Configuration of Elastic Path Commerce
Overview
The topics in this chapter describe activities performed in the initial configuration and maintenance of store operations in Elastic Path Commerce. These include configuring stores and warehouses, payment gateways, shipping regions, tax codes, and customer profile attributes.
Customer Profiles
Customer Profile Attributes
Customer profile attributes store information about a customer (such as name, address, and email address) within the Elastic Path Commerce database. They are used by the Customers Representatives (CSRs) to record information about customers during the customer creation and maintenance processes.
Tax Exemption Profile Attributes
Two attributes are available as Customer Profile Attributes that are used during tax exemption scenarios. Values for these fields can be manually entered by the CSRs. When integrating with a Tax Provider, these values are available to pass along to the tax provider, indicating taxes for the given order are not to be calculated. There are two scenarios as to how or where exemption is indicated.
In the first scenario, companies supporting tax exemption order processing are required to collect, validate, and store values for their customers. In this scenario, the following fields are available in the Customer Profile to collect and store the information. Orders for these customers then pass the given customer information to the tax provider. Generally, these numbers, if visible to the customer at the time of checkout would be non-editable.
Business Number: Used to record the customer's business identification number.
Tax Exemption: Used to record the number provided by the government for use by the given customers on orders where taxes are not to be charged or collected
In the second scenario, a tax exemption number is provided by the customer at the time of checkout. You must enter this value manually with each transaction, as there is no tie between a value provided at checkout and that stored within a Customer Profile. Similarly, values available in the Customer Profile are not used to auto-populate any tax exemption fields presented at the time of checkout or purchase.
Note: The Elastic Path tax engine currently does not factor in exemption. If you are using the Elastic Path Tax Tables, taxes are calculated regardless of entering exemption codes. The Tax Exemption functionality only applies when integrating with a Tax Provider.
Creating a Customer Profile Attribute
You can add customer profile attributes in Elastic Path Commerce. However, adding an attribute does not automatically cause it to appear during store customer account creation or editing. You need to customize the store for additional fields to appear within it.
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Customer Profile section of the left pane, select Profile Attributes.
From the top right pane toolbar, click Create Attribute.
In the Create Attribute dialog box, enter values in the following fields:
Field Description Attribute Key The unique identifier for the attribute. Attribute Name The display name of the attribute. Attribute Type The format of the attribute's data (for example, Date, Text, Integer, or Decimal). Required Specifies whether the new attribute is required or optional. Click Save
Editing a Customer Profile Attribute
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Customer Profile section of the left pane, select Profile Attributes.
In the top right pane, select the profile attribute you want to edit.
Tip: To find attributes more quickly, click a column header to sort the column by that header.
From the top right pane toolbar, click Edit Attribute.
In the Edit Attribute dialog box, make the required changes and click Save
Deleting a Customer Profile Attribute
Note: If data is already entered for a profile attribute, the Edit Attribute and Delete Attribute buttons are disabled. This prevents corruption and loss of data.
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Customer Profile section of the left pane, select Profile Attributes.
In the top right pane, select the profile attribute you want to delete.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Delete Attribute.
Click OK
Customer Segments
Customer Segments enable marketers to group customers together and create conditions for delivering price lists, dynamic content, and cart promotions. Customer Segment tags determine if the customer belongs to a segment and if they are entitled to different content, prices, and promotions for the storefront.
An example of a customer segment is where a store employee is assigned to an employee segment so they receive employee pricing when shopping.
Creating a Customer Segment
A default PUBLIC customer segment is available and applies to all customer accounts.
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Customer Profiles section of the left pane, select Customer Segments. The Customer Segments tab appears in the top right pane.
Click Create Customer Segment.
In the New Customer Segment tab, enter the values for the following fields:
Field Description Customer Segment Name The customer segment's unique identifier. Description The customer segment's description. Enabled Activates the segment. If disabled, conditions using this tag or the customer segment are not triggered. On the toolbar, click Save
Editing a Customer Segment
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Customer Profile section of the left pane, select Customer Segments. The Customer Segments tab appears in the top right pane.
