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Getting Started Guide

Version 1.7

Table of contents

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 4

2. System Requirements ......................................................................................................................................... 4

3. Plans and Pricing ................................................................................................................................................. 5

3.1 Plans and Pricing for Linnworks Anywhere packages .................................................................. 6

4. Installing Linnworks Anywhere .......................................................................................................................... 7

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5. Overview of the Program Interface .................................................................................................................... 8

5.1 Synchronization ........................................................................................................................... 8

5.2 Order Book .................................................................................................................................. 9

5.3 Dashboards ............................................................................................................................... 10

5.4 Inventory Control ..................................................................................................................... 11

5.5 Settings ...................................................................................................................................... 12

6. Integrating a channel ....................................................................................................................................... 13

7. Managing orders in Linnworks ......................................................................................................................... 16

7.1 Creating new orders .................................................................................................................. 17

7.2 Processing Open Orders ............................................................................................................ 17

7.2.1. One-by-one via Process Order screen ................................................................................ 19

7.2.2. Despatch Console .............................................................................................................. 20

7.2.3. Using Packing Lists .............................................................................................................. 22

7.2.1. Batch Processing ................................................................................................................ 22

7.2.2. Batch Processing ................................................................................................................ 22

7.3 Processed Orders ....................................................................................................................... 23

7.4 Post-sale Functionality .............................................................................................................. 24

7.5 Useful Tips & Links .................................................................................................................... 26

8. Managing Inventory in Linnworks ..................................................................................................................... 27

9. Creating new inventory items in Linnworks ...................................................................................................... 29

10. Extracting Inventory Directly from Channels .................................................................................................. 29

11. eBay Inventory Import .................................................................................................................................... 30

12. CSV Inventory Importing ................................................................................................................................. 33

13. Purchase Orders .............................................................................................................................................. 36

13.1 Useful Tips & Links ................................................................................................................... 38

14. Courier Integration ......................................................................................................................................... 39

15. LinnLive 2 Bulk Lister ....................................................................................................................................... 39

16. Support ........................................................................................................................................................... 40

16.1 Forum Support ........................................................................................................................ 40

16.2 Limited Support ........................................................................................................................ 41

16.3 Standard Support ..................................................................................................................... 41

16.4 Extended Support ..................................................................................................................... 41

16.5 Priority Support ........................................................................................................................ 42

16.6 One-on-one remote training sessions ...................................................................................... 43

16.7 Technical Documentation ......................................................................................................... 44

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16.8 Video Tutorials ......................................................................................................................... 44

16.9 Linnworks Community Forums ................................................................................................ 44

16.10 Other Useful Links .................................................................................................................. 44

17. That’s all folks! ................................................................................................................................................ 44

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1. Introduction

Thank you for choosing Linnworks – an established and technologically proven automation

solution suited for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Linnworks is a cloud-based and feature-rich online business software package that integrates and

automates the entire order management process for all of your selling venues – putting all the

information and tools you need in one place.

Our experience in the sphere of business automation has allowed us to develop an innovative solution

that completely eliminates the manual tasks from online selling.

This guide will help you better understand the Linnworks system and its capabilities. It features easy-

to-follow configuration steps and advices you on the best way to automate processes, optimise

workflow and maximise profits.

It is recommended to use this guide in conjunction with our self-learning documentation, video

tutorials and webinars, which you can access under the Help & Support menu-bar option on our

website at Linnworks.com .

Alternatively, for further information about our solution and its capabilities please refer to the Useful

Tips & Links section in this user guide.

We hope you’ll enjoy your Linnworks experience!

2. System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements:

Windows Vista/7/8

2GB RAM

32-bit / 64-bit machine

2MB Internet Connection

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Recommended System Requirements:

Windows 7/8

4GB+ RAM

64-bit machine

8MB+ Internet Connection

3. Plans and Pricing

Linnworks has 6 options available for use on our Anywhere platform.

Linnworks Anywhere Express is our free package, which doesn't include access to our primary support

methods, only the forums. The other packages, Basic, Standard, Professional and Enterprise, include

access to the appropriate support methods, as detailed on the Plans and Pricing page on our website.

Corporate is our bespoke package based on Linnworks Anywhere Enterprise for larger customers.

Why Linnworks Anywhere?

With Linnworks Anywhere, your data is stored on our cloud servers, and we take responsibility

for backup and maintenance. If you have a local failure of a PC, your data will be safe.

Wherever you are in the world, if you have a PC with Linnworks installed and an internet

collection, you should be able to connect to your database.

If you have an issue with Linnworks, our Technical Specialists are able to replicate the issue on

our test system with your data, to ensure that we identify the problem and cause as quickly as

possible, so that it can be addresses.

We fully believe our current mix of a local client program, cloud database and cloud based

listing management tool offer the best mix of features, performance and security for our

customers.

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3.1 Plans and Pricing for Linnworks Anywhere packages

We believe in a transparent prices at Linn Systems and have create simple packages, without limits on

the core services. No hidden costs, no commissions – no catch.

For pricing information please visit our pricing page.

