Commerce Manager

8.5.x

Configuring Commerce Store

Overview

A store in Elastic Path Commerce represents the user facing application that lets customers shop for products from a particular catalog. This user facing application could be a website, mobile application, or more.

Configuration Options

Note: If you are using a front-end CMS which allows for the configuration of settings on this list like language localization, Elastic Path recommends configuring those settings in the CMS.

Elastic Path allows you to configure the following settings for a store:

  • General information, like the countries the store operates in
  • Language localization
  • Data policy collection
  • Store catalogs
  • Store warehouses
  • Taxes and tax codes
  • Payment Providers
  • Customer accounts
  • Marketing features
  • HTML encoding
  • Profile Attribute Policies
  • Facet Configuration
  • Sorting

Prerequisites

Before creating and configuring a store, you must configure all of the following, as they are required during the store configuration process.

ConfigurationConfiguration Instructions
Shipping RegionsCommerce Configuration
Shipping Service LevelsManaging Shipping or Receiving
Tax CodesCommerce Configuration
Tax JurisdictionsCommerce Configuration
WarehousesWarehouses
CatalogsCatalog
Data PoliciesCommerce Configuration
Faceted SearchFacet Search
SortingSorting

Creating a Store

  1. On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
  2. In the left pane , click Stores.
  3. From the top right pane toolbar, click Create Store.
  4. In the bottom pane, select the store’s Summary tab.
  5. In the Store Code field, enter a unique identifier for the store. The store code must only contain alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9) and must not contain any spaces.
  6. In the Store Name field, enter a name for the store.
  7. If required, in the Store Description field enter a description for the store.
  8. In the Store URL field, enter the URL which customers use to access the store.
  9. In the Store State tab, set the store state to Under Construction.
  10. In the Operational Timezone drop-down menu, select the time zone the store will operate in and will use for recording timestamps.
  11. In the Store Country drop-down menu, select the country the store will operate out of. This option is only available if the store country selected has sub countries, such as the United States or Canada.
  12. Select the Enable Data Policies checkbox, if required, to enable data policies for a store. See Enabling Data Policies for a Store for more information.

    Warning: Enabling data policies for a store enables all active data policies in Elastic Path Commerce for the store.

  13. In the Localization tab, if required, complete all required fields. For more information, see Localization Configuration.
  14. In the Catalog tab, select a catalog for the store.
  15. In the Warehouse tab, select a warehouse for the store.
  16. In the Taxes tab, select the following:
    • At least one Tax Jurisdiction from the Enabled Tax Jurisdictions list
    • At least one Tax Code from the Enabled Tax Codes list
  17. In the Payments tab, configure the payment options for the store to support.
  18. Optional - in the Shared Customer Accounts tab, complete all required fields. For more information see Shared Account Configuration.
  19. Optional - in the Marketing tab, complete all required fields. See Marketing Configuration for more details.
  20. Optional - configure the HTML encoding for a store. See Configuring HTML encoding for a Store for more details.
  21. In the Configuration tab of the left pane, click System Configuration.
  22. In the Setting Name table of the top right pane, select COMMERCE/STORE/storefrontUrl
  23. In the Defined Values section, click New.
  24. In the Add Configuration Value dialog box, enter the following:
    • Store Code: for example, for the Snap It Up store, enter SNAPITUP
    • The secure (HTTPS) storefront URL: for example, if the store URL is http://mystore.example.com:8080 enter https://mystore.example.com:8080/storefront
  25. Click Save.
  26. In the Facet Configuration tab, enter the required configurations.
  27. Click Save.

Building the Store’s Search Index

After a new store is created, the product search index must be rebuilt before any existing products become visible in the store. The index rebuild is scheduled automatically, but you can perform a manual rebuild as follows:

  1. In the left pane, click Search Indexes.
  2. Select the product index you want to rebuild.
  3. From the top right pane toolbar, Rebuild Index

Store States

Every store has a state. The store's state determines who can access the store and what actions they can perform. Users with the appropriate permissions can change the state of a store.

You can assign the following states to a store:

  • Under Construction
  • Restricted Access
  • Open

Under Construction

A store in this state has the following characteristics:

  • You cannot view it in Elastic Path Commerce or a web browser
  • You cannot reference it from objects in the system, including the Core API and Web Services
  • It does not appear in any store lists in Elastic Path Commerce except the store list view
  • It does not include store-related data when the search indexes are built
  • It does not accept orders

When the store is in this state, you cannot change it to another state until all the required settings are configured.

Note: After all the settings are configured, you cannot revert to the Under Construction state.