Click Edit Customer Segment.
In the bottom right pane, make the required changes to the customer segment.
On the toolbar, click Save
Deleting a Customer Segment
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Customer Profile section of the left pane, select Customer Segments. The Customer Segments tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the customer you want to delete.
Note: You cannot delete the PUBLIC customer segment.
Click Delete Customer Segment.
Click OK.
Note: If the customer segment has a customer association or is used as a condition, then a Customer Segment in Use message is displayed indicating the segment cannot be deleted. Either remove the associations or condition or disable the customer segment
Data Policies
A data policy is a collection of data points that Elastic Path stores for a specific customer. A data point is a specific information about a customer. For example, when a customer orders an item, Elastic Path collects their name and address. The name is a data point, as is the address.
You can use data policies to maintain compliance with various data protection laws. CMS (Content Management Systems) use data policies to present the customer with the option to provide or revoke consent for the collection of their data for business purposes.
Elastic Path Commerce only records what data is stored for a data policy, as well as basic identifying information about the data policy. Presenting a data policy to a user, storing a data policy’s legal description, and implementing how a data policy behaves is the responsibility of the CMS. The Elastic Path Commerce Admin Console only controls whether a data policy is active or inactive for a store, and what data points a particular policy collects.
Data Policy States
Data policies can have three states.
State | Description |
---|---|
Draft | Indicates that a data policy is editable and not collecting data. |
Active | Indicates that a data policy is currently active for all stores which have enabled data policies. The end date of an active data policy is editable, but all other fields are not. |
Disabled | Indicates that a data policy is no longer active. A disabled data policy may still have data points associated with it. Disabled data policies are not editable and cannot be re-enabled. |
Data Retention and Deletion
This section covers data retention and automatic data deletion. For manual data deletion, see See Chapter 7, Customers.
Data Retention Types
You can specify the following data retention types for a data policy:
Type | Description |
---|---|
From Created Date | Retains data from the date of its initial creation until the end of the retention period. |
From Last Modified Date | Retains data from the date it was last modified by the end user or Elastic Path until the end of the retention period. Whenever data is modified, the retention period resets. |
Retention Type and Data Deletion
For data policies with the From Created Date retention type, data point values associated with the data policy are deleted automatically at the end of the data policy’s retention period. For a data point created on the last day of an active data policy, the data point value is deleted at the end of the retention period.
For active data policies with the From Last Modified Date retention type, the retention period is calculated from the last modified date. For a disabled data policy with the From Last Modified Date retention type, the retention period is calculated either from the last modified date or the disabled date whichever is the earliest date.
For example, if disabled date is January 3, 2018
and last modified date is January 8, 2018
, the retention period is calculated from January 3, 2018
. After the retention period of data policies, data is deleted.
Customer Consent and Data Deletion
If a customer revokes consent on a data policy, data is deleted within 24 hours by a clean-up job. Consent for a disabled data policy cannot be revoked.
When a data point is used in one or more data policies, data is automatically removed only if the following circumstances are met:
- The customer has not provided consent for the data point in any other data policy
- The retention periods for all data policies using the data point have expired
For example, if a customer provides consent for the collection of the first name for two data policies, the first name is deleted only at the end of the longest retention period.
For more information on removing data points manually, see Chapter 7.
Creating a Data Policy
On the toolbar, click Configuration.
In the left pane, click Data Policies. The Data Policies tab appears in the top right pane.
In the top right pane, click Create Data Policy. The New Data Policy tab appears in the bottom pane.