Linnworks packages

Express plan (Free) includes

Concurrent Users: 1

Product Limit: 200

Support: Forums API Access is available

LinnLive Listing Tool

Basic plan includes

Concurrent Users: 2

Product Limit: 1000

Support: Limited

API Access is available

LinnLive Listing Tool

Autonomous Synchronization

Standard plan includes

Concurrent Users: 5

Product Limit: Unlimited

Support: Standard

Training can be purchased for £70+VAT/€80/$110 USD per session

API Access is available

Amazon Repricing Tool

LinnLive Listing Tool

Autonomous Synchronization

Express Basic Standard Professional Enterprise Corporate

Free Price Page Price Page Price Page Price Page Enquire

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Professional plan includes

Concurrent Users: 10

Product Limit: Unlimited

Support: Extended

3 one-on-one remote training sessions

API Access

Linnworks Analytics

Amazon Repricing Tool

LinnLive Listing Tool

Autonomous Synchronization

Enterprise plan includes

Concurrent users: Unlimited

Product Limit: Unlimited

Support: Priority

6 one-on-one remote training sessions

API Access

Linnworks Analytics

Access to cloud database

Amazon Repricing Tool

LinnLive Listing Tool

Autonomous Synchronization

4. Installing Linnworks Anywhere

The Linnworks Anywhere application is simple to install on any computer.

Start by heading to your account management system log in screen:

http://acc.linnworks.com

Once logged in, click on the Download the Installer button to download the client.

First, you will need to log in using your Linnworks credentials, and then click ‘Create New’ to create a

new Linnworks Database for your account.

Updates:

Updating Linnworks is an important task to do and should be performed whenever prompted –

normally at the rate of 1-2 updates a week; Linnworks is constantly adding small features and bug

fixes. If anything major is updated this user guide will be updated and resupplied.

Updates normally will take no longer than 1-2 minutes to apply.

Logging In:

User details should be kept in a secure location, and consist of a user name and a password. You can

select the option to Keep Logged In, if you are on a secure computer that is used by you only. This

will store your details so you can log in again with ease.

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If you forget your password contact your IT representative, or alternatively please use the “Forgot

password” section on our web-site.

5. Overview of the Program Interface

The Linnworks user interface is split into Tabs. These tabs hold buttons that, when clicked, open the

associated screen.

Depending on what plan you are on, you can have multiple Linnworks Users accessing the software at

the same time. An admin can restrict certain users from seeing certain buttons and screens. If you do

not see a certain button, this may be because you do not have user access.

5.1 Synchronization

Synchronization is the process that keeps all of your integrated selling channels up-to-date.

This can include any of the following:

Synchronise inventory levels between Linnworks and selling channels

Download new orders from selling channels

Submit fulfilment data

Mark orders processed in Linnworks as despatched

Dynamically end and relist items based on current stock levels

Run import/export routines

Execute any external programs

The synchronization functionality is very flexible and can be configured to only submit the

information you find necessary. You can configure your channels to only synchronise stock levels, or

to only submit shipping details back to channels, or even to use any combination of these processes

and more.

The system will only synchronize with your selling channels when you tell it to, by clicking the Sync

button under the Synchronization tab.

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Certain Linnworks plans have an auto-synchronization feature that allows you to periodically

synchronise the system at set intervals, ranging from 10 to 120 minutes.

Email Outbox

Will show you all emails waiting to be sent – You can use this screen to scan through messages before

sending. This feature also has the option to send emails automatically, which means that there will

never be a message in outbox for more than a few seconds.

Sent Mail

These are all of the emails that have been sent from your instance. Here you will find features available

to search and filter emails.

5.2 Order Book

This is the second available tab and has the function to look at open and processed orders, manage

despatch and shipping services and log manifests.

New Order

This screen allows you to create a new direct order. These orders are classed as being created directly

from the system and once saved will appear in the ‘Open Orders’ screen.

Open Orders

This screen displays all open orders; here you have the option to search through orders by search term

or by filtering options.

On this screen you can easily print labels and invoices for one or many orders, process the order, add

courier details, and add notes and several other order management functions.

Also when an exchange or return is booked you will have an additional folder appeared making it easy

to keep an eye on these as well.

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Processed Orders

Here you can view orders that have been processed by specifying a view type of either order received

date or order processed date. You can easily export this information as well or mark products for a

return or exchange. Notes and audit history can be viewed here.

Returns Refunds

Allows dealing with post-sale processes such as returns and refunds.

Postage Manifest

View manifests, showing despatched parcels and their chosen courier.

Manifest Editor

Edit existing package details.

5.3 Dashboards

This is the third available tab and has the function to view dashboard and various reports.

Linnworks Analytics

This tool allows you to build your own reports and manipulate the data to get the answers you are

looking for.

Primary Dashboard

Has a basic overview of a number of facts and figures – displayed in a mixture of visual graphs and

text tables. This information becomes more useful the longer Linnworks is deployed.

Stock Consumption

Shows stock consumption rate of individual products over month, quarter or year.

Scrap Report

This screen displays a detailed report of scrapped products.

Products Sold

A breakdown of products sold altogether or individually on each channel.

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Sales Spread

This screen shows detailed sales values, tax and postage for orders through specified channels for a

given year.

