5 Customer

The Customer feature enables you to manage individual and business customers for all stores in the enterprise. This feature provides the following functionality:

• Add and remove individual and business customers

• Change and save individual and business customer information

• Handle duplicate customers

• View and edit customer information

• Search for customers based on different sets of criteria

See the following sections for information on the functions available for the Customer tab:

• "Searching for Customers"

• "Adding a Customer"

Searching for Customers

To search for customers, select the Customer tab and click Search. The Customer Search screen is displayed.

Figure 5-1 Customer Search Screen

For each set of search criteria, you choose if that criteria should be used. When you select a set of search criteria, more fields appear on the screen. Enter the required information and any additional information you want to use for the search. If a set of search criteria is not selected, none of the fields are shown and that information is not used for the search.

Only one set of search criteria can be selected for a search. Only customers that meet all of the search criteria are displayed.

Table 5-1 describes the type of search criteria which is available.

Table 5-1 Search Information

Type	Field	Description
Individual Customer Information	The following information can be specified:
	First Name	First name is required. At least one character must be specified.
	Last Name	Last name is required. At least one character must be specified.
	Address Line 1	Address is optional. To search by the first line of the mailing address, specify at least one character.
	Country	Select a country from the menu.
	Postal Code	Postal code is required. Five to seven characters must be specified.
	Telephone No.	Telephone number is optional. To search by telephone number, specify at least one digit of the telephone number. The telephone number is automatically formatted as you enter the digits.
Business Customer Information	The following information can be specified:
	Business Name	Business name is required. At least one character must be specified.
	Address Line 1	Address is optional. To search by the first line of the mailing address, specify at least one character.
	Country	Select a country from the menu.
	Postal Code	Postal code is required. Five to seven characters must be specified.
	Telephone No.	Telephone number is optional. To search by telephone number, specify at least one digit of the telephone number. The telephone number is automatically formatted as you enter the digits.
Customer ID	Customer ID	Enter the exact customer ID for the search.
Employee ID	Employee ID	Enter the exact employee ID for the search.
Tax ID	Tax ID	Enter the exact tax ID for the search.
Results	Results	Enter the maximum number of customers displayed on a page. If the number of customers found is greater than this number, navigation is provided at the bottom of the results list to enable you to select the next, previous, or specific page of data.

To search for customers:

1. Select the button to choose the criteria you want to use in the search. Enter the required information and any additional information you want to use for the search. If you want to reset all the fields to the default values, click Clear Search.

2. Click Search. The Customer Search Results screen is displayed. If only one customer is found that meets the criteria, the Customer Details screen is displayed instead.

Viewing the Search Results

The Customer Search Results screen shows the list of customers that meet all of the selection criteria entered on the Customer Search screen.

Figure 5-2 Customer Search Results

The following information is shown for each customer:

• Customer last and first name or business name

• Customer ID

• Employee ID

• Postal code

• Telephone number

• Tax ID

To return to the Customer Search screen, click Done.

To view detailed information for the customer, click the customer ID. The Customer Details screen is displayed.

Viewing and Changing Customer Information

A details screen is displayed when you click a customer ID on the Customer Search Results or Duplicate Customer screen. For information on the two available details screens, see the following sections:

• "Viewing or Changing Individual Customer Information"

• "Viewing or Changing Business Customer Information"

Viewing or Changing Individual Customer Information

When a customer ID link for an individual is selected on the Customer Search Results or Duplicate Customer screen, the Individual Customer Details screen is displayed.

Figure 5-3 Individual Customer Details Screen

For a description of the fields on this screen, see Table 5-2.

• To make changes to any of the information, change the fields and click Save. The updated information is saved.

• To remove the customer, click Delete Customer. For more information, see "Removing a Customer".

Viewing or Changing Business Customer Information

When a customer ID link for a business is selected on the Customer Search Results or Duplicate Customer screen, the Business Customer Details screen is displayed.

Figure 5-4 Business Customer Details Screen

For a description of the fields on this screen, see Table 5-3.

• To make changes to any of the information, change the fields and click Save. The updated information is saved.

• To remove the customer, click Delete Customer. For more information, see "Removing a Customer".

Removing a Customer

You can remove the customer being displayed on the Customer Details screen. To remove the customer:

1. Click Delete Customer.

2. The Customer Delete Confirmation screen is displayed.

   • To remove the customer, click Yes.

   • If you do not want to remove the customer, click No. You are returned to the Customer Details screen.

3. If Yes is selected, the Customer Deleted Confirmation screen is displayed. Click Enter.

Adding a Customer

To add a customer, select the Customer tab and click Add. The New Customer screen is displayed.

