Report: Consolidated by Register

Below is an overview of the Consolidated by Register report. General information on what fields are available, what they do and what data is presented in the report.

Path: POS-RP-1-2

Purpose: This report is used to display a high level summary of the transactions done on each register. The total amount of money done, total markdowns, cost of goods sold, gross margin of goods sold, etc. for the date range specified.

Output: Register, Quantity, Sell Price Extended, Item Discount Total, Item Markdown Total, Transaction Discount Markdowns, Net Sales, Tax Total, Trans Total, Tender Total, Net Cost Extended and Gross Margin.

 

 

 

 

 

Unique Field Options

A/R Invoice: Allows you to specify an AR Invoice number to view the other transaction details.

Note: the most common fields are covered in the Reports: Best Practices and Procedures article. Only special usage scenarios or options are covered in this article.



Reports: Best Practices and Procedures

Below is a list of the most common report fields and what they do. The purpose of this article is to avoid having to specify “the Store field restricts the report to the specified store” on every single report article.

There is also a best practices on the more optimal ways of running reports. This includes how to report on multiple class or department codes, what to do when you get a “0 records listed” response as well as other things.

Common Practices

  • Populate as few fields as possible to get the information you need.
    • Data presented in a report is information that meets every single field criteria.
    • If you get a response of “0 records to display” then consider widening your parameters. Filling out every single field will rarely work.
    • e.g. If you specify: “Store 1, Register 101, Beginning Date 8/1/18, Ending Date 8/1/18, Department 90, Class 101, SKU 9781234567890, Tran Type RT, WEB Transactions N, History file N” you probably won’t get anything.
      • If you remove the tran type criteria, or the department and class fields (you’re specifying the item anyways) then you may get some results.
  • Multiple criteria can be entered into most fields by separating them with a comma.
    • e.g. If you want to report on class numbers 101,102 and 103 you will enter them as 101,102,103
  • There is currently no way to report on “everything except” unless you enter every valid option.
    • e.g. If you want to report on every class other than 101 you would have to enter every class code except 101, into the Class field.

Common Fields

  • Store: Entering a value for Store restricts the report to only display results for the specified store.
    • Note that some items are not store specific, e.g. Class codes or fee codes are store agnostic.
  • Register: Entering a value for Register restricts the report to only display data on the specified register.
    • Multiple registers can be entered by separating them with a comma. e.g. 101,102,103 will report on all three registers.
  • Beginning Date: A “start date” that limits the data to not include information before this date.
    • e.g. A transaction search with a start date of 7/1/18 will not include any transactions prior to July 1st, 2018.
  • Ending Date: Specifies the “stop date” in the data, nothing after this date will be displayed.
    • e.g.A transaction search with a stop date of 7/1/18 will not include any transactions done on 7/2/18 or after.
    • To report on a single day make the beginning and ending date the same.
  • Department: Restricts the report to include data that falls under the specified department
  • Class: Restricts the report to data that includes items that fall under that class
  • SKU: Enter a SKU, ISBN, Fee Code, etc. to only report on data that includes this item
  • Detail: Is used to display as much information as possible for that data being reported on.
    •  For example, a report against transaction data with Detail flagged will display every line item in the transaction, the cost, quantity and total for every transaction for the date range specified.
    • The majority of reports are either Detail or Summary, but there are a few exceptions that will report the detailed information and include a separate summary section at the bottom. One example would be inventory valuation reports that will list all of the inventory items and then include summary totals for each inventory class.
  • Summary: The summary flag will combine and summarize the data reported on various break points.
    • For example, a transaction report with Summary flagged will simply report the transaction total instead of every single line item, their cost, and the total for the date range specified.
  • History: Almost always a N.
    • This is not a “include History as well” flag.This is a hard switch, meaning it reads from the History ONLY and will not report on current data.
    • Data can be moved to history to separate it from current data without throwing it away.
    • Once it has been moved to history then the History field would have to be a Y to read it from the History file.
  • Web: Almost always an N or empty. Entering a Y will restrict the report to ONLY web transactions similar to the History field only reporting on the History file.

 

 



Report: Detail by Trans Number

Below is an overview of the Detail by Transaction Number report. General information on what fields are available, what they do and what data is presented in the report.

Path: POS-RP-1-1

Purpose: This report is used to display detailed information on every transaction that meets the selection criteria.

Output: Register, Transaction #, Date, Time, Cashier Code, Transaction Type, Post Void status, Scanned Items, Item Descriptions, Quantity, Sell Price Extended (qty * price), Item Discounts, Transaction Discounts, Tax Total, Transaction Total and Tender Code.

Unique Field Options

A/R Invoice: Allows you to specify an AR Invoice number to view the other transaction details.

Note: the most common fields are covered in the Reports: Best Practices and Procedures article. Only special usage scenarios or options are covered in this article.

 

 

 

 



POS Menu List

Below is a list of all menu options inside of the POS module. The numbering of the list reflects the path numbering of the menu options. For instance, maintaining the Tax Tables in POS-2-3-1 is in section 2 – Transaction Parameters, 3 – Tax Tables, 1 – Tax Tables. At first glance it can be a little jarring to see the list go from 5 to 21 but it was necessary to keep the options true to the screen layout.