Query Data

Offers over forty custom reports – can also be used by developers to create scripts.

Inventory Dashboard

once location and categories have been set up, this area allows you to view different categories and

their stock worth in different locations.

5.4 Inventory Control

This is the fourth available tab and has functions to deal with inventory, channel linking, stock delivery

and ordering.

My Inventory

This screen shows an overview of all products and their current stock figures.

Scrap Item

When an item has been found or returned damaged and needs to be taken from saleable stock, you

can use this screen to tell Linnworks you have scrapped the item.

Stock Item History

Look at specific products and their history in terms of stock adjustments and orders placed.

Stock In

This screen acts as terminal for booking in new stock deliveries and item returns. It includes features

to complete purchase orders and print all orders waiting for stock.

Stock Count

Manages stock counts in groups, and in a separate location so that stock is updated as a whole after it

is completed - can be combined with a PDA and Linnworks Mobile instance.

Reorder Low Stock

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This screen displays a list of all suppliers with details for items that are low or out of stock currently. It

also features a streamlined purchase order creating process.

Purchase Orders

This screen is used to create and manage purchase orders. You can use filters to sort your orders, as

well as edit certain orders before they are sent to the supplier.

Supplier Register

This screen allows you to add new and manage existing suppliers. The more information you give

Linnworks about a supplier, the better Linnworks can handle a Purchase Order.

Inventory Linking

This is an overview of linked items across various selling channels.

Product Category

This area is where different products can be grouped together for ease when creating reports or stock

value figures.

Locations

This screen allows new locations to be added into the system. These could be warehouse Locations, or

fulfilment centres.

5.5

Settings

This is the fifth available tab and should generally only be used by senior members of staff. Mistakes

here can have implications on the functionality of Linnworks.

Channel Integration

The following screen is designed to help you integrate your desired platforms, such as eBay, Amazon

and your web-site.

Import/ Export Automation

This screen allows you to set up automated imports and exports of inventory or order information’s.

For example, you could use this feature to export open orders from Linnworks to a fulfilment centres

FTP site.

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Macros

This is an area to code for developers to automate certain task by creating macros.

Application Settings

Consists of important configuration processes, should only be used by senior members of staff.

User Management

This feature allows resetting of passwords, creation of new accounts and setting up account

restrictions.

Postal Services Methods

This is where you set up and modify Postal Service methods for shipments. (24 hour, 1st class mail,

etc.).

Shipping Management

Managing the connection Linnworks has with different couriers (bespoke, Royal Mail, etc.).

Email Notification

Location of all email shots, conditional emails and transactional emails.

Template Designer

The template designer is used to manage invoice, pick list, packing list and label templates.

6. Integrating a channel

Channel integration process is the most vital aspect of our system – whether it’s an eBay account or

your web-site, without having it integrated Linnworks will not be able to automate any for your daily

routines.

For that, you first need to integrate it. Good news is that it’s a very easy process which should not take

longer than 5 minutes of your time.

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Let’s take eBay marketplace integration as an example and see how long it’s going to take us to

integrate it.

eBay integration allows the system to:

Extract inventory data from eBay (majority of the fields apart from description)

Automatically download new orders from eBay

Mark items as despatched on eBay

Send out confirmation emails to eBay registered customers

End listings on eBay if you run out of stock

Automatically re-list items which are linked to your stock levels

Revise listing to adjust quantity available

Download product pictures from eBay

The very first step is to go to Settings > Channel Integration tab. From this screen you can add, delete

and modify selling channels that you wish Linnworks to integrate with.

Once there, click on Add new channel button on the right of the screen to bring up the New Channel

selection screen. Now select eBay from the list and click Integrate.

You will be presented with the eBay Account Setup screen, which will walk you through the process of

integrating your eBay account with Linnworks.

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Simply select the site location and enter your eBay user name before pressing the Authorize through

eBay button.

Your default browser will direct you to the eBay sign in page where you can grant Linnworks access to

your eBay account.

Log in with the account you wish to integrate and after reading through the terms and conditions click

I agree (If you agree) to allow Linnworks to communicate with your account.

Warning! Make sure you login with the correct account details.

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Great, your eBay account should now be integrated. For more information about configuration

options that available to you, please refer to our documentation section on our web-site.

7. Managing orders in Linnworks

One of Linnworks' core features is order management (fulfilment and shipping of orders). The system

features a complete order management cycle from an order being placed to despatch and beyond.

Basics

An order can either be raised directly in the system (by clicking on New Order screen under

Order Book tab) or downloaded from a selling source.

All new orders will be placed in Open Orders screen. From here onwards we shall refer to

such orders as Open Orders.

Open orders must be processed in order to be marked as despatched on the channel.

Order processing in the context of order management workflow involves steps like picking,

packing, invoice printing, label printing and finally shipping.

Once an order is processed, it is assumed you have completed all order processing steps.

Once an order is processed it will be moved to the Processed Orders screen.

An order cannot be unprocessed (e.g. its status cannot be reverted back to its original

status). It is, however, possible to resend an order or to create a return entry for a processed

order.

The system will not submit updated shipping order information to selling sources until it’s

processed. Such submission is performed during the synchronisation process.

