Operate > WebSphere Commerce Accelerator > Order management
Order blocks
A block is an indicator that specifies whether the items in an order cannot be released to fulfillment. Only order items that have not been released to fulfillment are affected by order blocks.
There can be a list of block reason codes at the store level. You can enable or disable some reason codes and turn off the other reason codes for the store.
Order block states
Order blocks have two states: unresolved and resolved.
- Blocks in the unresolved state prevent the release to fulfillment of order items.
- Blocks in the resolved state do not prevent the release of the items.
When all blocks on an order are in the resolved state, the items can be released to fulfillment.
When a block is first added to an order, it is in the unresolved state. Orders with unresolved blocks are called "blocked orders"; adding a block to an order can be referred to as "blocking the order". An order can have multiple blocks corresponding to different reasons for preventing the release of order items.
Blocks in the resolved state allow items in an order to be released to fulfillment. All blocks on an order must be resolved before items are release to fulfillment.
Add and resolving order blocks
Blocks can be added to an order automatically by WebSphere Commerce as part of the order work flow or manually using the IBM Sales Center or WebSphere Commerce Accelerator.
You can add a block to an order that is in any state.
Resolve a block can also be done automatically by WebSphere Commerce as part of the orders work flow or manually using WebSphere Commerce Accelerator. Some blocks that have been added automatically can be resolved automatically, whereas all blocks can be resolved manually using the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator. Each block on an order must be resolved individually; you cannot resolve multiple blocks at one time.
All blocks on an order must be resolved before the order can be released to fulfillment. Resolving all blocks on an order can be referred to as "unblocking an order".
Automatic order blocks
Orders can be blocked automatically as part of the following parts of the order process:
- Negotiated pricing
- The limit on the discounted pricing that a Customer Service Representative (CSR) is allowed to offer is determined by the administrator, who assigns each CSR group a limit. If a CSR tries to offer a price that exceeds this limit, the system blocks the order, and sends notification to the appropriate person for approval. The block resolves automatically when the offered price is approved.
- Negotiated shipping
- The limit on the discounted shipping that a CSR is allowed to offer is determined by the administrator, who assigns each CSR group a limit. If a CSR tries to offer a shipping charge that exceeds this limit, the system blocks the order, and sends notification to the appropriate person for approval. The block resolves automatically when the shipping charge is approved.
With customization, other parts of the order process can also be subject to automatic order blocking.
Manual order blocks
You can block an order manually for the following reasons:
- You suspect fraud
- The buyer is on a denied-party list
- Exports to the destination country are restricted
- A discontinued product is part of the order
- An Administrator has identified another reason
The reasons for blocking an order that are available to you depends on the company.
Access control
You must have access as a Seller, Operations Manager, Customer Service Representative, Customer Service Supervisor, or Sales Manager in order to manually add or resolve an order block.
Tickler generation
In the block reason code configuration user interface, you can enable or disable the tickler to be generated on any of the blocked reasons.
Store relationships
You can enable a store relationship for a blocked reason. As a result, even when a blocked reason code is not enabled on a hosted store, but is enabled on its assets store, the blocked reason code is respected on the hosted store.
- Add a block to an order
You can manually add blocks to an order to prevent the order items from being released to fulfillment. This can be in addition to any blocks that are automatically added to the order. Items that have been released to fulfillment will not be affected by adding a block to the order.
- Find blocked orders
You can find all blocked orders or only orders with a specific block.
- Add comments to an order block
When you are managing order blocks, you might want to add or update the comment for an order block to supply more information about the block.
- Resolve an order block
Resolving an order block allows the items on that order to be released to fulfillment. However, for items that remain in the order to be released to fulfillment, all blocks on the order must be resolved.
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