  1. Cash Register

  2. Transaction Parameters >

    1. General Parameters
    2. Modifiers

    3. Tax Tables >

      1. Tax Tables
      2. Import Tax Tables
    4. Tender Codes
    5. Transaction Types
    6. Discount Matrix
    1. Modifier Descriptions
    2. Credit Card Parameters
    3. Tender Categories
    4. Tax Exemption Reason Table
    5. Error Message Maintenance
    6. Price Table Maintenance

  3. Hardware Parameters >

    1. Register Parameters
    2. Hardware Configuration Codes
    3. Receipt Header
    4. Receipt Trailer
    5. Gift Receipts
    1. Function Key Definitions
    2. Touch Screen Codes

  4. History >

    1. History Parameters
    2. Run History Process
    3. Purge Processed Sales Records (DIS)

  5. Credit Cards & Communications >

    1. TotaLink Credit Cards
    2. Gratuity Processing
    3. ICOMM Credit Card Reports >
    4. CourseWorks >
    5. Create CC Adjustments from STD
    6. Element Vault Maintenance

  6. SmartLane Registers >

    1. Host Background Control
    2. Transfer Control & Status
    3. Send POS Parameters
    4. Send PLU and Data Files
    5. Send Specific Item
    6. List Send Log
  1. Global SKU Inquiry

  2. Data File Maintenance >

    1. Cashier Maintenance
    2. SKU Maintenance
    3. Department & Class Maintenance >
      1. Department Maintenance
      2. Class Maintenance
      3. Class Category Maintenance
      4. Distribution Code Maintenance
      1. Calendar
    4. Delete SKUs Marked For Deletion
    5. Catalog Maintenance

    6. Food Services >

      1. Meal Maintenance
      2. SKU Maintenance
      3. Meal Plan Parameters
      4. blank
      5. Meal Category Codes
      1. Reset Meal Plans
      2. Import Meal Plan Customers

      3. Food Service Reports >

        1. Meal Usage
    7. GateKeeper
    1. Negative Account Maintenance
    2. Positive Account Maintenance
    3. Fee Code Maintenance

    4. Cross Reference Rebuild >

      1. Title/Description Xref
      2. Author/Manufacturer Xref
      3. ISBN & UPC Xref
      4. 1-3 Above
      5. Rebuild MFX
      1. Pref Customer Xref
      2. Voucher Xref
      3. Employee Xref
      4. Special Orders Xrefs

    5. Vouchers & Coupons >

      1. Maintain Voucher Records
      2. Voucher History Inquiry
      3. Move Vouchers to History
      1. Voucher Parameters
      2. Maintain Coupon Parameters

    6. Loyalty >

      1. Enter/Maintain Customers
      2. Pref Customer Report
      1. Loyalty Type Maintenance
      2. Print Mailing Labels

  3. End of Day Functions > Reconciliations & End of Day

    1. Employee
    2. Register
    3. Register History
    4. Register Report
    5. Employee Report
    6. Daily Register Counts
    7. Employee Audit
    1. Check for Gaps
    2. Remote Close Registers
    3. Back Office Post Void
    4. Post Unposted Transactions
    5. Modify Tenders on STD
    6. Re-Open Closed Day
    7. Download Host AR Data
    8. Nightly Resize & Backup
    9. General Ledger >
      1. Create G/L Distribution
      2. Print G/L Distribution
      3. Create G/L Journal Entry
      1. Maintain Distribution Codes
      2. Create G/L Journal Entry for Quickbooks

  4. Special Orders >

    1. Maintenance
    1. Report

  5. Food Service >

    1. Meal Maintenance
    2. SKU Maintenance
    3. Meal Plan Parameters
    4. Meal Category Codes
    1. Reset Meal Plans
    2. Import Meal Plan Customers
    3. blank
    4. blank
    5. Food Service Reports >
      1. Meal Usage

  6. Mail Order & E-Commerce >

    1. Order Entry
    2. Catalog Maintenance
    3. General Parameters
    4. Campus Webstore Parameters >
      1. General Parameters
      2. Freight Tables
    5. Email Parameters
    6. Web Tags>
      1. Web-Tag Category Maint
      2. Web-Tag Tag Maint
    1. Mail Order Open Items Detail
    2. Customer Listing
    3. Fedex List
    4. Print Pickslips
    5. e-Mail List
    1. Customer Maintenance
    2. Customer Inquiry
    3. Purge Completed Orders
    4. Merge Identical Customers
    5. Mail Labels
    6. Web Order Status
    1. Zip Zone Table
    2. Rate Table – Weight
    3. Rate Table – Purch Amt
    4. Tracking – STD
    5. Tracking – Confirmation

  • Rentals >

    1. Item Master Maintenance
    2. Serial Number Maintenance
    3. Drop Off – Serial
    4. Item Retirement
    5. Move S/N to Regular Inventory
    6. Specify Tag Printer
    1. General Parameters
    2. Condition Codes
    3. Email Notices >
      1. Email Pre-Notice
      2. Email Past Due Notice
      3. Email Charged Card

    4. Utilities >

      1. Post STD to Serial#’s
      2. Customer Information
      3. Recalculate Quantity
      4. Rental Updates
      1. Update Rental Prices
      2. Rental Purchase Processing
    5. Customer Inquiry

