Understand shopper tasks for scheduled orders
The configuration described in the preceding sections provides shoppers with the functionality described below.
Note that, when a contact is removed from an account, all scheduled orders associated with that contact expire.
Place a scheduled order
On the checkout page, the shopper can enable the Scheduled Order option to create a scheduled order from his cart contents instead of placing the order immediately. When the shopper enables this option, he is presented with a scheduled order form that allows him to specify a name for the scheduled order, define the start and end dates, and set the frequency. Out of the box, frequencies include:
- Once a day
- Weekly. When this option is selected, the shopper can specify the day of the week (Sunday through Saturday) or the weeks of the month (First, second, third, fourth, last) for when an order should be run.
- Monthly. When this option is selected, the shopper can select once a month, every two months, or quarterly for when the order should be run.
The shopper also has the option to suspend the order. Suspended orders are not run until they are re-activated. See Suspend a scheduled order for details.
Modify the schedule of a scheduled order
A shopper can modify the schedule of an existing scheduled order but the contents of the order cannot be modified, nor can the shipping method or address. Instead, the shopper would have to create a new scheduled order with the modified contents and shipping details and then delete the old one.
Suspend a scheduled order
A shopper can suspend a scheduled order, either while they are first creating the scheduled order on the checkout page, or while they are viewing the scheduled order’s details. A suspended order will not run until it is re-activated from the scheduled order’s details page.
Place a one-time order based on a scheduled order
When viewing a schedule order’s details, a shopper can place an immediate, one-time order using the scheduled order’s contents by clicking the Place Order button. Clicking this button places the contents of the scheduled order into the shopping cart. If any other products exist in the cart already, the contents of the scheduled order are added to them. The shopper then checks out as normal.
Delete a scheduled order
To delete a scheduled order, the shopper must view the scheduled order’s details, then click the Delete button.
Manage a failed scheduled order
Scheduled orders can fail for a variety of reasons, for example, a product in the scheduled order is out of stock or discontinued, or the price list group associated with the scheduled order has been removed so the order can no longer be priced.
Depending on the failure type, the shopper may be able to quickly create a new scheduled order that does not have the issue (for example, a new order that removes a discontinued product). To do this, he can view the details page for the problem scheduled order, click the Place Order button to add the order’s contents to the cart, modify the cart contents (for example, to remove a discontinued product), go to the checkout page and create a new scheduled order. The shopper will also have to delete the problem scheduled order as described in Delete a scheduled order.
If the shopper cannot resolve the issue, he will have to contact an agent and provide the error information to get assistance.