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User Guide
The information contained in this section applies to WebSphere Commerce Version 8. The documentation also applies to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in a newer section.WebSphere Commerce is a single, unified e-commerce platform that offers the ability to do business directly with consumers (B2C), directly with businesses (B2B), and indirectly through channel partners (indirect business models). WebSphere Commerce is designed to be a customizable, scalable, and high availability solution that is built to leverage open standards. It provides easy-to-use tools for business users to centrally manage a cross-channel strategy. Business users can create and manage precision marketing campaigns, promotions, catalog, and merchandising across all sales channels.
Operating
WebSphere Commerce Accelerator
Use the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator to maintain online stores.
Inventory returns and dispositions
Customers return products to a fulfillment center for many different reasons. Returned inventory might be reintegrated into the pool of inventory available for order, or it might be discarded. This process is called disposition.
Releases and shipments
A release is a set of order items in an order that are fulfilled by the same fulfillment center, where all the order items are shipped on same shipping date to the same ship-to address, and the order items are shipped by the same shipping carrier, using the same shipment method. A single release might be packaged in the same box, but it might also be in multiple boxes.
Release and shipment flow
All orders follow the same release and shipment flow, from authorizing payment, to confirming the release of the shipment.

User Guide
The information contained in this section applies to WebSphere Commerce Version 8. The documentation also applies to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in a newer section.WebSphere Commerce is a single, unified e-commerce platform that offers the ability to do business directly with consumers (B2C), directly with businesses (B2B), and indirectly through channel partners (indirect business models). WebSphere Commerce is designed to be a customizable, scalable, and high availability solution that is built to leverage open standards. It provides easy-to-use tools for business users to centrally manage a cross-channel strategy. Business users can create and manage precision marketing campaigns, promotions, catalog, and merchandising across all sales channels.
- Planning
  Creating a custom implementation of a WebSphere Commerce store requires a significant amount of planning. From gathering client needs, to deploying the live solution, much work is needed to successfully deploy a custom client store. Use the resources in here to help you plan every phase of store creation.
- Installing
  Review the following sections for information about installing the WebSphere Commerce product, associated maintenance, and WebSphere Commerce enhancements.
- Migrating
  Before you migrate to WebSphere Commerce Version 8.0, review this information to help plan and execute your migration.
- Deploying
  The topics in this section describe how to publish stores to either a test or production environment, and how to deploy customized code.
- Operating
  - IBM Management Center for WebSphere Commerce
    The IBM Management Center for WebSphere Commerce, or Management Center, is a suite of tools to support store management, merchandising, and marketing tasks for business users (Sellers, Marketing Managers, Product Managers, Catalog Managers, and others).
  - WebSphere Commerce Accelerator
    Use the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator to maintain online stores.
    - WebSphere Commerce Accelerator user interface
      The WebSphere Commerce Accelerator interface consists of several notebooks, wizards, dialogs, and lists to help you complete your tasks.
    - Opening WebSphere Commerce Accelerator
      Use WebSphere Commerce Accelerator to maintain online stores by completing various store operations such as creating and maintaining orders and tracking store activities.
    - Changing a WebSphere Commerce password
      If you have the appropriate authority, you can change the WebSphere Commerce logon password for a WebSphere Commerce user or for yourself from any of these tools.
    - Managing the store
      The Seller sets up store-level functions within the site. The Seller can access all menu items under the Store menu.
    - Customer information
      If customers register with the store, you can maintain their registration profiles to track information. Maintain information such as the customer's logon ID, logon password, authentication information, store account status, title, name, preferred language, or currency.
    - Order management
      A typical order includes one or more products, billing and shipping addresses, payment details, and the total cost (including shipping charges and taxes, as applicable). Comments or price adjustments can also be included in an order.
    - Inventory
      Inventory includes anything that can be physically accounted for in a fulfillment center such as items, products, SKUs, bundles, and prebuilt kits.
    - Inventory returns and dispositions
      Customers return products to a fulfillment center for many different reasons. Returned inventory might be reintegrated into the pool of inventory available for order, or it might be discarded. This process is called disposition.
      - Listing returns
        Use WebSphere Commerce Accelerator to list returns.
      - Listing returned products
        Use the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator to list returned products.
      - Receiving returned products
        Use WebSphere Commerce Accelerator to receive returned products.
      - Selecting the disposition of returned products
        Use the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator to select the disposition of returned products.
      - Releases and shipments
        A release is a set of order items in an order that are fulfilled by the same fulfillment center, where all the order items are shipped on same shipping date to the same ship-to address, and the order items are shipped by the same shipping carrier, using the same shipment method. A single release might be packaged in the same box, but it might also be in multiple boxes.
        Release and shipment flow
        All orders follow the same release and shipment flow, from authorizing payment, to confirming the release of the shipment.
        Managing pick batches
        Managing pick tickets
        Managing packing slips
        Managing releases ready to ship
        Managing shipments
    - Returns and refunds
      A return is a record of a customer's request for a refund, to return merchandise, or both. The term is used whether an RMA is issued in advance of merchandise receipt or the transaction is begun at the time of merchandise receipt. You can use the return merchandise authorization (RMA) function in both available to promise (ATP) and non-ATP inventory-enabled stores.
    - Viewing account reports
    - Viewing contract reports
    - Request for Quote (RFQ)
      A buyer can create a Request for Quote (RFQ), by using the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator, for unique variations of goods and services that are offered in a catalog. If buyers cannot find a product or category that match their needs within a catalog, they can select attributes from the personalized dictionary to precisely define the product specifications. A buyer can also create an RFQ by using the contents in their shopping cart, or add a shopping cart to an existing RFQ.
    - Business relationship management
      To customize what a customer can do in a store use the business relationship management system. By using this system, you can entitle customers to various aspects of a store such as what products they can purchase, the price they pay, and what payment methods a store accepts.
- Integrating
  Topics in the Integrating category highlight the tasks that are commonly performed for using WebSphere Commerce in combination with other products.
- Administering
- Tutorials
  WebSphere Commerce provides many tutorials to help you customize and understand your WebSphere Commerce instance and stores.
- Samples
- Developing
  The topics in the Developing section describe tasks performed by an application developer.
- Compliance
  The following section describes how you can leverage WebSphere Commerce features and functionality to help your site be compliant with different privacy and security standards.
- Securing
  These topics describe the security features of WebSphere Commerce and how to configure these features.
- Performance
- Troubleshooting

Release and shipment flow

All orders follow the same release and shipment flow, from authorizing payment, to confirming the release of the shipment.

A typical order's release and shipment flow is outlined in the following steps:

Payment for the order is authorized.
For a NEW order, the order is checked for items that are required to ship together. If the items are ready to ship, they are released to fulfillment.
The ReleaseToFulfillment scheduled job gets a list of orders that are allocated but not released, and releases those orders to fulfillment.
Pick batches are manually generated for the releases that are ready to be shipped. A pick batch is a set of releases that is released to fulfillment at the same fulfillment center, and the batch is not yet processed (subject to defined limitations on the size of a batch).
A single pick ticket is created for an entire batch. The pick ticket is used by a picker at a fulfillment center to gather the collection of products that are processed together.
Each release (a group of products in a single order with the same shipping information) is represented by a packing slip that lists the products and the shipping information.
Products are picked at the fulfillment center based on the pick ticket, and packages are created based on the packing slips. The packages are labeled with the names and addresses of the recipients.
Shipment of the release is confirmed.
The BalancePayment scheduled job initiates payment capture.