Retail Center is an optional browser-based Order Management module that is used by retail store staff to manage shipping orders allocated to their store. Orders can be shipped from the store or picked up at the store by the customer. Retail Center users can claim, fulfill, or reject orders, or return them to the order allocation process. In some cases, an order can be partially fulfilled, and certain line items returned to the allocation process.
Order Management's configurable order allocation process supports an omnichannel commerce system that combines multiple sales and fulfillment channels. Following your business rules, and taking local inventory availability and prior order rejections into consideration, it distributes orders among fulfillment sites, which can include both warehouses and retail stores. Retail Center helps your retail stores handle these orders.
Before using Retail Center, it's important that you understand and configure the following:
When an order is allocated to a retail store location, the Order Management process automatically notifies the store via email or phone. The store staff then uses Retail Center to fulfill the order, as follows:
- The allocation process assigns the shipping order to the retail store and notifies the store via phone or email.
- The shipping order appears in the Retail Center unclaimed queue for the store.
- A Retail Center user claims the shipping order.
- The shipping order moves to the Retail Center waiting fulfillment queue for the store.
- A Retail Center user packs the shipping order.
- If the order is to be shipped, the user ships the order and marks it as shipped in Retail Center. The order moves to the Retail Center history and its workflow is complete.
- If the order is to be picked up by a customer, the user marks the order as ready for customer pickup. This moves the order to the Retail Center Waiting Pickup queue.
- A store employee notifies the customer that the order is ready for pickup.
- When the customer picks up the order, a Retail Center User marks it as picked up in Retail Center. The Order moves to the Retail Center history and its workflow is complete.
The following diagram illustrates the shipping order workflow in Retail Center:
Orders allocated to a store site that are rejected or not claimed within a defined time period are returned to the process to be re-allocated. Orders that remain unfulfilled after a defined period or a certain number of allocation attempts are suspended and alerted. To help with order management and planning, users can assign a rejection reason to an order, which is saved in the order record. Reason codes are defined in a customizable pick list.
The Retail Center user interface can be localized for a specific region, language, or market with locale-specific components such as local currencies and formats for numbers, dates, time, and addresses.