    6. Reports >

      1. Rental Items Due
      2. Rental Items Past Due by Cust Name
      3. Rental Items Past Due
      4. Rental Items CC Charged
      5. Master List
      6. Daily Rentals
      7. Daily Returns
      1. Rental Items Available
      2. Rental Items Sold – Serial
      3. Rental Items Sold – Dynamic
      4. Rental Items Retired
      5. Rental Inventory
      6. Daily Dropoff
      7. Daily Rentals and Returns
      8. Physical Inventory Valuation
RP – Report Menu
PM – Printer Mgt
QB – Query Builder		 TI – Transaction Inquiry
GI – Global MF Inquiry
BG – Backgrounds		 UM – User Menu
UU – User Utilities
SM – System Menu

 

 



POS Report Menu List

POS Reports Menu(RP)

Below is the layout of the Reports menu in the POS module in an ordered list. The purpose of this page is to allow for a searchable list of reports. This is a constant work in progress, so some details may not be available at this time.

Clicking on a report name will navigate to a page with an example of what the report looks like, a brief summary of what the report will report on as well as explanations of the fields used to generate the report. Please note that every field definition is not listed for every single report, instead the most common fields are covered in the Reports: Best Practices and Procedures article. Only special usage scenarios or unique field options are covered in the individual report articles.

The numbering of the list reflects the path numbering of the reports. For instance, the Tender/Register Summary Report (RP-2-21) is down in section 2; Tender Reports, option 21 for Tender/Register Summary. At first glance it can be a little jarring to see the list go from 5 to 21 but it was necessary to keep the options true to the screen layout.

      1. Sales Reports >

        1. Detail by Trans Number
        2. Consolidated by Register

        3. Class Reports Menu >

          1. Class Detail by Date by Class
          2. Class Detail by Class by Date
          3. Class Summary by Class
          4. Class Summary by Register
          5. Item Disc/Mkdn by Class
          1. Class Comparison – Net
          2. Class Comparison – Returns

        4. Time Interval Sales Menu >

          1. Store Sales by Store by Register by Date
          2. Store Sales by Store by Date by Interval
          3. Employee Sales by Employee by Time
          4. Employee Sales by Time by Employee
          5. Sales $$ by Time Interval
          6. 7-Day Sales Report

        5. Special Sales Reports Menu >

          1. Gross-to-Net Sales
          2. Departmental Sales
          3. Sales and Returns by Department
          4. Sales by SKU/ISBN
          5. Sales by Transaction Discount Code
          6. Serial Number Search
          1. Maintain Flash Dates
          2. Update and Print
          3. Print Flash Data
          4. Akademos Sales Detail

        6. A/R Reports Menu >

          1. Invoices
          2. Payments
          1. POSCONNECT Error Report
        1. Transaction Detail (Inquiry)
        2. Fee Detail
        3. Fee Summary
        4. Item Disc/Mkdn Detail

        5. Movement/Ranking Menu >

          1. Build Ranking File
          2. Run Ranking Reports
          3. Build Movement File
          4. Run Movement Report
        6. E-Book Trans Detail

      2. Tender Reports >

          1. Tender Detail by Reg# by Tran#
          2. Summarized by Register
          3. Summarized by Store
          4. Detail with Account Information
          5. Summarized by Cashier Code
          1. Tender/Register Summary
          2. Consolidated Register Summary
          3. Sales Tax Summary
          4. Register Parameter Screen
          5. Credit Card Detail

      3. Inventory Reports >

          1. Daily Sales Detail
          2. With Sales in Last Seven Days
          3. Inventory Movement Report
          4. Inventory Movement by Time
          5. Same SKU in Multiple Modules

      4. Data File Listings >

        1. Department List By Dept Code
        2. Class Reports >
        3. Vendor Order Address List
        4. Sales Entry Messages
        5. Catalog QOH Report
        1. Cashier Listing
        2. Employee Listing

      5. Employee Reports >

        1. Transaction Detail by Employee
        2. Transaction Summary by Employee
        3. Employee Time
        4. Employee Sales By Employee By Time Interval
        5. Employee Sales By Time Interval By Employee
        6. Percent Employee Sales

      6. Miscellaneous Reports >

        1. Voucher Special Order Report
        2. Gift Card Report
        3. Cap & Gown Report
        4. Miscellaneous Voucher Report
        5. Departmental Vouchers
        6. Suspended Transactions Report
        7. Discount Summary
        1. Tax Report From POS.STD
        2. Tax Report From POS.TES
        3. Supervisor Authorizations
        4. Percent of Trans. per Register
        5. Neg Accounts Listing
        6. A/R Customer Report

    1. Buyback Reports >

      1. Dollars Spent Report
      2. Buyback Audit Report
      3. Buyback Detail Report
      4. Transaction Inqiry
    2. Register Errors
    3. User Audit


Custom Reports Through Query Builder

The TCS Query Builder is a very powerful tool for users of SmartSuite to customize or create new reports that more specifically meet their needs.

The Basics

Verbs Can be either SORT or LIST. List is random and SORT is ordered.
Filename The SmartSuite system is comprised of several data files unique to each module.
Dictionaries Each data file has its own unique set of dictionaries that define how data fields are represented.
Selection Criteria The rules you define to limit the volume of data to be included on a report.
Sort Criteria The rules you set to define how the data will be sorted.
Output Criteria The columns that will be included on a report.

 

Nearly 100% of the reports in SmartSuite utilize the same rules that the Query Builder does. We just add a more complex screen for your parameters and do a few more technical things.