In the New Data Policy tab, on the Summary tab, enter values for the following fields:
Field Description Name The display name of the data policy. Reference Key The unique ID of a data policy as provided by an external system, such as a CMS. Retention Type Indicates whether the data policy retains data from its creation date or its last modified date. Retention Period (Days) Specifies how long data is stored in the system. Retention period can either be calculated from the creation date or from the last updated date. State Specifies the current state of a data policy. For a new data policy, select Draft. Start Date Specifies the date and time a data policy begins collecting data.
Enter values for the following optional fields:
Field Description End Date Specifies when a data policy no longer collects consent. A data policy’s end date can be changed once active. Description A description of the data policy. Activities Activities that the data policy is associated with. To add data points to the data policy, click the Data Points tab. All available data points are listed in the Data Points window. You can select data points from the available data points and assign to the data policy. You can also create a new data point and assign to the data policy. For more information about creating a new data point, see Data Points.
To add data policy segments to the data policy, click the Data Policy Segments tab. To add a new data policy segment, enter a name in the Add Segment field, and click Add Segment. For more information see Data Policy Segments.
Note: You must create at least one data policy segment for a data policy.
On the toolbar, click Save then click Refresh. The data policy is added to the list in the Data Policies tab
Activating a Data Policy
Data policies are enabled for a store if the Enable Data Policies field in the store settings is selected. An activated data policy applies to all stores which have data policies enabled.
Warning: The end date of an active data policy is editable, but all other fields are not.
On the toolbar, click Configuration.
In the left pane, click Data Policies. The Data Policies tab appears in the top right pane.
Double-click a data policy. The data policy appears in the bottom right pane.
In the State list, select Active.
In the toolbar, click Save, then click Refresh. The data policy’s state updates in the Data Policies tab
Disabling a Data Policy
Disabling a data policy prevents Elastic Path Commerce from recording consent for the data policy, but does not truncate how long the data policy stores data. Data collected on the last day a data policy is active is retained for the full retention period of the policy, starting from that day or the data’s last modified date.
Warning: A disabled data policy cannot be re-activated.
On the toolbar, click Configuration.
In the left pane, click Data Policies. The Data Policies tab appears in the top right pane.
Select a data policy and click Disable Data Policy. A warning prompt to disable the data policy appears.
Click OK.
In the toolbar, click Save
Data Points
A data point refers to specific information about a customer that Elastic Path Commerce collects. A data point consists of customer data, the location of the data, creation and modification dates, and additional information about the data point itself.
Marking a Data Point as Removable
The data key value of a data point can be removed by a customer service representative for the customer by selecting Removable when creating a data point. You can mark any data point as removable, but removing the data key value for the data points that are required for the completion of purchase can cause errors in the system.
The following data point data keys should not be marked as removable unless otherwise specified by your system administrator:
Data Location | Data Key | Result if Removed |
---|---|---|
CUSTOMER_PROFILE | CP_EMAIL | The customer cannot add email address back to the profile and cannot complete the purchase. |
CUSTOMER_PROFILE | CP_FIRST_NAME | The customer cannot complete the purchase and the system displays an error. |
CUSTOMER_PROFILE | CP_LAST_NAME | The customer cannot complete the purchase and the system displays an error. |
For more information on removing customer data, see Chapter 7, Customer Data Policies.
Creating a Data Point
Warning: A data policy must be in the draft state to add or create new data points.
On the toolbar, click Configuration.
In the left pane, click Data Policies. The Data Policies tab appears in the top right pane.
Double-click a data policy. The data policy appears in the bottom right pane.
On the Data Points tab, click Create Data Point. The create data point pop-up appears.
Enter values for the following fields:
Field Description Name The display name of the data point. Data Location The location of the data point value. Data Key The value of the data point. Note: For the ORDER_DATA
,CUSTOMER_PROFILE
andCART_GIFT_CERTIFICATE
data locations, the data key is a custom value, and must be provided to you by your system administrator.Description Key The key or unique identifier used by the CMS or other system to describe the data point. Removable Specifies whether a data point needs to be retained for auditing or legal reasons. Click Save. The new data point appears in the list of available data points
Once a data point is created, it is available for use in all data policies in Elastic Path Commerce. You cannot create a data point for a data location-data key pair that already exists.