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7.1 Creating new orders

New orders can be manually raised in the system. Linnworks refers to these orders as DIRECT,

meaning they are created internally within the system. Such orders can be telephone sales, re-

orders or several external orders merged into one.

To create a new order, simply click on New Order button under Order Book tab information.

This will display the New Order screen, where you will be able to enter the customer's details, order

statutes, date of the order, order reference number, order items and shipping information.

Once a direct order is raised, it will be moved to Open Orders screen.

7.2 Processing Open Orders

The Open Orders screen is the most used screen in Linnworks, designed to handle all order

processing routines. Its flexibility allows you to configure it to your specific liking, without feeling

limited in any way.

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The Open Orders screen can be found under Order Book tab.

Basics

It is designed to perform the following tasks:

Process orders – either manually or in bulk

Print invoices, either by using one-by-one method or in a batch

Print labels, either manually or in a batch

View order details and review transaction details

Edit order details

Add order notes

Search and filter orders by set of parameters (e.g. status, source, flags, shipping service,

geography, stock level, etc.)

Below you will find a range of order processing methods designed to suit various business

requirements.

7.2.1. One-by-one via Process Order screen

This method is suited for smaller businesses where the job of managing online orders is delegated

to one person (or two who work side by side). And if you have mixed postage methods (e.g. USPS,

Royal Mail, FedEx, DHL, etc.), this is also a useful process as each postage label can be printed

automatically when you enter the Process Order screen.

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The Process Order screen acts as a mandatory confirmation screen each time an order is about to

be processed.

7.2.2. Despatch Console

The Despatch Console is designed to be used in conjunction with barcode scanners.

Its functional flexibility allows businesses to perform the following scanning activities:

By Order Id – The process assumes you will be picking the order items from an order using

printed invoice. This method is particularly useful if you have a dedicated member of staff who picks

orders working in the warehouse and all order management aspects are carried out in the office.

You can print invoices for all orders in one place and give them to the staff to pick. Once picked

and packed the Order Id printed on the invoice can be scanned into the system to mark the

order as despatched.

Below is the default invoice template example with barcoded Order Id included.

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You can create invoices where the barcode is printed at the top of the invoice or printed on the peel

off area of the integrated address label. This will allow you to put the actual invoice inside the package

and keep the address and order id barcode on the front of the package to uniquely identify the order.

Batch Process By Order Id – same principle as By Order Id, but this time there will be no

Process Order screen shown.

By Item Barcode – it is possible to process orders by scanning the product barcodes into

the Despatch Console – by the Item Barcode field. The Despatch Console brings up the oldest order

in the open order book for the scanned item and lets you print shipping labels and an invoice for

the order.

Using Pick Lists - Since the pick list is designed to give you a summary of what needs to be

shipped for the selected orders, it is counter intuitive to think of a pick list something you can use

to process orders. However, it is very efficient way of processing orders.

Think of it as backwards order processing. Instead picking for every order individually you can pick

all the items and then fit the orders to what you have picked.

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7.2.3. Using Packing Lists

A Packing list is a list of all orders with order items. It displays all orders which need to be

despatched with order items under each order line. You can use both pick list and packing list for

optimising the order fulfilment process.

7.2.4. Batch Processing

By using this method you can batch process all open paid orders in one go, assuming that none of

order invoices will get misplaced.

Also, this method allows you to bypass the processing screen for each selected order. It is very

useful if the orders you have selected have had their labels and invoices printed and just need to be

processed and marked as dispatched on the channel.

7.2.5. Batch Processing

This method allows you to create a set of instructions to automate several functions.

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For example, you can configure the Batch Pilot to automatically print labels, then print invoices and

then process an order. Different conditions will determine whether the operation is executed, failed or

skipped.

For more information about order management features in Linnworks, please refer to Useful Tips &

Links section below.

7.3 Processed Orders

Once an order is processed (marked as dispatched/shipped) it will disappear from Open Orders

screen and will be moved to Processed Orders screen respectively. You can access this screen by

going to Order Book -> Processed Orders.

Basics

The Processed Orders screen allows you to perform the following tasks:

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Export all searched items to CSV

Save the grid to Excel

Re-print Invoices

Return Items

Resend Items

Exchange Items

View order information

The screen has very flexible search facility which will attempt to find an order by virtually any piece

of information you give it. You can also set different date range restriction filters to limit the search

of processed orders.

When it comes to the order life cycle and its perspective, when an order has been processed it is at

the end of the cycle. The exception to this is when an order is returned, exchanged or resent.

7.4 Post-sale Functionality

In the following section we will learn more about Linnworks capabilities in dealing with processes

such as returns, resends, exchanges and refunds.

Basics

Returns, Resends and Exchanges can be raised directly from Processed Orders screen.

All newly raised return queries will be placed under Returns Refunds screen, which can be found

under Order Book tab.

The Returns Refunds screen is an overview of all processed orders that have been marked as either

a return or a resend. From this screen you can see orders that have been booked for return /

exchange, refunds that need actioning and the Quick Stats panel.

