Initiating and Completing a Retail Transaction

This provides a quick walk through a retail transaction from start-to-finish. Details regarding certain procedures such as retail fulfillment, credit checking, and managing service agreements are provided in later sections.

The overall process is like any other transaction, except that additional steps may be required related to retail items:

• Depending on starting block configuration, users may be required to select a POS register.

• During assembly additional steps may apply related to retail items (fulfilment, discounts, taxes, installment plans).

• Tendering the transaction prior to submitting.

Starting the Transaction – Selecting a Starting Block

Based on Displayed In options as set on the starting block you can start a retail transaction from the Orders and/or Customer Care module. Use a starting block that you set up with Location, Email and Receipt options as required for your retail web transaction process. If you initiate the transaction from Customer Care, you’ll be directed to Orders to complete the transaction.

Basic Information

Selecting a starting block displays the Basic Information page. As with any transaction, you need to specify the Customer. Order Type is also required and may be auto-populated based on the starting block configuration.

Note:

In the example below, this page is labeled New Cart as the selected starting block was set up to start as a sale (as opposed to an order). Labeling for subsequent pages, buttons and so on will reflect this as well.

Selecting a Register

A POS location and register are required for retail transactions. For remote applications where associates are not required to use a specific location and register, these specifications are typically set on the selected starting block. For transactions where each sales associate is required to use their specific location and register, you can ensure this in two ways:

• Register assignments can be made in advance through Register Management avaialble via the LOCATION > My Registers slide out in the Orders main menu. This method saves users from having to manually select a register for each transaction.

  Note:

  When location and register are set on the starting block, those settings will take precedence over location/register settings configured via LOCATION > My Registers. For details see the section on Register Management.

• Or, if you want to force users to select a register on each transaction:

  • Do not assign those users registers via Register Management.

  • Configure a starting block with Require Register to Start Transaction enabled and leave location and register undefined. In this case, the Select Register dialog will always be displayed after saving the transaction’s Basic Information. The Location and Register menus in the Select Register dialog are populated based on user’s Location access configuration in the IDI Desktop Client POS Back Office.

Notes:

• When the user has a current register assigned, the LOCATION icon in the Apps tray indicates this status with a circle around the icon.

  

• If a user is not authorized at a location, a no locations authorized error is displayed.

Assembly

Saving the basic information displays the Detail page for assembling the transaction. This is where you select one or more retail items for the transaction.

Note:

The available actions reflect the starting block configuration. In this case the block is configured to permit adding and modifying services and products, bulk adding services, and bulk updating provisioning properties. Hovering over an icon displays its function.

Click the Add Items icon.

Choose to add account- and/or service-level items.  Below shows choosing to add an account-level item and searching on handset.

Select an item to add to the cart.

There are several considerations when adding retail items:

• Retail items can be serialized or non-serialized. You’ll need to enter serial numbers for serialized items before adding them to the transaction. If you need to defer specifying the serial number at this point you can click the For Fulfillment check box. This auto-populates the Serial Number field with a temporary serial number (XXXXXXXXXXX). In addition it causes the system to fire a custom workflow down-stream to temporarily pause the order to let you enter the serial number and then resume the order.

  Note:

  You are responsible for setting up the workflow. IDI can provide assistance via a work order. For more on this, see the section on Retail Fulfillment.

• The View menu has options related to retail items:

  • Discounts lets you apply one or more discounts to the retail item being added.

  • Tax Information lets you change tax jurisdiction for the item.

  • Installment Plan is only available when the selected retail item requires or allows a retail installment plan. This view is for completing installment plan details.

  • The Notes field lets you enter a note for the retail item on the transaction receipt. Clicking in the field expands it to 4000-character capacity.

    Note:

    When entering a note, be mindful of how much room it will occupy on the receipt. You may not want to use the full capacity.

Typically, you’ll defer adding the item (by clicking the ADD TO … button) if you know additional configuration is required to apply discounts, change tax jurisdiction or complete installment plan details. Do this by selecting the applicable option from the View drop-down menu and proceed as described below.

Applying a Discount on a Retail Item

Select Discounts from the View menu. This view lets you apply one or more discounts on-the-fly. To do this:

• Click + to display a row for entering the discount details.

• Enter a Description.

• Select a Reason.

• Choose to apply the discount as a fixed Amount or Percentage.

• Then enter the corresponding amount/percentage value.

• Click the + icon to add another Discount.

• To remove an added Discount, click the   icon.

Note:

If a Retail Promotion has been configured for the retail item and the eligibility conditions are met, the system will automatically apply the Retail Promotion-driven discount.

Changing Tax Jurisdiction on a Retail Item

If you need to establish a tax jurisdiction other than the configured default for a specific retail item, select Tax Information from the View menu. This view lets you select one of these options for establishing tax jurisdiction:

• Default Taxing Method – Uses the tax jurisdiction for the configured default address (MANAGE -> Settings). This is the default selection when you open this view.

• Primary Customer Contact – Uses the tax jurisdiction from the account’s primary customer contact. Selecting this displays this contact’s address information.

• Service Address – Uses the tax jurisdiction from the selected service address. Selecting this displays a menu for choosing an existing service address on the account.

• Service Contact– Uses the tax jurisdiction from the selected service contact. Selecting this displays a menu for choosing an existing service contact on the account. Or you can click the + icon to add another service contact (using Customer Care).

Completing Retail Installment Plan Details

If the retail item requires (or allows) a retail installment plan, select Installment Plan from the View menu. The fields in this view follow the rules for the installment plan profile assigned to the retail item. Profiles are configured via Product Management > Installment Plan Profiles in IDI Desktop Client, and assigned to the retail item via the Add/Edit Retail Product form (Behavior tab) in the Product Catalog.