Adding a Data Point to a Data Policy
Warning: A data policy must be in the draft state to add or create new data points.
On the toolbar, click Configuration.
In the left pane, click Data Policies. The Data Policies tab appears in the top right pane.
Double-click a data policy. The data policy appears in the bottom right pane.
On the Data Points tab, in the Available Data Points list, select the data point(s) to add to the data policy.
Note To select multiple data points, hold the Shift key on the keyboard and select multiple data points in the list.
Use the > or >> buttons to add data points to a data policy.
On the toolbar, click Save
Removing a Data Point from a Data Policy
Warning: A data policy must be in the draft state to remove data points.
On the toolbar, click Configuration.
In the left pane, click Data Policies. The Data Policies tab appears in the top right pane.
Double-click a data policy. The data policy appears in the bottom right pane.
On the Data Points tab, in the Available Data Points list, select the data point(s) to remove from the data policy.
Note To select multiple data points, hold the Shift key on the keyboard and select multiple data points in the list.
Use the < or << buttons to add data points to a data policy.
On the toolbar, click Save
Data Policy Segments
Data policy segments indicate logical segments of customers for which a data policy can be applied. For example, you can create data segments for different geographical locations. Each data policy is associated with one or more data policy segments. A data segment can be associated with one or more data policies depending on the data protection laws in that segment. How a data policy functions is configured by the front-end developer in the CMS.
Creating a Data Policy Segment
Warning: A data policy must be in the draft state to creating data policy segments.
On the toolbar, click Configuration.
In the left pane, click Data Policies. The Data Policies tab appears in the top right pane.
In the Data Policies tab, double-click a data policy. The data policy appears in the bottom right pane.
On the Data Policy Segments tab, in the Add Policy field, enter a data policy name.
Click Add Segment. The data policy is added to the Assigned Segments list.
On the toolbar, click Save
Editing an Existing Data Policy Segment
Warning: A data policy must be in the draft state to edit data policy segments.
On the toolbar, click Configuration.
In the left pane, click Data Policies. The Data Policies tab appears in the top right pane.
In the Data Policies tab, double-click a data policy. The data policy appears in the bottom right pane.
On the Data Policy Segments tab, in the Assigned Segments list, select a data policy segment to edit and click the icon.
Edit the name as needed.
On the toolbar, click Save
Removing a Data Policy Segment
Warning: A data policy must be in the draft state to remove data policy segments.
On the toolbar, click Configuration.
In the left pane, click Data Policies. The Data Policies tab appears in the top right pane.
In the Data Policies tab, double-click a data policy. The data policy appears in the bottom right pane.
On the Data Policy Segments tab, in the Assigned Segments list, select a data policy segment.
Click Remove Segment.
On the toolbar, click Save
Payment Gateways
A payment gateway processes and authorizes payments made from a customer to a retailer. Payment gateways encrypt sensitive information (such as credit card numbers) and ensure that the information is transferred securely.
Some payment gateways issue a certificate file to the merchant and require the merchant to use the certificate in all transactions. Define the certificate file's location using the steps outlined in the Setting a Payment Gateway Certificate section.
Note: Changes to payment gateway settings do not take effect until you restart the web applications.
Creating a Payment Gateway
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Payment Methods section of the left pane, select Payment Gateways. The Payment Gateways tab appears in the top right pane.
Click Create Gateway.
In the Create Payment Gateway dialog box, enter a Gateway Name and a Gateway Type.
Note: You cannot change the Gateway Type setting after the gateway is created.The parameters in the Properties table vary depending on the Gateway Type, and can be configured by the developers.
Click Save
Editing a Payment Gateway
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Payment Methods section of the left pane, select Payment Gateways. The Payment Gateways tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the payment gateway you want to change.
