Customers and users

Scenario

Hero Tools' ERP Manager, David Lynn, is working with the customer service team to add and/or transfer Hero's customer and user relationships into their Optimizely Configured Commerce solution from the ERP. They would like to understand how Configured Commerce's constructs work before they create the integration. Together with customer service team members Charlotte Kent (Customer Service Manager) and Alex Lamont (Customer Service Representative), David sets out to learn everything he can about Optimizely's customer/user relationship before the project begins.

Relationship between customers and users

A  customer represents an entity's Bill To address, Ship To address, or both. A  user is a person who works for a customer and is assigned to the customer record. Users may be assigned to one or more customers, and one or more websites.

Hero Tools customer Avenue Solutions has multiple locations in Massachusetts, including their company headquarters in Boston. All Avenue Solutions' accounts payable and receivable from all locations process through one department at their headquarters, 27 Jane Street, Boston. This is Avenue Solutions' Bill To, and is marked as such when David creates the integration with the ERP. Avenue Solutions' other locations are marked as Ship To's, or locations where products should be shipped, but bills should not be sent. When Charlotte and her team create users for Avenue Solutions, they assign them to the Jane Street Bill To, then the appropriate Ship To location.

User roles

Create Console users who can access the Admin Console and Content Management System, or create Website users who can log in to the commerce site and order products.

Console users and website users

Hero Tools' marketing team is comprised of four people: Laura Nelson (Marketing Manager), Markus Hayes (Content Specialist), Genevieve Paulson (UI/UX Designer), and Kevin Carlson (Marketing Generalist). As an ISC_Admin, Charlotte is tasked with adding all four users to Configured Commerce. She adds them as Console users, as they will be accessing the Content Management System through the Admin Console. Charlotte assigns each marketing user one of the four marketing user roles. She assigns Laura the ISC_ContentAdmin role, so she can create and publish site content, as well as create page templates for her team to use. Markus receives the ISC_ContentEditor role, giving him the freedom to create and edit product and site content, but not publish it. Genevieve is assigned the ISC_FrontEndDev role, so she can view themes in the Admin Console, as well as create and publish site content. Finally, Kevin receives the ISC_ContentApprover role, allowing him to review and publish Markus' content, but not edit it.

Custom roles

Charlotte has many customer service reps on her team who require access to Configured Commerce. However, there are certain sections of the Admin Console, such as Application and Audit Logs, Search, and Websites, that she does not want them to access. Charlotte creates a new role, ISC_CSR, and works with Hero's implementation partner to modify the role's permissions using the Application Dictionary. This way, Charlotte's team still can access the Admin Console to help their callers troubleshoot problems, view Order History, or reset a user's password, but they are not modifying areas of the Admin Console that could directly affect the website.

Security management

Use the Website Access setting to determine at what point in the buying process users are required to log in to the website. Work with Password Management settings to set requirements for console and website user passwords, and keep password resets secure.

Website access

Hero Tools created a microsite for Barriston Engineering, their largest customer. Since Barriston receives a steep discount on many products, David is concerned other Hero customers might see Barriston's prices and contact customer service. David works with Hero's implementation partner to set the Barriston microsite's Website Access setting to Sign In Required To Browse. This requires all users to sign in before they can access any products on the site, preventing non-Barriston users from seeing any of the site's products or prices.

Hero Tools' main site is open to the public, allowing signed in and guest users to see all products and all prices, and not requiring users to sign in until they proceed to checkout. Since Hero is in the process of implementing customer-specific pricing, David wants to hide prices from users until they sign in, ensuring there is no confusion about what a specific user's price is. David works with Hero's implementation partner to set the main website's Website Access setting to Sign In Required To Add To Cart Or See Prices. This allows site visitors to browse the product catalog without authenticating, but requires them to sign in if they would like to add an item to the cart or see its price.

Password management

Hero Tools customer HL Homes has strict username and password requirements for their users on their corporate site. HL's Director of IT, Raymond Hart, reaches out to David to ask what Hero's plans are for security settings on website user accounts. David works with Hero's Configured Commerce implementation partner to set website security settings like Use Email As User Name, Password Minimum Required Length, and Password Requires Special Character, in addition to lockout settings, to ensure website users must create complex passwords.

One of Alex's daily tasks is resetting passwords for website users who call in to customer service. With Hero's old system, Alex had to create a new password for the user, and tell them what the password was over the phone. This led to miscommunications, missed characters, and occasionally a security risk. With Configured Commerce, Alex accesses the user's account in the Admin Console, and selects Reset Password. Configured Commerce sends the user an email with a link to reset their password. The link expires after two days by default, but David can work with his implementation partner to shorten or expand that time as needed.

Guest management

If the Setting Enable Guest Checkout is turned to Yes, site visitors may elect to check out as a guest instead of registering for an account. Guests may create their own accounts or look up the status of their placed orders, depending on the website's settings.

Hero Tools recently acquired Victory Distribution, a small distributor selling power tools and accessories to Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and northern New York. Since it will take some time to get all of Victory's users and customers configured, David decides to open the Victory site to guest users for the time being. He works with Hero's implementation partner to configure the settings for Guest Management, including that guests may not create accounts (so as not to pollute the database), but they can check their order status using a link in their order confirmation email. Once the Victory site is up and running, David plans to turn off these guest settings and secure the Victory site just like the main Hero Tools site.

Sales reps

Use Sales Reps to allow internal sales users to view information for their customers, place orders for their customers, and respond to quote requests.

Hero Tools Sales Manager Betsy Masters manages a small group of account managers on Hero's Enterprise Sales team. Betsy also has two accounts of her own: Barriston Engineering and Avenue Solutions. Charlotte sets Betsy up as a Website User, as Betsy will need to place orders for her customers. Charlotte also creates a Sales Rep record for Betsy, and connects it to Betsy's website user. After some discussion with Betsy's manager, Charlotte assigns Betsy a minimum margin she is allowed to make on quoted products, and the maximum percent she is allowed to discount an item. Charlotte then creates Sales Rep records for Betsy's employees, and assigns Betsy as their Sales Manager. This allows Betsy to view, update, and propose quotes for all customers belonging to her sales team. This ensures all Enterprise accounts are taken care of, even if the sales rep is not available.