WebSphere Commerce Enterprise

Sample workflow for new organization registration and setup

The Aurora starter store supports a workflow that allows an organization to self-register and obtain an account with your store. This workflow involves actions that are performed by people from your store who are assigned the Seller Administrator and Account Representative roles, and the person from the buyer organization who is assigned the Buyer Administrator role.

When the workflow is complete:
  • Buyers from the buyer organization can sign in to the store and place orders under the organization's contracts.
  • Buyer Administrators from the buyer organization can sign in to the store and administer buyers and organizations.

This sample workflow demonstrates how users from the buyer organization can conveniently use the storefront pages to register and administer their organizations and buyers. Users from your seller organization use the Organization Administration Console and WebSphere Commerce Accelerator to set up the organization and account, and approve the organization. See the right column of the following table for links to the user interfaces used in each step.

Sample workflow for organization registration and setup

Step Action Role or actor User interface that is used
1 A potential buyer who wants to set up an account with your store registers a new organization and provides information about a designated Buyer Administrator from the organization. Potential buyer Storefront

See Registration page (B2B)

2 WebSphere Commerce sends an automated email notification to inform the Seller Administrator at your store that a new organization registered and requested an account. Automated email message Store email message

See Registration and approval email notifications (B2B)

3 The Seller Administrator reviews the email notification and informs the Account Representative from your store that a new organization registered.

The top-level buyer organization is automatically created after the organization registration is submitted. The Seller Administrator can assign roles and approval groups to this organization.

Seller Administrator Organization Administration Console

See Defining buyer organizations

4 The Account Representative contacts the new organization to negotiate the account and contract terms. The Account Representative sets up an account and one or more contracts for the new organization. Account Representative WebSphere Commerce Accelerator

See Business relationship management

5 When the account and contracts are ready, the Seller Administrator approves the registration request. Seller Administrator Organization Administration Console

See Approving or rejecting approval requests

6 WebSphere Commerce sends an automated email notification to inform the Buyer Administrator that the organization and account are approved. Automated email message Store email message

See Registration and approval email notifications (B2B)

7 The Buyer Administrator receives the email notification, signs in to the store for the first time, and completes the following steps:
  1. If required, creates extra organizations under the top-level organization.
  2. Creates buyers and assigns extra roles to buyers if required, such as the Buyer Approver and Organization Participant roles.

The Buyer Administrator informs the buyers of their logon credentials and any additional roles so that they can sign in to the store and place or approve orders.

Note: Instead of creating buyers, the Buyer Administrator can tell potential buyers to register themselves. For details, see Sample workflow for buyer self-registration and approval.
Buyer Administrator Storefront