Customer Orders are orders tailored to particular customers. For example, a customer may want to order a product you don't have onhand, so you will need to order it for the customer. Or, a customer may want to have you set aside (allocate) a certain quantity of a product you do have onhand for him or her to pick up later.
Access the Customer Order program in one of four ways:
To find an existing Customer Order:
Click on the Customer Order toolbar icon at the top of your [i] Merchant Desktop, if you have toolbars displayed. The Find Customer Order screen appears. Choose your search criteria and select the Customer Order you want to view or change. (At this screen, you can create a new Customer Order. Simply click on the New toolbar icon at the top of the Find Customer Order window.)
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From the menu at the top of the [i] Merchant Desktop, select File-Open-Customer Orders. The Find Customer Order screen appears. Choose your search criteria and select the Customer Order you want to view or change. (At this screen, you can create a new Customer Order. Simply click on the New toolbar icon at the top of the Find Customer Order window.)
Note:
When doing a search for existing Customer Orders, it would be a good idea to define the search in part by Order State. If you don't select the Order State, the search will include all Order States--"Open," "Complete," and "Quote." This means that both actual Orders and Quotes will appear in the same search.
or ...
If you have a Customer Order label for a product on a particular Customer Order, and if you scan the barcode at the Find Customer Order screen, the Customer Order that product was a portion of will be called up.
To create a new Customer Order:
From the menu at the top of the [i] Merchant Desktop, select File-New-Customer Orders. You will be taken to the Customer Find screen, where you can select the customer you need for this Order. Once selected, you are brought to the Customer Order work screen, where you will enter the specifics of the order.
Note:
You can actually add a product to a Customer Order via the right-clicker menu when right-clicking on a product in a list. In the right-clicker menu for the highlighted product, select "Add Customer Order," and the system will automatically take you to the Customer Find window. From there, Find the appropriate customer and then add the product to the Customer Order you just created. To learn how to add new products to a Customer Order, please continue reading this Help page.
Note:
If you need to create a new customer to fulfill the Customer Order, at the Customer Find screen, simply click on the New toolbar button at the top of that window. This takes you to the Customer Properties screen, where you can create the new customer and then proceed with the Customer Order.
There is a lot of information on the Customer Order work screen. Let's see if we can demystify it for you . . .
The Customer Order work screen has three tabs on the left side of the screen: Header, Products, and Tenders. The information under the Header tab deals with the Customer Order as a whole. The information under the Products tab deals with the individual products you place on the order. Under the Tenders tab, you can assign a tender (or tenders) to the order that will automatically be called up at the POS when the Order is tendered. When you first access the work screen upon creating a new Customer Order, the system defaults to the Header tab. So that's where we'll start.
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If you want the Customer Order screen to default to the Products tab, select View from the menu at the top of the screen. There are two choices: Start on Header (the system default), and Start on Product. Simply select Start on Product, and the check mark will move directly to the left of that selection. The next time you enter the Customer Orders program, the screen will open up displaying the Products tab. Of course, you can always change it back to Header (and vice versa) anytime you want. |
In the upper left corner of the screen, there is a Customer Order box, with Order ID, Date, and Customer fields (these three fields appear whether the Header tab or the Products tab is selected).
The Order ID field will default to the next Customer Order number. This is an automatic field--the system fills it in. You cannot alter it.
The Date field defaults to the current date. You cannot change it.
The Customer field will default to the customer's name, as established in Customer Properties. This field is not changeable. Notice that "Customer" is underlined and a different color. It is a hyperlink. If you click on it, you will access the Customer Properties window for this customer. At that window, if you have security access, you can make any changes to the customer's information, if needed.
In the top right section of the Customer Order work screen, there is a small "Order Summary" box. There is also a checkbox field beneath it--"Compute Invoice Amount". If you leave this checkbox field unchecked, the "Order Summary" will include a running total of just the number of items on the Customer Order and the total quantity. If you check the "Compute Invoice Amount" box, then the "Order Summary" will also include running dollar amounts for the Order. If you leave the "Compute Invoice Amount" box unchecked, the speed of adding and maintaining the Customer Order is greatly increased.
To determine whether the "Compute Invoice Amount" field should be checked or unchecked when you first open or create a Customer Order, do the following.
At the menu at the top of the Customer Order screen, select View-Compute Invoice on Start. If you select this, a check mark will appear to the left of it, and, whenever you first access a Customer Order, the "Compute Invoice Amount" field will be checked. If you don't select "Compute Invoice on Start," then the "Compute Invoice Amount" field will be unchecked upon entering the Customer Order screen. This establishes the default. Obviously, you can manually check or uncheck the "Compute Invoice Amount" field once you have accessed an Order.
