Getting started 3: Connect every distributor

Chapter 3 of 15 of Getting Started with Trinity, by Brad Bussell, 2AData. Also on the web at www.2adata.com/getting-started.

Your catalog on Trinity is built from live distributor feeds: cost and stock pulled from each distributor you connect about every 10 to 30 minutes. You do not have to type a price. You set markups, and the store works out each price from the lowest in stock cost it can see. So the single biggest lever on what you can sell is how many distributors you connect.

Distributors connected	Items in stock on the store	Of which firearms
3	36,000 to 42,000	8,300 to 10,200
5	25,000 to 58,000	10,400 to 13,400
7 to 8	55,000 to 82,000	9,500 to 13,400
22 (our own store)	115,000	16,800

More distributors also means a better cost on each item. When five distributors stock the same pistol, the store prices from the cheapest one that is in stock, and reprices automatically when that one sells out. With one distributor you pay their price, whatever it is.

1. Each distributor you can connect, with its connection type (API or FTP)
2. Active, configured and live: the feed is pulling and orders can be placed
3. Last sync: cost and stock refresh every few minutes
4. Configure: the page that says exactly which logins to request, and from whom

The distributors Trinity connects to

Lipsey's, RSR Group, Sports South, Davidson's, Bill Hicks & Co., Zanders Sporting Goods, Chattanooga Shooting Supplies, Crow Shooting Supply, Camfour, Kinsey's, MGE Wholesale, Orion Wholesale, Kroll International, AmChar Wholesale, Iron Valley Supply, Hicks Inc., MSR Distribution, Gunarama Wholesale, 2nd Amendment Wholesale, Bangers, Gun Accessory Supply, Tactical Gear Distributors and Athlon Optics direct. Each one's Configure page in your admin says exactly what it needs and who to ask for it.

What each one needs from you

• A catalog login so the feed can pull cost and stock. Bill Hicks shares a catalog feed through us, so you only tell your Bill Hicks rep you are on 2AData, give them your account number, and they map your orders. Davidson's feed also comes through us, but orders go out on your own Davidson's customer number, which you enter on its Configure page. Davidson's does not drop ship, so every Davidson's order ships to your store. Others (Lipsey's, RSR, Sports South, Chattanooga, Zanders) give you your own feed or API login.
• An ordering login so the store can place drop ship orders on your account. This is always your own account: your dealer number, your API key, your web login. Orders are placed in your name and billed to you.
• Drop ship enabled on your account. Ask your rep. Some distributors (Chattanooga is one) also need the platform's server address whitelisted on your account; the Configure page shows what to send them.
• Your FFL on file with each distributor for firearm orders, and your SOT if you sell suppressors.

Note: Never email a password or an API key. Enter it on the distributor's Configure page in your admin, where it is stored encrypted. See

Never email passwords or API keys

.

Most distributor trouble is the right login in the wrong box. RSR has a web password and an FTP password, and the page says which goes where. Lipsey's gives a drop ship login and a ship to store login; enter both. Every ordering login must be your own account. Click Test connection after each one. See Which RSR password do you need? and Lipsey's ship to store login.

What to expect once they are connected

• Prices and stock for items already in your catalog update within about 10 to 40 minutes. Items a new distributor carries that are not yet in your catalog are added overnight. See How long until a new distributor's products appear.
• Each distributor has rules about what it will drop ship. Chattanooga adds a $7.50 minimum order fee to any order under $50, so a line under $50 ships to your store instead of drop shipping to the customer. Camfour will not drop ship to Alaska or Hawaii. The platform knows these rules and routes around them. See How distributor rules decide what you can sell.
• When an order comes in, the order page lists every distributor that carries the item with its cost and stock, marks the lowest cost in stock BEST and badges its recommended source AI PICK. You attach the customer's FFL on the order page, choose the distributor and send the order with Process Selected Items as Dropship or Ship to Store; for most distributors the FFL goes out with it. Automatic ordering is not part of every store; we switch it on store by store, so email us if you want it. You see the distributor's order number on the order page.

When a price or a stock count looks wrong, check three things before you email us: is the distributor that carries it switched on, does Stock Monitor show its feed pulled in the last hour, and is the brand or category hidden. Prices move on the hourly run. See My prices look wrong, Stock Monitor: is my website showing the right stock? and What is hidden by default.

Previous: Your first two weeks. Next: Setting your prices.

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