FIRST STEP

Set up ERP

ERP is the linchpin of your online business. This is where you maintain all items – or more precisely: your product data. The central product database is then used to manage your listings on all sales platforms and organize order processing and shipping.

Why ERP instead of an online store?

Many new sellers are not yet familiar with the term ERP (ERP for short) and only start with an online store. They then lovingly enter all the product data into the store. This seems simple, i.e. not very complicated.

However, many entrepreneurs soon realize how much they are limiting themselves by operating a pure online store. Good is to connect the store to a central management system – an ERP system.

With JTL you are well positioned right from the start!

Blog post with videos
Selling online – the basics

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Step 1

What can do?

01
Preparations
- Register your business
  
  JTL is purely a software provider and is not authorized to give tax or legal advice. However, you are surely aware that you need a business license to operate an online business. Contact your local trade office for further information on the correct procedure.
- Download & install JTL-Wawi
  
  Download
  You can download our free inventory management system JTL-Wawi on this page:
  Download JTL-Wawi
  
  Install yourself
  You can use JTL-Wawi on any Windows computer that has the minimum system requirements fulfilled, install independently.
  
  Have it installed
  Alternatively, you can use ours Installation service to take advantage of this service. A JTL employee will then access your computer remotely, and you can follow along live as they install the inventory management system securely and without errors.
Download JTL-Wawi
- or: Book JTL-Wawi Cloud
  
  JTL-Wawi Cloud is a hosting service that gives you location- and device-independent access to your JTL-Wawi data. No matter which operating system you use, whether you’re in the office, the warehouse, or on the go – you can work with JTL-Wawi anywhere. The only requirement is an internet connection.
  
  Information on booking, setting up and managing JTL-Wawi Cloud can be found in the
  JTL-Guide (DE).
Booking JTL-Wawi Cloud
02
Enter product data
- Starting JTL-Wawi for the first time
  
  When you start JTL-Wawi for the first time, you will be guided through the initial steps with the help of a Setup wizards guided. Here you must:
  
  1. Register company
  If you already have a company name, enter all the necessary information here.
  
  2. Deposit in storage
  JTL initially assumes that you will be sending packages yourself. Enter the address of your “standard warehouse”—even if it’s currently your garage.
  
  3. Adjust taxes
  Indicate whether you wish to declare your invoices as a business or a small business according to §19 (and therefore no VAT).
  
  4. Request a test shop
  Let us set up a free, no-obligation test shop for you. You’ll receive all the login details via email and can immediately populate the online shop with products from your inventory management system. If you decide the shop is right for you later, you can easily add it to your existing plan at any time.
  
  Done! The setup is complete.
- Create/import product data
  
  Enter product data manually
  If you want to manufacture your own products or put together special offers, you usually enter your items manually into the inventory management system.
  
  Learn about the basic article types and how to create items in JTL-Wawi: JTL-Guide (DE).
  
  Import product data
  When you buy products from manufacturers or wholesalers, product data is often already included, which you can import, for example, via JTL-Ameise.
Items in JTL-Wawi
03
Mapping purchasing
- Create suppliers
  
  In the purchasing and supplier management section, you create your suppliers and enter the general terms and conditions.
  
  Dropshipping
  There is also the option to designate suppliers as dropshipping suppliers and have goods sent directly from their warehouse to your customers – with your delivery notes!
- Link articles to suppliers
  
  Now assign the appropriate supplier to your item: manually in the item master data, automatically via JTL-Ameise – or simply when needed, for example, when a reorder is required.
  
  See the JTL guide: Assigning suppliers to an item
  
  Enter individual terms and conditions
  You can enter the purchase conditions negotiated with the supplier for each item.
Precurement in JTL-Wawi

SECOND STEP

Connect marketplaces

You will find a large number of customers for your products on marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, OTTO Market, Kaufland Global Marketplace and many more. This is where the music of online business is played, as customers can easily search, compare, order and pay. However, the conditions of participation for retailers are not without their challenges; you have to be on your toes to survive the competition.