Here is a list of the fields underneath the Header tab:
The Store field automatically fills in with the name of the store you are in. You cannot change this field.
In the Origin field:
Enter the origin of the order (for example, the Web, catalog, etc.). Strictly an optional field.
In the Order State field:
You can ignore this field, for all intents and purposes. It is informational. When a customer order is completed (picked up or shipped out), this field will automatically fill in with the "Complete" option.
In the Needed By field:
Key in the date the customer needs the product(s) he or she is ordering. The date defaults to the current date. If you don't want to key the Needed date in, click on the arrow to the right of the field. A mini-calendar appears. From this calendar, select the desired date. It will automatically appear in the Needed By field.
The Sales Person field automatically fills in with the PC User's name ([i] Merchant assumes this is the person taking the order). This field cannot be changed.
In the Order Type field:
Select the Order Type for the order. If you need to view information on how to select a parameter in a code-driven field, please click here.
In the Location field:
Select the Location Code for the order, if desired. The Location can be used to identify the shelf location of customer orders. If you need to view information on how to select a parameter in a code-driven field, please click here.
After the Location field, and underneath it, there is the Customer Address portion of the screen. Three address boxes display: Bill To, Ship To, and Contact. These addresses come in automatically from the Customer's Customer Properties page.
If you want to change the Ship To or Contact address, click on the appropriate button beneath each address field ("Change Ship To" or "Change Contact"). The Select Customer Address window appears. All of the different addresses for this customer, stored on the Customer Properties page, will appear in this window. Use the scroll bar at the bottom of the window to view the different addresses. Whichever address you click on within the Select Customer Address window will replace the address that had been under the Shipt To or Contact address field. If you decide not to replace an address, simply "x" out of the Select Customer Address window without highlighting any of the addresses.
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Example: |
Customer A has a Ship To address you want to change. Click on the "Change Ship To" button underneath the Ship To address field. The Select Customer Address window appears. Scroll through this window, then click on the address you want to use for the Ship To address. The Ship To address listed on the Customer Orders screen is automatically updated to the address you just selected. |
If you need to create a brand-new address for this Customer Order--an address that does not currently exist on the customer's file--simply click on the Customer Properties link in the Select Customer Address window for the selected customer. This will take you directly to that customer's Customer Properties page, where you can create the new address and then import it into the Customer Order.
POS will use the Customer Order's selected Ship To address when the Customer Order is pulled into a sale.
Beneath these address fields, there are six more fields:
The first of these, Customer Type, is imported from Customer Properties, and cannot be changed here at the Customer Orders screen. It displays here for your information only.
In the Discount Rule field:
If the customer has an automatic discount attached to his or her file, that discount will automatically appear in this field and will apply to all items on the Customer Order. However, if you want to change the Discount Code, you can do so (if you need to view information on how to select a parameter in a code-driven field, please click here). Also, if the customer does not have an automatic Discount Code attached to his or her file, you can select it here. For more information on Customer Discounts, click here.
In the Tax Area field:
Select the appropriate Tax Area for the order. If you enter nothing here, the default Tax Area, as defined in the Register parameter, will be used. If you enter a Tax Area here that is different from the one defined in the Register parameter, the one you select here will be used by the system.
In the Customer PO field:
Enter the customer's PO number. Generally, this will apply if the customer making the order is a business. If the customer has a PO number, they will provide it to you. If not, ignore the field.
In the Shipping Code field:
If the order will be Charge & Send, and you will be shipping the merchandise to the customer, you will want to select a Shipping Code. This determines the rates for shipping charges. If you need to view information on how to select a parameter in a code-driven field, please click here.
When you select a Shipping Code and attach it to a Charge & Send Customer Order, the resulting shipping charges will automatically be brought into the POS transaction when the Customer Order is called up. The shipping charges can, however, be altered at the POS for any reason.
In the Charge and Send Order box:
Leave the box unchecked if the customer plans on picking up the item. If you will ship the item to the customer, check the box.
Following is a description of what you will find under the Products tab:
The lower portion of the screen is a display box/grid. As you select products to put on the Customer Order, they will appear in this grid, line by line.
Above the grid, there is a Product field. This is where you select the product(s) to put on the Customer Order. You can do this in a variety of ways.
Scan the product's barcode. The Order Product screen appears. This is where you decide how many copies of the product to order, etc.--we will get to this momentarily.
Key in the ISBN in the Product field and press Enter or click on the Add Product button. The Order Product screen appears.
