In SAP Commerce Cloud, order cancelations represent the termination of an order before it has been fulfilled or shipped to the customer. This process is critical for maintaining inventory accuracy and ensuring customer satisfaction when a change of mind occurs shortly after purchase.
Managing Order Cancelations
Cancelations can be initiated in two primary ways:
- Customer-initiated: In a standard SAP Commerce Cloud setup, customers have a limited window to cancel their own orders directly from their Order History.
- Customer service agent Initiated: using the Backoffice Customer Support Cockpit, a customer service agent can cancel an entire order or specific entries within an order if the order hasn't reached a restricted state (like "Shipped").
Once a cancelation request is submitted, the system checks the order status. If the order is still in a cancelable state (e.g., CREATED), the system triggers the cancelation workflow. This typically involves:
- Updating the order status to CANCELED.
- Releasing any payment authorizations or initiating a refund if the payment was already captured.
- Updating inventory levels to reflect that the reserved stock is now available again.
Order Cancelation Configuration
The Order Cancellation Configuration in SAP Commerce Cloud controls what forms of order cancelation are possible. It is configurable in the Backoffice Administration Cockpit, under Base Commerce and Order Cancellation Configuration.
Administrators can decide to make the following selections regarding their cancelation configuration:
| Enable customer order cancel | Determines whether order canceling is possible at all. |
| Enable partial order cancel | Determines whether it is possible to cancel order entries out of an order. For example, an order of two shirts and one hoodie. The two shirts or one hoodie can be canceled. |
| Enable partial order entry cancel | Determines whether it is possible to cancel part of an order entry (for example, two out of three items ordered). This parameter is only evaluated if Enable partial order cancel is set to true. |
| Enable complete cancel after shipping | Determines whether a cancel request is possible after shipping of part of the order has started. Only the part of the order that has not been shipped yet can be canceled. This parameter is evaluated only if Enable warehouse order cancel is set to true. |
| Enable warehouse order cancel | Determines whether order cancelation is still possible after the order has been sent to the warehouse. |
| Order queue waiting time | Determines how long an order waits in the queue before it is started to be fulfilled. This allows customers more or less time to cancel the order. |
Note
Digital products cannot be canceled since their fulfillment is immediate, and they are excluded from the cancelation processes.
Processing Order Returns
The order return process begins after a customer receives their goods and submits a Return Request. This request, initiated either through the SAP Commerce Cloud storefront by a customer or through the Customer Support Cockpit by a customer support agent, captures the original order reference, items, quantities, and return reason.
Once submitted, the system validates the request against return policies, such as time frames and product conditions. If approved, it generates a Return Material Authorization (RMA) and coordinates the physical return, managing logistics and inventory tracking.
The process concludes with one of two outcomes:
- Refund: The customer's money is returned, typically after the warehouse confirms receipt and inspection of the goods.
- Replacement: A new order is automatically generated to replace the returned item. SAP Commerce Cloud is set up to support this, but final implementation requires some additional development work.
Summary
- Order cancelations occur before fulfillment and involve stopping the order workflow to release reserved stock and payments.
- Orders can be canceled by customers and specific Backoffice users.
- Configurations of the cancelation process can be managed in the Backoffice Administration Cockpit under Base Commerce. Here, companies can configure to allow partial order cancelations, order entry cancelations, and more.
- Order Returns manages the post-delivery process, requiring RMA generation and physical inspection before issuing refunds or replacements.