As I continue testing the Norwegian instance in preparation of our very first order cycle, new questions keep popping, this time on products that can be ordered in bulk. I just want to confirm my understanding after a few tests:
Admin - product configuration
A product that can be ordered in bulk should be set with “GROUP BUY?” flag to “Yes” and “GROUP BUY UNIT SIZE” set to the quantity in one bulk. Example for bags of 25kg of sugar: one could set “GROUP BUY UNIT SIZE”=25, with each unit then priced for 1kg
User
2.1 When ordering he can specify min and max value for the numbers of units he wants to buy.
2.2 When paying he will only pay the min amount = min * unit_price
Admin
3.1 The admin should then review the order manually using the “Bulk Order Management” function. He will typically try at the same time to make sure everyone gets between their min and max products and matching a multiple of the “GROUP BUY UNIT SIZE” for the total number of product ordered.
3.2 For each user: depending on the actual quantity set for each product in the order a total order price is computed and the diff is either set as “Balance Due” or “Credit Owned” (Different possible cases for each product: - Not even the min is ordered → the user “account” is credited by min * unit_price (which has already been paid) - Exactly the min amount is ordered → user “account” not touched - More than min amount is ordered → user “account” is debited by (number_ordered - min) * unit_price)
3.3 In some way this “Balance Due” or “Credit Owned” is used for the next order cycle where the user will pay more, resp. less, than he should. Did not have time to test this so just guessing here… Or it should be manually claimed form, resp. credited to, the user?
Is there a way to display to the end-user how what is the quantity needed to complete a bulk? (for instance if “GROUP BUY UNIT SIZE”=10 and 78 products have been ordered in total by other users then it would display 2 (= 10 - 78 modulo 10). I guess this is more a wishlist candidate.
Thanks!
(And thanks for holding with me and reading this through!)
Correct, the Group Buy Unit Size is the bulk quantity. Its units are in grams, so for a 25kg bulk bag of sugar, you should set the GROUP BUY UNIT SIZE to 25000. (if the product is an liquid, the units are L)
Correct, the customer can set a min value (this is what they will be charged for). They have the option of indicating a max value.
3.1 correct. The Admin should click on the product of interest, to see the calculator box, which will make this process easier. e.g below
3.2 Yes, if the Admin adds units to the customer’s order then their balance will rise (and vice versa). If the customer paid at checkout, they will get ‘balance due’ (or credit owed).
3.3 Currently, there is no ‘customer accounts’ feature. So any credit owed, or balance due does not carry forward to the customer’s next order. Until this feature is built, tracking balance due and credit owed is a manual process. This page details the first phase of this feature’s development, however tracking customer balance is yet to be developed (Build customer accounts interface (for enterprise user))
Yes, that is a wishlist item. Would certainly make the feature extra useful!
Thanks for the clarification Sally! I have now finished a round of tests and I feel more confident about my first real order cycle next week!
Some more questions:
So the “balance due” / “credit owned” is by order only. There is no summary across order / order cycle / user and the user account has to be managed manually. (no question here, just want to confirm)
When I use the “Bulk Order Management” function and change quantities, where is the original ordered quantity kept? This would be useful in order to check back what was ordered.
When ordering as a consumer, the max value does not seem to be persistent if I for instance resume an order later on. Is this normal? Or is it a known defect?
The reports will only show the updated value (order changes aren’t tracked as far as I’m aware of). You can always see an original order in the order confirmation email (sent to the shop contact).
Yes, that’s a known defect, thanks for alerting us though. It’s in github #669.
Thanks Olivier!
Regarding my 2nd point: is this already a wishlist item? I cannot find it. It would be extremely useful to keep track of order changes. For a large order cycle with 100+ orders, I guess it is both time consuming and error prone to have to refer to the order confirmation emails.
