Adding a basket of items to a sale

Retailers can launch a third-party application during a sales transaction. They can create a basket of merchandise items in a third-party application and then import the items from that basket by scanning a bar code during a sale. This can be used for various purposes, particularly when merchandise requires specialized processing before it can be sold, such as activating a mobile phone.

Retailers can perform the following transactions in a third-party application and import them to the POS application:

• Schedule or reschedule technician appointments for in-home services
• Complete payments for in-home services
• Add customers to a transaction
• Create a business account
• Look up/search for service orders
• Schedule a delivery to a customer's location
• Change delivery details of an existing order
• Schedule pickup from the warehouse or store, or pickup for damaged goods and customer returns or exchanges

A basket can include promotions and prices that associates can modify after adding them to the transaction.

A basket can also contain merchandise items with different shipping addresses. The POS can be configured to set the destination tax by location. For more information, refer to Understanding batch data files and the Tax Locations API.

Baskets can contain merchandise with environmental handling fees, customer information, fulfillment types, SKU-based products, and warranty items. An environmental handling fee is automatically applied to an import basket to the destination's jurisdiction to ensure that customers pay the correct charges.

A basket may also include supplemental items. When the imported merchandise has supplemental items associated with it, the POS application adds these items to the transaction. Supplemental items may be optional or mandatory. Only optional supplemental items can be voided individually after they have been added to the transaction. The basket can be configured to allow the voiding of a base item after it has been added to the transaction. For more information about adding supplemental items, refer to Adding a supplemental item.

Retailers can customize the error messages displayed on the POS if an invalid basket is imported. The Integrated Cart service uses the response received from the retailer's software application, and then sends it to the POS. The message displays the specific reason the basket import cannot be processed. The POS also logs the error details in the trace log and the windows application event log.

To enable Basket Import, the following options must be configured.

• Enable the Basket Import button. Refer to the following option:
  • Menu Buttons > Enable Basket Import Button
• Integrate the external application with the POS application:
  • Define the web application plug-in key that is used to run the third-party web application.
  • Define the name of the button used to launch the external application.
  • Define the information message to be displayed when the third-party web application service is unavailable.
  • Specify data elements used to configure the application plug-in.
  • Enable the POS application to release peripheral devices before launching the external application.

  Refer to External Application Integration Configuration.

The Advanced Store solution supports the following features:

• Importing a basket of items to a sale
• Creating a basket of items during a sale