Click Edit Gateway.
Modify the gateway information.
Click Save
Deleting a Payment Gateway
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Payment Methods section of the left pane, select Payment Gateways. The Payment Gateways tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the payment gateway you want to delete.
Click Delete Gateway.
In the Delete Payment Gateway - Confirm dialog box, click OK
Setting a Payment Gateway Certificate
Some payment gateways provide the merchant with a certificate. Use the following System Configuration setting to define the certificate's location.
Setting Name | Description |
---|---|
COMMERCE/SYSTEM/PAYMENTGATEWAY/certificatesDirectory | Defines the base directory where the payment gateway certificates are. |
When setting the payment gateway, the path to the certificate should be relative to the base directory. For example, in the case of PayPal, if the key resides in /var/ep/payment/paypal/cert.p12
, set the certificatesDirectory
setting to /var/ep/payment/
, and set the certificateFile
setting in the payment gateway to to paypal/cert.p12
.
Shipping Regions and Service Levels
In Elastic Path Commerce a shipping region is a geographical entity such as: country, state, or province; while a shipping service level determines what shipping services are available to customers at each store.
Note: Elastic Path provides a default shipping calculation plug-in, which can be used to configure shipping regions and shipping service levels. However, if you want to use a custom shipping calculation plug-in, you must remove the default shipping calculation plug-in from Elastic Path Commerce Manager before you integrate the custom plug-in with the application.
Shipping Regions
A shipping region is a geographical entity (for example, country, state, province) that your store ships to. Shipping service levels are the delivery services available in a given shipping region (for example, Ground Shipping, Overnight Shipping, etc.)
A customer's shipping cost depends on the shipping region they reside in and the shipping level they choose. A shipping region should use a single set of shipping service levels and costs. You must configure shipping regions before the store's checkout process can work.
Note: If your shipping service levels and shipping costs are identical for all locations, you only need to create one shipping region. If you use non-global service levels (that is, they are available only in some parts of the world), or if shipping cost calculations vary between regions, you need to create multiple shipping regions.
Creating a Shipping Region
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Shipping section of the left pane, select Shipping Regions. The Shipping Regions tab appears in the top right pane.
Click Create Shipping Region.
In the Create Shipping Region dialog box, enter a name for the region.
In the Available Countries/Sub Countries list, select the countries or sub countries to include in the region.
- To select multiple countries or sub-countries, hold the
CTRL
orShift
keys and click to select your choices
- To select multiple countries or sub-countries, hold the
Click > to add the countries or sub-countries to the Selected Countries/Sub Countries list.
Click Save
Editing a Shipping Region
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Shipping section of the left pane, select Shipping Regions. The Shipping Regions tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the shipping region you want to modify.
Click Edit Shipping Region.
In the Edit Shipping Region dialog box, make your changes.
Click Save
Deleting a Shipping Region
Note: If tax values are configured for a region, you cannot delete the region until you remove the tax values.
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Shipping section of the left pane, select Shipping Regions. The Shipping Regions tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the shipping region you want to delete.
Click Delete Shipping Region.
Click OK
Shipping Service Levels
Shipping service levels determine the shipping services available to customers at each store. For example, customers for a store selling high-value items may be offered overnight shipping at a reduced rate, while customers shopping at a discounted storefront may be offered slower surface delivery options.
Shipping service levels are configured under Store.
Searching for Service Levels
On the toolbar, click the Store button.
On the left pane, click the Shipping tab.
In the Filters section of the left pane, select a shipping service level state, shipping region, and store from the respective lists.
(Optional) In the Sorting section, select the sorting options for the returned search results.
Click Search
Sorting Search Results
You can sort the shipping service level search results by clicking on a column header.
Pagination of Search Results
By default, the search results show 10 items per page. You can change this by clicking the admin list in the top right corner of the right pane, and selecting Change Pagination Settings. Choose a Results Per Page value from the list, then click Save.
