Operations → Order Management → Auto Orders |
UltraCart's Auto Order feature allows you to set a schedule in UltraCart to "automatically" order an item for a customer on a set schedule.
(This is also known as free trials, recurring, subscription, membership, or continuity programs.)
The Auto Order feature allows a merchant to configure an item on a schedule that will be followed to automatically order again in the future.
UltraCart also gives the unique ability to use different items at different intervals in your Auto Order schedule.
At times a merchant may desire to edit, disable, enable or cancel their customers "auto order". Although an email is usually (merchant option) sent to the customers with a cancellation button (link) they may call upon you, the merchant, to make changes (i.e., credit card information update).
You can enter one of 19 different search criteria to locate the customer's auto order. Your entry must be an exact match and is case sensitive. If it fails, go back to the Auto Order Search screen and try a different field (example: use email vise last name).
Once you've entered your criteria, click on the "Search" button. If a match is found, the Search (results) screen will then appear with a list of the order(s) that match the criteria.
To cancel the customers Auto Order, click on the "Cancel" button. Make sure you select the correct order to cancel as a customer may have more than one.
Once you've located an auto order and it is presented in the search results list, click on the "edit" button to the right. This will take you to the Auto Order Editor screen.
This screen is divided into 3 Tabs:
The Auto Order tab is the main tab, this is the tab where you are able to modify the auto order schedule, edit items, change frequency and next shipment date, and cancel or re-enable an auto order. (The screenshot above displays the Auto Order tab.
The History tab shows the orders that have been generated for the history of the auto order.
The Future tab will appear when the auto order is active, it will display the future order schedule for the active auto order.
The Auto Order tab is where you can view, and enable/disable the auto order.
There are six section to the Auto Order tab in the auto order editor:
Section Name | Description | |
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Status | The Status field indicated the current status of the auto order as:
| |
Affiliate | The Affiliate section displays a field for "Override Affiliate ID", where you can enter an affiliateID to the order. | |
Payment Information | The Payment Information section is the section where you'll be able to update the customers credit card details, as well as review or edit the Billing Attempts and Next Billing Attempt date. The number of billing attempts will determine when the auto order will automatically disable due to failed processing attempts. This field indicates the next date the credit card will be processed after failure. The default is every 3 days. If the card fails after 3 attempts, the Auto Order will be set to inactive (the check mark in the Enable Field will automatically be removed). | |
Billing (Address) | The Billing section allows you to review and edit the billing address for the future orders. | |
Shipping (Address) | The Shipping section allows you to review and edit the shipping address for the future orders. | |
Items | The Items section is where you can review and modify the rebill item(s) as well as the rebill schedule. In this section you can:
Frequency - Use this drop down menu to apply a new frequency for the auto orders. No Order After - Use this to set a date into the future that will end the auto orders. This is often used when a customer calls to cancel but agrees to one or more orders before cancelling. Unit Cost - Use this to override the defaulted cost of the item. Unit Cost Remaining Orders - If you have applied a Unit Cost override that is only temporary, enter the number of future orders the overridden unit cost should apply before reverting back to the defaulted item unit cost.
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Field Name | Description |
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Original Item ID | is the Item ID you assigned during creation of the item in the item editor. This field cannot be changed. |
Quantity | will be the Quantity of the item that the customer selected on the original order. |
Frequency Override | displays the frequency for how often the order is recurring. If this is an Automatic Auto Order it will show the frequency that the merchant established. A drop-down list is provided so you can change the frequency if desired. |
Next Shipment | shows the next date the recurring order will occur. |
Next Item ID | shows the Item ID for the next shipment. This could be the same as the Original Item ID if so configured or it could be a different Item ID in the case of a "Step Item ID". |
Number of Rebills | shows the number of auto orders that have already occurred. |
No Orders After | allows the merchant to indicate a STOP date which will terminate the auto order program after the date entered in the text box. |
Override Unit Cost | allows merchants to change the original unit cost by placing the new unit cost into the text box. |
Override Unit Cost for Next "x" Orders | allows merchants to set the number of orders that the preceding "Override Unit Cost" will be in effect for. Enter the number in the text box. |
The following demonstrates how to pass Custom Field Data to subsequent (Recurring) Auto Orders.
Navigate to Configuration
Configuration → Backoffice → Auto Order Processing → Propagate Custom Fields |
Auto Orders are configured within the Auto Order tab of the Item Editor.
More configuration of Auto Orders is covered at the following links:
Auto Order Processing Configuration screen
Converting a Regular Order to Auto Order
Allowing the Customer to Cancel an Auto Order
Giving an Auto Order Customer One Free Item