If you have implemented standard order processing in your store, without using Available to Promise (ATP) inventory processing, you can split an order to use multiple payment methods or have multiple shipment releases. For example, a customer might select multiple products in one order, but currently insufficient inventory exists for at least one product. You can split the order to create multiple shipment releases so that available products are shipped now and the remaining products are backordered until inventory replenishes.
Note: You can split an order only if your store uses standard order processing without ATP. Multiple payment methods and multiple shipment releases are handled differently in stores that use standard order processing with ATP and in stores that use advanced order processing, which requires ATP.
To split an order:
- Open the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator.
- Find the order you want to work with.
- Open the Change Order notebook by selecting the check box next to the order that you want to work with, and click Change.
- When you open the notebook, the Products page is displayed. From the left navigation frame, click Product Availability. The Product Availability page displays, listing all products in the order, including the date when products are available for shipping. Note that by default, No displays in the Move to Separate Order column, indicating that the order will not be split and the product will not be move to a second or back order. The No status displays regardless of the product availability, so you will need to change this status for products that are not yet available.
- Split the order by selecting the check box next to the products that you want to ship in the second order, and click Move to Separate Order. The Move to Separate Order column displays Yes to indicate that the moved products will not be shipped with this order and will part of a second order.
- When products are listed with availability dates later than the current date, then insufficient inventory exists and the product is not ready to be shipped. Do one of the following:
- To split the order, select the check box next to the products that you want to ship at a later date, and click Move to Separate Order. The Move to Separate Order column displays Yes to indicate that the moved products will not be shipped until inventory replenishes. The other products in the list (with a Move to Separate Order status of No) will be shipped once the order has been submitted.
- To wait for all products in the order are available for shipping, select the check box next to the products that you want to work with and click Keep in Current Order. The Move to Separate Order column displays No for each product selected, to indicate that the order will not be shipped until there is sufficient inventory for all products in the order.
- If a product is not currently available, rather than split the order or wait for inventory to be fulfilled, you can remove it from the order. To remove a product, select the check box next to the product that you want to work with and click Remove. The product is no longer listed on this page, nor is it part of the order.
- To make other changes to this order, use the links on the left side to switch between each order page (see the step below for an optional step). Click OK to close the notebook and save your changes.
- If you want to include a reason why the you split the order, waited for all products, or removed products:
- From the left navigation frame, click Comments. The Comments page is displayed.
- In the Comments scroll box, type the comment you want to include with the order. This scroll box accepts up to 1024 alphanumeric characters.
- To e-mail this comment to customers, select the Send this comment to the customer check box. The E-mail address field is displayed. By default, this field is pre-filled with the e-mail address specified during registration, if the customer has registered and has provided an e-mail address.
- To change the default e-mail address, type customer's e-mail address in the E-mail address field.
- Click OK to add the comment to the order and, if selected, to send the comment to the customer.