Exchanging Plans

The Exchange Wizard in POS Make Sale facilitates exchanging (or returning) serialized retail products assigned to an active Enhanced Installment Plan (EIP). This functionality improves the experience for both IDI platform users and their customers by reducing time and stress when performing exchanges.

Overview

The exchange proceeds in either of two modes, depending on whether or not the installment plan has been billed. If the installment plan has not yet been billed, the exchange proceeds in the Restart mode. This supports changing Equipment and/or the Installment Plan sold at the initial time of sale, and provides an opportunity to regenerate installment plan agreements for signature.

If the installment plan has been billed at least one time, the exchange proceeds in Continue mode. This supports changing the Equipment sold at the initial time of sale, AND continues the existing liability, meaning, regardless of whether you use the same or different equipment SKU, the money owed on the installment plan will remain the same. It will not be adjusted up for more expensive equipment, or down for less expensive equipment.

Note that users do not select Restart or Continue mode. This selection is made automatically by the system, depending on whether or not the installment plan being exchanged has been billed.

To perform an exchange via the Exchange wizard, users must have the Allow Installment Plan Exchange permission enabled in their permission profile.

Basic Flow

The basic flow is similar for a Restart or Continue mode exchange, except that the Restart mode displays the form for specifying installment plan options. This lets you change the original terms of the installment plan, if so desired. In either case, the wizard will merge back into the standard Make Sale flow for downstream steps as usual.

• Launching the Installment Plan Exchange Wizard

  You can launch the wizard via the Installment Plans window on the customer’s account (Account > Installment Plans), or the Actions menu on the POS Make Sale Wizard.

  If you use the Installment Plans window, right click on the plan to be exchanged and choose Installment Plan Exchange.

  Note

  This option is only enabled for active plans.

  

  To use the Actions menu, select Installment Plan Exchange from the drop down menu.

  

  Note:

  If the account has multiple installment plans that may be exchanged, choosing this option will display Installment Plans window for the account where you’ll need to make a selection.

• Selecting Restart or Continue Mode

  You are not required to select the mode of operation for the Exchange wizard. The system will automatically start the wizard in the appropriate mode (Restart or Continue), depending on whether or not the installment plan has been billed at least once.

• Using the Exchange Wizard

  For both Restart and Continue, the wizard starts with the Item Details form. At a minimum, you’ll be required to select a Return Reason.

  

  Following that, you’ll see the Restart or Continue options form (depending on the mode). In both cases, you can choose to proceed with the same equipment SKU or a different equipment SKU.

  • Restart:

    

  • Continue:

    

  Note:

  If you choose to proceed with a different SKU, the system will display the Make Sale form for selecting a different SKU. If you select a different SKU in Continue mode, the money owed on the installment plan will remain the same. It will not be adjusted up for more expensive equipment, or down for less expensive equipment.

  

  If you choose to proceed with the same SKU, the following form is displayed. Here you can either continue with the same Equipment ID or enter a different one if needed.

  

  Note:

  The above forms illustrate the Restart mode; however, the same forms apply when in the Continue mode (except for verbiage denoting the difference in mode).

  Following this step is where Restart and Continue modes diverge. If you’re in Restart mode, the wizard will display the form for specifying installment plan options. This lets you enter new specifications if necessary. The form defaults to the settings as defined by the applicable Installment Plan Profile rule (as occurs in a standard Make Sale transaction with an Installment Plan).

  

  In Continue mode, you’ll proceed directly to the Make Sale Summary form.

Impact on retail sales and Inventory Management

The Installment Plan Exchange wizard contains pages/steps where additional setup could be required to best complement existing business processes. The following identifies these specific wizard’s moments and the possible action item(s) to consider prior to deploying/using the new solution.