Hello all X-Cart Programming masters,
We have an X-Cart store whereas we need to automate some of the backend functions. Customers place orders on our site and sometimes the orders have to be modified for various reasons. We use a drop ship vendor who provides the fulfillment for the orders. The following scenarios need to be handled by implementing some control panels (listings of affected orders). In the normal order listing of x-cart, we would need an additional field inserted so that if an order is affected by one the conditions for modification below, it would be listed as such by a representation of a single capital letter. The capital letter in the field would be a clickable link that would direct the admin to that corresponding control panel. However, the data in the field would be an abbreviation so that as the admin scrolls through the listing of orders, he or she does not need to click into the corresponding control panel to see the status of the order.
Back Order Control Panel
If an item is back ordered, the vendor will now tell us via email and in turn we need to contact the customer and see how they want us to proceed with the order. In order to automate this task, we need the following modification to X-Cart.
- On the provider side of X-Cart, so that if an item is backordered, the drop ship vendor can click on the item line in the order (via a drop down) and specify what quantity of the item is back ordered. There would also be a calendar date selection for each item that is back ordered so that the vendor could select the release date that the item is expected to be off back order. After they are finished entering all the back orders, they would hit save and a which time an automated email would be sent to the customer telling them that an item(s) are on their order is back ordered and the customer needs to log into the orders side of the side and let us know how to proceed. This automated email will be sent every 24 hours until the customer logs into the account and tells us what to do with the order as per one of the actions below. When the vendor places an item back order, this will place a copy of the order the Back Ordered Control Panel that is visible on both sides of x-cart: provider (vendor) admin and customer. The order would status would either be: “back-order-pending” – awaiting input from the customer or “back-order-processed” – customer has informed us what action to take. On the main listing of orders of x-cart, the clickable capital letter in the “ControlPanel” field would be: B
- Upon logging into their account, the customer would see their order listing with a status indicator next to the back ordered order that states “back-ordered-pending” and the release date it is expected to be off back order. If the order only contains one back ordered item, the date next to the order will be that of the back ordered part. If there is more than one back ordered item, then instead of a date, there would be “see details” link, that the customer would click on to see a listing of all the back ordered items on the order and the dates fore each.
- Next to each back ordered item, the customer will have a drop down box that will inform us what to do with the order. The choices for the drop down would be: 1) wait for the back ordered item before shipping the order 2) cancel the back ordered item and refund their card or 3) send what can ship now and send the back ordered item when it becomes available. Once they finish selecting each drop down, there would be a “save & update” button that would change the status of the order in the order listing from “back-order-pending” to “back-order-processed” on all three sides of x-cart: provider, admin & customer.
- If 1 is selected, the order would remain in the Back Order Control Panel listing on both the provider and admin side of x-cart. but status changed from “back-order-pending” to “back-order-processed” along with the release date in a field next to it. On the main listing of orders of x-cart, the clickable capital letter in the “ControlPanel” field would be changed from B to P
- If 2 is selected, the item on the order will be listed as “cancelled” and the order would remain in the Back Order Panel listing on both the provider and admin side of x-cart. but status changed from “back-order-pending” to “back-order-cancelled” along with the release date in a field next to it. The release date would be the date that the customer logs in and responds to the back oder. If the date that the customer responds is on a Saturday or Sunday, then the default date will be the coming Monday. Additionally the dollar amount of the cancelled back ordered items will be submitted to the payment gateway, virtual merchant, for credit to the customers account. The item status will be updated from “cancelled” to “cancelled&credited” On the main listing of orders of x-cart, the clickable capital letter in the “ControlPanel” field would be changed from B to C
- If 3 is selected, the order will be split into suborders, the items that can be shipped immediately will be on suborder part 1 and the items that are back ordered will be on suborder part 2. Suborder 1 will be listed as “backordered-processed” and the order would remain in the Back Order Control Panel listing on both the provider and admin side of x-cart. but status changed from “back-order-pending” to “back-order-processed” along with the release date in a field next to it. The release date would be the date that the customer logs in and responds to the back oder. If the date that the customer responds is on a Saturday or Sunday, then the default date will be the coming Monday. The back ordered items will be transferred to suborder 2 and the status will be changed to “back-order-processed” on all three sides of x-cart: provider, admin & customer with the release date next to it. For suborder 2 on the main listing of orders of x-cart, the clickable capital letter in the “ControlPanel” field would be P
Clickable capital letter = S
No Longer Available Control Panel
Currently the vendor calls to tell us that an item is no longer available and we have to contact the customer to inform them and credit their account. In order to automate the task we need the following modification to x-cart.
- The vendor will log into the provider side as above but instead of choosing a drop down for back order, they would choose an additional selection in the drop down next to the item that would be titled: NLA (no longer available). The drop down NLA selection would have a quantity extension so that the vendor could specify quantity of the items that are NLA. For example if the customer orders 10 but only 2 are left and the remaining 8 are no longer available, the vendor would choose NLA>Qty 8. After the vendor completes inputing the NLA information, there would be a “save&update” button that they would click on to save and update the status of the order and 5 automated actions would take place.
1-The qty of items that are NLA would be listed in the order as “8-cancelled-NLA”
2- The customer will be sent an automated email telling that come items on their order have cancelled because they are NLA. The store admin will be sent a copy of this email as well
3- In a newly created Control Panel listing on the admin side of x-cart, there will be a listing of all cancelled items with the following fields: date of order / order nr. / customer name / item number / qty ordered / qty NLA / Amount each / Amount total / Amount refunded
4- the dollar amount of the cancelled NLA ordered items will be submitted to the payment gateway, virtual merchant, for credit to the customers account and the amount refunded in the table listing will be updated with this amount.
