What is a Channel in Luminous?
A Channel in Luminous represents a connection between Luminous and an external platform — such as a storefront, marketplace, or warehouse system. Every channel has a type that determines what data flows in or out:
| Channel Type | What it does |
|---|---|
| Sales Channel | Pulls (receives) orders from an external storefront and, optionally, pushes inventory stock levels back to that storefront. |
| Fulfillment Channel | Pushes (sends) fulfillment orders out to a warehouse management system (WMS) or 3PL. |
| End to End Channel | Combines both — pulls orders from a storefront and pushes them to a fulfillment destination (the default for new channels). |
Supported Integrations
Luminous can connect to the following platforms as an order source or push destination:
- Shopify
- WooCommerce
- Amazon
- Api2Cart
- HubSpot
- Ecart API
- TrackStar
You set up credentials for each platform under App Integration Accounts before connecting them to a channel.
How to Create a Channel
- In the left navigation, go to Manage → Channels.
- Click Create (top-right).
- Fill in the Channel Type, Channel Label, and optionally a Description and Tags.
If your channel type is Sales Channel or End to End:
Order Source section
- Toggle on PULL Sales Orders to have Luminous automatically import orders from the connected storefront.
- Choose the Pull Orders From integration account (your connected Shopify store, Amazon account, etc.).
- If the platform has multiple stores, select the OMS Store.
- Optional settings appear when Pull is enabled:
- Automatically Push Fulfillment Updates to Order Source — sends tracking and shipment status back to the storefront once an order ships.
- Ignore Channel Shipments and Create Internal Shipments on Status Change — useful for in-store pickup scenarios (e.g. WooCommerce click-and-collect).
- Order Currency — if orders arrive in a foreign currency, set it here; Luminous will store the original amounts and convert to your base currency for reporting.
If your channel type is Fulfillment Channel or End to End:
Order Destination section
- Toggle on Push Orders to Integration to have Luminous send fulfillment orders to a WMS or 3PL.
- Choose the Push Orders To integration account and, if applicable, the OMS Store.
- Select a Warehouse Group to associate with this channel — this determines which warehouse's stock is used for fulfillment orders.
- Choose Basic Mapping or Advanced Mapping (Advanced lets you select a saved Integration Mapping for complex field transformations).
Push Stocks section
- Toggle on Push Stock to Integration (in the Push Inventory Stocks and Costs section) if you want Luminous to push live inventory levels back to the connected storefront. Choose the integration account and inventory location.
- When all sections are configured, click Save.
Tip: When creating a new channel, you can use the Prepopulate from channel field to copy settings from an existing channel as a starting point.
Additional Channel Options (Sales Channels)
- Is Internal Sales Channel — marks the channel as a point-of-sale or internal channel. Useful for walk-in or phone orders that don't come from an external marketplace.
- Is Customer Specific — hides this channel from the default list and ties it to a specific CRM contact. Used when a B2B customer has their own SKU identifiers.
- Default CRM Company — links every order from this channel to a single CRM company. Ideal for B2B retailers placing orders via EDI or a dedicated portal, so payment terms and billing address flow through automatically.
Dropship Channels (Fulfillment Channels)
If a fulfillment channel represents a dropship supplier, check the Dropship option. You can then:
- Link a specific Supplier for auto-generated purchase orders.
- Choose a PO Delivery Type (ship to customer or to a warehouse).
- Enable Auto Create PO and Auto Send PO so purchase orders are created and emailed to the supplier automatically when fulfillment orders are generated.
Order Filters
Each channel can have one or more filters that control which orders are pulled into that channel. Filters evaluate fields on the incoming order (such as warehouse ID, SKU, or shipping address). All filters must match for an order to be accepted by the channel (AND logic).
Common filter conditions:
- Equals (EQ) — exact match
- Contains (IN) — substring match (case-insensitive)
- Exact In (EXACT_IN) — exact match from a comma-separated list
Filters are especially useful when a single integration account serves multiple channels (e.g. separating FBA orders from FBM orders).
Auto-Push Fulfillment Orders
Once a fulfillment order is created in Luminous, you can configure it to be pushed automatically to the destination WMS after a set delay (in minutes). This is configured in the Wave Policy / Auto Push section of a fulfillment or end-to-end channel.
The system checks for eligible fulfillment orders every minute and pushes them when the configured delay has elapsed. If a push fails, the fulfillment order is marked as Error and excluded from future automatic attempts until the issue is resolved and the status is manually reset.
Channel Restrictions (Advanced)
Fulfillment channels can be configured with restrictions — rules that limit which ship-to addresses or order types the channel can serve. For example, you can restrict an Amazon FBA channel so it is only used for US domestic orders. If no eligible channel can be found for an order line, the line is left unrouted with a restriction block code until the configuration is corrected.
Managing Channels
- View all channels: Navigate to Manage → Channels in the left navigation.
- Edit a channel: Click a channel name, then Edit.
- Product Mapping: On the Manage → Channels page, click Product Mapping to manage how your Luminous SKUs map to external platform SKUs for each channel.