Process: Respond to announcements
Flow
Objective
Actively respond to catalog announcements to ensure that the online catalog reflects current product information.
Description
Announcements may be made relating to changing product information. The catalog may need to be supplemented, updated, or purged based on these announcements.
These announcements will vary based on business needs and originate outside of WebSphere Commerce. A typical announcements are:
New product announcement
Response:
-- Decided whether this product should be included in the subset of products for sale in the online catalog.
-- Decide if the given price is acceptable. If it is not acceptable, decide on a new price or adjustment.
-- Check if any bundles or kits are affected
-- Add merchandising associations to and from this product
Similar decisions need to be made for other announcements such as withdrawn products, and list price changes.
Customization
The processes necessary to handle manufacturer announcements vary depending on scenario. Resellers may need to make changes in these situations:
-- The list price of manufacturer's product changes
-- A manufacturer product is added
-- A manufacturer product is withdrawn
-- A manufacturer category is added
-- A manufacturer category is withdrawn
-- The taxonomy is changed
In all of these cases, the resellers may need to take action, and if they do not take the necessary action then the manufacturer may need to specify what the resulting behaviour will be. For example, if the manufacturer withdraws a category, then all of the resellers that have created value-add products within this category must remove those products from the category and move them into another suitable category. If the reseller does not remove the products, then the manufacturer will need to decide on an action. An example of such an action is moving the products to a parent category or to some predefined 'miscellaneous' category.
Edition
Professional, Enterprise, Express
Tasks
| Task | Description | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Update kits and bundles |
If the contents of the catalog have been changed, some kits and bundles may no longer be correct or applicable. The validity of any kit or bundle that is affected by a catalog update such as a product announcment or withdrawal must be verified and updated appropriately. |
Product Manager |
| Update merchandising |
Merchadising associations may no longer be relevant or can be enhanced. Affected merchandising associations need to be updated to reflect the current catalog. |
Product Manager |
| Update price |
The product manager updates the product price as a ruesult of the base list price change. This price change may be a fixed price override or a percentage adjustment. |
Product Manager |
Business artifacts
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