Fulfill

Fulfilling orders is an important part of your business and as you have chosen to accept orders through your IndieCommerce website, we want to make sure the steps to fulfill those orders are simple and clear. The scenarios below cover the most common order processes.

HOW TO FULFILL ORDERS

The main page for orders is found by navigating to: Store > Orders > View Orders

• The order is to be filled and shipped exactly as it was placed by the customer, with no revisions, and within a few days: In this case, the order processing is simple. After the order has been boxed up and is ready to be shipped out from the store:
  1. Select the ‘View’ button for the specific order
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the View page, change the order status to 'Completed', and click 'Update'

This will tell the system that the order is closed, which will cause the order to fall off of the list of active orders, and will also allow the system to charge the customer's credit card for the amount of the order.

• The order is to be filled within 4 weeks: If a customer places an order for a book that you are unable to fill right away, you may decide to leave the order open (as 'Pending'), and close the order sometime later. For instance, a customer has placed an order for a book that is not due to be published for two weeks (there are titles like this in the database, listed as 'Coming Soon - Available for Pre-order'). As long as the credit card authorization is still valid (they typically are within 4 weeks) you will be able to process the order as you did in Scenario 1. However, if the order is to remain ‘pending’ for longer than 4 weeks or if for some reason the authorization becomes invalid during that 4 week time you would need to move on to Scenario 3.
• The order is to be left open for longer than 4 weeks: If a customer places an order for a book that you are unable to fill right away, you may decide to leave the order open (as 'Pending'), and close the order sometime later. For instance, a customer has placed an order for a book that is not due to be published for two months (there are titles like this in the database, listed as 'Coming Soon - Available for Pre-order'). The prior authorization captured for the payment will expire within 4 weeks. Therefore we recommend you take the following steps to process this type of order:
  1. Select the ‘View’ button for the specific order
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the View page, change the order status to 'Payment Received', and click 'Update'

This is a way of securing payment from the credit card, but in such a way that it is still reversible. When an order is marked as 'Payment Received', the customer's card is charged, the money comes out of the card holder's account and is deposited into an ABA holding account. That money will then sit in the holding account until the store decides what to do with it:

• If the store subsequently marks the order as 'Completed', then the money in the holding account is released to the bookstore's bank account. At that point, the order has been paid for and should be filled to the customer.
• If the store subsequently marks the order as 'Canceled', then the money in the holding account is released back to the card holder's account. At that point, the store has not been paid, and the order should not be shipped.

If you choose not to mark the order as ‘Payment Received’ and the authorization becomes invalid you will need to ‘Re-Authorize’ the customers' credit card (you may only do so if the customer has opted to save their credit card information):

1. Select the ‘View’ button for the specific order
2. Select ‘Reauthorize CC’
3. Verify the ‘Charge Amount
4. Select ‘Authorize Amount Only On This Profile’

Once the new authorize has been captured you can complete the order as normal.

If the customer has not saved their credit card to their account you will need to contact them to obtain their payment information. You can ask them to log in and add it to their account and then use the above instructions to obtain an authorization and complete the order.

NOTE: There are always risks to leaving an order in a ‘pending state’: the credit card could expire in that time, it could be lost and reported stolen making it invalid or, as mentioned the authorization can become invalid. It is with that in mind that we recommend you take advantage of the ‘Payment Received’ status whenever an order cannot be filled immediately such as in Scenario 2 and 3.

• The order must be edited before being filled and shipped: In this scenario, the customer places the order online, and then calls or emails the store to change the order in some way (if the order is filled by Ingram, there is no way to edit the order). To edit the order:
  1. Select the ‘View’ button for the specific order
  2. Select the ‘Edit’ button - you have the ability to change just about any aspect of the order.
  3. Edit the ship-to address or bill-to address by typing in the text fields
  4. To change the quantity of an item in the order, just change the number in the 'Qty' field.
  5. To remove an item from the order, click the red 'x' to the left of the item.
  6. To add a different item to the order, click the 'Add Product' button.
     1. Input the ISBN, and click 'Search'.
     2. Select the appropriate item from the search results and click the 'Select' button.
     3. The title will then appear in a box above the other order items, with a 'Qty' field. Enter the appropriate quantity and select ‘Add to Order’.
  7. In all of these cases, after the change has been made, you will need to click the 'Get Shipping Quotes' to confirm the shipping charge again.
     1. Click ‘Get Shipping Quotes’ button below the order total and choose the radio button for the correct shipping method,
     2. Click 'Apply to Order' to update it.
  8. Select 'Submit changes' at the very bottom of the order to save the changes you have made.