Creating a Service Level
On the toolbar, click the Store button.
On the left pane, click the Shipping tab.
(Optional) Perform a shipping service level search with default values.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Create Service Level.
In the Create Shipping Service Level dialog box, set the values for your new shipping region.
Note: A Unique Code is required for data importing and exporting.
Click Save
Editing a Service Level
On the toolbar, click the Store button.
On the left pane, click the Shipping tab.
(Optional) Perform a shipping service level search with default values.
Select the shipping service level you want to modify, and click Open Service Level.
In the Edit Shipping Service Level dialog box, edit the values for your new shipping region.
Click Save
Deleting a Service Level
On the toolbar, click the Store button.
On the left pane, click the Shipping tab.
(Optional) Perform a shipping service level search with default values.
Select the shipping service level you want to delete, and click Delete Service Level.
In the Delete Shipment Service Level dialog box, click OK
Tax Configuration
Store administrators need to configure taxes for jurisdictions that are "tax nexuses" (jurisdictions with the right to impose a tax on taxpayers).
To configure a tax system for their store, administrators must configure:
Tax Codes: Products are connected to taxes through tax codes. Tax codes define the type of tax that is applicable to a product (for example, Shipping vs Goods vs Digital taxes), and are visible to customers.
Tax Categories : The tax categories or taxes determine the taxes that are applicable to each tax jurisdiction. For example, the "PST" (the Provincial Sales Tax) or "State Tax" (the State tax) or "VAT" (Value Added Tax) rates may be different from one region to another.
Tax Jurisdictions: The tax jurisdictions are hierarchical, so it is possible to have different tax categories applied at various levels. These include country, sub-country (state or province), city, and zip code. Tax Jurisdictions are either inclusive or exclusive.
Tax Values: The tax rate applied to a tax category in a particular jurisdiction
Tax Configuration Hierarchy
You need to configure taxes in a specific hierarchy:
Configure the tax jurisdictions. These are the countries in which you need to calculate a tax for.
Configure the country level tax, if required. For example the VAT in UK or GST in Canada.
Note: Some countries do not have country-level taxes. A country can have multiple country level taxes.
Configure the sub-country level tax. For example, the PST in Canada, which is calculated at a different rate based on the province/region in the country.
Configure each sub-country’s tax values. These are tax rates for specific types of goods (as defined by your tax codes) that can be different based on the sub-country.
Note: A country (tax jurisdiction) may have multiple country-level taxes, but each country level tax cannot define the tax value. The tax values can only be assigned to sub-country taxes
Inclusive and Exclusive Tax Calculations
Inclusive and exclusive taxes indicate whether the taxes are included in the shown or advertised price of an item. Inclusive taxes are included in the price, while exclusive taxes are not.
For example, the advertised price for gasoline in Canada is inclusive; it includes the GST (Goods and Service Tax). However, most other goods sold in Canada are exclusive. The GST and other sales taxes are added to the advertised price of the item when the purchase is made. For more information, see the Tax Exemption section.
Inclusive Tax Calculation Example
The customer is buying 1 tennis racket that costs £75. The VAT tax rate is 15%; shipping charge is £5 and is also subject to VAT.
Line Item | Amount | Calculation |
---|---|---|
Subtotal | £75.00 | (sum of item prices) |
Item tax | £9.78 | (VAT/1 + VAT)*item price |
Shipping tax | £0.65 | (VAT/1 + VAT)*shipping price |
Total tax | £10.43 | (item tax + shipping tax) |
Total | £80.00 | (subtotal + shipping price) |
Inclusive Tax Calculation Example with Cart Discount
The customer is buying 1 tennis racket that costs £75. The VAT tax rate is 15%; shipping charge is £5 and is also subject to VAT. There is a discount of 10% on the subtotal.
