The integration process refers to the process of building an integration between your channel API and the Deliverect API.
This article recaps the steps required to complete and launch a live partnership for the benefit of your customers and ours! It will focus on the beta phase and getting GA.
GA stands for General Available. Integrations are GA when the beta phase is successfully completed and now available to all customers. The Deliverect sales team is allowed to sell the integration to all interested customers.
Process
The integration process involves five key steps.
Step 1. NDA and API contracts: Sign contracts to start developing
Step 2. Building: Developers work to build the API integration
Step 3. Certification call: Tests are run
Step 4. Beta-customer phase: Soft (limited) launch of the integration
Step 5. General Available: The integration is live and available to all customers
This article assumes that steps 1 - 3 are complete.
Beta Phase
Entering the beta phase, means you are a certified partner. The beta phase refers to a closed trial of a new integration with a limited number of customers. During this period, we introduce the integration to a limited number of external customers to explore customer impressions and insights.
Where do we get beta customers? Usually, the partner provides us with beta customers, since they know who would be the best fit. But we also watch out for potential beta customers from the Deliverect side, too. When an integration is in the beta phase, our Sales team is informed. If they encounter customers that are currently using our partner's services, we can assess the potential for that customer to be a beta tester.
Ideally, the beta customers will meet the following criteria:
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High order volume to help us get through the beta phase quickly
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Responsive and tech-savvy
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Patient and willing to troubleshoot and give us feedback
Customers are set up by an Implementation Specialist at Deliverect who will be your go-to person during the beta phase. They will work with the customer through the whole process to ensure that the setup is correct and that everything is working correctly for each step.
It usually takes two to six weeks to get a beta customer set up on an integration.
To start the beta phase, we will need
- At least five customers enrolled in the beta phase (maximum of seven)
- Confirmation of required webhook URLs with Deliverect API team
Keys to success
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Open Communication: It is very important to maintain open communication between our teams throughout the beta phase. When issues come up we want to be able to provide quick and efficient solutions to keep the integration moving forward. Please make sure that we have the correct contact info for your team, and we will provide the same.
Sharing is caring: To provide our mutual customers with the best possible experience, please feel free to share relevant setup documents, videos, and screenshots of their front and back office.
Feature-focused: It is important to listen to customers’ feedback during the beta phase. Customers might express interest in integration features that are not mandatory but are very important to them. Our mutual goal is to make customers’ lives easier so it would be great if you could consider implementing these enhancements. Our API team will guide you through the implementation of any new features.
Your partner manager at Deliverect will guide you through the referral process for beta customers. Please note that once the maximum number of beta customers is reached, we will need to wait until the beta phase ends to be able to set up further customers.
It is important to manage customers’ expectations from the beginning and make them aware that this is a beta integration so the setup will take longer and we will need their feedback throughout the whole process. We do our best to make the beta setup a smooth experience for the customers, but we cannot guarantee that they to go live on a specific date that they might have in mind.
Partner Accounts
As our partner, you will have access to see your customers' accounts in Deliverect after your certification call and throughout the beta phase. We call these Partner Accounts.
What does this mean for you as a Deliverect Partner?
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All customers using your integration will be linked to your Partner Account when they are set up in Deliverect and you will be able to manage operations inside of these accounts such as menu build and menu push.
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You can navigate to the Accounts tab and view your customers' information.
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This will also allow you to see the Analytics (reporting insights) for linked Accounts.
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Inside your Partner Account, you can review the Leads and their status - both inbound and outbound.
Before you move on, it would be great if we exchanged contacts to ensure that this process goes as smoothly as possible. If you haven't already done so, please reach out and let us know who we should reach out to for new activations and for API/integration support.
Beta setup
Setting up a customer for your channel follows these steps:
1. Complete the setup of their POS with our team
- POS set up
- Customer training
- Menu build
- Test orders sent to POS
Please note that we cannot proceed with activating your channel on a customer's account at Deliverect until the above steps are completed. If the customer is already using Deliverect actively we can proceed with the channel activation process immediately.
2. Channel activation
When a new beta customer signs, we send you a request to activate the integration on your end and to provide us with the external location (store) ID. Once this is done, we can register your channel.
We add the beta customer’s account to your Deliverect’s partner account so that you can access it. We share the following information from our end:
- Account ID
- Channel ID
When you send us a request to set up our mutual customer, please share the full account details (restaurant’s name and address, customer’s contact) along with the location ID.
3. Menu Push
After the channel activation, we can push the customer’s menu from Deliverect to your channel. We should receive a ‘success’ response from your end after the push and we need your confirmation that all products (meal deals/modifiers) have been pushed correctly to your website/app.
If the menu push was not successful, we should receive a ‘failed’ response from your end with an error message that indicates what is wrong.
4. Test Orders
After the menu is pushed, we will agree with the customer on a time for testing orders from your channel. We will require your assistance with placing the order as we cannot do this from our end. Test orders are a process to ensure that the integration is set up correctly. This is where we work with the customer to verify that they are receiving new orders from your channel correctly on their POS.
5. Troubleshooting
It's normal to encounter issues when pushing the menu or placing test orders during the beta phase. We need the customer’s cooperation and feedback to be able to make necessary adjustments on the channel or Deliverect’s side.
We also need to ensure that the POS settings at the channel configuration in Deliverect are correct. In case we need assistance from the customer’s POS support team, the Implementation Specialist will get in touch with the POS partner. Once adjustments are made, we will place new test orders to ensure that all changes have been applied. Please note that we might need more testing sessions to ensure that every issue is tackled.
How long will it take to get customers transactional with my channel?
It usually takes 1-2 weeks to get a beta customer set up on the channel integration, however, it depends on several factors such as how long it takes to build the menu (in case customer wants to have a separate menu for your channel) and how long it takes to fix issues we encounter along the way.
The Marketplace
While we are working through the Beta phase, you can start the process of joining the Deliverect Marketplace.
With Marketplace you can get your brand discovered across a wide range of delivery channels and grow your business along with hundreds of other Deliverect integrations. This platform allows customers to discover your integration which means increased exposure and an expanding customer base.
Our Marketplace allows customers to search, sign up for, and set up an integration directly in Deliverect. There is no need for them to complete multiple registration steps to get connected with a new integration, as everything can be completed right in their Deliverect account.
To start this process, reach out to your Implementation Specialist who will guide you through the process.
Requirements for joining the Marketplace
There are some requirements that must be met before a channel partner can be added to our Marketplace. Certain features must be available.
- Register flow channel
- Busy mode
- Combos/Meal deals
- Receive order status updates
- Menu availability
- Snoozing
- Min/Max Modifiers
- Multimax Modifiers
General Available
Once the beta trial has reached its successful conclusion, the integration is made available to all customers; that is to say, it is General Available (GA).
This means that:
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There are a minimum of five customers live on the integration with >100 orders and a success rate of >99%
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There are no more technical issues
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Documentation is up to date and reviewed
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The setup process is as easy and straightforward as possible and well documented
Once GA, the Deliverect Sales team can sell to all customers without limitation. Customers are now set up by a Customer Experience agent at Deliverect.
Note: If you have any customers you would like to refer to Deliverect, please complete the Referral Form sent to you by the Partner Manager. This will ensure the customer is sent to the correct pipeline and will be contacted by Deliverect to start using the software.
Next steps
Once the integration is fully functional, if you would like to implement any new features, please reach out to our API team at integrations-support@deliverect.com and consult with them.