This screen allows you to perform the following tasks:

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Process booked returns and exchanges

Edit returns and exchanges

Delete returns and exchanges

Action refunds

Deletion of refunds

Quick Stats (relevant metrics at a glance)

Before an item is returned, you can also book a return for it, or a re-send, etc. Booking a return is

the same process as creating a return; however, it will create a log trail in the Returns/Refunds

screen which can be processed at a later date. This is useful if a customer calls notifying you that

they are going to be returning an item.

To Book a return right click on the selected order in the Processed Orders screen and select Action →

Return Booking.

From the Booking Return screen you can see order information for the selected order, with further

details available if you click the View Order button. Select Book New Return to create a new return

booking for this order.

You will be presented with the Create New Return Booking screen, on which you can enter the

details relating to the return. Complete all of the fields on the form and click Create Return

Booking to create the return record.

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Once the return booking has been created, it can be viewed on the Returns Refunds screen. You may

need to Refresh this screen before the return appears in the list of open returns.

Once the item has been returned, select the order from Returns Refunds and click the green tick

under the Action column to bring up the Action Booking screen. From here you can make changes to

the return by clicking the Edit icon, or click the Convert selected Return / Exchange button to

complete the return.

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7.5 Useful Tips & Links

Use the Channel Integration screen to integrate your selling sources

Use the Template Designer to change look and feel of the invoices

Use the Shipping Management screen to integrate your shipping couriers

Use the E-mail Notification screen to set up automatic e-mails

Open Orders Screen Overview

Processed Order Screen Overview

Returns/Refunds Screen Overview

Order Book Settings

Order Notes

View Order Information

Order Audit Trail

Order Splitting and Merging

Order Tax Calculation

Exporting open orders into CSV file

Working with fulfilment centres and drop-shippers

Mailshots

8. Managing Inventory in Linnworks

With Linnworks in place, you’ll only have one inventory to worry about and there will be no need to

manually adjust quantities across selling venues. Everything will be kept nice and tidy in one place.

Basics

The system will act as a centralised inventory repository, therefore all products you sell or

stock quantities should be maintained in Linnworks.

Each product (and its variation) has its own, unique SKU (Stock Keeping Unit), or in Linnworks

we quite often refer to it as an Item Number.

Each product has stock level states:

o Physical stock level – how many you actually have in stock.

o On order – how many are expected to be received from supplier following placed

purchase order.

o Minimum Level – to alert the system of the minimum threshold for the stock level.

o Available – this is dynamically calculated value i.e. Physical stock level minus in open

orders.

Stock level gets deducted from following actions:

o Sale - Shipping as part of the order. The stock level will only be deducted once the

order has been shipped.

o Resent – when an item gets lost in the post or the customer requires a replacement.

o Scrapping of a stock item – damaged products must be scrapped and recorded in the

system as scrapped.

o Direct adjustment – you change the stock level manually using Stock Adjustment

screen.

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Stock value – the system is capable of keeping track of the stock value. Stock value is a

dynamically tracked value of the stock – it is determined from the cost of the products you

have purchased to populate the stock level and any direct adjustment.

Stock level is being added from following actions:

o Purchase – when a purchase order is placed, On Order level will be increased. Once

the purchase order is marked as delivered/partially delivered – level on order will be

moved to actual stock level.

o Returns – when an item is returned to you by the customer and you wish to place the

item back in stock for resale.

o Direct adjustment – you change the stock level manually using Stock Adjustment

screen.

o Stock In – you can book stock in when as you receive it from the supplier.

Each stock may have multiple stock levels – the concept of multiple locations allows you to

have multiple stock levels for the same product. Each location in effect tracks a stock level

independently.

The My Inventory screen, which is responsible for most of inventory-related processes, can be

found under Inventory Control tab.

It is responsible for the following tasks:

- Adding new items via one-by-one method. If you are interested in performing bulk import

(which is a recommended method to use), please refer to Learning Materials and Other

Useful Links section

- Editing inventory items

- Searching/browsing of inventory items

- Deletion of inventory items

- Inventory level adjustments

- Identifying low stock items

The My Inventory screen allows you to store and quickly access important information about your

stock items, including but not limited to:

SKU

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Category

Item Title

Item Description(s)

Purchase Price

Retail Price

Tax

Images

Weight

Barcode

Variation Group

Postage Method

Supplier

Bin/Rack Location

Extended Properties for item specifics and additional attributes

9. Creating new inventory items in Linnworks

In order to create a new item or product in Linnworks it is required to follow simple and

straightforward steps. First, navigate to ‘’Inventory Control’’ tab.

Within Inventory Control tab there is a button called ‘’My Inventory’’.

In the top right corner of ‘’My Inventory’’ screen, click on ‘’New Item’’ button. It will open the screen

where you can insert your product information, save it and obtain new item within ‘’My Inventory’’

section.

10. Extracting Inventory Directly from Channels

It is possible to import inventory items (listings) you hold on your selling channels (eBay,

Amazon, Magento, etc.) into Linnworks for the purpose of stock control. Three item fields are

available to be pulled into the system and they are SKU, Item Title and Quantity.

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Navigate to the ‘’Settings’’ tab and then click on ‘’Channel

Integration’’.

