Once your shop is online (i.e. you have an active Order Cycle), customers are able to place orders. This section explains how to:
adjust payments (refunds etc.)
Sometimes you may wish to manually put an order into the system. This may be on behalf of a customer, or so that your reports will capture an order from a different sales stream. You can create an order by going to Orders and clicking on the + New Order button.
There you are then lead through a step-by-step process to place the order:
Firstly you will be prompted to select the distributor that the order will be placed with. Next you will need to select the order cycle that you want the order to be placed in. You choice of order cycle will dictate which products will be available to be added into the order and the fees applied. You will then be redirected to the following page where you can select products. You must type at least the first 3 characters of the product for it to appear as an option in the drop down list:
After finding the product you'd like to order, enter the quantity and click the + button to the right of the product to add it to the cart.
Once a product is added you can edit (quantity for example) by selecting the pen and paper icon to the right of the item:
After editing any aspect of the cart, click update and recalculate fees to update the price.
The next step is to add in the customer’s details (right hand menu, second option down). If it is a customer who is on your customer list, you can select them from the dropdown menu, otherwise you can fill in the customer’s details details and check them out as a guest.
Click Update and go back to Order Details (top option on right hand menu). You will now be able to select a shipping method for the customer.
Tick to update changes and cross to cancel.
You can not select a shipping method prior to adding the customer's details.
The final step is to add the customer’s payment method. This is found from the bottom option of the right hand menu:
You should NEVER write down a customer's card details.
Best practice is to complete the above form directly into a computer/tablet/mobile device while the customer reads out the numbers over the phone.
You will not be able to opt for a Payment Method provided by PayPal for an order created manually.
Clicking update will finalise this order and send an email confirmation to the customer.
Note, if you opt for a payment method provided by Stripe then you will be directed to input the customer's card details.
Within the admin interface there are two places where orders can be viewed and modified (if necessary):
the Orders page itself,
the Bulk Order Management page.
The features of both these two pages are discussed below.
The listing orders page shows a list view of all orders placed through your shop(s). From here you can access details of individual orders, edit orders and track the status of their payment and shipping. For details of how to create a new order manually for your customer see here.
The page has filters which allow you to select which orders you want to view. You can filter by date, status or the email and name of the customer.
Distributor: This is the enterprise through who's shop the order was placed.
Completed at: This is the date that the order was placed.
Number: This is an arbitrarily assigned order number. An exclamation mark symbol with with word 'Note' to the left of it will show if the customer included a comment with their order at checkout. Hover your mouse above the exclamation mark to view the comment.
State:
Complete: The customer has finished checkout.
Cancelled: If a manager of an enterprise or a customer chose to ‘cancel' it.
Cart: The customer is in the process of shopping, but hasn’t checked out yet.
Payment State:
Balance Due: If it’s cash, or bank transfer or eftpos (i.e. all non automated payments), then the order will be ‘balance due’ by default, until admin members of the distributing enterprise manually mark that the payment has been received, at which point the payment state will change to 'paid'.
Paid: For automated payments (PayPal, Stripe SCA, PIN for instance), the payment portal will automatically mark an order as 'paid' when it has been processed. Non-automated payments (cash, bank transfer etc.) will also be marked as 'paid' when the payment has been marked as captured manually (see Changing the Payment and Shipment state of an order).
Credit Owed: If someone has paid for their order, but then you edit their order, and remove an item, the cost of that item becomes ‘credit owed’.
Shipment state:
Pending: When the payment state is ‘balance due’ the shipping state will be pending, meaning that until payment is received, shipping should not commence.
Ready: When payment has been received ('paid', or 'credit owed' status) the shipping state becomes ‘ready’.
Shipped: After delivery or collection, an order can be manually marked as 'shipped' by the manager of the enterprise (see Changing the Payment and Shipment state of an order).
You can ONLY manually update an order to 'shipped' if the payment state is 'paid' or 'credit owed'.
Customer email: The customer’s contact email. A full list of customer emails can be downloaded in the ‘mailing list’ report.
Total: The total value of the customer’s order.
Next to each order in the Order list are two icons. Clicking on the edit icon (a pencil and paper symbol) will open up details of the order so that you can review or edit the order details. Below the edit icon will be one of two icons. These icons show the payment and shipment status, and can be clicked to change the status. If a payment has not been received, the icon will show a tick which can be clicked to capture the payment. If payment has been received, the icon will be a road, which can be clicked to mark the order as delivered.
Clicking on the tick icon will change the Payment State to Paid.
Clicking on the road icon will change the Shipment state to Shipped.
Capturing a payment will mark it as received. This is helpful if customers do not pay when they order. When you receive cash or a bank transfer from the customer, you can then go in to the Order Listing and capture the payment. To quickly capture a payment as received, or mark that an order has been shipped, you can click on the tick or road icons to the right of the order in the Order List.