Restricted Access

A store in this state has the following characteristics:

  • You cannot view it in Elastic Path Commerce or a web browser
  • You cannot reference it from objects in the system, including the Core API and Web Services
  • It does not accept orders

Open

A store in this state has the following characteristics:

  • You can view it in Elastic Path Commerce and a web browser
  • You can reference it from all the other objects in the system, including Cortex and Web Services
  • It appears in all the store lists within Elastic Path Commerce
  • It includes store-related data when the search indexes are built
  • It accepts orders

You can change the state of a store from Open to Restricted Access at any time.

Changing a store’s state

  1. In any tab for a store in the bottom right pane, click the Change Store State button.
  2. Select the store state to change.
  3. Click Save

Editing a Store

Prerequisite: The store must be in the Under Construction state.

  1. On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
  2. In the left pane, click Stores.
  3. From the top right pane, select the store you want to edit.
  4. From the top right pane toolbar, click Edit Store.
  5. Make the required changes in the Summary tab.
  6. On the toolbar, click Save.

Deleting a Store

Note: You cannot delete a store that is in use.

  1. On the toolbar, click the Configuration button.
  2. In the left pane , click Stores.
  3. From the top right pane, select the store you want to delete.
  4. From the top right pane toolbar, click Delete Store.
  5. In the Delete Store - Confirm dialog box, click OK.

Advanced Store Configuration

Configuring Localization

Elastic Path Admin Console supports the following localization options:

  • A selection of available languages to display the store in
  • A default language to display the store in
  • A selection of available currencies for the store
  • A default currency for the store

Configuring Available Store Languages

Prerequisite: The store must be in the Under Construction state.

  1. In the bottom pane, select a store’s Localization tab.
  2. In the Language Selection section locate the Available Languages list and select the language you want to use for your store.
  3. Click > to add it to the list of selected languages.
  4. Click Save.

Configuring a Default Store Language

If a shopper has specified a default language in their customer account and is logged in, the store will use their selected language. Otherwise, the default language is used.

  1. In the bottom pane, select a store’s Localization tab.
  2. In the Defaults section, locate the Default Language drop down and select a default language.
  3. Click Save.

Configuring Available Store Currencies

  1. In the bottom pane, select a store’s Localization tab.
  2. In the Currency Selection section locate the Available Currencies list and select the currencies you want to use for your store.
  3. Click > to add it to the list of selected currencies.
  4. Click Save.

Configuring a Default Currency

If a shopper has specified a default currency in their customer account and is logged in, the store will use their selected currency. Otherwise, the default currency is used.

  1. In the bottom pane, select a store’s Localization tab.
  2. In the Defaults section, locate the Default Currency drop down and select a default currency.
  3. Click Save.

Sharing Customer Accounts Between Stores

Elastic Path allows you to share the registered customers and profile information, for example, accounts or shipping addresses, with other stores. By default, customer profiles are not shared.

Account sharing is bi-directional. Accounts created in one store can log on to another store and vice versa.

To share customer accounts between stores:

  1. In the Store tab, select the Shared Customer Accounts tab.
  2. Select the store to share customer accounts with from the Available Stores list and click >.
  3. Click Save.

Configuring Marketing Settings

The Marketing tab configures marketing system settings and metadata for a store.

The following settings can be configured:

FieldDescription
COMMERCE/STORE/CATALOG/CatalogSitemapPaginationThe maximum number of products listed on a page in the sitemap.
COMMERCE/STORE/CATALOG/CatalogViewPaginationThe maximum number of items to display per page when browsing the catalog in the store.
COMMERCE/STORE/CATALOG/featuredProductCountToDisplayThe number of featured products to display when browsing a catalog with zero or one filter applied.
COMMERCE/STORE/PRODUCTRECOMMENDATIONS/numberMaxRecommendationsThe maximum number of product recommendations to display.
COMMERCE/STORE/PRODUCTRECOMMENDATIONS/number OrderHistoryDaysThe number of days of historical order data to use when calculating product recommendations. For example, if the value is 3, product recommendations are calculated based on all the orders created during the past three days.
COMMERCE/STORE/SEARCH/searchCategoriesFirstSpecifies whether searches in the store search categories before searching products. If a category match is found, the first matching category page is displayed instead of the search results page.
COMMERCE/STORE/SEARCH/showBundlesFirstSpecifies whether to display product bundles before other products in search results.
Display Out Of Stock ProductsRequired setting. Specifies whether to display products with 0 items in the inventory in the catalog and catalog searches.
Store Admin Email AddressRequired setting. The store administrator's e-mail address. Example: administrator@snapitup.com
Store From Email (Friendly Name)The sender name on all outgoing e-mails generated by the store. Example: SnapItUp Sales & Service
Store From Email (Sender Address)Required setting. The e-mail account used to send out system-generated e-mails for the store. Example: Sales@snapitup.com

Editing Marketing Setting

  1. In the Marketing tab, select the setting you want to edit.
  2. Click Edit Value.
  3. Edit the value as required and click Save.