Here you need to click on ‘’Mapping’’. The Mapping screen allows you to view listings on that

channel, and map those listings to Linnworks items.

Being able to extract Inventory specifics from listings vary in complexity depending on what

channel you are using. In most cases, you can create a new Linnworks stock item from an existing

channel listing using this mapping screen.

11. eBay Inventory Import

The ‘Import inventory from eBay’ button on the eBay mapping screen allows you to create new

Linnworks items based upon listed items on your eBay channel. This is particularly useful when

integrating a new eBay channel, and adding new Linnworks items based upon those listings.

You can find the tool by going to:

Settings > Channel Integration, then click the Mapping button for your eBay channel.

Once the mapping tool has finished downloading your Listing information, a new button will appear

under the ‘View Log’ button.

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You can see here that all listings that are not linked to an item in Linnworks will be highlighted in grey.

These are the listings that will have new Linnworks items generated for them once you run the tool.

For this example, I have listed a toy car on eBay, as you can see; this listing now appears highlighted in

the mapping screen.

Before you use this tool, you need to make sure that the listing is set up correctly. On eBay, you have

the option to add a custom label to an original listing. This mapping tool functions differently

depending on how you use the custom label.

1) Using a SKU as a Custom Label: This is the recommended option, as the tool can then use

this as the SKU for the newly created Linnworks item. A listing that is linked by SKU is always

the recommended option as this makes the linking much stronger.

2) Not using a Custom Label: This option will tell the tool to create a new SKU for the item

when it is added to Linnworks. This will not however add a custom label to the listing. This will

link the two items by title, and is not as strong as linking by SKU.

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3) Having a Custom Label that is not a SKU: If the listing uses a custom label, but that label is

not a SKU, please do not use this tool. Linnworks will try and use your custom label as a SKU,

but that SKU may not make sense in Linnworks. This will cause inventory problems.

To add a custom label to a listing first find your listing on eBay and click the ‘add’ button in the

‘Custom Label’ column.

To run the tool, click the ‘Import inventory from eBay’ button. This will open a new window that will

show all the listings that are not mapped.

Click the ‘Start Importing’ button to start the import.

Finally, if we then go to our Inventory screen, you can see our newly created stock item.

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12. CSV Inventory Importing

In order to control your inventory information, maintain your stock levels and protect your business

from overselling you first need to create or import your products in Linnworks.

The easiest and by far the most effective way of importing large inventory data is by using comma-

separated values (CSV) files. CSV file format is widely supported by consumer, business and

technologically-advanced applications for its capability of storing tabular data (numbers and text) in

plain-text form.

CSV files can easily be created by using a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice

Calc or directly exported from 3rd party applications.

Basics

The best way to import inventory data in Linnworks is by using Data Import tool. Its flexible

mechanism allows importing large number of data into corresponding columns in Linnworks,

ensuring that the imported information from a CSV file is correctly associated with related fields in

the system.

Data Import tool can be found under Start menu > Programs > Linn Systems > Linnworks > Tools >

Data Import UI.

The actual process is broken into four steps:

1) Select import type – choose required import type;

2) Specify a file and delimiter used – choose a file and what delimiter (i.e. comma, tab, etc.) is used;

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3) Column Mapping – map columns in CSV file to corresponding columns in Linnworks;

4) Actual Import – once all validation checks are passed an actual import will be performed.

Import types

Each import type consists of pre-defined correspondent fields, all for different import purposes. There

are ten import types in total which are designed to make import process consistent and easy to use.

Let’s have a look at the most used ones:

1) Basic Product Import – allows you to create new products and update existing ones by SKU column.

Download CSV Sample

2) Stock Level Import – lets you import stock levels for newly created inventory items or overwrite the

existing stock

levels.

Download CSV Sample

3) Product Descriptions and Attributes – Import utility designed to create HTML and flat text

descriptions of products and product attributes from CSV file.

The import can merge the attributes and tags in a CSV file into a product description. You can load

multiple product descriptions, titles and pricing for different channels.

http://www.linnworks.com/Doc/Data_import_product_descriptions

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If you are planning to be using multiple descriptions and extended property fields such as item

specifics or attributes, please consider watching our system architect developer's video recording

about best practises of using this import type.

Download CSV Sample

4) Stock Item Composition Import - The term “Composite items“ in Linnworks refers to a stock item

which consists of other stock items (i.e. bundles).

Download CSV Sample

What fields are required by Linnworks system in order to be able to control and maintain inventory?

What fields are required by Linnworks and LinnLive solutions in order to be able to list listings?

CSV file

samples

Here are a few more CSV import sample files which you can use to build your own CSV files or for

testing purposes.

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The simple import file consists of just 6 fields. Download CSV Sample

The complex import file contains 22 fields in total (for multiple import types). Download CSV

Sample

13. Purchase Orders

The Purchase Orders screen in Linnworks allows you to log and record what you are ordering in

from suppliers to replenish your stock. Its functionality is very flexible and can be used to fully track

your supply chain process from start to finish or to handle individual aspects such as emailing

suppliers, raising purchase orders as quotes and to manage Just-In-Time reordering.