Key in the title in the Product field and press Enter or click on the Add Product button. If you key in an exact title, the Order Product screen appears.
Key in a fragment of the title in the Product field and press Enter or click on the Add Product button. The Find Product window appears. Find the desired product, then Select it. The Order Product screen appears.
For a product not yet on your [i] Merchant system, key in the product number in the Product field. Then press Control + N on your keyboard simultaneously. This calls up the New Product message box, where you begin the process of adding the product to your system's database. From there, you are taken to Product Properties, where you can fill out the pertinent fields for the product you are adding to your system. (Or you can ignore these fields for now and fill them in later, after completing the Customer Order.) Once you are finished filling in the information in Product Properties, Save it, and then the system automatically takes you to the Order Product screen, where, having just added the product to your system, you can proceed as you normally would.
The Order Product screen has an assortment of fields in it--these are very important. They determine how many copies of the product you are ordering, if you are allocating any, etc. The field in the Order Product screen are as follows . . .
The top portion of the Order Product screen is a display window. This will be filled in with information concerning the selected product (for instance, product name or description, onhand quantity, author, etc.) This is strictly an informational window. You can control what types of information display in the window via the Screen Designer (in Screen Designer, select the Customer Orders Properties option, then use the Palette to determine what should appear in the Order Product window).
The individual fields reside underneath the display window:
The Product field fills in with the product number for the product you just selected to put on the Customer Order. This is an informational field and cannot be changed. The word "Product" is underlined and is a hyperlink. If you click on it, you will be taken directly to the Product Properties page for the selected product.
Below the Product field, there is the Ordered field. This will fill in with the default quantity, as established in Tools-Options. Most likely, the default quantity will be 1. But that is entirely up to you. Whatever the default quantity is, you can change the quantity as needed.
The Allocated field will have a zero in it. If you have the item the customer is ordering onhand already and can allocate it, fill in the Allocated field with the appropriate quantity. Example: Customer orders 5 copies of a book, and you have enough onhand to allocate. You would obviously fill in the Ordered field with a 5, and you would also fill in the Allocated field with a 5. If you do not want to allocate the item, or if you cannot (that is, if you have to order it because you don't have it in the store), just leave the Allocated field set to zero. However, when the item does come in, the Receiving Department should fill in the Allocated field with the appropriate quantity at that time.
Generally, you will not need to fill in the Shipped field. It will have a zero in it when you are taking the order. Once the item is sold through the POS, this field will update automatically. It is, essentially, informational. But if you need to change the value in it, you can do so.
Underneath these three fields, there is an information field called "Needed" that displays the value of Ordered-Allocated-Shipped. So, if you order a quantity of 3, but leave the Allocated and Shipped fields set to zero, this fourth field will show a value of 3. But if you allocate 3, this field will display a zero. If you allocate 2, this field will display a 1, and so on.
In the Discount field, key in the percentage discount you want to apply for this product. This is optional. If there was a Discount Rule selected at the Header screen for this Customer Order, its corresponding discount percentage will display automatically in this field. You can override it by keying in a new value for this particular product in this Discount field, if desired.
In the Promised Price field, key in the promised price, if different from the retail price. For example, if a business calls and orders 100 copies of a product, you may give them a discount. If the retail price for the item is $10.00 per item, maybe you lower it to $8.00 per item.
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If there is a discount attached to the product, and if you have established a promised price, the discount will be taken off of the promised price, not the retail price. Example: The retail price for a product is $10.00. However, you set the Promised Price field at $8.00. You also have established a discount of 20%. The final price, then, will be $6.40 ($8.00 x .20). |
The Price Type field is optional, and you would only use it if you incorporate a promised price. But even then, the Price Type is optional. Price Type is a parameter you can establish where you define promised prices. For example, if a particular business generally receives a certain special price for selected items, you might want to define a Price Type. In short, Price Type can be used to describe or codify different types of promised prices. If you need to view information on how to select a parameter in a code-driven field, please click here.
The Completed box will automatically insert a checkmark itself once the product is picked up or shipped to the customer. The Customer Order will be completed at the POS. You can check the Complete box manually for a partially filled ordered amount (i.e., customer ordered quantity of 5 for a product, but purchased only 3, and does not want the remaining 2). But generally, you will not need to worry about this box. When the ordered quantity of the product is sold at the POS, it will fill in automatically.
The Add to TBO box will either be checked or unchecked when starting a new Customer Order. To determine the default setting (checked or unchecked), access the Tools-Options program and establish it there. Of course, here in Customer Orders, you can undo the default as needed, by either checking the Add to TBO box or unchecking it. Generally, if you have enough of an onhand quantity for an item that is included in a Customer Order, you would not want the Add to TBO box to be checked, because you would not need to order the item. But this is up to you.