Line Item | Amount | Calculation |
---|---|---|
Subtotal | £75.00 | (sum of item prices) |
Discount | £7.50 | (subtotal * discount percentage) |
Item tax | £8.80 | (VAT/1 + VAT)*(item price - discount) |
Shipping tax | £0.65 | (VAT/1 + VAT)*shipping price |
Total tax | £9.45 | (item tax + shipping tax) |
Total | £72.50 | (subtotal + shipping price) |
Exclusive Tax Calculation Example
The customer is buying 1 tennis racket that costs $75. The GST is 5% and PST is 7%; shipping charge is $5 and is also subject to GST and PST.
Line Item | Amount | Calculation |
---|---|---|
Subtotal | $75.00 | (sum of item prices) |
Item tax | $9.00 | (item price * (GST + PST)) |
Shipping tax | $0.60 | (shipping price * (GST + PST) |
Total tax | $9.60 | (item tax + shipping tax) |
Total | $89.60 | (subtotal + shipping price + total tax) |
Exclusive Tax Calculation Example with Cart Discount
The customer is buying 1 tennis racket that costs $75. The GST is 5% and PST is 7%; shipping charge is $5 and is also subject to GST and PST. There is a discount of 10% on the subtotal.
Line Item | Amount | Calculation |
---|---|---|
Subtotal | $75.00 | (sum of item prices) |
Discount | $7.50 | (item price * discount percentage) |
Item tax | $8.10 | (item price - discount) * (GST + PST) |
Shipping tax | $0.60 | (shipping price * (GST + PST) |
Total tax | $8.70 | (item tax + shipping tax) |
Total | $81.20 | (subtotal - discount + shipping price + total tax) |
Calculating Multiple Taxes
For multiple taxes, there is a different formula for calculating the tax depending on whether the prices are tax inclusive or tax exclusive. In the tax exclusive case, the system multiplies the taxes against the price of each item and sums the results. In the tax inclusive case, the calculation is more complex, as shown below:
Calculating multiple inclusive taxes, for example VAT and an environmental tax (ENV
):
vatTaxes = (VAT/(1 + VAT + ENV))\*price
envTaxes = (ENV/(1 + VAT + ENV))\*price
Taxes and Discounts
Subtotal discounts apply to the sum of the line item prices. If the discount is given as a dollar amount (for example, $10 off on your cart), then that dollar amount is removed from the price sum. If the discount is given as a percentage (for example, 25% off on your cart subtotal), the system computes the dollar amount by taking the percentage of the sum of the prices.
In the tax exclusive case, the discount is taken from the pre-tax price.
In the tax inclusive case, the discount is taken from the tax inclusive price
Taxes and Order Returns
If the customer is returning the entire order, the system refunds all the taxes paid. If they are returning only a portion of the order, Elastic Path Commerce returns only a portion of the taxes. This is determined by looking at the total item taxes paid on the line item they are returning and then multiplying those taxes by the portion they are returning.
For example, a customer buys three tennis rackets having total item taxes of $29.34. They then return one tennis racket. The system returns (1/3)*29.34= $9.78 in taxes. If they are returning two tennis rackets they get (2/3)*29.34= $19.56 in taxes. The line item amounts are added to give the total taxes to return. By default, shipping costs and taxes are not refunded.
Tax Codes
Creating a Tax Code
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Taxes section of the left pane, select Tax Codes. The Tax Codes tab appears in the top right pane.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Create Tax Code.
In the Create Tax Code dialog box, enter the Tax Code value.
Click Save
Editing a Tax Code
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Taxes section of the left pane, select Tax Codes. The Tax Codes tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the tax code you want to edit.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Edit Tax Code.
In the Edit Tax Code dialog box, make your changes
Click Save
Deleting a Tax Code
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Taxes section of the left pane, select Tax Codes. The Tax Codes tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the tax code you want to delete.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Delete Tax Code.
Click OK
Tax Jurisdictions
Creating a Tax Jurisdiction
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Taxes section of the left pane, select Tax Jurisdictions. The Tax Jurisdictions tab appears in the top right pane.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Create Tax Jurisdiction.
