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Getting started with the NewStore platform

NewStore Omnichannel Cloud is a platform that can manage your business workflow from the moment an order is placed until it is shipped to your customer. Based on your business, NewStore Omnichannel Cloud integrates with service providers to complete parts of this workflow.

For example, NewStore Omnichannel Cloud integrates with your PIM, E-commerce platform, ERP, shipping providers, and third party logistics provider.

Here's how NewStore Omnichannel Cloud fits into your software ecosystem:

Most businesses have 4 major steps in their order processing workflow:

  1. Order placement
  2. Checkout
  3. Order routing
  4. Order fulfillment

Order placement​

NewStore Omnichannel Cloud can accept orders from multiple sources in your business. Each method uses a different process to send order details to NewStore Omnichannel Cloud.

Use one or more of the methods we've listed here to extend your business with NewStore Omnichannel Cloud.

NewStore Associate App orders​

Orders placed via NewStore Associate App rely on the Shopping API to be processed by NewStore Omnichannel Cloud. The associate can scan a product that is available at their store and place an order. The barcodes that the app can scan are configurable in the NewStore Associate App.

Technical configuration
The following section involves working with technical configurations and APIs. Contact your IT support team for more information.

To configure relevant barcodes for you to scan via NewStore Associate App, see Configuring barcode types .

For a list of supported barcodes, See Hardware and software support . The associate can also choose a product available at another store and place an order that can be delivered, or be picked up from the store by the customer.

Technical configuration
The following section involves working with technical configurations and APIs. Contact your IT support team for more information.

See the Orders API for more information.

Orders may require approval based on rules that are configured in NewStore Omnichannel Cloud. Approval rules contain criteria against which orders being placed are evaluated. If there's a match, the associate is prompted get an approval before placing the order. See Manager approvals in the API docs.

A new customer profile is created for customers with the email address and other contact details they provide during order placement. If a customer profile is attached to an order, the order is included in the customer's purchase history. If the customer does not have a profile in NewStore Omnichannel Cloud, but provides an email address for delivery or during checkout for a receipt to be sent, a new profile is created for the customer and the order is attached to the profile.

When an order is placed, NewStore Omnichannel Cloud authorizes the payment and routes the order based on the shipping option selected by the customer. Also see About order routing .

NewStore Associate App offline orders​

Orders placed via NewStore Associate App when the device is offline or not connected to the internet are also captured in NewStore Omnichannel Cloud.

Technical configuration
The following section involves working with technical configurations and APIs. Contact your IT support team for more information.

To enable this feature, see Enabling NewStore Associate App to be used offline .

Using Offline Mode, you can process in-store purchase orders via NewStore Associate App offline. These orders must be submitted into NewStore Omnichannel Cloud once the app is back online, and reconciled later in NewStore Omnichannel Manager. see Viewing offline orders .

Limitations of offline orders​

The following features are not available in NewStore Associate App when you are offline:

  • Creating or managing customers
  • Processing endless aisle or mixed cart orders
  • Processing returns or exchanges
  • Manager approvals for orders
  • Inventory management or store fulfillment operations

When capturing payment for offline orders, ensure that the transactions are accounted for as offline orders do not have a payment reference in NewStore Omnichannel Cloud.

As offline orders do not contain a reference to the origin of payment in NewStore, refunds for offline orders can only be made via cash or gift cards.

E-commerce orders​

Orders placed outside NewStore must be created in NewStore Omnichannel Cloud. They can be live or current orders that might NewStore might have to be fulfilled, or historical orders that were fulfilled in the past and can be sent to NewStore Omnichannel Cloud to maintain in NewStore Omnichannel Cloud, for reporting purposes.

An e-commerce order can be sent with or without checkout information, and with or without shipping information. Depending on what information is sent, NewStore Omnichannel Cloud processes each order differently:

  • Orders that have no payment information. For example, an order with a 100% discount won't contain any payment method or details.

  • Orders that have no shipping information. For example, a click and collect order won't contain any shipping information.

  • Orders that have payment and shipping information. For example, a current order that must be shipped to a customer.

    Important

    The payment must be already authorized or captured in the e-commerce system before being added to the NewStore platform.

    If an order has a shipping option and is a current order, NewStore routes it for fulfillment. Historical orders contain the shipping option that was used for the order, and NewStore does not consider these orders for fulfillment.

A customer profile is created for each new email address in the order. Each customer in NewStore Omnichannel Cloud is identified by a customer ID and associated with a display ID that is used in the customer profile, and to filter orders and display the purchase history in NewStore Omnichannel Manager.

