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As more Infor ERP TakeStock end users begin using Internet InterLink to extend their web presence and engage in e-commerce with their customers, interest in the more advanced features of this module has grown. This article share tips on how you can do more with Internet InterLink once you’ve gotten past the basics.
Make It Easier for Your Customers to Reorder
Shopping Lists
 While normal internet web site product searches are great for selling additional products to a customer, the “bread and butter” for many distributors are the repeat orders that a customer purchases from you. Internet InterLink has the ability for your customer (or for you) to maintain Shopping Lists of items that they frequently buy. These lists can be given names in the event that their buying patterns relate to a particular line or vendor.
The maintenance is performed within Internet Interlink, under the Bulk Order Tab. From here you can fill in the items (and optionally the quantities to typically buy) you want to include in the Shopping List. You can choose “Save List”, give it a name and it will save all of the items that you entered on the Bulk Order “spreadsheet” above. A Customer can have as many Shopping Lists as they want. Lists are maintained for each Internet Interlink User ID that is placing an order. These lists can be retrieved at any time, updated and added to the user’s shopping cart.
Tip: You can also maintain these lists for your customers and include items you would like them to consider buying from you that they currently do not.
Tip: You might use these lists to maintain specials or close-out items for customers to view, if they desire.
 Interchanges
TakeStock’s Internet InterLink module allows your customers to search for items using Customer Interchanges (as you can from within the native TakeStock Sales Order Entry programs). You may not have decided to load customer part numbers for your internal Order Entry team, but it may make sense for you to do so for your customer’s purchasers.
Extending the Reach of Customer Self-Service
 Order Status
Did you know that a customer can see real-time information about their Sales Orders? From the Open Orders link, customers see a list of each Order that is still open (Daily Sales Register has not been run). This list includes the Order Status. Values for the Order Status are:
- Submitted – order has not been imported by “Update Internet Orders”. No inventory committed.
- In Process – Order has been imported by “Update Internet Orders”. Inventory has been committed if available. No indication is given on whether the Pick Ticket has been printed. That is considered internal information.
- Shipped – Order has been confirmed but Daily Sales Register has not been run. No indication is given on whether the Invoice has been printed. (That is also considered internal information.)
 Customers can drill down on the hyperlink with the order number and see more information, such as:
- Actual Orders or Shipment Quantities
- UPS/Fedex Tracking information (if Pro ShipLink is being used)
- Other Notes added to the orders by your Order Processing Staff.
And from the Past Orders link, your customers can see their Past Invoices (ones processed through the Daily Sales Register) as well. This can mean one less phone call into Customer Service asking for the details of an invoice! The same information you see above on the Open Sales Order is also available in the Past Orders link.
Providing More Item Detail
 Additional Internet Item Description
In Item Maintenance, you have the ability to enter additional information about the items you show on the internet with the Internet Item Description. Additionally, you can use HTML formatting in this description to display/highlight the data as you can see from the bulleted list in red text below.
Tip: If you don’t fill out the Internet Description field, the Extended Description field that displays in TakeStock’s Item Inquiry and optionally on forms, will display on the Item Detail page.
Jennifer Jones is the TakeStock business unit manager at E&A. She can be reached at 678.597.4980. |