Removing A Marketing Setting Configuration

  1. In the Marketing tab, select the setting you want to edit.
  2. Click Edit Value.
  3. Edit the value as required and click Save.

Configuring HTML Encoding for a store

Prerequisite: The store must either be newly created or the store’s state must be Under Construction.

Stores in Elastic Path use the UTF-8 character encoding by default. To change the default encoding:

  1. In the store’s System tab, select the Store HTML Encoding from the list.
  2. Click the Edit Value button.
  3. In the Value text field, enter a character encoding standard.
  4. Click Save.
  5. In the toolbar, click Save.

Profile Attribute Policies

You can view and update customer profile attributes in the store configuration. With these settings, you can also manage the write access for the attributes in Cortex.

Configuring Profile Attribute Policies

  1. In the Profile Attribute Policies tab, click Add Policy.

    The Add Policy window appears.

  2. In the Attribute field, select an appropriate attribute.

    For more information on adding customer profiles, see the Creating a Customer Profile Attribute section.

  3. In the Policy field, select one of the following type:

    • Default - You can edit the attribute in Cortex
    • Hidden - You cannot view this attribute in Cortex
    • Read-Only - You can only view this attribute in Cortex

    The Permissions field provides the details of the selected type.

  4. Click Save.

Editing Profile Attribute Policies

  1. In the Profile Attribute Policies tab, click Edit Policy.

    The Edit Policy window appears.

  2. In the Attribute field, select an appropriate attribute.

  3. In the Policy field, select an appropriate type.

  4. Click Save.

Deleting Profile Attribute Policies

  1. In the Profile Attribute Policies tab, click Delete Policy.

    The Delete Attribute Policy - Confirm window with a confirmation message to delete the attribute policy appears.

  2. Click OK.

Faceted Search

A store might be configured with product attributes, SKU attributes, SKU options, or field attributes for the entire product catalog in the store. These product details are called facets and the options available in each facet are called facet values. A merchandiser can configure a facet as facetable in Commerce Manager if the corresponding product attribute is configured as indexable.

The faceted offer search operation groups all similar SKUs and returns an offer with facets. For a store with huge catalogs, an offer search query might return a large number of results, and the shopper might have to navigate through the results to find the required item. With faceted offer search, the search engine processes a search query and returns relevant search results with facets and facet values depending on the facet configuration in Commerce Manager.

For example: if the size and color attributes in a clothing store are facetable when a shopper searches for shirts, the search engine returns shirts in all available sizes and colors. A shopper can refine the search results by selecting the required size or color. In this example size and color are facets and the options in each facet such as large, small, blue, or red are the facet values. A variant of a product corresponding to a specific SKU such as a large blue shirt, large white shirt, or small blue shirt, represents an offer.

Commerce Manager provides options to configure facets for a store using the product attributes, SKU attributes, SKU options, and field attributes configured for the store. Each of these attributes represents a facet name. When you configure a store, Commerce Manager does not configure facets by default. You must configure attributes as facetable to display the available facets in search results, so that shoppers can refine the search results.

When a shopper searches for the keyword shirt:

  • For keywords search without facets: Cortex returns all results matching the keywords. All SKUs associated with a product are listed as separate products in the search result. The shopper must navigate through the results until the required item is found. Keywords search does not provide options to refine the search result
  • For faceted offer search: Cortex returns all results matching the keyword along with the available facets. A shopper can refine the search results to view the exact match for the query. For example, a shopper can view only the blue shirts in small size from all brands by selecting small in size and blue in color facets

Elastic Path provides the following options depending on the facet value type:

  • Facets: Sets boolean or string type facets as facetable
  • Range facets: Sets decimal or integer type facets as facetable

Configuring Facets

Use this procedure to configure boolean or string type facets, such as feature or brand.

  1. Click Configuration > Store and select a store.
  2. Click the Facet Configuration tab.
  3. In the Facet Configuration table, select an attribute row.
  4. In the Facetable field for the selected attribute, select Facet.
  5. (Optional) To change the default display name and locale for the facet, click Edit. You can only update the display name and locale.
  6. Click Save.

Configuring Range Facets

Merchandisers can define ranges for decimal or integer type facets, such as price, weight, or length. A shopper can refine the search results by selecting appropriate ranges. When the shopper selects a range in the search query, the search engine returns the results within the selected range, excluding the upper bound value. For Example:

Store details: For a laptop store, a merchandiser configures the price attribute as facetable and the offer price range from $500 to $5000. The ranges for this price facet are $500-$749.99, $750-$999.99, $1000-$1999.99, $2000-$2999.99, and $3000-$3999.99. Action: A shopper searches for a laptop in the range $750-$999.99. Result: The Search engine returns all laptops that cost $750 to $999.99.

