Project Settings

Project settings configure specifics about a Project, like Tax Rates, Shipping Zones, and more.

To configure settings for a Project, go to Settings > Project settings in the Merchant Center main menu.

International

You can configure the following under the International tab:

  • Currencies: the currencies of countries your products are sold in. The selected currencies are then available when assigning Prices to Products or creating Discounts.

  • Languages: the languages in which Product information, Categories, and other data should be available in. By default, localizable fields will display only one language, but you can click Show all languages to view and edit the values for each language supported by your Project.

  • Countries: the countries you sell your products in. The selected countries are then available when configuring Shipping Methods, taxes, or selling Channels.

  • Zones: a group of one or more countries that share delivery costs. You must configure at least one Zone before configuring Shipping Methods.

    To add a Zone, do the following:

    1. Click Add zone.

    2. Enter the values for the following fields:

      • Name: the display name of Zone
      • Country codes: the countries in the Zone. You can add as many as required.
    3. Click Save.

      You can configure Zones for states or sub-country units only using APIs. For more information, see Zones.

Taxes

You can configure taxes for your Project under the Taxes tab.

Taxes are comprised of the following:

  • Tax Category: contains one or more Tax Rates. A Project can have multiple Tax Categories.
  • Tax Rate: contains the tax percentage for a state or country within a Tax Category.
  • Tax subrate: contains the individual tax percentages that make up a Tax Rate. This is used when a Tax Rate is a combination of multiple taxes (for example, state and local taxes).

You must define a Tax Category, then its Tax Rates, then any Tax subrates (if applicable).

To add taxes, do the following:

  1. Click Add tax category.

  2. Enter a Tax name for the Tax Category.

  3. Under the Tax rates section, click Add rate and enter values for the following fields:

    • For Name, enter the name of the Tax Rate.
    • For Rate, enter the percentage of the Tax Rate (in decimal range 0-1).
    • For Country, select the country of the Tax Rate.
    • For Tax included in price: indicate whether the tax should be included in the price.
  4. To add an optional subrate, click Add subrate and enter values for the following fields:

    • For Name, enter the name of the subrate.
    • For Rate, enter the percentage of the subrate (in decimal range 0-1).

    The total of all subrates must equal the rate of the corresponding Tax Rate.

  5. Click Add tax rate.

  6. Click Create tax category.

Shipping Methods

You can configure the following under the Shipping Methods tab:

  • Shipping rate control: determines whether the Project uses fixed shipping rates or tiered shipping rates
  • Shipping methods: the Shipping Methods for your Project. It is a means of shipping your products to a specific location through shipping or postal companies.
    • Shipping rates: the shipping rates (cost) for a Shipping Method

To add the Shipping Methods, do the following:

  1. Click Add shipping method.
  2. Enter the values for the following fields:
    • Shipping methods name: unique name of the Shipping Method within your Project
    • Description: Optionally, a description of the Shipping Method in the languages configured for your Project
    • Tax category: one of the Tax Categories configured for your Project
    • Key: Optionally, a unique identifier for the Shipping Method within your Project
    • Predicate: Optionally, a predicate that defines for which Carts the Shipping Method is applicable
    • Custom fields: Optionally, edit the values for the Custom Fields (only visible if the Shipping Method has been provided with some).
  3. Click Create shipping method.
  4. To add Zones for your Shipping Method, click Add Zone.
  5. Select from the Zones configured for your Project.
  6. To define shipping rates, click Add currency-specific shipping rate.
  7. Select the currency and enter the shipping rates.
  8. Click Save.

Channels

Channels connect entities (like Products or Prices) to a specific source (like a warehouse or physical retail location). For more information on the Channels concept, see Channels.

You can configure Channels under the Channels tab.

  1. Click Add Channel.

  2. Enter the values for the following fields in General information:

    • Channel key: a unique key for the Channel
    • Channel name: the localized name of the Channel
    • Channel description: the localized description of the Channel
    • Channel roles: roles of the Channel
  3. Enter the values for the Address fields. To make them editable, turn on the toggle.

  4. Enter the values for the Geolocation fields. These fields are coordinates of the physical warehouse that this channel represents. To make them editable, turn on the toggle.

If Custom Types are defined for your Channels, you can view and edit the corresponding Custom Fields.

Stores

Stores can be used to model physical retail locations, brand stores, or country-specific stores. They can hold carts and orders, and allow to limit access, for example, to orders of a specific store only. For more information on the Store concept, see Stores.

You can configure Stores under the Stores tab. To create a Store, do the following:

  1. Click Add store.

  2. Enter the values for the following fields:

    • Store key: a unique key for the Store
    • Store name: the localized name of the Store

    The Store name can be updated at any time, but the Store key cannot be modified after it's created.

    If Custom Types are defined for your Stores, you can view and edit the corresponding Custom Fields.

  3. Enter the values for the following fields in Store Settings. Store Settings allows you to limit the data available in your Store that automatically filters your Product data before sending it to the storefront application.

    • Inventory supply channels: the Inventory entries available in the Store

      Inventory entries linked to other Inventory supply Channels are automatically omitted from the Product data that is sent to the storefront application. Inventory entries that are not linked to any Inventory supply Channel are kept in the Product data. The same filtering is applied to Line Items of Carts and Orders that are bound to the Store. If no Inventory supply Channel is specified in the Store settings, no filtering takes place and all inventory entries are sent with the Product data.

    • Product distribution channels: the Prices available for the Store

      Prices linked to other Product distribution Channels are automatically omitted from the Product data that is sent to the storefront application. Prices that are not linked to any Product distribution Channel are kept in the Product data. The same filtering is applied to Line Items of Carts and Orders that are bound to the Store. If no Product distribution Channel is specified in the Store settings, no filtering takes place and all prices are sent with the Product data.

    • Languages: the configured languages available for the Store

      Translations in other languages are automatically removed from all localized fields before sending the Product data to the storefront application. This affects Product details, search results, and Cart Line Items. If languages are not specified, the translations are not filtered in the Product data. The language order is used by language selectors in your storefront application.

    • Countries: the Countries available for the Store

      Prices linked to other countries are automatically omitted from the Product data that is sent to the storefront application. Prices that are not linked to any country are kept in the Product data. The same filtering is applied to Line Items of Carts and Orders that are bound to the Store. If no country is specified in the Store settings, no filtering takes place and all Prices are sent with the Product data.

    • Product Selections: the Products available for the Store

      Only Product data that is part of the specified active Product Selections is sent to the storefront application. This allows you to create individual catalogs for different brand sites, regional stores, or brick-and-mortar stores. Furthermore, you can activate or deactivate Product Selections individually, which is useful for seasonal Product assortments, for example. If empty, no filtering takes place and all Products in the Project are available for the Store.

  4. Click Create Store.

Miscellaneous

You can configure the following under the Miscellaneous tab:

  • Rich text editor for product descriptions: provides advanced text formatting options to apply for your Product descriptions. If activated, any applied styling is converted into HTML code that your storefront can retrieve.
  • Order states visibility: controls the visibility of the following Order states drop-downs in the Merchant Center:
    • Hide payment state dropdown
    • Hide shipment state dropdown
    • Hide order state dropdown
      Do not select the checkboxes if your customer service representatives use the Merchant Center to manage orders manually.
  • URL rewrite for external images: displays external product images in the Merchant Center according to the naming format of the image hosting service. By default, Merchant Center does not show product images hosted on external servers. You can configure the following:
    • Size: thumb: URL rewrites (search and replace) rules for thumbnail images
    • Size: small: URL rewrites (search and replace) rules for small images