5- On the main listing of orders of x-cart, the clickable capital letter in the “ControlPanel” field would be N
Freight Approval Control Panel
Currently our shopping cart estimates shipping based upon a calculation of physical weight. However some items are just dimensionally large and the order ends up with a higher shipping cost due to oversized shipping costs. Currently the vendor contacts us with the updated shipping charge and we in turn contact the customer with the updated charge and ask the customer if they approve of the additional shipping charges and charge them the updated shipping charge. In order to automate the task we need the following modification to x-cart.
- The vendor logs into the provider side of x-cart and clicks on the affected order. In the freight amount line of the order, they will click on a drop down box with the following choice: 1) hold for freight approval-Heavy and 2) hold for freight approval-Dimensional. The vendor will select hold for freight approval and in a newly created field next to the drop down titled “actual freight” the vendor will input the actual freight charge in a dollar amount. After the vendor completes inputing the actual freight charge, there would be a “save&update” button that they would click on to save and update the status of the order and 4 automated actions would take place.
1- On the main listing of orders of x-cart, the clickable capital letter in the “ControlPanel” field would be: F
2- The customer will be sent an automated email informing them that the order has incurred additional freight charges because it is either heavier than estimated or has incurred oversize charges because of the dimensional weight of the shipment. This automated email will be sent every 24 hours until the customer logs into the account and tells us what to do with the order as per one of the actions below. Based upon the drop down selection by the vendor, the customer will be informed that it is because the freight is heavier than expected or it has incurred dimensional oversize weight charges. The email will inform the customer that at the time of check out, the freight charge were estimated at (populate $ amount from original freight charge) but upon preparation for shipping, it has been discovered that the actual freight charges will be (populate $ amount from what vendor puts in for actual freight charge). The email will request the customer to log into their account on the website to either decline or accept the additional charges.
3- A copy of the order will be listed in the Freight Approval Control Panel. The Freight Approval Control Panel listing will also be visible form the vendor “provider” side x-cart. And the customer will find the order listed in their account as “hold for freight approval” . In each of these listings, the order number will be followed by the date that the order was marked for freight approval.
4- The customer will log into their account on the website and find the order with a status of “held for freight approval” with the following explanation. “Dear Customer, during the initial freight calculation of freight charges for this order, it was estimated that the freight charges wold be (populate $ amount from original shipping charge) but however due to the fact that your order has incurred substantial additional freight charges because it is a) much heavier than expected or b) has incurred dimensional charges to its oversized measurements of the package, it is necessary for us to request your approval to charge you an additional freight charge of ($ amount that vendor puts in minus original $ amount on order). Please let us know if you approve of these additional charges or if you want us to cancel the order” The customer will be given a drop down selection of approve the additional charge or cancel order. If they approve the order, their the customers credit card will be charged the additional fees automatically via the virtual merchant payment gateway. On the main listing of orders of x-cart, the clickable capital letter in the “ControlPanel” field would be S. If they choose cancel the order, the order will then be listed as cancelled on all sides of x-cart: vendor and admin Freight Approval Control Panel, customer side. And the customers card will be credited via the virtual merchant payment gateway. On the main listing of orders of x-cart, the clickable capital letter in the “ControlPanel” field would be D
Identity Verification Control Panel
Currently we have some orders that appear suspicious for one reason or another. If we suspect the order is a fraudulent charge, we need to automate the following steps
- on the admin side, an additional checkbox needs to put inside the order page itself. The checkbox would be titled Fraud Suspect. Once the admin (or sales rep) clicks on that check box, a field next to it will populate with the admin user’s id with a time and date stamp so that we know who put the order on fraud alert. Once this checkbox is clicked, the following 4 automated actions are taken.
1- a copy of the oder is placed on the Identity Verification Control Panel with the status as “hold for verification” with the user id and time and date stamp from above.
2- on the main listing of orders of x-cart, the clickable capital letter in the “ControlPanel” field would be F
3- an automated email is sent to the customer stating that for security purposes, we need them to fax or scan a copy of the front and back of the credit card used for the charge along with a government issued photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport. This automated email will be sent every 24 hours until the customer submits the requested scan or fax.
4- on the vendor side of x-cart, the order would have in bold red letters next to it, Fraud Suspect and upon login, they would be presented with a message that the following order has just been flagged as suspected fraud. Additional an automated email would be sent to the provider informing that order nr. xxxxx is to be held for suspected fraud.
Once the customer emails or faxes the requested information and it is found to be satisfactory, the admin (or sales rep), will click on an approved check box next to the order in the Identity Verification Control Panel. The user id with the a time and date stamp will be listed. Upon this action, an automated email will be sent to both the customer informing them that their Identity has been verified and the order has been release and an email will be sent to the vendor informing them that it is OK to process the order. Also, when the vendor signs in, they will be presented with a message that the following order has been approved for processing. On the main listing of orders of x-cart, the clickable capital letter in the “ControlPanel” field would be V.
- Once a customer has gone through this process once, their account will not be eligible to be checked as Fraud Suspect. If the admin tries (or sales rep) tries to click on the Fraud Suspect, they will be presented with the following message: this customer’s identity has already been verified before.
Letters Listing
P=pending
C=cancelled
B=back order
N=NLA
F= Freight
S= Freight approved send
D= Freight denied
F = Fraud alert
V= Identity verification
I am new to specifying programing and user interface requirements, so please excuse me if I have taken some steps for granted and hence omitted them.
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