The order process contains several steps and typically interacts with several external systems, from payment service providers and warehouse management systems to the dropship vendor that delivers the goods. SAP Commerce Cloud already provides a default process definition that you customize to meet your project requirements. Let’s have a closer look at these steps and the systems usually involved.
Note
The following example shows an ideal path; if problems arise, such as the payment provider declining the charge or fraud is suspected, then the process is interrupted, and an appropriate notification is sent to the customer. Furthermore, the order and number of steps shown is highly customizable to meet your project needs.Typical Order Process: Description
- Order entry: Customer checks out the cart.
- Payment check: First contact with external payment service provider to validate the credit card and to reserve the cart amount.
- Fraud check: Order is checked for fraud, based on such typical patterns as this being the customer’s first order or the order total exceeding a certain threshold. This internal check is usually supplemented by an external fraud checking system.
- Warehouse integration: The order might need to be split into several consignments and delivered from different warehouses, based on availability of goods and cost efficiency calculations. After warehouse confirmation, we have another interaction with the payment service provider to actually collect the reserved amount from the customer’s credit card. Only then does shipping take place.
- Shipping notification: The customer, and possibly the selected store (for pickup), are notified about the order having shipped, and receive tracking information from the dropship vendor or store pickup instructions.
- Delivery: Dropship vendor delivers good to either the customer or the store pickup location.
Typical Order Process Steps: Example Implementation
Order Process Details
After checking out, the customer may cancel the order using the self-service section of the storefront or through a customer support agent, as long as the order has not already been shipped.
After delivery, it is usually possible to return the goods, and this is handled by another pre-defined process, once again supported by the self-service section or customer support.
Note
Digital goods are typically exceptions to the rules above.