Basics

A Purchase Order is defined by one of four states:

Pending - Pending denotes that the Purchase order has been created but has not yet been

placed with your supplier. Pending Purchase Orders don’t affect your stock levels.

Open - An Open Purchase Order indicates that the order has been placed with the supplier

and raised internally. Again, Open Purchase Orders don’t affect your stock levels, but will update the

Due value in My Inventory.

Partially Delivered - Partially Delivered shows that some but not all of the Purchase Order

items have been received.

Delivered - A Purchase Order will be only marked as Delivered when all items from the

Purchase Order have been received.

Purchase Orders screen shows details of Purchase Orders as defined by the parameters above.

You can filter purchase orders by date and by order status using the fields at the top of the screen.

The following options are available from this screen:

Email - Choosing this option will allow you to email the supplier for the highlighted

Purchase Order with the order details. The email template is completely customisable via the

Template Designer, allowing you to format the message to suit your own needs.

Print - Selecting Print will print a Purchase Order invoice for the highlighted Purchase

Order.

New PO - New PO will allow you to create a new Purchase Order.

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Edit PO - Edit PO lets you edit an existing Purchase Order.

Delete - You can delete a Purchase Order by selecting it and clicking this button. Purchase

Orders that have delivered items in cannot be deleted.

PO Overview - Clicking the ‘+’ button to the left of a Purchase Order will show you details

of all the items that have been included in that order.

For more information about inventory management features in Linnworks, please refer to Useful Tips

& Links section below.

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13.1 Useful Tips & Links

Use Data Import tool

to import your inventory data in bulk (highly recommended)

Bulk Product Image

import

Bulk Product

Description and attribute import

Stock levels and values

Handheld Scanner

Software

Booking the stock in

Stock count

Scrap an item

Stock level indicators

Managing stock in

multiple locations

Composite items

(bundles)

Non tracked

(composite items)

Keeping track of non-

tracked items

Print stock item labels

Inventory Linking

Purchase Order

Management

Reporting

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Carrier/Shipping Direct Integration Interface Velocity IntegrationRoyal Mail - 1st and 2nd Class (PPI) YES - -

Royal Mail Recorded, Tracked and Special Despatch Express YES YES -

USPS(United States Postal Service) - YES(Endicia Dazzle) -

Parcel Force YES - -

DHL via MetaPack EasyShip -

DespatchBay-DHL YES - -

UPS YES - YES

Fedex YES - YES

HDNL via MetaPack Velocity Connector YES

Interlink via MetaPack - YES

TNT via MetaPack ParcelWare YES

CityLink via MetaPack - YES

DPD via MetaPack - YES

Hermes via MetaPack - -

City Sprint via MetaPack - -

UK Mail via MetaPack - YES

Fast Way couriers via MetaPack - -

Night Freight via MetaPack - -

SprintGB via MetaPack - -

Tuffnells via MetaPack - -

ByBox via MetaPack - -

LaPoste via MetaPack - -

Collect+ via MetaPack - -

Canada Post via WayToShip - -

14. Courier Integration

Linnworks integrates with more than 20 shipping couriers:

Here are three different methods of courier integration:

Direct Integration:

Linnworks communicates directly to the courier, generates a shipping label for a product or a batch

and records tracking numbers.

Interface:

Linnworks interfaces with the dedicated piece of software provided by your courier. The interaction

enables Linnworks to print labels automatically and record tracking numbers for consignments.

Velocity Integration:

Linnworks order management system has a comprehensive export and import routines which can

output files that can be consumed by the courier software or uploaded directly to the courier website

for consignment allocation.

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To learn more about shipping integrations, please refer to our documentation section.

15. LinnLive 2 Bulk Lister

LinnLive 2 is a web application that can be accessed on http://eu.linnlive.com

It allows listing products on multiple channels from one place. The process of listing products is

optimized by having pre-defined product information and configurators, also referred to as templates.

Each channel (eBay, Amazon, Magento, etc) has multiple configurators:

The configurator defines header properties of the listing, such as category where

the product will be listed, returns, terms and type of listing.

Configurators for channels that allow insertion of user specific HTML descriptions

(for example eBay) also have HTML template which is used to wrap the description of the

product.

Each product in the inventory has product specification – title, price, description

and attributes (for example Colour, Brand, Size, etc.)

When listing products, you have to select the configurator.

LinnLive uses listing header information, merges specific product details, such as

attributes, titles, pricing and descriptions and submits the listing to the channel.

The progress is reported on the screen for all submitted listings.

Once a listing is created on a channel, any changes to the main configurator or

product specification will automatically be updated on the channelLinnLive has an extensive

functionality to enable you to list your inventory to eBay in bulk.

eBay Lister: http://linnworks.com/Doc/ebay_listing_tool_bulk_create_feed

It also has a very extensive functionality for creating new products on Amazon and using existing

product catalogue to advertise your product on Amazon.

Amazon Lister: http://linnworks.com/Doc/bulk_listing_product_amazon_feed

LinnLive2 can list products to Magento in the same manner as to any other channel. The listing

creation process requires Magento Configurator which defines top level product listing information,

such as which category the listing will be created in and attribute set.