E-commerce orders don't need a checkout step. Based on what is sent to NewStore Omnichannel Cloud in the order, the next step can be fulfillment .

Pre-orders​

Important

Pre-orders are different from backorders. NewStore does not currently support backorders in the platform. To understand the difference between the two, see the definitions .

Pre-orders can be both NewStore Associate App or e-commerce orders. Specify products as applicable for pre-orders when importing products for your business into NewStore Omnichannel Cloud. For more information, see the tutorial .

Pre-orders are placed and routed using the same default order routing process as regular orders. However, use future inventory in your fulfillment locations to determine how many products can be sold as pre-orders in your business.

note

For e-commerce pre-orders to be routed correctly, ensure that shipping options are requested for these orders before they are placed in the NewStore platform. For more information, See Shipping .

For example, if you want 100 items to be shipped as pre-orders on a scheduled date, ensure that you have scheduled an import of future inventory into the specified fulfillment location(s) on or before the specified date. This future inventory import must include these 100 items.

Information specifying that an item is a pre-order, and the tentative shipping date of the item, is available in the Order item status page in NewStore Omnichannel Manager. Related receipts for the orders in NewStore Omnichannel Manager also specify that the products are pre-orders.

note

Ensure that pre-orders are fulfilled before regular orders. See Shipping pre-orders .

Checkout​

The checkout process is made up of several sub-processes:

shipping options are offered to the customer, the final order amount is determined when applicable taxes are calculated payment for the order is collected.

When the payment is successful, the status of the payment is authorized.

NewStore Checkout​

During checkout, NewStore Omnichannel Cloud enables you to use NewStore Checkout to accept payments. This payment method is enabled via integration with Adyen and allows customers using an iPhone to pay using their phone instead of relying on the store's payment device.

To learn about how NewStore Associate App uses this payment method, see Choosing a payment option .

To learn how to configure this payment method, see Setting up NewStore Checkout with Adyen Pay By Link .

Fulfillment​

NewStore Omnichannel Cloud can fulfill an order in several ways:

  • The customer picks up the item in the store.
  • The order is delivered to the customer:
    • NewStore books the delivery with a shipping provider (NewStore fulfillment).
    • NewStore delegates the fulfillment step to a 3PL/DC (third-party fulfillment).

The fulfillment step is the last step of the order processing workflow. Fulfillment is covered in more details in About order fulfillment .

In-store pickup​

Click and collect orders are fulfilled via Associate App. When an order imported into NewStore Omnichannel Cloud contains the fulfillment location specified in the routing strategy, the order is sent to the specified location for the customer to pick up. An associate at the location can accept the order via Associate App and pick the order items, pack them, and hand them over to the customer.

Shipping​

When the customer requests a delivery, all fulfillment locations that have one or all the order items in stock can potentially be selected for fulfillment. The fulfillment location chosen to fulfill the order is determined by NewStore's order routing process. After order routing is complete, the fulfillment process starts.

There are 2 main ways to fulfill an order:

  • NewStore fulfillment via Associate App
  • Third-party fulfillment

Shipping is covered in more details in Shipping .

NewStore fulfillment​

When an item is routed to a store that has ATP for the item, the store associate can complete the fulfillment process via Associate App.

In this situation, the following external actors are involved:

  • The PSP (payment service provider)
  • The shipping provider

NewStore interacts directly with these actors to request delivery and to complete the financial transaction initiated during the checkout process.

*The shipment status update depends on the shipping provider. Some providers might return a tracking number, or even the GPS coordinates of the delivery truck. NewStore shares this information through Associate App and Omnichannel Manager.

3PL/DC fulfillment​

NewStore Omnichannel Cloud can integrate with a 3PL provider at your DC to manage fulfillment.

In this case, NewStore Omnichannel Cloud notifies the DC about the fulfillment request and expects status updates in return to keep the customer informed about the status of the delivery.

Returns​

An order can be partially or entirely returned. The rules and process for returns are based on the return strategy and payment strategy configured in NewStore Omnichannel Cloud, for your business. You might issue a full refund to the original payment method, or only to a gift-card or maybe you apply a return fee before issuing a refund.

Here's a generic workflow for processing returns with NewStore Omnichannel Cloud:

Inventory management​

NewStore Omnichannel Cloud allows you to manage inventory operations for your business through Associate App, using an ERP or NewStore. See About inventory management .

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