 Once the order has been edited, you are then free to go back to the View page and:

• If the order is for the same or lesser amount than the original total, you may mark the order as 'Completed' as soon as you are ready to ship.
• If the new order total is more than the original total, a new authorization needs to be obtained (see ‘Re-Authorizing A Customers Credit Card’ for instructions) only after the new authorization is obtained could you ‘complete’ the order.

NOTE: Please be aware, though we provide you with the means to re-authorize the customer's credit card for a higher amount, it is assumed that you are only doing so with the customers' knowledge/permission.

• The order is to be picked up in the store: If a store allows it, customers can choose to pick their order up in the store. This is enabled by default and appears to the customer as a choice during the checkout process. The store can also decide if the customer must include payment info at checkout, or if they can elect to pay at the store.
  • The customer has chosen to pick up their order at the store, and has chosen to pay at the store:
    • If the 'Payment Method' for an order is 'Pay at store', then no credit card info has been collected, so the system needs to be told that the order is being satisfied in some other way. To do this:
    1. Click the 'Payments' tab at the top of the order View.
    2. Set the ‘method’ to ‘Pay At Store’
    3. Fill in the amount of the order (which should also be the amount you received)
    4. Add a comment (optional)
    5. Select ‘Enter’

This will change the status of the order to 'Payment Received'. You’ll need to go back to the View for the order, and change the Order Status to 'Completed'. Remember that these customers must pay you directly at the store.

• The customer has chosen to pick up their order at the store, and has chosen to pay with  a credit card online:
  • Generally, such an order is handled just like Scenario 1, above, except that the order is not being shipped. When the customer picks up, just mark the order as 'Completed', and hand them their book. If you prefer, you can mark the order ‘Payment Received’ ahead of time to ensure the funds are captured and then mark it completed when they pick up.

• The customer has chosen to pick up their order at the store, and had originally chosen to pay with a credit card online, but has changed their mind regarding the payment method upon arriving at the store. If the order is still open:
  1. Click the 'Edit' tab near the top of the order View
  2. Scroll down to the Payment Area and change the ‘Payment Method’ to ‘Pay At Store.
  3. Select ‘Submit Changes’
  4. Click the 'Payments' tab at the top of the order View.
  5. Set the ‘method’ to ‘Pay At Store’
  6. Fill in the amount of the order
  7. Add a comment (optional)
  8. Select ‘Enter’

This will change the status of the order to 'Payment Received'. You’ll need to go back to the View for the order, and change the Order Status to 'Completed'. Remember that these customers must pay you directly at the store.

NOTE: Keep in mind that this scenario (C) can only play out if the order has been kept open until the customer arrives. If the order has already been changed to 'Completed' or 'Payment Received', then the credit card has already been charged.

• The order is being paid for via Paypal: In this scenario, the customer has opted to pay for the order via ‘Paypal’. The major difference here is that the payment transaction occurs through Paypal, just marking the order complete will not collect payment.
  1. If you elected to obtain an ‘Authorization Only’ for Paypal orders upon checkout, then you still need to capture those funds through the Paypal interface. The first part of this process will occur directly through Paypal, you will need to log in to Paypal and capture those funds. If you’re unsure how to do that you can visit the self-help center for ‘Paypal’: https://www.paypal.com/selfhelp/home or call their customer support line: 888-221-1161
     • After capturing the funds through Paypal, within a few minutes, the order status should update from ‘Paypal Pending’ to ‘Payment Received’ automatically.
     • At this point, you can mark the order as completed once it has been picked up or shipped and update the order to close it.
  2. If you elected to ‘Complete the Sale’ upon checkout, the funds are captured immediately upon checkout and the order status set to ‘Payment Received’.
     • At this point, you can mark the order as completed once it has been picked up or shipped and update the order to close it.