The best way to create a query is to start from an existing one. If you don’t have an existing one then choose one of the system reports and see how we did it. Try to run a report that contains similar data to what you would like to create. For example, if you are going to create a report to display sale information, then use a Sales report as a reference. This way you can see what filename we are pulling sales data from and can use that same filename in your query.

You can see our query string by running the report but instead of selecting terminal, or printer, etc. choose the option to show the Command String.

Here’s a simple command from POS-RP-04-21 (Cashier Listing).

This has a Verb (SORT), a Filename (POS.EM), and Output Criteria (NAME.15 SECURITY.LEVEL.8 MISC.INFO.40. There is also a HEADING.

Screen Elements

Here’s an example of a query created by an end-user for doing a sales export.

ID This can be alpha or numeric. It is just the name you want associated with the report and is assigned by the user.
Used By Can be left blank or filled in with the name of the person who will be the primary user of the report. (When you enter “??” in the ID field the list is sorted by Used By and then by Desc.)
Verb Use either SORT or LIST
Filename Enter “??” to view a list of all of the files for the database you are logged into (POS, TEXT, GM, etc.) This is where it is easier to use the Command String to see what file to use. After some experience you become familiar with our naming convention and the file names will make sense.
Selection Criteria Enter valid dictionary items. If you click on “??” you will see a complete list of the dictionaries for the file selected. Here is a list of the POS.EM file (employee master).

If you enter “Y” in the Prompt column then when you run the report you will be prompted for the value you want to use. Dates can be entered just like in our screens.

The “??” works the same in each area, so the explanation will not be repeated.

The “?” provides most of the information provided in this document.

Sort Criteria The report above is going to be sorted by DATE and then by KEY. Since it is using the SalesTransactionDetail file (POS.STD) the key is store*date*register*transaction.

Output Criteria This varies in that the 2nd column is for BREAKS. A Break is usually used to provide subtotals. It can also be used to create a logical break on the report. Break options include:

T Total the column

Y Break with no total

P When breaking start a new Page

D Only show the detail lines

U Underline the total

L Suppress and blank lines following a total or other break

Breaks can be combined to cause multiple effects.

Include Record IDs Frequently the ID to a file is cryptic and the data you are viewing is redundant to the ID (just formatted better); in this case enter an “N”. If you want to see the record IDs, then enter a “Y”.

Detail Lines If your primary interest is summary data then enter “N” for detail lines. The 1st time you run the report, or as you are developing it, leave this a “Y” to have a better feel for the data.

Column Headings This is almost always a “Y” but they can be turned off for exporting/importing.

Sample Size When developing the report, you may not want to wait very long for you to see what you will get. Enter number here and as soon as that number of detail records is reached the report will print (or display). We usually start with 10 and move up to 100 if necessary.

Grand Total Enter any wording you want to appear on a grand total line. The Mod: field is used to Underline any totals.

Heading This optional field will cause a heading to print at the top of the report.

There are 3 primary modifiers that can be used in defining a heading. They include:

L Create a Line Break

T Insert the Time & Date

P Insert the Page Number

Here’s a sample:

 

When you choose the Run option you will be prompted for any of the inputs you specified and then you will select where to print the report using the same options as all other SmartSuite reports.



Negative Accounts (Bad Checks)

Here are the steps that can be taken to setup a bad check, or Negative Account, in the system so further checks are blocked.

  1. Set up the account in POS-22-21
    1. The account number can be anything you’d like. Student ID, Driver’s license, bank acct, etc.
      • It’s recommended to set a standard and stick to it. Reasons for this are explained in the final point of this document.
    2. Information can be filled out as needed. The key field that the system looks at is the Status field. If this is anything other than OK, the system will not accept the CK tender type for the transaction.
    3. The comments at the bottom are for informational purposes only.
  2. When using the CK tender, your cashiers will see a prompt to enter the account number.
    1. If the account number entered by the cashier matches the Negative Account number (e.g. 55555 from this example) then they will not be able to use a check.
    2. If the number entered by the cashier doesn’t match any Negative Accounts, then the transaction is processed.
      • This is why following a standard for the account number is so important. If the negative account was created using a student ID, but the customer driver’s license is entered, then there is no match and the transaction will go through.


Getting a Report Into Excel

These instructions cover how to save your reports as a text file and then import it into Excel. Most reports are formatted in a way that allows this but there are a few exceptions. Exceptions occur when the report data doesn’t line up perfectly into columns, such as the Tender Register Summary report (POS-RP-2-21).

  1. First, run your report as normal and send the output to Terminal.
  2. Now we need to save the report as a text file on your computer to import into Excel.
    1. Click on the Save icon at the top of the Terminal Window
    2. Select where you want to save the file.
      • This can be anywhere on your computer. Typical locations will be Documents or Desktop
    3. Name the file
      • Keep it simple and preferably without spaces.
    4. Change the “Save as type” to “Text Files”
    5. Click on the Save button

Importing Into Excel

This assumes that the steps above have been performed and you have a copy of the report on your computer as a .txt file. Things can get a little confusing but if you watch the animated image in step 6 it will cover most of the non-intuitive steps.

