[ic] will interchange fulfill these requirements?

Dave Jenkins interchange-users@lists.akopia.com
Fri Jun 29 09:44:00 2001


Alexander Welti wrote:
<snip>
> 
> Requirements Catalog
> 
> - giving our branch offices control of their regional
> products, is it possible to have multiple administrative
> user accounts each responsible for a certain set of products
> (and only these products) for their region apart from
> general articles offered in all countries?

Yes.  One installation of Interchange can run multiple catalogs.  It can
also pull from multiple product tables within one database.  You could
have a table of global products, and then separate tables for each
country/language.

The access part of administration may take some customization, but each
branch office could be given control of their separate product lines.

> 
> - if not, what is a proposed solution (having multiple
> installations for each region/subcatalogs/...)
> 
> - is it possible to have region based skins/appearances of
> the same shop instance for different regions (based on
> country/language p.ex. svitzerland where we have 3 languages
> spoken in one country)?

Yes.  Here again, one can use a combination of the <LOC> tags to set
parameters and directories that determine which templates are displayed
in the website.  The user can determine their preferred set at the
homepage (select language).

> - can ic handle different currencies?

Yes.  There is plenty of documentation on this at
http://interchange.redhat.com

> - is ic capable of the euro-dollar (i.e. can store the
> currency of the country and the corresponding value in euro?

Yes.  That may take some specific programming, but it is possible.

> - is it possible to have different products in different
> countries; depending on the user (coming from i.e. great
> britain) only sees products offered for his country (gb)
> and the general ones applying to all countries?

Yes.  See the note above about multiple catalogs or multiple product
tables within one database.

> - is it possible to have one product but different prices
> for different countries (based upon a maintainable currency/country
> table)?

Tricky, but yes.  Expand your product table in the database to include
fields for all the different currencies.  Then, make sure to call the
right field by using the <LOC> tag in your pages and scripts.

> - is there multi language support for the customer /
> administrative user? (at least we should have english and german for the
> customer)

You're in luck.  English and German are the two strongest languages for
the Admin interface.  (Others will be coming soon!)

> - is there a defined import interface to create ic-clients in the ic
> database from existing clients out of our database?

Not exactly.  What format is your current customer database?  It is
certainly possible to import them, but there is no easy 'point-and-click
wizard' for that.  Many people have imported old customer Db, so it is
doable.

> - is there a defined import interface to create ic-products in the ic
> database from our existing products?

Here again, what kind of database do you currently use?

> - what about the interaction with external inventory/shipment operators?
> (inventory control, keeping a minimum piece of articles in store,
> delivery
> status)

Yes, yes, and yes.  Interchange provides very strong inventory control
routines.  Interchange can also alert you when inventory reaches a
certain level.  Interchange also allows for quick updates on delivery
status-- either manually through the admin interface, or by direct
connection to your fulfillment house systems (requires some custom
programming).

> - in general the dataflow between ic and the inventory?

?  Please be more specific.

> 
> - do you have support for popular payment systems in europe (apart
> from "credit card", "on delivery") like paybox, bankomax, paysafecard,
> ... ?

It should certainly be possible.  I hope one of the European-based
developers can answer that for you.

> - is there a standardized client dunning process (email templates for
> first reminder, etc.) when payment type is on delivery

Templates can be configured easily enough.  I'm not sure if there are
existing templates already.

> - how do you handle reclamations and handle coupons upon admittance?

Coupons can be set up in many different ways: separate SKUs (with 
special prices), as flags that modify basket total cost, percentages,
absolute dollar amounts, etc.  Here again, please try searching for
'Coupons' at http://interchange.redhat.com

Red Hat Professional Services stands ready to assist in your custom
programming and configuration needs.  We have many talented programmers
here on staff, and would welcome an opportunity to work with you on this
project.

Thanks,

Dave