Ordering and Purchasing Products

Utilising Pulse, customers can easily place an order for a new or existing subscription, manage current subscriptions (add new licenses, decrease the number of licenses, delete subscriptions), add new Storefront users etc. This section explains how an end customer places an order through their standard edition reseller’s Storefront.

Purchase Process

To be able to place an order, the end customer must log in to their reseller’s Storefront with their credentials. Upon logging in, the homepage displays the most prominent product categories, as defined by the reseller’s distributor, such as featured, new, etc. The end customer can select one of these products or click on the Catalog button at the left-hand side panel of the homepage.

The system presents the entire Catalog of products the Standard Edition reseller has published on their Storefront.

At the top of the page, the system presents some key filters (All, Apps & Services, Categories, Industries) that, together with the Search box at the top of the page, make it easier for the user to find the product they are looking for.

End customers can also view products in the transaction currency. Select the currency toggle switch to enable the transaction currency and all the prices will be converted. Hovering over the toggle switch displays a tooltip containing the FX Rate used to make the calculation.

Please note that all amounts are calculated approximately, and there may be a difference with the final payment.

To purchase a product, the user has to find the product(s) of their choice on Storefront and add it to their basket by clicking on the Add To Basket button. The system displays the Basket page where the user can:

Review their order (quantity and price per unit, e.g., monthly, annually) and change the quantity.
Define a friendly name for their subscription. This usually helps the user organise their subscriptions the way they deem best.
Obtain a quick overview of the charges (price tax excluded, discount, etc.)
Continue shopping (which takes the user back to the main Catalog page) or proceed to checkout. It must be noted that these actions are also available in the top left corner of the page for quicker access.

Checkout Process

To complete the purchase, the user must click on Proceed to checkout and follow a series of simple steps:

(1) Review the basket items and the fees analysis before checking them out. This is the last opportunity to make any changes to the order. If the user is satisfied with the basket, they click on Checkout.

(2) Review the billing information. If there is no billing information available, it will have to be added.

(3) Provide the service details for activating the subscription. This step may require different information depending on the vendor and the service requirements.

This step is displayed only once per vendor when the customer purchases for the first time a service of this vendor. When done, the user must click on checkout to complete the purchase.

(4) That’s it! The system displays a confirmation message with the details of the purchase, including the name of the product, quantity, activation date and billing cycle. Note that the system offers the option to manage the new service, as explained in the respective section.

(5) Apart from the screen above, when the order is submitted, an email is sent to the designated email address of the end customer also confirming the submission and providing a link that the end user can click to consult the status of their order.

If order approval is required for the end customer, then the reseller will review and accept or reject the order, as described in. On the contrary, if order approval is disabled, the purchase is completed, the service is activated automatically, and the order is marked as executed. In the case of non-automatically provisioned products, the purchase is completed but the reseller will need to manually configure the products while the order status remains “In Progress”.

Purchase options

It is important to note that, depending on the configuration and availability of each product, the user may be presented with alternative options here under each product, such as:

Add to Basket: this is the fastest way to buy a product, as described above.
View Plans: by clicking on this button, the system displays one or more available plans (editions) of the specific product. In fact, the system presents the details of each edition (characteristics, description, price, etc.) so that the end customer can select the one that best addresses their needs. The user clicks on the Add to Basket option below the edition they want to purchase to proceed with the purchase process. The rest of the process is identical to the one described above.

Try Service: some products may offer a trial period so that the end customer can try them out before purchasing them. In this case, when added to the basket, the system displays the request for trial option in the basket. The user must click on Checkout;. The rest of the process is identical to the one described above.

Configure: finally, some products/services may require user configuration before completing the purchase. For example, to purchase a Cloud data centre service, the user must configure the number of CPU cores, RAM size, storage, IP addresses, etc., that best serve their needs. This configuration will allow the system to calculate the final price. The user must click on Buy This Configuration to proceed with the purchase process, the next steps of which are similar to the ones described above.

Purchase Process
Checkout Process
Purchase options

Watch here the tutorial video of this page:

https://youtu.be/MqyRMszwMiQ

*For full-screen video playback, please click on the YouTube icon located next to the Full-screen option in the bottom right corner.