Please note that the Advanced Administrator Tools require special setup of your web profile as an Account Administrator. Please contact Customer Service to enable this role for you.

The Customized Product Offering feature enables account Administrators to tailor product-level offerings to each account under their control. Administrators can upload a spreadsheet or select the products one by one. Up to 3,000 items can be included in the product offering.

Follow the instructions below to set up your Customized Product Offering list.

Turn on Customized Product Offering

Select "Enable Customized Product Offerings" located under "Customized Product Offerings" in the "Administration" area of your Account Dashboard.

On the "Manage Account Shopping Preferences" page, select "Yes" next to "Use Customized Product Offering."  Click "Update" to save your changes.

After your Customized Product Offering is enabled, you have the option to turn on Customized Product Offering Approval Workflow. When workflow is enabled in this situation, any shopping cart that contains one or more items not included in the offering will need to be submitted as a quote for approval prior to checking out. For instructions on how to set up and use the workflow, please click here or scroll down to the "Customized Product Offering Approval Workflow" section below.

Add Items to Your Customized Product Offering

There are two ways to add items to the customized product offering.

You can use the "Add to Customized Product Offering" icon  displayed in the button bar below the "Add to Cart" button in Search Results, Product Detail Pages, Quick Info and Favorites Lists.

You can also upload a list of approved items from an Excel spreadsheet by following the directions below:

Click "Upload Customized Product Offering List" under "Customized Product Offerings" on the "My Account Dashboard" screen. (Please note that this option will only appear after the Customized Product Offering is enabled. It is recommended to limit the Customized Product Offering upload to 3,000 items or less.) Click "Download the Excel Template" under "Use the Pre-Formatted Template." A small screen will appear asking you to "Open with Microsoft Excel" or "Save File." Select "Open with Microsoft Excel" and click "Ok."

The template will open to an instructions page. Select the "My Product Offerings" tab located at the bottom of the spreadsheet.  Complete the template with item numbers in Column "B". Column "A" Description is optional and is for your informational use only.  When you have finished entering the product numbers you want added to your Customized Product Offering, save the spreadsheet to your local computer.

Use the browse button on the "Bulk Customized Product Offering Builder" page to select your saved list.

To replace all current products offered with the products you are uploading in the spreadsheet, select "Replace existing SKUs with items in spreadsheet." If not selected, the uploaded items will append to those already in the offering rather than replace them.

Click "Upload List" to build your offering.

*IMPORTANT! Your product offering will write to the database overnight and will be in effect the next morning.

Edit Your Customized Product Offering

If you wish to upload and replace an existing list of items with a list of new items, you can use the Excel template tool.

You can also edit items individually by clicking on the "Remove from Customized Product Offering" icon located in the button bar under "Add to Cart" in Search Results, Product Detail Pages, Quick Info and Favorites Lists.

Remove Your Customized Product Offering

Remove the Customized Product Offering from an account by selecting "No" for "Use Customized Product Offering" on the "Manage Account Shopping Preferences" screen and clicking the "Update" button. Please note that if you have set up a Customized Product Offering Approval workflow, it will be disabled if you turn off the offering.

Search for Items in Your Customized Product Offering

As an account Administrator, you will still have the ability to see and order all items, including those not included in the offering. To search only items included in the offering, click "By Offering" next to the "Search" box to display results that only include items in your Customized Product Offering. All other non-Administrator users will only be able to search on items included in the offering.

Customized Product Offering Approval Workflow

When the optional Customized Product Offering Approval Workflow is enabled, any shopping cart that contains one or more items not included in the offering will need to be submitted as a quote for approval prior to checking out.

After enabling the Customized Product Offering, click on "Click Here" on the "Manage Account Shopping Preferences" page to enable and assign approver(s) in the optional "Customized Product Offering Approval Workflow.”  You can also access the workflow setup page by clicking on "View or Edit Workflow Settings" in your Account Dashboard.

Click "Customized Product Offering Approval" to begin the workflow setup.

Click the red "+" button to add your first approval level.

Enter the name you would like to use to define this level, or you can use the default name that appears of "New Approval Step (X), in the "Approval Level Name:" box.

Next, set up a step timeout limit. This allows any quotes that do not get approved, in the timeframe assigned, to send an email stating the upcoming expiration. A notification is sent when the quote expires to the Admins and Submitter as well as 24 hours prior to the Admins, Submitter and Next Level Quote Approver. Also, if the quote is not approved within the "Step Timeout Days" it will be forwarded on to the next approval level in the workflow, if applicable. The "Step Timeout Days" can have a minimum of 2 days and a maximum of 14 days. You may elect to only select weekdays for this timeframe by checking the "Weekdays Only" box.

Click the "Assign Approvers" dropdown and check the box next the user(s) that you want to become the approver for this level. If more than one approver is assigned at the same level, all will receive the notifications, but only one will need to approve the quote.

To give another user approver privileges, first click on "Manage Approvers".  Find the user from the list on the left and then click the checkbox next to "Quote Approver" on the right to assign approver rights to that user. Click "Apply Changes."  This user will now appear in the "Assign Approvers" dropdown and can be selected and assigned vas an approver in the workflow.

Once you have filled in all steps in the Add Approval Level screen, select "Apply Changes" to complete the setup.

You will now return to the Customized Product Offering Workflow-Defined Steps screen. On this screen you may choose to add additional levels to your order approval workflow by clicking on the "+" button to repeat the process. Or, if complete, save your workflow by clicking on "Save Workflow."

Click the "Enable" checkbox next to "Customized Product Offering Approval" to turn on the workflow. The workflow can be disabled at any time by unchecking the checkbox.

Creating a Quote/Order with Customized Product Offering Workflow Enabled

Buyer:

Items that are not included in the Customized Product Offering will be clearly identified in the shopping cart. When workflow is enabled, users will be prompted to create a quote and submit it for approval if their cart contains one or more items not included in the offering. (While non-Administrator users cannot search/browse for items not included in the offering while logged in, they can use the Quick Add to enter in item numbers, including those not in the offering, that will then add to the cart.)

Click on "Create a Quote" at the bottom of the shopping cart.  Give the quote a name and then click on "Save Quote."  User will be brought to the Quote Details Page. The quote can still be modified at this point. When ready, click the "Submit for Approval" button at the top of the page to submit the quote to the approver.

Approver:

The Quote Approver(s) will receive an immediate email stating that there is a quote that requires approval. The Approver can click on the link supplied in the email, or log in to the website and click on "My Quotes" under the "Orders & Quotes" dropdown menu in the header.

On the "Quote Dashboard" page, click on the "Approval Queue" button and then again on the name of the quote to be reviewed.

On the Quote Details Page the Approver will be able to review the quote. At this point, the quote can still be modified. Items can be added using the Quick Add on the page, quantities can be changed, or items removed. The Approver can then choose to accept or reject the quote by clicking on either the "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" button respectively under the "Offering Workflow Steps."

Once the quote is approved by clicking on the "thumbs up" button, the "Check Out Now" buttons will appear, and the quote can now be turned in to an order. Click on "Check Out Now" or "Express Checkout" to place the order.