  1. Click Configuration>Store and select a store.
  2. Click the Facet Configuration tab.
  3. In the Facet Configuration table, select an attribute row.
  4. In the Facetable field for the selected attribute, select Range Facet. Elastic Path provides default values for the ranges.
  5. (Optional) To change the default configurations, click Edit.
    • In the Display Name field, enter the required name
    • In the Values section, enter appropriate ranges for the facet
    • You can also add appropriate labels for the facet ranges and select a locale from the available locales. For example, for length, you can set inch, cm, or ft as the label
  6. Click Save.

Note After configuring facets in Commerce Manager, the merchandiser must save the changes to enable facets in the storefront. If the merchandiser does not save the changes, storefront returns the search results without facets for a search query.

Facet Configuration Settings

The following table lists the settings in the Configuration > Stores > [store name] > Facet Configuration tab:

FieldDescription
Facet NameSpecifies the name of the facet. The name can be a product attribute, a SKU attribute, a SKU option, or one of the Field attributes. The Field attributes are brand, length, width, weight, height, price, or category. Enter the facet name in the Filter field to get the details of a particular facet name.
Facet GroupSpecifies the source from which the facet is populated, such as product attributes, SKU attributes, SKU options, or Field. The others facet group represents brand, length, width, weight, height, price, or category facets. Use the drop-down menu at the top-right in the Facet Configuration tab to view all facets in a specific facet group.
TypeSpecifies the facet value type, such as string, integer, boolean, or decimal.
SearchableSpecifies whether the facet value is searchable. The default setting for this parameter is true. For example, if screen size is searchable and the shopper searches for 13inch laptop, the search server returns all laptops with 13inch screen size.
FacetableSpecifies whether the facet is facetable. Depending on the facet value type, you can select facet or range facet option. With range facet, you can define ranges as facet values.
Display NameSpecifies how the facet name appears in the Cortex API search results. For example, you can set Brand as the display name for a facet named brand_name.

Sorting

Sorting is arranging offers in navigation and search results in ascending or descending order. With sorting feature enabled, shoppers can sort offers based on product attributes. For example, a shopper wants to buy a T-shirt with the lowest price. The shopper searches for a T-shirt and gets all related results. The shopper can use the sorting feature to select the Price: Low to High sortable attribute and refine the search results further.

Configuring a Sorting Attribute

Use this procedure to add attributes for sorting purposes. The attribute can be boolean, string, or number.

  1. Click Configuration > Stores and select a store.
  2. Click the Sorting tab.
  3. In the Sorting table, select Add.
  4. Configure the attribute.
    • In the Sort Attribute Key, select the attribute
    • In the Language field, select the language for the locale
    • In the Display Name field, enter the name to show in the user interface
    • In the Sort Order field, select either ascending or descending
  5. Click Save.
  6. In the toolbar, click Save or Save As to apply the changes.

Editing a Sorting Attribute

Use this procedure to edit an existing attribute used for sorting.

  1. Click Configuration > Stores and select a store.
  2. Click the Sorting tab.
  3. Click Edit and update the attribute.
  4. Click Save.
  5. In the toolbar, click Save or Save As to apply the changes.

Removing a Sorting Attribute

Use this procedure to remove an existing attribute used for sorting from the sorting table.

  1. Click Configuration > Stores and select a store.
  2. Click the Sorting tab.
  3. Click the attribute and click Remove.
  4. In the Remove Sort Attribute window, confirm the deletion of the attribute. Click OK.
  5. In the toolbar, click Save or Save As to apply the changes.

Sorting Tab Field Descriptions

The following table lists the settings in the Configuration > Stores > [store name] > Sorting tab:

FieldDescription
Attribute KeySpecifies the attribute label or name, such as product name, price, or relevance.
Default SortSpecifies the default sorting attribute for the store.
Sort OrderSpecifies the order to sort attributes, either ascending or descending.
Sort GroupSpecifies whether an attribute key is an attribute or default product field. This field consists of two values, attribute and field. If the attribute key is field, it consists of fields such as Featured, Price, Product Name, Relevance and Sales Count from the product catalog. Any other single valued attribute key is a part of the Attribute sort group.
TypeSpecifies the type of attribute, such as number, string, or boolean. For example, price can be a number.
Display NameSpecifies the sorting attribute display name. It is a part of the Cortex API and is visible in the frontend to shoppers. For example, you can set the price attribute to display name Price: High to Low.
Last updated on 2/28/2022
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