In the Create Tax Jurisdiction dialog box, enter values in the following fields:
Field Description Jurisdiction Country The country to which this tax applies. Tax Calculation Method Specify whether the prices in this jurisdiction include taxes (inclusive), or whether they exclude taxes (exclusive). Configure Taxes Specify the taxes that apply to this jurisdiction. In the Create Tax dialog box, specify the Tax Name and Address Field. Click Save
Editing a Tax Jurisdiction
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Taxes section of the left pane, select Tax Jurisdictions. The Tax Jurisdictions tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the tax jurisdiction you want to edit.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Edit Tax Jurisdiction.
In the Edit Tax Jurisdiction dialog box, make your changes.
Click Save
Deleting a Tax Jurisdiction
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Taxes section of the left pane, select Tax Jurisdictions. The Tax Jurisdictions tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the tax jurisdiction you want to delete.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Delete Tax Jurisdiction.
Click OK
Tax Values
Creating a Tax Value
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Taxes section of the left pane, select Tax Values. The Manage Tax Values dialog box appears.
Configure the filter settings and click Filter to retrieve the tax values.
Click Add.
In the Add Tax Rate dialog box, enter values in the fields.
Click Save
Editing a Tax Value
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Taxes section of the left pane, select Tax Values. The Manage Tax Values dialog box appears.
Configure the filter settings and click Filter to retrieve the tax values.
Click Edit.
In the Edit Tax Rate dialog box, edit the values in the fields.
Click Save
Deleting a Tax Value
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Taxes section of the left pane, select Tax Values. The Manage Tax Values dialog box appears.
Configure the filter settings and click Filter to retrieve the tax values.
Click Remove.
Click OK
Tax Exemption
Companies who sell in B2B (Business to Business) type scenarios, or who have non-profit, charity, or government customers often require the processing of sales where taxes are not calculated or collected. In these scenarios, a tax exemption code, and possibly a business identification number, is collected and stored along with the order for audit purposes. The selling company must be able to prove their due diligence in the non-collection of taxes for a given order. The selling company may need to enable the tax exemption code and/or the business identification number to be either provided by the customer at the time of the sale or recorded in their Customer Profile.
When an exemption number is provided, the information can be passed along to any integrated Tax Provider service, so the request can be recorded and taxes are not calculated.
Note: The Elastic Path tax engine currently does not factor in exemption. When using Elastic Path tax tables, taxes are calculated regardless of entering exemption codes. The Tax Exemption functionality only applies when integrating with a tax provider.
Warehouses
The Warehouse configuration settings in Elastic Path Commerce let you set up a warehouse entity that you can then associate to a store. After a warehouse is associated to a store, you can track the inventory of shipped and received products.
Creating a Warehouse
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Warehouses section of the left pane, select Warehouses. The Warehouses tab appears in the top right pane.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Create Warehouse.
In the Create Warehouse dialog box, enter values for your new warehouse as described in the following table.
Field Description Warehouse Code The unique identifier for the warehouse. You cannot change the code after the warehouse is created. Warehouse Name The name of the warehouse. Address Line 1 The address of the warehouse. Address Line 2 If necessary, the remaining address information of the warehouse. City The city the warehouse is located in. State/Province/Region The state, province, or region the warehouse is located in, if applicable. Zip/Postal Code The postal code of the warehouse. Country The country the warehouse is located in. Click Save
Editing a Warehouse
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Warehouses section of the left pane, select Warehouses. The Warehouses tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the warehouse you want to edit.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Edit Warehouse.
In the Edit Warehouse dialog box, make your changes.
Click Save
Deleting a Warehouse
On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
In the Warehouses section of the left pane, select Warehouses. The Warehouses tab appears in the top right pane.
Select the warehouse you want to delete.
On the top right pane toolbar, click Delete Warehouse.
Click OK