WebSphere Commerce Enterprise

Supply chain starter store (Supplier Hub) overview

Commerce Supplier Hub is the new starter store of a supply chain site provided by WebSphere Commerce. The main site includes the Commerce Supplier Hub, an aggregate or master catalog, and the assets required to publish supplier stores. The Hub is a place where suppliers, and buyers come together. Use this sample to get started on setting up a site where you are able to host sellers with an aggregate catalog. You can also create a marketplace where buyers and sellers can come together in one environment.

Self-provisioning features include:
  • Buyer and seller self-registering both organizations and users with the Supplier hub
  • Requesting to host a store
  • Creating a store with the Store Creation Wizard
  • Modifying the appearance of a store
  • Managing a store
  • Organization administration

Aggregated catalog features include:

  • All supplier catalog data is aggregated into the supplier hub
  • Buyers can navigate and obtain offer or contract prices in the aggregated catalog from different suppliers
  • Supplier stores will receive all the advanced B2B direct features

Commerce Supplier Hub provides all the pages and features necessary for a functioning online store. Commerce Supplier Hub is packaged with WebSphere Commerce as a store archive. In some cases, publishing a store archive to a WebSphere Commerce Server allows you to create a running store. In WebSphere Commerce Enterprise, the starter store archive files are used to package and deliver organization structures, predefined user roles, and access control policies necessary to create the environment of your store and the collections of store assets that create a catalog or storefront. In order to create a running store, you must publish one of the composite store archives. You can also publish a sequence of component store archives to publish a running store. Stores are published from the Administration Console. Only Site Administrators can publish a store archive by selecting Site > Store Archives > Publish. The resulting Store Archives page displays the store archives available for publishing. By default, the page showing composite store archives displays. For more information about publishing a store archive, refer to the WebSphere Commerce online help publishing information.

Since store creation in WebSphere Commerce is based on selecting a starter store archive and modifying it, Commerce Supplier Hub is designed to act as the basis for your store. It is based on a typical shopping flow. The starter store pages can be customized. All Commerce Supplier Hub starter store pages are JavaServer Pages pages. These pages include HTML, Java, and JavaScript. The JSP files can be cached.