  1. Open Excel
  2. Go to File > Open
    • Or press and hold the Ctrl key and then press O bring up the Open dialogue.
  3. Browse to where you saved the file in step 2.2 above
  4. Change the All Excel Files drop down box to All Files
  5. Select the .txt file saved in step 2.2 above
  6. In the Text Import Wizard (step 1 of 3) Select the Fixed width option
  7. In step 2 of 3, click and drag the arrows/lines to the edge of the text. These mark the columns to be used in the spreadsheet.
  8. In step 3 of 3, click on each column and asign the Text data format in the top left
    • You can select the first column, move the slider all the way to the right, press and hold SHIFT and click on the last column. With all columns selected click on the Text data format option on the top left.
    • Click Finish
  9. Now all of the data should be in the Excel document. The ISBN numbers should not look like a notation number (9.78129E+12) they should display as full ISBNs.
  10. Save the document.
    1. If sending to another organization (e.g. Redshelf ebook list, third party inventory company, etc.)
      1. Go to File > Save As.
      2. Browse to where you would like to save the document
      3. Enter a name in the File name field
      4. Click on the Save as type: drop down and select “CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv)”
      5. Click on Save
      6. The file can now be sent as an attachment
    2. If saving for internal use
      1. Go to File > Save As.
      2. Browse to where you would like to save the document
      3. Enter a name in the File name field
      4. Choose whatever you would like as the file type. The default is typically .xlsx
      5. Click on Save


Campus Webstore Parameters

The following steps cover setting up the Campus Webstore parameters, email parameters, shipping and other settings in order to use the web store.

Email Parameters

The email parameters pertain to the email contents a customer receives when placing an order, which bookstore staff receive order notifications and what events trigger emails to be sent. These are found in POS-26-5.

The more technical fields will already be populated with the correct information (program file path, website url, SMTP settings, etc.). The only fields that a typical user needs to modify are listed below.

  1. From Name: allows you to specify the name that appears on the email that customers receive. E.g. ABC Bookstore.
  2. From Address: is where you would put an email address belonging to your organization. Typically whoever would interact with web customers and fulfill web orders.
  3. Send CC to: allows you to specify multiple bookstore recipients who may wish to be notified when an order has been placed.
    1. Multiple email addresses must be separated with a ; without any spaces
      • e.g. user1@bookstore.com;user2@bookstore.com
  4. Subject: specifies what subject will appear on the order confirmation email that a customer receives.
  5. Send email when user submits web order: Enter either a Y or N. Typically a Y
  6. Send email when invoice is printed: When an order is fulfilled a Y will have the system email the customer that the order has been processed.
  7. The “T-Mail Text” button goes to a second screen where the body of the email text can be manipulated. There is some code and variables that will appear in the default text. Those codes and variables should remain in the screen but specific parts can be changed.
    1. For example the text may contain a line like “Your order #=CONFIRMATION has been processed. Expect it to ship within 24 hours.” Feel free to edit the regular verbiage or wording like the 24 hours but don’t remove the #=CONFIRMATION. This is a flag the system is looking for to inject the order confirmation number and could cause issues if removed.

Campus Webstore Parameters

The general parameters contain the bulk of the web store settings and are located in POS-26-4-1. This is where fee codes, shipping options, transaction types, tenders and other settings are maintained.

This setup presents a bit of a chicken or the egg paradox. Many of the fields prompt for entries like fee codes that may not be setup yet. If you would prefer to set those up first then they can be maintained in POS-22-3.  Tax tables should already exist in POS-2-3-1. Shipping Tables (commonly referred to as Freight Tables) are covered in this document. Below are the points of interest for the different codes you will need.

  • Taxable freight code
  • Non-Taxable freight code (freight amount, not items, that is non-taxable)
  • Sales tax rate for pickup orders
    • This should already exist for regular transactions. Reference POS-2-1 for the tax table currently in use for in store purchases.
  • A shipping table for each shipping method you may use.

We’ll start with the first, main screen and then progress from there.

  1. Freight Taxable Fee Code: specifies what fee code to use when freight amount is taxed
  2. Freight Non-Taxable Fee Code: specifies what fee code to use when freight amount is non-taxable
  3. Pickup Order Tax State: enter the two character state code where items are being picked up.
    1. For example, Utah would be UT, Arkansas is AK, etc.
  4. Display ISBN Order Detail: enter a Y to display the ISBN in the order details.
  5. Origination Zip Code: enter the zip code for the location shipping the order.
  6. Encryption Type: will typically be ELEMENT
  7. Default Tran Type: needs to be a web specific transaction type, typically MO
  8. WebAR Tran Type: enter the transaction type used for AR tendered web orders, typically WEBAR.
  9. Store #: should match the store entered at the top of the screen.
  10. Register: must be set to WEB.
  11. Default Tax Table: enter the default tax table to be used when processing web orders.
  12. Tran Taxable: specify if web transactions should be taxable by default.
  13. Use TotaLink: should be set to Y.
  14. Taxable Merchandise table:
    1. Enter the two character state code for any possible destination states. Tax rate used is based off of the billing address.
  15. Taxable Freight table:
    1. Enter the two character state code for any possible destination states. Tax rate used is based off of the billing address.
  16. Shipping Tables table
    1. These codes are maintained in POS-26-4-2 and are options that customers can select when checking out on the website.
  17. Campus Integration
    1. This is used for sites that integrate with a campus portal such as Black Board. Students can be directed from the campus portal to the website and automatically have their required books populated. This is not standard with the website but is available as a billable feature.
  18. Tenders table:
    1. This is typically already set with a CC tender and a description for each credit card network.