You can edit these fields as the profile allows/requires. In the example below, the profile requires you specify the Number of Installments and Down Payment Amount. First Installment Required is pre-selected and can only be changed by overriding this profile rule. You can see additional details for a field by hovering the mouse over the associated information (!) icon.

The view indicates when you make an entry that’s not valid. In the example below you can see the current entry of 12 for number of installments is invalid as the allowable range is 5-10.

If you need to override one or more rules, click Override Rules and then click again in the confirmation prompt.

In the example below, you can see the First Installment Included checkbox which was pre-selected and not editable can now be edited. You can also make entries in the other fields that exceed the ranges set by the profile rules.

Note:

You can restrict the ability to override installment plan profile rules through Order Field Configuration as described later.

Adding Items to the Transaction

When you’re ready, click the ADD TO … button. This adds a row in the left pane showing pertinent information for charge, discounts and installment plan (as applicable).

Hovering the mouse over a particular indicator displays additional detail. For example, the scissors icon indicates one or more discounts have been applied. Hovering over the scissors displays discount details ( $500 charge for the product has been discounted by $25).

Note:

If the item has multiple discounts, the information reflects the cumulative amount for all discounts.

The calendar icon indicates the item has a retail installment plan. Hovering over the calendar displays installment plan details. The example below indicates $343.75 dollars is owed over 11 installments.

The discount and installment plan result in a charge of $131.25 owed for this item at the time of sale (not including taxes).

Note:

You can review discount, tax jurisdiction and installment specifications for an item via the Details view.

Reviewing - Billing and Retail Summary

When you’re ready to move from Assembling to the Review phase, click Review.

For sales transactions, this displays the Summary page. This lets sales persons review the transactions details with the customer prior to moving to checkout.

Note:

For order transactions, this summary view is not shown.

The Billing Summary lists any billing charges (in this case none). Also, in this case, the Billing Summary indicates the presence of an agreement that requires action.

Use the Actions menu to complete and manage agreements as required.

Note:

This is covered in detail later in this article.

Click Proceed to Checkout when you’re ready to move on to tendering.

The tendering page is shown below.

Note:

If you leave the Detail page in assembly phase without clicking Review, and then return to the transaction via the Order OmniSearch, the tendering page will not be as described below. It will not show the TAX & TOTALS tab and will have a Complete button (rather than Finalize/Submit). In this case, you must click the Complete button to proceed to the presentation with TAX & TOTALS.

If you proceed to the tendering page directly from the Details view by clicking Review, the page will have a TAX & TOTALS tab that shows a subtotal, tax, and total amounts stemming from all charges related to the direct invoicing items on the transaction.

The TAX & TOTALS tab lets you:

• Add one or more tender types (+New Tender).

• See a preview of the receipt (document icon).

• Email a receipt on demand (mail icon, if the starting block is configured to support this).

Note: The Cash Balance field is included on the TAX & TOTALS tab if the Enable Cash Rounding setting is enabled.  This setting directs the system to round Cash tenders to the nearest nickel rather than to the penny.  The subsequent rounding may cause the Balance and Cash Balance values to differ by a few cents (for example, $181.13 and $181.15 respectively).

Tendering Rules:

• Last digit 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents → round down to nearest nickel

• Last digit 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents → round up to nearest nickel

• Last digit 0 or 5 cents → no rounding applied

Tendering

Add one or more tendering specifications. To start click +New Tender. This displays fields for selecting the tender type and specifying the amount.

The tendering options available in the Types drop-down menu are set by Location > Register Policy configuration in the IDI Client POS Back Office.

Notes:

• Details on using Paymentus for tendering are provided in the section on Tendering Retail Transactions Through Paymentus.

• If you’re not using Paymentus, credit card tender type must have payment gateway configured for Authorize.net. ACH tenders require a valid routing number.

After you select a tender type, the fields for additional information depend on the selected type.

Notes:

• When driver’s license number is required its masked after entry; however, you can go back and edit the full number if needed.

• The total amount for all added tenders must match the Total for the transaction.

• For non-Paymentus tenders, when you add a credit card or ACH (check or e-check) tendering type, the Payment Method drop-down menu will be populated with the customer’s E-Pay accounts as configured in IDI Desktop Client if applicable. The New Payment Method option lets you enter credit card or check tendering details on-the-fly (not associated to a specific E-Pay account). This is the only option available when the customer does not have any E-Pay accounts configured. Selecting this option displays a form for entering the credit card or ACH information as required.

Previewing the Receipt

Click the document icon to preview the receipt.

Emailing the Receipt

Your options for emailing receipts are driven by the starting block configuration.

• It may be set up to not email the receipt.

• It may be set up to prompt users whether or not to send when the transaction is finalized/submitted.

  

• It may be set up to allow sending the email on demand. In this case an email icon will be available next to the preview receipt icon. This displays the same prompt to choose whether or not to send.

• It may be set up to send automatically when the transaction is finalized/submitted (no prompt to choose whether or not to send). In this case, the Email on Demand icon, as shown above, is not available on the TAX & TOTALS tab; however, it will be available once you choose to finalize/submit the transaction.

Finalizing/Submitting

When you’re finished with tendering, receipt preview and emailing options, click Finalize Sale (or Submit Order).

This updates the left panel of the tendering page with pertinent transaction information. The two badges at the top indicate transaction status (InProcess) and the amount tendered.

Note: For sales transactions, theart transitions to a sale.