View source for LiteCommerce:WholesaleTrading

{{LC2_disclaimer}}<br /><br />
==Introduction==

'''LiteCommerce Wholesale Trading add-on module''' introduces multiple enhanced wholesale trading capabilities to your LiteCommerce-based online store. With this module you will be able to:

* define wholesale prices on your stock products;
* specify global discounts for all products in your store;
* define product access levels for different customer groups;
* limit purchase quantities of individual products;
* create and print out price lists of product categories or the entire store.

This module helps you to attract retailers by offering them products at lower prices and a convenient interface for placing bulk orders, and encourage wholesale customers to buy more products from your store.

{{Note1|Having the Product Options add-on module version 2.15 or later installed on your system greatly enhances the functionality of the Wholesale Trading module.}}

==Configuring the Module==

In order to configure '''Wholesale Trading''' add-on module, in the 'Modules' section click on the 'Wholesale Trading' module link to enter the module's settings page.

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Several module options are to be configured here:

* '''Price message when price is denied:''' in this field type in a message to be displayed to customers in case they are not allowed to see the price of the product. The message can contain elements of HTML. For further details see the sections [[#Setting_up_product_access_restrictions | 'Setting up product access restrictions']] and [[#Restricted_Product_Access | 'Restricted Product Access']] of this manual.
* '''Clone purchase limit settings when a product is cloned, Clone wholesale pricing settings when a product is cloned, Clone product access settings when a product is cloned: '''select any or all of these options to clone the corresponding information when a product is cloned.
* '''Additional registration form fields''': to create additional fields for various tax IDs in the wholesaler registration form, place check marks against the corresponding optional fields:
** Add Sales Permit/Tax ID field to the registration form
** Add VAT Registration number field to the registration form
** Add GST Registration number field to the registration form
** Add PST Registration number field to the registration form
* '''Membership granted through product purchase overrides current membership:''' This option has an effect on product purchase-facilitated memberships. Place a check mark in this box to grant such memberships irrespectively of current membership level of a customer. Remove the check mark to grant memberships only to those customers, who do not have memberships. For further details on this option see Section 2.3.d 'Granting membership through product purchase' of this manual.
* '''Enable direct addition to the cart for products with disabled catalog visibility:''' As you will see later, the '''Wholesale Trading''' add-on module enables you to limit product visibility in the catalog. Using this option you can specify whether products which do not appear in the catalog should be still available for purchase through direct cart placement. For further details on this feature see the section [[#Setting_up_product_access_restrictions | 'Setting up product access restrictions']].

* '''Categories for bulk shopping:''' This option changes the appearance and functionality of the categories you select in order to make them better suited for bulk shopping. Bulk shopping categories are formatted in such a way as to make wholesale purchases easy and convenient. To mark more than one category as bulk, <CTRL>-click on each bulk category title.

{{Note1|To see how bulk shopping categories are presented to the customers, refer to the section [[#Bulk_Shopping | 'Bulk Shopping']].}}

Configure the abovementioned options and click on the '''Update''' button to save them.

==Operating the Store with Wholesale Capabilities==

===Registering Wholesaler Customers===

In order to take advantage of discounted product prices available to members of an individual wholesaler group, a customer must be granted the corresponding membership first. Take the following steps to approve the wholesaler registration request of your customer:

# In the 'Management' menu choose 'Users' section to open the 'Search for user' screen.
# Perform a search and in the 'Search results' table click on user's e-mail to access his profile.
# Navigate to the 'Access Information' section of the profile and find the 'Requested membership' and 'Granted membership' fields.<br/><br/>[[Image:lc-wt-04.gif|530px|center]]<br/><br/>
# If the values of the two fields differ, it means that a customer has submitted a membership request for corresponding membership that has not been approved yet.
# Set an expiration date for the new membership. Select 'Specific date' and set a date in the future using drop-down boxes provided. You can also select 'Never' to grant the membership for ever.
# Click on the 'Grant membership' link to approve membership registration request.
# Additionally you can specify the customer's 'Sales Permit/Tax ID #', 'VAT registration number', 'GST registration number' and/or 'PST registration number' in the respective fields under the 'Tax registration details (wholesalers only)' section of the profile.<br/><br/>[[Image:lc-wt-05.gif|360px|center]]<br/><br/>{{Note1|See the section [[#Submitting_Wholesaler_Registration_Request | “Submitting Wholesaler Registration Request”]] for details on managing wholesaler tax registrations from the Customer Zone.}}
# Click on the '''Update''' button to save changes.

Once the customer's membership status changes, this change is recorded in his membership history. The history can be seen in the customer's profile under the 'View membership history' link in the 'Access Information' section.

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===Setting up Global Discounts===

'''Global discounts''' feature is a valuable means to encourage customers to buy more products at your online store. Using LiteCommerce '''Wholesale Trading''' module, the store administrator can define multiple global discounts for different membership groups.

Follow the instructions below to define a global discount:

* In the Administrator Zone, choose 'Global discounts' section from the 'Catalog' menu.

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* In the 'Subtotal' field enter the minimal amount of subtotal to which the global discount should apply.
* In the 'Membership' field specify membership group eligible for the discount. In the drop-down list choose 'No membership' to make discount available to everybody, 'All memberships' to make discount available to customers with any of the existing memberships, or choose an individual membership group.
* In the 'Discount' field enter the discount amount.
* Select desired 'Discount type', which can be either a fixed value ('absolute') or a relative value ('percent').
* Click on the '''Add''' button to save the discount.

To modify a global discount, change its settings and click on the corresponding '''Update''' button. To delete a discount, click on the corresponding '''Delete''' button.

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{{LiteCommerce:WholesaleTrading:Working_with_individual_products}}

{{LiteCommerce:WholesaleTrading:Importing/Exporting_Wholesale_Data}}

==Creating a Price List==

One of the features introduced by the '''Wholesale Trading''' module is a price list creation tool. You can choose to create a price list for the entire online store or an individual category. You can also create membership group specific price lists. Follow the instructions below to generate a price list:

* In the Administrator Zone, choose the ‘Print price list’ section from the ‘Catalog’ menu.
* Specify price list options.
* Click on the '''Preview''' button.

[[Image:lc-wt-18.gif|451px|center]]

* Review the generated price list and click on the ‘'''Print'''’ link to have the price list printed.

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==Customer Zone==

{{LiteCommerce:WholesaleTrading:Customer_Zone}}

==Terms and Definitions==

'''Bulk shopping:''' purchasing products in bulk quantities.

'''Global discount:''' discount that applies to all products available at the store in case the customer's shopping cart exceeds a certain amount defined by the store Administrator.

'''Price message:''' text message displayed to a user if his membership level does not give him access to price information of a product.

'''Product access:''' product information (price, product details, etc.) access settings; can be configured individually for different membership levels.

'''Wholesale price:''' discounted product price applicable to purchases of multiple quantities of a product.

[[Category:LiteCommerce user manual]]
[[Category:LiteCommerce modules]]