Start with eBay

If you have never traded on marketplaces before, it is advisable to start with eBay first. The conditions here are not yet as strict as on Amazon and the like. Practice selling a few selected products that are likely to do well.

Start small and get to know the rules of the marketplace step by step. Also set a limited quota to avoid accidentally generating oversales – which can sometimes be the case with fast sales and low stock.

With JTL you can trade professionally on marketplaces.

Blog post with videos
Connect marketplaces

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Step 2

What can do?

01
Preparations
- Create seller accounts on marketplaces
  
  eBay
  Create a seller account on eBay, list an item, and make a test purchase. Before you can connect eBay to JTL, you need at least one completed purchase.
  
  Go to eBay’s information page
  
  Amazon
  Create a seller account on Amazon and activate “Amazon Marketplace Web Services (MWS)” there. You will receive an authorization token, which you will later need to enter into JTL-Wawi.
  
  To register with Amazon | Go to the Amazon MWS information page
- Select order package
  
  Book one of our service packages for the monthly billing of your marketplace transactions.
To the order packages
02
Integrate marketplaces
- Linking JTL-Wawi with eBay
  
  Now you need to link your eBay seller account to your inventory management system. Leave the overly technical details for now and address those topics later.
  
  See the JTL guide: Setting up eBay for JTL-Wawi (DE)
- Linking JTL-Wawi with Amazon
  
  Before connecting to Amazon, please contact your Amazon representative so that billing addresses can be provided to you as order reports (i.e., in TXT flat file format). Amazon usually responds to these requests very quickly (within a few minutes). After that, you can proceed with the setup.
  
  See the JTL guide: Setting up Amazon in JTL-Wawi (DE)
- Linking JTL-Wawi with other marketplaces
  
  For the JTL guide: Setting up additional marketplaces
Set up marketplace connections
03
Carry out test purchases
- Post offers on eBay
  
  You can now offer any item you manage in your inventory system for sale via the linked eBay seller account. Listing is done using so-called listing templates.
  
  For the JTL guide: Selling on eBay
  
  Conduct a test purchase on eBay
  Now, list the prepared offer on eBay, access your offer on eBay, and make a test purchase. The next time you synchronize, which you can initially perform manually, you’ll find your order in the marketplace management section of your inventory management system.
  
  See the JTL guide: Processing eBay orders (DE)
- Post offers on Amazon
  
  Amazon distinguishes between two cases:
  
  1. Linking to an existing product or listing new products. Linking to an existing product – more precisely, an existing “product detail page” – is very quick, for example, using the ASIN registered in JTL-Wawi.
  
  2. However, if you are a manufacturer yourself, your products will not yet exist on Amazon. In this case, JTL’s “Amazon Lister” function will help you create and upload your own product pages for Amazon.
  
  For the JTL guide: Selling on Amazon (DE)
  
  Carry out a test purchase
  Now, list the prepared offer on Amazon, access your offer on Amazon, and make a test purchase. The next time you synchronize, you’ll find your purchase in the JTL-Wawi order management system.
  
  See the JTL guide: Processing Amazon orders (DE)
- Post offers on other marketplaces
  
  The ready-made marketplace interfaces in JTL-Wawi allow you to offer your product range on other sales platforms such as OTTO Market, Kaufland Global Marketplace, voelkner, or MediaMarktSaturn. You can also integrate other marketplaces like Check24, TikTok Shop, Zalando, and many more using… Partner solutions from the JTL Extension Store connect.
  
  See the JTL guide: Sell on other marketplaces

THIRD STEP

Set up online store

Where should potential buyers find your products? One option is to have your own online store. JTL offers a Community Free Edition in the free “JTL Start” edition, with which you can offer your customers up to 500 items. It’s even easier if you have your JTL-Shop hosted directly by us: Hosting listings from JTL

Why an online store?

You can usually sell with the highest margin in an online store. Try to make as many potential buyers as possible aware of your online store and increase the proportion of existing customers. To do this, you can, for example, use attractive offers that you place on Google Shopping and then offer them – as a mixed calculation – together with other products in your store.