NOTES: It’s important to understand that the payment transaction occurs via Paypal, prior to capturing the payment through Paypal if you make any adjustments to the order that alters the cost, you will need to adjust the payment through Paypal. All refunds will also have to be issued through Paypal.

When an order is being paid for via ‘Paypal’,  you should see the following on the order screen:

• In the ‘Payment’ box, a Transaction ID for Paypal
• In the ‘Admin Comments’.
  • First, a comment stating “Payment is pending at PayPal: Waiting on you to capture the funds per your authorization settings.” - That indicates you still need to capture the funds through Paypal.
  • Once the funds have been captured, a comment stating “PayPal IPN reported a payment of $$$ USD.” should appear. (for option B. you should only see this message)

1. You (the store) want the order to be fulfilled by the wholesaler: Only orders that meet specific conditions can be sent to the wholesaler for fulfillment.
   • Check to see if the order has the ‘Send to Wholesaler’ button, if it does:
   • Click the button
   • The status should automatically update to ‘Pending Warehouse’ and the order is now out of your control. It should ship within 1-5 business days.
   • If the ‘Send to Wholesaler’ button is missing, the order does not meet the requirements to be filled by the wholesaler and you will have to fill it through the store. You can find out more about what prevents an order from being eligible for ‘Wholesaler’ fulfillment by reviewing: Conditions For Store v. Wholesaler Fulfilled Orders
2. The order is a pre-order and you (the store) want it to be fulfilled by the wholesaler:  A great benefit to have the wholesale fulfill a pre-order is that they will ship the title a day before release to ensure that the customer receives their item quickly. Again, only orders that meet specific conditions can be sent to the wholesaler for fulfillment. In addition to meeting those conditions, the following conditions apply specifically for pre-orders:
   • Publication date must be within 105 days of release.
   • The order can NOT contain any other items, including other pre-orders.
   • If a pre-order meets the requirements for wholesaler fulfillment the ‘Send to Wholesaler’ button will be available on the order.

How it works:

• Click the ‘Send Pre-Order to Wholesaler’ button.  This will charge the customer's credit card, and send to order to the wholesaler.
  • In order to ensure that the customer's card is still valid, we are required to charge the card before triggering the automated fulfillment process.
  • You should receive an admin comment confirming that the item was sent: Ex: Pre-order manually marked for wholesaler fulfillment by admin. Cancellation date - 2015/02/01

At this point, no further action is required by your store. The wholesaler will process and ship the order, and earnings and financial information will be displayed on your next money management report.

• If the original order contains multiple items, you will need to remove the ‘pre-order’ item, process the original order as preferred and create a new order for the ‘pre-order’ item. Instructions on creating an order on behalf of your customer can be found by reviewing: ‘Creating An Order On Behalf Of Your Customer’.

COMMENTS

Every order placed through your site will have ‘Admin’ comments and could have ‘Order’ comments as well. It’s important that you are reviewing these comments.

• Admin comments generated by the system give you important details about the updates being made on the order. They can also include important comments left for you by other staff members. Admin comments can only be seen by users with ‘Admin’ permissions.
• Order comments can include important messages from your customers and be used to communicate with the customer as well. When adding a comment for your customer, remember to select ‘Send e-mail notification on update’ to notify your customer that a comment has been added.
• When adding either type of comment, after entering the comment you must click ‘Update’ to add the comment to the order.

That completes our ‘Fulfilling Orders’ review. We know processing orders is an integral part of your store, therefore we want to do our best to make sure you understand how the process works and the simplest ways to address certain scenarios. However, we also realize you might find yourself with a unique situation, you are more than welcome to contact us with questions or concerns at [email protected] whenever the need arises.