inventories have been already added by the seller.

● Edit: Clicking on this icon will redirect the seller back to the ‘Custom Product Setup’ page. Sellers can make necessary changes and click on ‘Save and Next’ buttons provided at the end to save changes.

● Product Images: This shortcut icon helps sellers to add any additional images to be displayed besides their products and inventories on the homepage. When seller clicks on this icon, a pop-up menu bar will appear as shown in figure that provides following options:

➔ Image File Type: This drop-down bar helps sellers choose among products or any specific inventory. The inventory variants/options are provided in the drop-down list and the seller must choose for which particular inventory they want to add the images. If the seller wants to add images to all options they must select ‘For All Options’.

➔ Language: Select the preferred language from the drop-down list.

➔ Photo(s): Upload images by clicking on the ‘Choose File’ button. The acceptable dimensions of the image are mentioned below. Once the seller selects the image, a pop-up bar will appear in which they can edit or resize the image. Clicking on ‘Crop’ will save the image. Once the image is uploaded, a message will appear displaying ‘Image Uploaded Successfully’.

View Inventories: Clicking on this icon will redirect the seller to the ‘Shop Inventory’ page which displays a list of all the inventories for the respective product.

● Product Info: If the seller wants to have a quick view at the attributes and specifications of the product, they can click on this icon. A pop-up menu will appear which will display the Category, Brand, Model, Minimum Selling Price, Tax Category, and other Specifications of respective product.

● Edit Shipping Icon: This icon helps sellers edit the shipping details as shown in figure. This icon is displayed to the right of only those Marketplace Products for which the seller has activated ‘Seller Shipping’.

Sellers can add multiple shipping options and select one of them later when processing orders for this product.

■ Country the product is being shipped from: Enter the country from which product will be shipped.

■ Free Shipping Check-box: Select this check-box if no additional shipping charges are to be added to customers when placing orders for respective products.

■ Add Shipping Company Details: To add a new shipping method:

■ Destination Country: Enter the country to which product is to be shipped.

■ Shipping Company: Select shipping company name from drop-down list. This is admin-manageable.

■ Shipping Service Type: Select the service type defining duration of delivery from the drop-down list. This is admin-manageable.

■ Minimum Quantity: Quantity starting range can be defined in this field.

■ Maximum Quantity: Quantity ending range can be defined in this field.

■ Rate [Default Currency]: Enter the price that will be charged when shipping this product (per unit).

■ Additional per Item [Default Currency]: Enter the price that will be charged per additional quantity. If not defined, the shipping cost will not change with variation in quantity. Sellers must click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to complete adding shipping details. 

ii. Shop Inventory

The ‘Shop Inventory’ tab under ‘Products’ will display products that have inventory in the seller’s shop. Sellers can search for a product by entering keywords in the search bar provided on the top of this page as shown in figure. All the products listed here are displayed in the front end store. The ‘Shop Inventory’ list provides certain functionalities that are:

● Check-Box: A check-box is displayed at the extreme left of each product to select multiple options from the list. Selecting this check-box will display three options on the top-right side of the list, which are: “Activate”, “Deactivate” and “Delete”. Clicking on “Activate” will enable displaying the selected products in the seller's shop at frontend. Clicking on “Deactivate” will disable the selected products from being displayed in the seller's shop at frontend. The deactivated products will also be removed from this ‘Shop Inventory’ list. To add them to inventory again, the seller must go back to the product list page and click on the ‘View Inventories’ icon available beside the respective product. Clicking on “Delete” will remove the inventory from the list permanently.

● Status: Seller can activate or deactivate the status of respective inventory by clicking on this toggle. The toggle displaying ‘Green’ means that the respective inventory product is currently active and ‘grey’ means that it is inactive. NB: “Status on/off” and “Activate & Deactivate” buttons perform similar functions.

● Edit: The edit button navigates the seller to the “Inventory Setup” page where sellers can add/update various product details.

● Delete: The delete button will delete the product from the seller shop.

● Clone: The clone button is only available for duplicating the inventory item for products added by the seller themselves. The clone button will allow the seller to make a copy of a product but with few variations. Clicking on this icon will display a pop-up menu providing “Clone Inventory” form. The seller must make the required changes and click on the “Save Changes” button which will redirect them to the inventory list that also includes the newly added inventory.

iii. Product Requests

As mentioned earlier, all the products added by the seller are known as private products and only the respective seller can make any changes in them. However, a seller might want to add a ‘Marketplace Product’ that can be viewed by all other sellers as well. Adding this marketplace product needs approval from the admin. So, the ‘Product Requests’ page allows the sellers to add a marketplace product. To do so, the seller must click on the ‘Request New Product’ button as shown in figure will navigate the seller to the ‘Custom Product Request’ page. Once the seller has filled all the entries required to add a product, a request will be forwarded to the admin. The status of request will be also shown in the list displayed under this section. If the admin approves the request, that product will be displayed in the product list as a ‘Marketplace Product’ to all sellers registered on the website.

Two action buttons are provided for products displayed in this list:

● ‘Edit’ button: It navigates the seller to the “Custom Product Setup” page where the seller can add/update various product details.

● ‘Product Images’: This shortcut icon helps sellers to add any additional images to be displayed besides their products in the front-end.