Tip: Keep the store design appealing but simple to start with and do without special functions – this will keep the investment costs for your online store within reasonable limits.

Blog post with videos
Your own online store

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Step 3

What can do?

01
Preparations
- Option 1: Activate test shop in JTL-Wawi
  
  When you install JTL-Wawi, you’ll be asked at the end of the setup process if you’d like to request a test shop. The test shop is free and without obligation. If you like the test shop, you can easily convert it into a regular shop hosted by JTL.
- Option 2: Activate test shop via form
  
  Use our “Request a test shop (for merchants)” form to test our JTL shop free of charge and without obligation. If you like the test shop, you can have it converted into a regular shop hosted by JTL.
  
  Activate the test shop now!
- Option 3: Book shop hosting directly
  
  You can opt directly for our hosting service to outsource most of the technical support. You then only need to focus on designing your shop, while we manage the IT infrastructure for you. Alternatively, you can also use a hosting provider of your choice for your Community Free Shop.
  
  More information about our hosting
Activate test store
02
Connect shop with JTL-Wawi
- Combining inventory management and online shop
  
  Our JTL-Shop system does not function without our JTL-Wawi inventory management system. Therefore, you must enter the connection details sent to you via email with the test shop activation into JTL-Wawi.
  
  Video tutorial: Connecting a JTL-Shop (DE)
- Upload categories & products
  
  With JTL, you don’t configure shop navigation, products, and product categories in the backend of your online shop – but rather in the merchandise management system, specifically in the “Articles” section.
  
  From here you can configure settings such as: sorting/order, visibility of offers, SEO information, prices & discounts, and much more.
  
  For the documentation of JTL-Shop
- Adjust the shop's logo and colors.
  
  Unlike product maintenance, you make visual changes in the shop’s backend:
  
  See the JTL guide: How to change the appearance of the shop
  
  For example, you can change the colors for the included NOVA template there, or choose a different one. Template from the JTL Extension Store Upload your own logo or insert your own logo.
  
  Customize logo
Video: First steps
03
Prepare sale
- Set payment methods
  
  Decide how customers can pay in your shop: by invoice, credit card, PayPal, or other payment providers? Activate the appropriate payment methods in the shop’s backend and link them to your payment methods in JTL-Wawi.
  
  Setting up payment methods for JTL-Shop
- Set up shipping methods
  
  What shipping methods do you need for your products and your customers? For example, do you want to offer express shipping, or is standard shipping with Deutsche Post or DHL sufficient?
  
  See the JTL guide: Setting up shipping methods
- Make a trial order
  
  Once you’ve set everything up, it’s best to place a test order: Purchase a product from your own online shop. Then switch to your inventory management system and synchronize it with your online shop. You’ll find your order under Sales > Orders.
  
  Perform online shop comparison
  Organize sales in JTL-Wawi
Video: Shipping methods

FOURTH STEP

Set up warehouse & shipping

Is your warehouse still small? With the combination of JTL-Packing Bench+ and our logistics integration JTL-ShippingLabels, you can pack professionally, print parcel labels automatically and ship quickly – without it getting expensive!

The favorite in the warehouse: JTL-Packing Bench+

You can transfer all order preparation tasks to your warehouse employees at the click of a mouse. Route-optimized pick lists ensure efficient workflows and reliable allocation of all delivery items. Once your parcel is packed, you will need a delivery bill and shipping label – and packing instructions would not be a bad idea either. With JTL-Packing Bench+ and JTL-Shipping, none of this is a problem.

What else is possible? Book incoming goods, process returns or change item conditions: You can find more information here!

Blog posts with videos
Manage sales orders and organize shipping

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Optimize warehouse processes

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Step 4

What can do?

01
Preparations
- Activate packing table license
  
  JTL-Packtisch+ (JTL-WMS Lite) is directly integrated into JTL-Wawi and the free edition “JTL Start” already includes one user.
  
  Our editions at a glance
- Activate JTL-ShippingLabels license
  
  The logistics provider integration JTL-ShippingLabels in JTL-Wawi is free of charge – the parcel labels themselves are not; your logistics provider will charge you the agreed rate per parcel for them.
  
