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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.
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.
RFQ response
When a buyer activates an RFQ, the seller can respond to the terms and conditions and product descriptions that are specified by the buyer. The seller can either accept the RFQ as received, or the seller can present a counterproposal in their response, if the terms or conditions are designated as changeable. For example, they might want to propose another delivery date or change the value of a changeable product specification.

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.
    - 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.
      - RFQ notification messages
        There are three RFQ notification messages: The RFQ was submitted successfully; The RFQ was closed successfully; and The RFQ was completed successfully.
      - RFQ response
        When a buyer activates an RFQ, the seller can respond to the terms and conditions and product descriptions that are specified by the buyer. The seller can either accept the RFQ as received, or the seller can present a counterproposal in their response, if the terms or conditions are designated as changeable. For example, they might want to propose another delivery date or change the value of a changeable product specification.
        RFQ response flow
        In the RFQ response flow, several stages have "states" associated with them. States represent the status of the response process at a certain time in its lifecycle. States help the user track a particular business process and provide WebSphere Commerce with benchmarks it can use to manage all business processes within the system.
        Finding an RFQ
        Finding responses to a specific RFQ request
        Viewing the terms and conditions of an RFQ
        Viewing RFQ product specifications
        Viewing RFQ comments
        Viewing the RFQ request list
        You can view RFQs received by your organization.
      - Creating an RFQ response
        Once buyers submit RFQ requests, you can respond to the request.
      - Managing RFQ responses
      - Personalized attributes
        Attributes, sometimes referred to as specifications, describe characteristics of objects. Specifications such as height, color, weight, and size distinguish one product from another. A personalized dictionary provides a list of attributes that buyers use to define the specifications that they want a product to have. Buyers use the dictionary to prepare an RFQ request.
    - 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

RFQ response

When a buyer activates an RFQ, the seller can respond to the terms and conditions and product descriptions that are specified by the buyer. The seller can either accept the RFQ as received, or the seller can present a counterproposal in their response, if the terms or conditions are designated as changeable. For example, they might want to propose another delivery date or change the value of a changeable product specification.

Every seller in an organization can respond to an RFQ request. An organization can allow several individuals to respond. Only the seller who created a response can modify it.