Understand shopping on behalf of the shopper

From a selected shopper’s profile page, clicking the Launch Store as Customer button allows you to open the storefront application on behalf of the shopper. This action provides the same experience as if the shopper had logged into the storefront.

Note: This action is different from creating a new order or completing an order from the Agent Console where the catalog information is provided entirely from the Agent Console application and not directly from the storefront.

Once you launch the storefront, you can participate in all store-specific processes, such as browsing the catalog and creating an order as the shopper. The view is shopper-specific and customized; the pages change according to the selected shopper profile and access (for example, the number of categories the shopper sees as well as the associated pricing and items available).

At the top of the page, an icon appears showing that you are shopping for a specific shopper. Click the icon to log out of the storefront application and return to the Agent Console.

The agent’s ID is associated with any order completed in this way. Once the order is placed and the order is accessed from the Order History page, a line item in order details lists the agent responsible for placing the order in the name of the shopper.

For information on viewing storefront content, see Customize your store layouts.

Shop on behalf of the shopper when carts are shared across multiple sites

If your environment has been configured with multiple sites, the environment can also be configured to allow shoppers to add items to their cart from multiple sites. This functionality is enabled by the implementation of cart sharing groups. For information on this, refer to Create Carts Shared Between Multiple Sites.

Create multiple site orders with shared carts

For an Agent to assist a shopper who is creating an order from multiple sites, you must shop on behalf of the shopper. However, note the following limitations:

• Any items you add from different sites that belong to the same site group, but are not part of the current site's catalog, will be removed from the cart.
• All of the items in the cart will be associated with the current site.
• If the same SKU is added from different sites associated with the same site group, all of the items will be merged into one item, and the item will be associated with the current site. For example, if you add a t-shirt from SiteB and a t-shirt from SiteA, instead of seeing two separate line items, you will see a single line item that has a quantity of 2.
• Inventory validation and stock reservation happens based upon the location of the site associated with the order.

Edit multiple site order with shared carts

You can not edit a cart order unless all of the sites in the site group are associated with the same catalog and inventory. Therefore, it is not recommended that you edit orders that were created with carts shared across multiple sites unless you shop on behalf of the shopper. The following limitations apply:

• Items that do not belong to the current site's catalog will be removed from the cart when you edit the order.
• If your environment is using Open Storefront (OSF), editing an order shared across multiple sites can result in incorrect inventory deductions and is therefore not recommended.

Work with exchange or return orders that share carts across multiple sites

An Agent can return any order that was created from multiple sites. When you work with an order that contains an exchange, it is recommend that you create a return request and then create a new order. If the items' sites use the same catalog, the inventory will be added back correctly, however, new order inventory validations and stock reservations are based upon the location of the site associated with the order.