The With TBO Type of field only appears if the Add to TBO box is checked. This is an optional field. The TBO Type will fill in automatically with the default you have established in Tools-Options. But if you want to change it for the product you are adding, select a different TBO Type in this field. Once the Customer Order is saved, you cannot change (or access) the With TBO Type field for the product again--you can only change it while adding a new product to the Customer Order.
After adding the desired products, you can assign a tender (or tenders) to this Order. This is optional. If you assign a tender, when the Order is pulled up later at POS, the assigned tender will automatically be chosen at the POS, and the clerk can proceed from there. (If the POS clerk needs to override this tender, she can do this. This feature is a convenience tool, and it can be changed as needed.)
At the lower portion of the screen, there is a Tenders work screen. When entering information for the first time, there will not be any tenders listed.
To add a tender to this Order:
Click on the Add To List icon in the upper left corner of the Tenders work screen. A new row will appear. Notice that above the row, there are five columns: Tender, $ Limit, Account Number, Expiration Date, and CVV2 #. At first, the new row will only extend up to the second column ($ Limit). The last three columns will only apply to tenders such as credit cards, and will become available only if you select an appropriate tender under the Tender column.
Under the Tender column, click on the binoculars icon at the right of the empty field, or simply place your cursor in the field and press F3. The Find Tender screen will appear. Select the tender the customer wishes to use to for this Order. (If you select a tender that comes with an account number, expiration date, and CVV2 number--such as a credit card--the row will extend underneath those columns.)
The $ Limit field is optional. If the customer only wants to spend a certain amount using this tender, and not go beyond that amount, you can enter the value here. Otherwise, leave it blank, and no limit will exist.
Fill in the Account Number, Expiration Date, and CVV2 # fields if the customer has chosen to use a credit card or any other tender where these fields are required. ([i] Merchant will automatically encrypt and mask credit card numbers for security reasons.)
You can add a second row for another tender, if that's what the customer wants to do. For example, if the customer chose Check in Row One, and wanted to set a $ limit of $20.00, only the first $20.00 of the Order would be applied to the Check (POS will default to $20.00 for the check tender--but the clerk can override this, if desired). Then, in the second row, maybe the customer chooses Cash. The remainder of the Order will be paid for with cash.
The tender rows are in order. That is, if Check is chosen in Row One, at the POS, the Check tender will be automatically chosen by [i] Merchant when this particular Order is called up. If Cash is in Row Two, Cash will be selected automatically after Check at POS, and so on. You can create as many tender rows here as you (or the customer) wish. Keep in mind, nothing is set in stone. The POS clerk can decline these defaults. So, if Check is chosen here, but the customer forgot his checkbook when he comes to pick up the Order, the POS clerk can just close out of the Check tender at the POS and choose another tender.
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Notes: |
Account numbers, expiration dates, etc. are not validated here. They will only still be validated when the Order is being tendered at POS. Balance card values are only evaluated when applied at POS, not when assigning the Balance card as a tender here in Customer Orders. Once a Customer Order is complete (that is, all items on the Order are marked as "complete,"--the tenders listed here are automatically removed from the Order, for security reasons. |
Remember, the Tenders tab is strictly an optional tool. Use it as you see fit.
Once you have all of the fields filled in appropriately under the Header, Products, and, if desired, the Tenders tabs, click on the Apply button at the top of the window. You will be taken back to the Customer Order screen, and under the Product tab, the grid at the bottom of the screen will show the product you just Applied.
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This is an important concept. Technically, a product is not included in a Customer Order until you click on the Apply button at the top of the Order Product window. |
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Notes: |
While at the Order Product window, if you decide not to Apply the product to the Customer Order, click on the Cancel button. You will be taken back to the Customer Order screen, and the product will not be on the Order. While at the Order Product window, if you want to print the screen, select File-Print Screen from the menu at the top of the screen. If you want to view or add/alter Customer Order Notes while at the Order Product window, click on the Notes button at the top of the window. Click on the arrow at the right of the Link button (at the top of the Order Product window), and a dropdown menu appears. Click on any one of the choices, and you will be taken to the applicable program. For example, under the Product menu, if you click on Properties, you will be taken directly to the Product Properties program for the selected product (the one currently being displayed in the Order Product window). This is a navigational convenience tool. The last buttons at the top of the Order Product window are the Next and Prior buttons. These are convenient navigational tools that enable you to scroll through the products on a Customer Order without having to back out of the Order Product window. If you click on Next, the information for the next product in the grid at the bottom of the Customer Order screen automatically displays. If you click on Prior, the information for the previous product in the grid at the bottom of the Customer Order screen automatically displays. Of course, if you are in the Order Product window for the first product in the grid list, no Prior button will appear. Likewise, no Next button will appear if you are in the Order Product window for the last product in the grid list. And neither the Next nor the Prior button will appear if there is only one product on the Customer Order. |
After Applying a product to a Customer Order, if the customer wants to put another product onto this Customer Order, go back to the Product field on the Customer Order screen (under the Products tab) and repeat the procedure explained above. Continue until all desired products appear in the grid at the bottom of the screen.
