Create distributor relationships: an overview (Enterprise)
WebSphere Commerce provides the ability for your store to pass requests for quotes and orders from resellers to your proxy stores or distributors. These abilities and the terms and conditions applied to these abilities are defined in a service agreement. Creating and managing distributor service agreements is the basis of distributor relationships in WebSphere Commerce.
Typically, a Channel Manager completes the process of managing distributor relationships in WebSphere Commerce. A Seller Administrator also has this ability. The process is as follows:
- The Seller Administrator or Channel Manager creates an organization for the distributor.
- The Seller Administrator or Channel Manager adds (at least) one user to the distributor organization.
- (optional) The Seller Administrator or Channel Manager adds a Partner Group ID for the distributor.
- The Channel Manager or a technical user familiar with XML creates a distributor service agreement in XML format.
The service agreement defines the terms and conditions that apply to the distributor relationship and defines how the distributor and your store will communicate.- The Seller Administrator or Channel Manager imports the distributor agreement into WebSphere Commerce.
Importing a distributor service agreement uploads the distributor service agreement in XML format to the WebSphere Commerce Server and deploys the service agreement. If the deployment of the service agreement fails, the Seller Administrator or Channel Manager can attempt to redeploy the service agreement.The newly deployed distributor service agreement is in the Active state which allows the distributor to receive and respond to request for quotes from resellers.
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