  To use JTL-ShippingLabels, you need a user account with your logistics provider, such as DHL. However, activating the license works even without a logistics contract, so you can do this later.
02
Configure JTL-Packing Bench+
- Setting up a JTL packing station
  
  You can now open JTL-Packtisch+ in JTL-Wawi via the menu Start > JTL-Packtisch+ to define your login and storage options, among other things.
  
  See the JTL guide: Shipping with JTL Packing Table+
- Pick and pack the first package
  
  You can pick and pack orders individually or using a pick list. Start simply: Pick and pack your first order and prepare the package for collection by your logistics partner.
  
  From the JTL guide: Packaging individual orders (DE)
Video: Packing a sales order
03
Set up JTL-ShippingLabels
- Set up a user account
  
  For instructions on how to create a user account with DHL and other logistics companies, and what you need to be aware of, please refer to the logistics providers’ information pages. Here’s a starting point:
  
  See the JTL guide: Setting up JTL Shipping Labels for DHL
- Configure printer
  
  To ensure your shipping labels come out of the printer in the correct size and on the correct paper, you need to carefully select the printer configuration. You can find more information in the JTL guide.
  
  Printer settings for DHL (DE)
- Use setup service
  
  Our setup service ensures the correct configuration, for example, of your printers. Experience shows that this saves retailers a lot of time. The service includes: setup by our experts and integration of shipping methods.
  
  Important: We need your login details to activate the respective web services of your logistics provider.
To the JTL-Shipping set-up service

FIFTH STEP

Test & optimize

Don’t stop now! Learn – as soon as you can – about our numerous automation tools, first and foremost the JTL-Workflows and the JTL-DataTransfer. Even if they may seem a little complicated at first, once you understand them, they can make your day-to-day business as an online retailer much easier.

Step 5

What can do?

Test processes

Technical and legal review

Being an online retailer also involves a few good habits and rules. Following them will make things easier later on and prevent unpleasant surprises. The JTL guide provides an overview of the most important aspects:

Checklist: Correct technique & legal aspects
Train employees

Before going live, don’t forget that any potential helpers will need training on the software and new procedures. Take the time to explain the processes to them and, if necessary, optimize them further together.

Those who want to support their employees will find a wealth of video lessons on the JTL training platform:

To the video course “Getting started with e-commerce using JTL software” (DE)

GET ON BOARD WITH JTL

First steps in
eCommerce

FIRST STEP

Set up ERP

Why ERP instead of an online store?

Step 1

What can do?

Preparations

Enter product data

Mapping purchasing

SECOND STEP

Connect marketplaces

Start with eBay

Step 2

What can do?

Preparations

Integrate marketplaces

Carry out test purchases

THIRD STEP

Set up online store

Why an online store?

Step 3

What can do?

Preparations

Connect shop with JTL-Wawi

Prepare sale

FOURTH STEP

Set up warehouse & shipping

The favorite in the warehouse: JTL-Packing Bench+

Step 4

What can do?

Preparations

Configure JTL-Packing Bench+

Set up JTL-ShippingLabels

FIFTH STEP

Test & optimize

Step 5

What can do?

Test processes

GET ON BOARD WITH JTL

First steps ineCommerce

FIRST STEP

Set up ERP

Why ERP instead of an online store?

Step 1

What can do?

Preparations

Enter product data

Mapping purchasing

SECOND STEP

Connect marketplaces

Start with eBay

Step 2

What can do?

Preparations

Integrate marketplaces

Carry out test purchases

THIRD STEP

Set up online store

Why an online store?

Step 3

What can do?

Preparations

Connect shop with JTL-Wawi

Prepare sale

FOURTH STEP

Set up warehouse & shipping

The favorite in the warehouse: JTL-Packing Bench+

Step 4

What can do?

Preparations

Configure JTL-Packing Bench+

Set up JTL-ShippingLabels

FIFTH STEP

Test & optimize

Step 5

What can do?

Test processes

First steps in
eCommerce