Using eCommerce for Estimates and Recommendations


The purpose of this article is to help review Shop Manager's eCommerce (eComm) feature and the various ways to initiate an eComm shopping session. eCommerce allows you to shop for parts from within a Repair Order (RO).

You will first need to set up the integration for the e-commerce providers you will be using. A list of the current providers available are listed below along with their respective links to help with the setup process for each integration. 
 



There are a few ways to initiate an e-commerce shopping session: inside a service, when creating an recommendation, within the Parts Summary Modal, or from the Parts Inventory tab. Continue reading to learn more about each way to access eComm within Shop Manager. 

 


Accessing eComm Inside a Service on the RO

Once an RO is created and a service has been added, navigate to the "Parts" search input field and type in the part(s) you will need.

In this example, we are looking for an oil filter. Click within the parts search field to begin your search, as shown below.  Further in this article we will cover what happens when you de-select that "On Hand" quick filter, for now we will focus on adding a new part. 


If the part is not already in your database, the prompt will tell you to click '+' to add a new part. Once you select that, a new window will pop up with options on how you want to add the part, either from scratch or through eComm.

For our search, we are going to go through eCommerce by clicking on the green eComm button.



Selecting the green eComm button will launch an eCommerce session in a iFrame, all your vendors will appear as tabs within the iFrame.



For our example, we will use the PartsTech tab to order the oil filter we need.

Once you have found the part you would like to order, click on the Add button, which will add your part to a cart. Proceed to Checkout once you have added all the parts you want to your cart. You have the option to buy the part at this time or you can submit the information to Shop Manager as a quote, since you might only be creating an Estimate at this point. 
 

**NOTE: If you attempt to order any part(s) while the RO is in the 'Estimate' stage, you will receive a warning stating that the parts will go into inventory as regular stock, the parts will not show as 'Needed' or 'In Progress' until the Estimate is started and converted to a Work Order. 
 




After selecting to “Submit Quote” or "Buy Now" the information will be routed back into Shop Manager and the session window will close.

Within the RO you will see that the part(s) have populated on the service and will show within the Parts Summary Modal. If you chose to buy now, a purchase order would have been created and you would see the link to the PO# in the Parts Summary Modal. 


More information on part statuses and the Parts Summary Modal can be found in this article.
 


Accessing eComm When Creating a Recommendation

If you are not wanting to add a service to an RO just yet or you are building an Estimate, you may create recommendations, which also allow you to access eComm for parts when building the recommendation. 

To create the recommendation, you will navigate to the section on the right of the RO (also can be called the Notes Feed) then choose to "Add Finding." From there, select the clipboard icon and choose to "Recommend Service" as shown below.
 


The “Recommend a Service” window will appear with the ability to select a service, or create a new one as needed. Click the "Add Service" button, and the job will populate in a new dialog box titled "Edit Recommendation."

Similar to adding parts to a service on the RO, select the '+' button next to the parts search box, and continue with your eComm session like explained in the prior section when ordering through a service.

See this process illustrated in the following images:



Also notice that there is a Parts Summary Modal button for this recommendation, see what it looks like below:


Accessing eComm from the Parts Inventory Page

While within the Parts > Inventory page, you are able to access eComm to create orders or quotes for stock. You can choose to either add a new part by clicking the "+New Part" button or you can select checkboxes next to parts in inventory to quickly re-order parts.

When selecting "+New Part" you will be presented with the option to order through eComm, select that to open up your integrated vendors and add parts to quote or to buy for stock inventory.

To order parts that are already in inventory, first select the parts you wish to shop for by clicking the checkboxes in their rows.


Then click the "Actions" button at the top. From the drop-down menu, select eComm, and watch the magic happen. 



The eComm tabs will open, and you can go shopping.
Once you have found what you want, add the parts to your order and checkout.



When you submit the order, regardless of the vendor, you will receive a confirmation notification in Shop Manager.



... and a new PO is generated. 



The parts are on the way! For further eComm assistance, please contact support.