Use credit limits and master bid lists to enhance the authorization process for contacts placing orders on your web site. Use contact credit limits, and credit decision makers to create an authorization chain for orders above a determined dollar amount, or for orders that contain products not defined on an authorized-to-buy list, or master bid list.
Note: Credit limits and master bid lists apply only to Web Commerce Level 2 sites.
This topic discusses how to complete the following tasks:
You can set a dollar limit for each contact that uses your web site to place orders. The contact is able to place orders under the dollar limit without authorization from an account manager. However, any time a contact with a credit limit places an order that exceeds the limit defined in Contact Maintenance, the contact must submit the order for credit approval, and the system forwards the order information to an account manager for the contact.
Using contact credit limits requires setting the following components:
Enable WOE Contact Credit Limits control maintenance record - Activates the credit limits functionality for Web Commerce.
Credit limit - The dollar amount a contact is allowed to spend on an individual order before the order requires authorization to process. You can set the credit limit to $0.00 to always require authorization.
Credit decision maker - A person designated as another person's account manager, and can therefore authorize purchases. Someone designated as a credit decision maker can also have a credit limit.
Account manager - A user who authorizes orders for the contact. If a contact has a credit limit, and that contact places an order that exceeds that credit limit, the system sends an e-mail to the account manager regarding the order. If the order also exceeds the account manager's credit limit, the system sends an e-mail to the highest manager necessary to authorize the order. The system checks the manager's manager first before proceeding to the next manager on the list.
The e-mail contains a link to the cart the web site saved for the order when the contact submitted it for approval. The saved cart also includes any comments the user entered for the order. When an account manager actually submits an order, the system sends an e-mail that contains the order number to the contact who placed the order.
To set a contact's credit limit:
Display the character-based system.
Note: The contact credit limit functionality has not been incorporated into Solar Eclipse as of this release.
From the Files menu, select Contact and open the contact record.
Use the WOE hot key to display the Contact WOE Parameters screen.
In the Order Credit Limit field, enter the dollar amount the contact is allowed to spend on an individual order before the order requires authorization.
Leave this field blank for the contact to not have a credit limit. Enter $0.00 to require authorization for all orders this contact places.
Press Escto save the contact record and exit the screen.
To set a contact as a credit decision maker:
Display the character-based system.
Note: The contact credit limit functionality has not been incorporated into Solar Eclipse as of this release.
From the Files menu, select Contact and open the contact record.
Use the WOE hot key to display the Contact WOE Parameters screen.
In the Credit Decision Maker field, type Y.
Press Esc to save the contact record and exit the screen.
To set account managers for a contact:
Display the character-based system.
Note: The contact credit limit functionality has not been incorporated into Solar Eclipse as of this release.
From the Files menu, select Contact and open the contact record.
Use the WOE hot key to display the Contact WOE Parameters screen.
Use the Account Managers hot key and list the user ID of the contact's manager. Press F10 to select from a list of account managers.
Press Esc to return to the Contact WOE Parameters screen.
Press Esc to save the contact record and exit the screen.
You can create a customer-specific list of items that any contact can purchase without requiring authorization. You can then limit contacts to purchasing only items stored in the master bid list. Set the WOE Restrict Customers to Specified Price Lines control maintenance record to Auth to highlight any items not on the master bid list on the Review Items in Cart and Order Review pages for the contact placing the order. If the contact tries to submit an order with one or more unauthorized items, the contact can submit the order for authorization.
If a contact places an order with items not on the master bid list, the system sends an e-mail to the account manager regarding the order. If the account manager is not authorized to purchase the products on the order, the system sends an e-mail to the highest manager necessary to authorize the order. The system checks the manager's manager first before proceeding to the next manager on the list.
The e-mail contains a link to the cart the web site saved for the order when the contact submitted it for approval. When an account manager actually submits an order, the system sends an e-mail that contains the order number to the contact who placed the order.
Note:You must be either a superuser or a credit decision maker to create a master bid list.
To create a master bid list:
Log in to your web site and add the items to your cart that you want to add to the master bid list.
From the My Cart menu, select Save Current Cart to display the Save Current Cart page.
Select the Master Bid List option to save the contents of the cart as a list of items that anyone in your company is allowed to purchase without authorization by an account manager.
Click Save and Continue to save the list and continue to use the web site, or select Save and Logoff to save the list and end your web site session.
The system saves the list as a normal shopping cart with the following exceptions:
It displays as *** Company Master Bid List *** on the Saved Carts page.
The system does not delete the list if a contact submits it as an order.
Any subsequent carts saved as a master bid list overwrite the existing list.
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