If you need to go back to the Order Product window for a particular product (for example, if you need to change a piece of information), either scan the product's barcode or highlight the product in the grid at the bottom of the Customer Order screen, then click on the Update button, which is to the right of the Add Product button. Either method takes you to the Order Product window for the highlighted product. There, you can change whatever information is necessary.
Every time you Apply an item to the Customer Order, the Running Totals box at the upper right of the screen (broken down into "Order Summary" and "Balance of Order") will automatically update. This is informational only and cannot be altered. It does just what the name suggests: The Order Summary portion displays the running total for the Customer Order, and the Blance of Order portion displays the totals for items on the Customer Order that have not yet been shipped to or picked up by the customer.
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If you close out of a Customer Order before adding any products to it, [i] Merchant will automatically ask you if you want to delete the Customer Order from the system. If you do, simply click on the Yes button, and the system will inform you that the order has been deleted. If, for some reason, you want to save this order even though it has no products attached to it, click on the No button. The order will be saved. |
You can print labels in the Customer Order program, too.
Under the Products tab, highlight the product you want to print a label for.
With the product highlighted, select Reports-Customer Order Label from the menu at the top of the screen. The Labels window opens.
Important:
Make sure you have chosen a Customer Orders default label type in Store Maintenance. If you have not, you won't be able to print Customer Order labels.
The Labels window is where you print the barcode label for the selected product. Create your store's Customer Order barcode label templates using the Label Designer. When the Labels window displays, if you want to print the label immediately without batching it, check the "Print Now" box, then click on "Start." This opens the Printer Selections window. Review the information (such as which printer to print to, and how many copies of each label to print) to see if it is correct. Make any necessary changes. You can preview what the barcode label will look like by selecting the Preview button. When you are ready to print the label, simply click on the Print button.
You can also batch labels, and then print the batch. Batching labels means that you send the labels to a batch queue to be printed later. This is convenient if your label printer is not nearby and you want to print labels for a variety of products. In this case, batch the labels, then print them later. To batch labels, simply check "Batch Labels," then click on "Start."
When you are ready to print the batch, check the "Print the Batch" field and then click on "Start." This will open the Printer Selections window, which looks the same as when you print labels without batching them, except there is no Preview button and there is a Label Stock field (within this field, a number will appear, showing you how many individual labels exist within the batch). Click on the Print button when you are ready to print the batch.
After printing a batch of labels, the system will ask if you want the batch deleted. Unless there was a problem printing the batch, have the system delete it.
To cancel the entire Customer Order, select Edit from the menu at the very top of the screen, then select Delete Order from the list.
To delete a particular product from a Customer Order, highlight the product you want deleted, then select Edit-Delete Order Product.
Notice the Notes toolbar icon at the top of the Customer Order screen. You can access this from either of the two tab screens (Header or Products).
If you want to view any Customer Order Notices for the Customer Order you have displayed, simply click on the Notice Inquiry toolbar icon, and the Customer Notice Inquiry window will appear.
For information on how to print the Customer Order (perhaps to give a copy to the customer), please click here.
You can create a .csv file that captures the results of the information in the grid for a particular Customer Order--in other words, it captures what products are on the Customer Order.
Simply select File-Create .csv File from the menu at the top of the screen. Then, name the file and choose a directory on your PC to place the file.
You can also import a Customer Order from an outside source, such as from a Web order on the Internet. For information on the Customer Order import process, please click here.
You can create a Customer Order Quote as well. Please click here for more information.
Products ordered via Customer Orders will be received in, and then the Customer Order itself will be completed at the POS. Cashiers can call up the desired Customer Order. Once called up, the products on the order display, one by one, on the POS monitor. From that point, the cashier proceeds just as he or she would with any sale. Once all of the individual items on a Customer Order have been sold, the Order State field, under the Header tab in the Customer Order program, automatically fills in with "Complete." Conversely, if the order was only partially shipped or picked up (not every product in the Customer Order was sold), the Order State field will not update.