View product details

A user must able to access the complete details of a product to provide accurate information to the customer.

Solution

The following section describes APIs, user exits, services, and other components.

A user can select a product on the Product Browsing screen to view the complete details. When the Product Details screen loads, the getCompleteItemList API is called to display the following information:

Primary information:
- A list of assets that are associated with the product are retrieved. For example, if a product has multiple images that are configured as assets, the location of each asset is retrieved. When the user chooses to view more images of the product, a list of images is displayed.
- Extended Display Description and the allowed delivery methods: If extended display description is not provided when a product is created or modified, a default logic is applied to show the extended display description as <Short Desc> (<Item ID>). For variation products, the model product's extended display description is shown by default.
  If the implementer does not prefer to use the default logic, they are expected to provide the Extended Display Description while creating the product.
- Price: Unit price along with the UOM configured for the product.
- Cached availability: Products can be in stock, out of stock, or available on a specific date.
The output of the getCompleteItemList API is parsed for two attributes namely isConfigurable and isPreConfigured. The isConfigurable attribute determines whether the product is configurable or not. Further, based on the value of the isPreConfigured attribute, appropriate information is displayed. If the product is configurable, the value of the ConfigurationKey attribute is used to load the current configuration of the product which the CSR can configure further and add to the order. If product is configurable and not preconfigured, the "Configure and Add to Order" button is displayed which the user can click to configure and add the product to the order. However, if the product is already preconfigured, the user can add the product to the order directly.
Note: It is recommended not to have a bundle product configured as a component for a configurable or preconfigured bundle product.

When the user chooses to configure the product, the IBM® Sterling™ Omni-Configurator interface loads within the application displaying the configurable options for the product.

If multiple draft orders are opened, a window displays the open orders from which the CSR can choose the order to which the product needs to be added.

The details in the first tab of the Product Details screen are loaded along with the rest of the screen. However, the information in the other tabs is loaded only when the user clicks the respective tab.

When the user chooses to view the details in a tab, the getCompleteItemList API is called to display the appropriate details.

Specifications: The details in this tab are displayed based on the attribute groups, attributes, and values that are configured for the product in the Sterling Business Center.
Overview: The extended description, manufacturer's description of the product, and manufacturer's brand and manufacturer's product ID are displayed. These details can be configured in the Primary Information screen of the product in the Sterling Business Center.
Components: The extended display description of the component and the quantity of the component in the bundle are displayed.

When the user selects a valid combination of attributes for a model product, a link is displayed, to allow the user to refresh the variation product information. This link appears in any tab that is open on the Product Details screen. The getCompleteItemList API is called to refresh the variation product details. Alternatively, the user can switch tabs to refresh the variation product details.

Similarly, a link is displayed to allow the user to view the related products for a variation product.

For an invalid variation, the link is not displayed.
If the variation does not have related products, the link is not displayed.
When the user selects a valid variation, the link is displayed only if the related products are configured for the variation product and the "Show in UI" rule is enabled for the relevant Association Type.
When the user selects a different variation product, the related products are not updated. The user must click the link to refresh the details.

Note: If Sterling Call Center is integrated with Commerce and customer records are not maintained in Sterling Call Center, the BuyerUserID attribute that is captured during order creation is passed to the searchCatalogIndex API to search for products in a catalog index. The BuyerUserId attribute can be passed to the searchCatalogIndex API from the screen input as well. Further, the BuyerUserID attribute is passed to the getCompleteItemList API to display the correct prices of products for the customer, which is based on the pricing rule configured.

Implementation

The following section describes the rules that you must configure.

Enable the "Add Line" and "Cancel" status modification rules at the order line level for reconfiguring bundles. For more information about status modification rules, see Configuring Distributed Order Management.
A CSR should have the "Change Product Configuration" resource permission to change the product configuration. For information about administering user group permissions, see the Administering user group permissions.
You can enter the Extended Display Description in the Primary Information screen of the product in the Sterling Business Center. For more information, see the Sterling Business Center Product Administration.
To enable users to browse products, you must define the organization's advanced catalog attributes appropriately. For more information, see the Defining An Organization's Advanced Catalog Attributes.
You must configure the attribute groups, attributes, and values for a product. For more information, see the Sterling Business Center Product Administration.
For more information about extending a catalog search, see the Developing customizations (source components and sample materials).
For more information about catalog administration, see the Sterling Business Center Product Administration.
You must create and configure assets to display product images. For more information, see the Sterling Business Center Product Administration.
You must add and configure the asset types for a product appropriately. To enable a user to view the primary image of a product, you must select the asset type as "Item Image1" in the Sterling Business Center. For more information, see the Sterling Business Center Product Administration.
You must configure the standard unit of measure display rules for a product. To define the unit of measure for quantity, see Defining unit of measure.
You can configure the fulfillment mode for bundle products such that a user can ship the bundle products either independently or together in a single shipment. For more information, see the Sterling Business Center Product Administration.
The "Allow Pick Up" store rule governs the display of pickup options. When the Product Details screen loads, the getRuleDetails API is called to verify whether the YCD_STORE_ENABLED rule is enabled. Only if this rule is enabled, the pickup options are available. For more information, see the Sterling Business Center System Configuration.
You must configure the store rules appropriately. For more information, see the Sterling Business Center System Configuration.
For more information about the APIs, see the Javadoc.

End-user impact

The user can view the product details and inform the customer appropriately.