Manage business customers

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After creating a business customer, the user must be able to modify the customer's details.

Solution

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

The user can manage a business customer record from the Customer Details screen, by using the Manage Business related task. When the user chooses to manage a business customer record, the following information is populated for the current customer:
  • The getCompleteCustomerDetails API is called to populate the buyer information which includes Customer ID, Organization Name, Website address, and so on. It also retrieves the DB D-U-N-S Number (a unique nine digit identification number, for each physical location of a business organization), which is displayed as part of customer demographics.
    Note: The user cannot edit the Customer ID field.
  • The Customer Demographics tab includes the Status, Relationship Type, Customer Level, and Vertical fields, which are populated by the getCommonCodeList API.
  • The Customer Preferences tab includes the allowed currencies, default currency, shipping preferences, and the tax exemption details. The getCurrencyList API is called to retrieve the list of currencies.
  • In the Addresses tab, the user can add, edit or delete an address. When the user chooses to add or edit an address, the appropriate address capture window is displayed. The user can enter the details and save the address. When the user saves the address, the verifyAddress API is called to validate the address. For more information about the implementation of the address capture feature, see Capture addresses.

    The user can also select an address as the default "ship to", "bill to", or "sold to" address. For example, if the user sets an address as the default "Bill to" address, the IsDefaultBillTo attribute is set to Y in the getCustomerDetails API. The address that is selected as default is considered as the default address for the business customer. Only a user with the appropriate resource permissions can view the details in this tab.

  • In the Payment Methods tab, the user can create, edit, or delete payment methods. These payment methods can be customer's preferred methods to pay for orders. When the user chooses to create or edit a payment method, the getPaymentTypeList API is called to retrieve the payment methods defined for the enterprise. The user can select a payment method, enter the appropriate details, and save the changes. Only a user with the appropriate resource permissions can view the details in this tab.

The manageCustomer API is called to save the changes to the customer record. When the user saves the changes, appropriate attributes are passed to the manageCustomer API to update the business customer record. For example, if the user selects the shipping preference as "Group into as few shipments as possible", the OptimizationType attribute is set to "03" in the input to the API. This shipping preference is used when the user captures an order for the customer.

Implementation

The following section describes the rules that you must configure.

Managing customers is a permission controlled task. For information about administering user group permissions, see Administering user group permissions.

The Allow Customer Payment Method Information To Be Stored And Used Through The Interface rule must be enabled to allow the user to add payment methods for the customer. For more information, see Configuring customer payment method rules.

For more information about the APIs, refer to Javadoc.

End-user impact

None.