The Buyback screen – This is where you will setup your Online Buyback parameters.

Ratex screen is currently under development and is a special use case.
The Akademos screen is a special use case and is setup by TCS personnel.
The Faculty Adoption screen is covered in the faculty adoption process.

Below are instructions on how to utilize the GM, Text and Email parameter screens.

GM Webstore Parameters

This screen is reached by going to POS-26-4-1, then enter GM at the bottom of the screen.

  1. Use Alternate Desc: a Y will tell the system to use the Alternate Description from the GM, MF web screen for an item as the items description on the website. A N will have the system use the regular description from the GM, MF record.
  2. Use Web Flag: a Y will only allow GM items specifically flagged to show on the website to appear on the site. A N will allow ALL GM records to appear on the site.
  3. Show Out of Stock: a Y will allow items to be purchased even if their quantity on hand is below the Out of Stock Qty level. A N will prevent items from selling on the website if their QoH is below the Out of Stock Qty level.
  4. Multi Store Flag: should be a Y if you are a multi store environment.
  5. Use Quantity on Order: flags the system to include the quantity on order in the quantity on hand calculations.
  6. Allow Free Shipping: set to Y if you want to allow free shipping for GM specific items.
  7. Image Path: is under development and should be left blank.
  8. Low Stock Qty: set the quantity on hand amount where the system will display a Low Inventory message for items on the website.
  9. Low Stock Msg: specify the message to display when an item meets the Low Stock Qty threshold.
  10. Out of Stock Qty: set the quantity on hand level for when an item should be considered out of stock to the website.
    1. This exists to prevent items that may be in a customer’s hands in the store from being sold by the website.
  11. Out of Stock Msg: specify the message to display when an item meets the Out of Stock Qty threshold.
  12. Default Weight: sets a default weight to be used for items that do not have a weight specified in their GM, MF web screen.
  13. Override Store: can be used to specify which store’s inventory to pull quantity from in a multi store setup.
  14. Block Purchases: will block the ability for all GM items to be purchased on the website. They will still be shown, but there will be no add to cart button.

TX Webstore Parameters

This screen is reached by going to POS-26-4-1, then enter TX at the bottom of the screen.

  1. Honor MF Flag: a Y will only allow TX items specifically flagged to show on the website to appear on the site. A N will allow ALL TX records to appear on the site. This is typically a N for textbook items.
  2. Image Path: Under development and should not be used.
  3. Show Out of Stock Message: enter a Y to display the out of stock message or a N to not show the message once New and Used out of stock threshold has been reached.
  4. Use Pending Return Qty: tells the system to use pending return quantities in the quantity on hand calculations. Typically a N.
  5. Default Weight: specify a default weight to be used when weight has not be specified in the TX, MF record.
  6. Allow Free Shipping: can be used to deny or allow free shipping for TX items.
  7. New Low Stock Qty: set the NEW quantity on hand amount where the system will display a Low Inventory message for items on the website.
  8. New Low Stock Message: specify the message to display when an item meets the NEW Low Stock Qty threshold.
  9. New Out of Stock Qty: set the NEW quantity on hand level for when an item should be considered out of stock to the website.
    1. This exists to prevent items that may be in a customer’s hands in the store from being sold by the website.
  10. New Out of Stock Message: specify the message to display when an item meets the New Out of Stock Qty threshold.
  11. Used Low Stock Qty: set the USED quantity on hand amount where the system will display a Low Inventory message for items on the website.
  12. Used Low Stock Message: specify the message to display when an item meets the USED Low Stock Qty threshold.
  13. Used Out of Stock Qty: set the USED quantity on hand level for when an item should be considered out of stock to the website.
    1. This exists to prevent items that may be in a customer’s hands in the store from being sold by the website.
  14. Used Out of Stock Message: specify the message to display when an item meets the Used Out of Stock Qty threshold.
  15. Override Store: can be used to specify which store’s inventory to pull quantity from in a multi store setup.
  16. Show New Prices: left empty or Y will display New textbook prices on the site. N will now show prices.
  17. Show Used Prices: left empty or Y will display Used textbook prices on the site. N will now show prices.
  18. Show Rentals: a Y will display rental items for purchase. N will block rentals from showing.
  19. Show eBooks: a Y will display eBook items for purchase. N will block eBooks from showing.
  20. Block Purchases: will block the ability for all TX items to be purchased on the website. They will still be shown, but there will be no add to cart button.

Buyback Parameters

Online Buyback Parameters

To enable the ‘Buyback’ option on your website menu, call support.

Log to POS.26.4.1, enter in your store number and then select BB=Buyback from the bottom options

Fill in each of the parameters below as you need for your store.

 

  • Store Credit %: This is where you can issue store credit for an item. Leave blank if you will not be issuing store credit but instead you will be issuing a check.
  • Retail %: This is the percentage of the retail selling price that will be displayed for the buyback, similar to the percentage parameter setup in Textbook buyback.
  • Retail Rounding: This is the rounding direction used for the Retail percentage. (‘U’p, ‘D’own)
  • Retail Coin: This is the rounding coin to use for online BB. (5, 10, 25, 50, 00)
  • Wholesale %: Same as retail but for wholesale pricing
  • Wholesale Rounding: Same as retail but for wholesale pricing
  • Wholesale Coin: Same as retail but for wholesale pricing
  • Retail Wording: This is where you can set the verbiage to display for Retail Pricing.
  • Wholesale Wording: This is where you can set the wholesale verbiage.
  • EBB Need Wording: Enter the verbiage to use to show what your need is.
  • Buying Wording: Enter the verbiage to use to display that you will be buying a title.