• To add an individual customer, select Individual from the Customer Type list. See "Adding an Individual Customer".

• To add a business customer, select Business from the Customer Type list. See "Adding a Business Customer".

Adding an Individual Customer

When Individual is selected for the Customer Type on the New Customer screen, the information for creating an individual customer is displayed.

Figure 5-5 New Customer Screen for an Individual Customer

Table 5-2 describes the type of information needed to create an individual customer. Only the customer name and postal code are required fields.

Table 5-2 New Customer Fields for an Individual Customer

Field	Description
Customer ID	Unique number assigned to a customer by Oracle Retail Central Office. New is displayed for the customer ID on this screen. When the information is saved, the customer ID is assigned.
Customer Type	Type of customer. Individual is selected.
Salutation	Title prefixed to the customer name.
First Name, Last Name	Name of the customer. These fields are required.
Mailing Address	Address for receiving mail. The postal code is a required field. The second part of the postal code can only used when the selected country is USA.
Special Pricing	Discount type and pricing group assigned to this customer. These selections associate the customer to a specific type of discount or group of price promotions and discount rules. Both a discount and pricing group can be selected. For more information on discounts and pricing groups, see the Oracle Retail Back Office User Guide.
Tax ID	Tax identifier assigned by a government agency. For example, in the United States, the Internal Revenue Service assigns this number for tax reporting purposes.
Employee ID	Identifier of the employee.
Contact and Preference	Contact information and customer preferences for contact and language: Telephone number. Only one telephone number can be entered. The telephone number is automatically formatted as you enter the digits. E-mail address. Contact preference. Select the mailing address, telephone number, or e-mail address as the preferred method of contact with the customer. Receipt preference. Select the method preferred by the customer for receiving receipts. Language. Select the language preferred by the customer.
Personal Information	Date of birth and gender.

To add a new individual customer:

1. Enter the first and last name of the customer.

2. Enter the mailing address. Only the postal code is required.

3. Set any of the remaining information you want to include for the customer.

4. When you have entered all the information, click Save.

Adding a Business Customer

When Business is selected for the Customer Type on the New Customer screen, the information for creating a business customer is displayed.

Figure 5-6 New Customer Screen for a Business Customer

Table 5-3 describes the type of information needed to create a business customer. Only the business name and postal code are required fields.

Table 5-3 New Customer Fields for a Business Customer

Field	Description
Customer ID	Unique number assigned to a customer by Oracle Retail Central Office. New is displayed for the customer ID on this screen. When the information is saved, the customer ID is assigned.
Customer Type	Type of customer. Business is selected.
Business	Name of the business. This field is required.
Mailing Address	Address for receiving mail. The postal code is a required field. The second part of the postal code can only used when the selected country is USA.
Special Pricing	Discount type and pricing group assigned to this customer. These selections associate the customer to a specific type of discount or group of price promotions and discount rules. Both a discount and pricing group can be selected. For more information on discounts and pricing groups, see the Oracle Retail Back Office User Guide.
Tax ID	Tax identifier assigned by a government agency. For example, in the United States, the Internal Revenue Service assigns this number for tax reporting purposes.
Contact and Preference	Contact information and customer preferences for contact and language: Telephone number. Only one telephone number can be entered. The telephone number is automatically formatted as you enter the digits. E-mail address. Contact preference. Select the mailing address, telephone number, or e-mail address as the preferred method of contact with the customer. Receipt preference. Select the method preferred by the customer for receiving receipts. Language. Select the language preferred by the customer.
Personal Information	Tax certificate number and reason for the tax exempt status. This information can be included if the customer is tax exempt.

To add a new business customer:

1. Enter the name of the customer.

2. Enter the mailing address. Only the postal code is required.

3. Set any of the remaining information you want to include for the customer.

4. When you have entered all the information, click Save.

Handling a Duplicate Customer

If the customer information on the New Customer or Customer Details screen matches an existing customer, the Duplicate Customer screen is displayed.

Figure 5-7 Duplicate Customer Screen

The following information is shown for each customer:

• Customer last and first name or business name

• Customer ID

• Employee ID

• Postal code

• Telephone number

• Tax ID

The Current Customer section lists the customer with the new or changed information. The same information for any possible duplicate customers is shown in the Possible Matches section.

You can choose to select one of the possible matching customers or save the new or changed customer information.

• To save the information for the customer listed in the Current Customer section, click Next.

• To view the information for a possible duplicate customer, click the Customer ID in the Possible Matches section. The Customer Details screen is displayed.

  
  

  Note: The information that was entered for the customer listed in the Current Customer section is discarded when a possible duplicate customer is selected.