Samples > Sample stores > Consumer direct sample store
IBM Gift Center for the Consumer direct sample store
IBM Gift Center for the Consumer direct sample store allows you to incorporate a gift registry solution into the business. You can offer a gift registry service to customers to ease gift selection and decision making. Gift registries are particularly helpful for events where the customers have invited several guests and intend to receive many gifts. Weddings, anniversaries, baby or bridal showers, and significant birthdays are popular events for gift registries. From the perspective, you can take part in the customer's life events, maximize revenue, and increase customer loyalty.
IBM Gift Center for the Consumer direct sample store, an optional, chargeable feature, can be licensed to run only on WebSphere Commerce Enterprise or WebSphere Commerce Professional, not WebSphere Commerce Express. IBM Gift Center software can be installed using either WebSphere Commerce Enterprise or WebSphere Commerce Professional CDs, but you are required to purchase separate licenses to legally use the IBM Gift Center software. However, license of the WebSphere Commerce Enterprise or Professional product does not permit you to use the IBM Gift Center. You must first purchase the processor and store features of the IBM Gift Center available for the WebSphere Commerce Enterprise or Professional product before you can use any IBM Gift Center function included in the products. If you are interested in purchasing a license for the IBM Gift Center for the Consumer direct sample store, please contact the IBM sales representative.
WebSphere Commerce offers an alternative Gift Center solution for the Madisons starter store. This alternative solution uses Web services for the runtime Gift Center functions, rather than data beans and URL commands. The solution includes a Gift Center sample add-on store archive to demonstrate the Web services on the Madisons starter store. For more information, see IBM Gift Center for the Madisons starter store.
The two key roles in the gift registry solution are...
- The gift registrant and co-registrants, who define the purpose of the gift registry, select the gifts they want, and manage aspects of the gift registry profile.
- The gift givers, who purchase gifts for the registrants from the gift registry.
In addition to these key roles, the role of gift consultant is an optional third party that can manage a gift registry on behalf of the gift registrants.
In addition to the base IBM Gift Center solution, you can download three sample applications, which contain the user interfaces for a true multichannel solution. The sample applications illustrate how customers can create and manage their gift registries using various methods:
- From an online Web site
- In-store with a trained gift consultant
- In-store at kiosks with a hand-held scanner to add items
How do I install the IBM Gift Center?
For details on how to install the IBM Gift Center, and where to download the sample applications, see Install Gift Center.
At a high level, when you run the enablement script (that is, enableGiftCenterForServer.xml or enableGiftCenterForToolkit.xml) to install the base IBM Gift Center, the script executes the following tasks:
- Checks to see whether or not IBM Gift Center is already enabled on the system. If it is not, it continues to install. If it is, then an error message is displayed, to indicate that the IBM Gift Center is already enabled and cannot be enabled more than once.
- Loads the IBM Gift Center bootstrap data XML files into the following directory:
- WC_INSTALL /components/GiftCenter/schema/xml
- WCDE_INSTALL /components/GiftCenter/schema/xml
- Loads the IBM Gift Center access control policies data XML files into the following directory:
- WC_INSTALL /components/GiftCenter/xml/policies
- WCDE_INSTALL /components/GiftCenter/xml/policies
- Updates to the WebSphere Commerce configuration file the following configuration file to enable IBM Gift Center:
For example, the script updates the BusinessContextConfigFile attribute of the BusinessContextService element to include "config/businessContext-GiftCenter.xml"
- Updates the WebSphere Commerce EAR with the files in following directory:
- WC_INSTALL/components/GiftCenter/wc.ear
- WCDE_INSTALL/components/GiftCenter/wc.ear
Note that the script installs the base IBM Gift Center. To use the IBM Gift Center user interfaces for each gift registry channel, download and install the IBM Gift Center sample applications.
How do I customize the IBM Gift Center?
The IBM Gift Center uses the same development environment as WebSphere Commerce. You should be familiar with the development environment (and the related information about IBM Gift Center customization) if you plan to customize the IBM Gift Center.
- IBM Gift Center architecture
To allow for separation between the front-end user interface and back-end business logic, the IBM Gift Center is built on a layered architecture.
- IBM Gift Center and WebSphere Commerce system information
The IBM Gift Center leverages and integrates with many components within WebSphere Commerce, such as the WebSphere Commerce catalog, store, suggestion selling, promotion, and order features. For example, when a gift giver purchases an item from a gift registry list, the checkout process for the order containing the item leverages the WebSphere Commerce order process. Likewise, you may provide product recommendations, such as linking an eSpot about suggested products, within an e-mail that confirms a gift registry. You can do this in the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator, and then link it to the gift registry e-mail template.
- Overview of customizing IBM Gift Center
IBM Gift Center for the Consumer direct sample store allows you to incorporate a gift registry solution into the business. You can offer a gift registry service to customers to ease gift selection and decision making. Gift registries are particularly helpful for events where the customers have invited several guests and intend to receive many gifts. Weddings, anniversaries, baby or bridal showers, and significant birthdays are popular events for gift registries. From the perspective, you can take part in the customer's life events, maximize revenue, and increase customer loyalty.
- IBM Gift Center message mapping
The IBM Gift Center for WebSphere Commerce uses messages to communicate with an external back-end system, where you may store gift registry information or related information. If you plan to customize a message mapper to communicate between the two systems, be familiar with the default mapping available with the IBM Gift Center.
Related concepts
WebSphere Commerce development environment
Related reference
Overview of customizing IBM Gift Center
Related information
WebSphere Commerce Gift Center sample application for the online or Web channel
WebSphere Commerce Gift Center sample application for the gift consultant
WebSphere Commerce Gift Center sample application for the kiosk