Not Buying Wording: Enter the verbiage to use for titles that you will not be buying.

Email Webstore Parameters

These parameters can be found in POS-26-4-1 and then enter E for Email Parameters

This screen allows you to list the staff email address(s) to send email notifications when an order has been placed. Simply enter one email per line.

Setting up Shipping Tables

Shipping tables, which are often times referred to as freight tables, are used to establish different price points to charge for freight based off of the total order amount. They can be found in POS-26-4-2 or by clicking the ?? button next to the Code field and then clicking on the Maint button at the bottom of the selection list found in POS-26-4-1.

  1. Freight Code: is the code used to reference the freight table.
  2. Web Description: is what the customer sees when selecting the shipping options when checking out.
  3. Shipper Code: is a free form field for reference. Examples would be FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.
  4. Ship Method: is a free form field that should reference a shipping method supported by the shipping company. E.g. second day, over night, ground, etc.
  5. Days to Ship: is a reference field where you can enter the average number of days in transit for this shipping method.
  6. Live Freight: references a billable add on module to the website and is typically False
  7. Free Shipping Subtotal: allows specifying a minimum order amount, that when met or surpassed, will trigger free shipping.
    1. For example, if 100.00 is entered any order over $100.00 will not be charged shipping.
  8. Additional Handling Fee: enter an amount to be charged to every order as a handling fee.
  9. Calculation Method: left blank
  10. Dollar Amount Freight Table
    1. Any amount UP TO the amount entered will be charged the fee entered in the Shipping Fee Field
    2. In the screenshot shown every order will be charged 9.21 in shipping
    3. If multiple price points are desired then the lowest “cap” should be entered first with the next level cap being entered second and so on.
      1. Sub total of 100.00 with fee 9.00
      2. Sub total of 200.00 with fee 12.00
      3. Sub total of 500 with fee 15.00
      4. Sub Total of 99,999.99 with fee 20.00
      5. Would result in orders of $1 – 100 being charged $9 in shipping. Orders of $100.01 – $200.00 being charged $12 and $200.01 – $500.00 will be charged $15.00 with everything above that up to $99,999.99 being charged $20.00
  11. Quantity Freight: charges specific fee amounts per item on the order.
    1. First Item Fee: specifies the fee amount to charge for the first item.
    2. Additional Item(s) Fee: the fee amount to charge for each additional item beyond the first item.

 



Adding GM Items to the Web

The following are instructions on how to add GM items to the website, create catalogs and assign images to an item.

Adding Items to Web

The primary way to display items is via a catalog. An example of some catalogs could be Electronics, Mens Apparel, Women’s Apparel, Prints and Frames, etc. all containing items that pertain to that theme.

An item can be assigned to as many catalogs as you would like. For example a Nike men’s t-shirt could belong to a Nike catalog, a t-shirt catalog and Men’s Apparel.

The only other way for items to appear on the website is via a search. If an item is flagged to show on the web, but does not appear on a catalog, then a search is the only way for that item to be accessible to your customers.

The recommended process is to first create your catalogs and then go to each item that will appear on the web and assign their image, alternate titles, special web pricing, etc.

Creating Catalogs

Catalogs are maintained in POS-26-2. Please note that many of the fields on the screen and their functions are under development and may not be functional or require a specific value.

  1. The Catalog ID is the record ID for the catalog
  2. Description is what will appear on the menu bar of the website
    1. Catalogs will automatically show up on the website once they are created.
  3. Sort sequence is the order in which catalogs are listed on the site menu
    1. A catalog with Sort Sequence 1 will appear first, sequence 2 will be second, etc.
    2. If two catalogs have the same sort sequence then the site will list them alphabetically
  4. Start and Expire Date allow you to specify when the catalog should or should not appear on the site.
    1. If you don’t want a catalog to appear on the site, but would like to keep it for reference or future use, then give it an expire date of -1 and it will no longer appear on the site.
  5. Suppress Thumbnails is currently under development and should be left blank.
  6. Columns on Page allows you to set the number of columns displayed when showing the catalog items.
    1. This may be overwritten by site themes which will render it unusable.
  7. Type is to set the type of catalog. The default normal catalog is ‘C’ but you can set a catalog to any type. The system will maintain certain catalogs ( BEST.SELLERS, SALE.ITEMS, NEW.ITEMS), if you wish to manually maintain these catalogs yourself then you will need to set the ‘Expire Date’ on these to an historical date and then create a new catalog with the correct description and set the ‘Type’ to correspond to catalog you are creating.
    1. C=Catalog
    2. H = Home Page
    3. F = Featured Catalog
    4. N = New Items Catalog
    5. B = Best Sellers Catalog
    6. S = Sale Items Catalog
    7. R = Recommended Items Catalog
  8. Restrict to Store is for multi store environments and allows you to restrict the catalog to the store number you enter.
  9. Sale Discount allows you to apply a percentage discount to every item listed in the catalog.
    1. It only applies to items current on the catalog. If you add items later then you will need to go back to the Sale Discount field, enter the percentage and press Enter to update the newly added items.