Magento Lister: http://linnworks.com/Doc/bulk_listing_magento_product_creation

16. Support

Linnworks support is for submitting errors, bugs, answering queries in regards to setup or abilities

of the system and general questions.

Normal Linnworks support hours are from 9.00am to 5.00pm GMT (London time)

There are five different levels of support available in Linnworks:

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Forum Support Only

Limited Support

Standard Support

Extended Support

Priority Support

Each level is designed for a specific plan and cannot be purchased separately, e.g. Priority Support,

our best premium support offering, is only available as a part of Enterprise package.

16.1 Forum Support

What does this mean?

Forum Support comes with free Linnworks Express package only.

What will I get?

Access to our community help forums - you will be able to submit all sorts of technical

issues, bugs, installation and configuration problems as well as see bugs that are in the process of

being fixed. We have a great community of our existing customers who constantly share their

Linnworks experience on forums and are keen to provide help for any struggling customers.

How much does it cost?

It's free when you are subscribed to Linnworks Express package.

16.2 Limited Support

What does this mean?

Limited Support comes with Linnworks Basic packages for both Local and Anywhere editions.

What will I get?

Access to our ticket system - here you will be able to submit support tickets. You can only

submit one ticket at a time, meaning that your original ticket needs to be closed before you can

open a new one.

Access to our community help forums - you will be able to submit all sorts of technical

issues, bugs, installation and configuration problems as well as see bugs that are in the process of

being fixed.

How much does it cost?

It's free when you are subscribed to Linnworks Basic package.

16.3 Standard Support

What does this mean?

Standard Support comes with Linnworks Standard packages for both Local and Anywhere editions.

What will I get?

Access to our ticket system - here you will be able to submit support tickets which we be at

standard priority.

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Access to our community help forums - you will be able to submit all sorts of technical

issues, bugs, installation and configuration problems as well as see bugs that are in the process of

being fixed.

How much does it cost?

It's free when you are subscribed to Linnworks Standard package.

16.4 Extended Support

What does this mean?

Extended Support comes with Linnworks Professional packages for both Local and Anywhere

editions.

What will I get?

Access to Live Support via Linnworks Technical Live Chat.

Access to our ticket system - these tickets will have a higher priority and will be dealt with

after Priority users.

Access to our community help forums - you will be able to submit all sorts of technical

issues, bugs, installation and configuration problems as well as see bugs that are in the process of

being fixed.

How much does it cost?

It's free when you are subscribed to Linnworks Professional package.

16.5 Priority Support

What does it mean?

This is the highest level of support available. Your tickets and queries will be dealt with above all

others. Tickets have the ability to be submitted to developers or escalated.

What will I get?

Access to Telephone Support - you will be able to call us directly to get phone support or

request a call back and get support.

Access to Live Support via Linnworks Technical Live Chat.

7Access to our ticket system - These tickets will be dealt with the upmost priority.

Access to our community help forums - you will be able to submit all sorts of technical issues,

bugs, installation and configuration problems as well as see bugs that are in the process of

being fixed.

How much does it cost?

It's free when you are subscribed to Linnworks Enterprise package.

Training

There are plenty of training and learning resources to choose from. Below, please find most loved

sources by our community.

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LIVE Demonstration Webinars

We’ve designed our getting started demonstration webinar to help potential and newly subscribed

customers to get to grips with Linnworks system in shortest possible time-frame.

Webinar Agenda

Part 1: Order Management (Linnworks) ~ 30 minutes

Part 2: Inventory Management (Linnworks) ~ 30 minutes

Part 3: Listing Management (LinnLive) ~ 20 minutes

Part 4: Questions and Answers ~ 30 minutes

Registration link: http://www.linnworks.com/Events/Index/12

Recorded webinars link: http://www.linnworks.com/Webinar

16.6 One-on-one remote training sessions

Training sessions can be purchased by Anywhere Basic, Standard, Professional and Enterprise users

directly from their account management system.

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Each one-on-one remote training session costs just £70.00+VAT, €80, $110 USD per session.

To book a training session please go to your account page where under my support you will see the

option to book a session.

16.7 Technical Documentation

Our self-explanatory documentation, which is part of self-learning materials, covers almost every

single aspect of the system.

Direct Link: http://linnworks.com/Doc

16.8 Video Tutorials

There are over thirty video tutorials to choose from.

Direct Link: http://linnworks.com/VideoView

16.9 Linnworks Community Forums

With over 2,000 subscribed customers on board, our Community Forums gathers a range of

experiences and ideas from our community.

Direct Link: http://www.linnsystems.com/supportforum/

16.10 Other Useful Links

Linnworks Account Management System: https://acc.linnworks.com

Forgot Password Option:

https://acc.linnworks.com/Account/ForgotPassword.aspx

LinnLive Listing Tool Log In Screen: http://eu.linnlive.com/

Linnworks Anywhere Installation Guide

Running Linnworks on Mac OS

Linnworks Analytics

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Database Utility

Scripting

Macro Scripting

External Program Execution

17. That’s all folks!

Thank you for reading our user guide, we hope you found it useful.

Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to call us on 020 8133 8731

or e-mail us on support@linnsystems.com