Adding Items to a Catalog

If items are already flagged to appear on the web then they can be added to the catalog through Catalog Maintenance by typing their SKU into the SKU field. This would be the process if the web product has been in use for some time and most items are already setup to display on the website.

New customers will need to change their GM items to appear on the web. By default all or no items are flagged to appear on the web (POS-26-4-1, GM, Use Web Flag field), so the next step is to flag the specific items you want to be available on the website. If there is a large group of items, such as all items in a particular class, then TCS staff can flag those in mass to appear on the web.

Adding an item, assigning images, customizing item page information and descriptions are all done through the GM, MF record of the item.

To get started log to the GM module and then enter MF at the menu, look up an item you would like to add and make note of the W=Web option. By choosing that we can get to the web maintenance part of the item record and add it to the website.

  1. The include on Web field must be set to a Y or an A to flag it to appear on the website.
    1. Y will have it appear as long as it meets the low and out of stock requirements. If it drops below the out of stock threshold then it will no longer appear.
    2. A marks the item as always available for purchase, regardless of stock levels. This can be used for special orders and other scenarios.
    3. N for Never would be used if, by default, all GM items are web enabled
    4. NQ for No Zero QOH is under development and should not be used
  2. Alternate Title: provides the option to specify a description other than the main description of the MF item. Whatever is entered here will override the GM description for the item when it displays on the web.
  3. Graphic Link Name: maps the GM item to the image uploaded (image uploading covered below). The name entered must be exact including case and include the image file’s extension (common file types are .jpg, gif and .png)
    1. Additional images may be added using a comma to separate the image names. The first image is the default image for the item, additional images will be in the order that they are arranged in the field but must all be separated with a comma.
  4. Special Web Price: is an override price for the item if it is sold on the web vs. rung up at the register.
  5. Out of Stock Qty and Low Stock Qty: are item specific overrides to the low and out of stock levels specified in the web general parameters (POS-26-4-1)
  6. Targeted Item: allows you to weight the item more heavily in search results on the site.
  7. Weight: can be used to specify a shipping weight.
  8. Allow Free Freight: flag as Y for free freight.
  9. Specific Freight Amt: will set a shipping cost for the item.
  10. Override Freight Code: can be used to ship the item a specific way regardless of what is chosen by the customer at checkout.
  11. Print Shipping Label: is for live fright customers only and is currently under development.
  12. Web Comments: is used for additional product info and appear at the bottom of the page. HTML markup can be used for formatting as well.
  13. Catalog ID: is a listing of catalogs that the item is currently assigned to. You can also assign the item to a catalog by entering the catalog ID in this field.

Save the record once all desired fields have been filled out. Please note that while changes are made live immediately, your browser session may have cached the catalog information and may take up to 10 minutes to update. You can typically force an update by pressing CTRL+F5 to request a non-cached version of the page.

Managing Images

Images must be uploaded for each item and the image name, including the file extension, must be included in the GM, MF, web screen shown above.

Points of Interest for Images

  1. Supported image formats:
    1. .jpg and .gif are supported on all versions of the website. .png is supported in version 3.x
  2. Image sizes
    1. When uploading an image the site will automatically generate scaled down medium and small versions for thumbnails and other views.
    2. Images should not be much larger than 1024 pixels in width. Images that are too large may not upload or will take a considerable amount of time to load for your customers.
  3. Use human friendly naming conventions.
    1. Many cameras will name images with something like 01012017_0001.jpg which is a month, day, year and counter format. Rename your images to something more meaningful to make them easier to work with.
    2. Avoid special characters in image names. A dash (-) or underscore (__) are the only special characters that should be used.

Uploading Images

  1. Log into the site with an administrative account
    1. Accounts can be elevated to admin status by going to POS-26-21, bring up the account and change the Account Type to A. If the account does not exist then you can create the user id here and set the account type to ‘A’. After you create the account you will need to go to the website and on the logon screen select the ‘Forgot Password’ option to have a temporary password sent to you.
    2. The user will need to log out and back in on the website to apply that change.
  2. Go to Site Administration on the landing page.
  3. Click on the Upload Management icon
  4.  Here you can either select the option to Upload New Files or Manage Files in the table beneath.
    1. Upload New Files
      1. Click on the Add files… button which will display a window to browse to and select your images.
      2. Multiple images can be uploaded by holding shift or ctrl when selecting images.
        • Click on the Open button once all items are selected.
      3. A list of images will appear similar to the image above.
        • Take a look at the size of each image. Anything in the KB range or low MB range (e.g. 1.05 MB) is fine. Anything over 10MB you will want to consider resizing to a smaller size.
        • All images can be uploaded by clicking on the Start upload button beneath the drop down.
        • Individual images can be uploaded by clicking on the Start button on their line.
      4. A progress bar will display for the entire upload along with a progress bar for each image being uploaded. Once each item is done uploading it will then have a Remove option in case you want to back out.

Manage Images

Images that have already been uploaded can be viewed by going to Account, Site Administration, Upload Management and then clicking on the Manage Files on the right hand side of the table.

Here you can view the image names, remove an image, download a copy or continue on to upload more images by using the Upload New Files on the top right.