Note that this will capture the full amount of the order as paid. if you want to review the order details before capturing a payment, you can select the edit icon to the right of the Order you wish to review. In the Order Details screen, click on Payments to see the Balance owing and Payment Status for this order. From here you can click on the tick to capture the payment. Once captured, the Payment Status will change to Completed.
The payment and shipping status of an order can also be updated when editing the order (see below).
When a shop or hub manager updates the 'Shipment state' to 'shipped' this will automatically send the customer an email to say that their products have been shipped, irrespective of the shipping method. Hence it can cause confusion for orders due to be collected (rather than shipped). Another source of potential confusion to be aware of is when customers pay for an order on collection. Updating the payment (and then shipping) status of the order after the goods have been collected will send an email to the customer, even though they have their goods in practice.
To the right of an order you will see a pen and paper icon. Click on this to access the order management page where you can edit, modify and cancel an order.
This is what the order management page looks like:
You can add a product to the order by selecting the variant you require from a drop down list of those available (at least 3 letters must be typed in to the field box 'Select Variant' for list of options to appear). To remove a product from an order click the rubbish bin icon on the right hand side of the product. You can also change the quantity of each item ordered. Remember to click the update and recalculate fees button to save changes (this will also update enterprise, shipping and payment method fees accordingly, where appropriate).
Changing the Shipping Method
A customer may contact you and ask to have their groceries delivered rather than collect. You can edit the shipping method assigned to the order by selecting the edit symbol to the right of the shipping method:
You then have access to all available shipping methods. Select the one your customer wishes to change to.
To save changes select the 'tick' icon to the right hand side. To discard, select the 'cross'.
Additional options available under 'Actions'
Resend Confirmation: If you have edited a customer's order, you may wish to resend them an updated order confirmation email.
Send Invoice: This will automatically send the customer an invoice (in .pdf format) by email. Sending an invoice is purely for record keeping purposes, and does not facilitate payment.
Print Invoice: This will generate the invoice in the form of a pdf for printing.
Below is an example of the invoice that is generated:
Please check regional regulations regarding the information legally required to be on an invoice. Currently our invoices are not compliant to French law. Invoices for enterprises which are registered for VAT are not compliant under UK law. We hope to bring about updates to correct these aspects. In the meantime you may wish to invoice through a complementary software package.
Cancel Order: Cancel the order. It is important to process any refunds or adjustments to an order before cancelling it. A cancelled order can not be edited or refunded.
Customer information (email, billing, shipping addresses and phone numbers) are accessible from the menu on the right of the page:
Click on 'Adjustments' in the right hand menu (screen shot above). On this page you can add or subtract from the order total by selecting the + New Adjustment button.
You may wish to use this functionality to:
grant a discount on an order if a product is damaged
deduct credit owed to the customer from their total balance
refund a customer
record a partial payment
see Refunding and Adjusting Payments for more information about making adjustments to orders
To save time you can print multiple invoices at once (rather than visiting each order in turn and selecting Actions-> Print Invoice). On the Listing Orders page check the box to the left of orders for which you would like to send an invoice. You can increase the number of orders per page from 15 to 100 and select all at once, if desired. Then click 'Print Invoices' button to the top right of the table:
A Loading page will pop up while the invoices are generated. On completion you will be able to view (and download) a file containing all the invoices for the orders selected:
By default the invoices selected will be printed in sequence in which the orders were completed.
To print invoices only for those orders associated with a specific Shipping Method (or collection point) then sort by 'Shipping Method' prior to batch printing.
We have learned above that the Listing Orders tab presents a table of the orders per customer. The Bulk Order Management page, on the other hand, details all the products that were purchased in your orders. This functionality is useful for modifying multiple orders at once that may contain the same product (quantity change, product out of stock etc). The page looks like:
Start/End Date: You can filter to display all orders that were placed within a given window of time.
Producer: You can filter for a given producer. This can narrow down the display, if you’re only interested in one product, supplied by one producer.
Shop: You can filter according to the shop at which the order was placed.
Order Cycle: Perhaps the most useful filter, the order cycle filter, will display only those orders which were placed within a selected order cycle.
Quick Search: Before or after applying filters, you can narrow your search down even further by searching for a key word. This could be a name, product, hub, producer, date, order number…
Actions: You can select the check boxes of multiple orders (left hand column), to perform the same function to all of them, such as delete.
Columns: You can select which fields you do or do not want to be displayed in the table:
Rows ('Name', 'Producer', 'Product: Unit') can be sorted according to their content by clicking on the relevant column heading: one click for sorting A-Z, two clicks for the reverse (Z-A).
The Price column indicates price of an item including tax but excluding fees (enterprise, shipping or payment method fees). Fees are recalculated each time an order is modified.
In your current order cycle, customers placed orders for 20kg of tomatoes. Unfortunately there was a storm, and you were only able to harvest 10kg. You need to identify all customers who ordered tomatoes, and half their orders for tomatoes.
This can be done in bulk order management, as follows:
Filter according to the date range, or current order cycle.
Search for ‘tomatoes’. All orders for tomatoes within the date range/order cycle you selected will now display.
Click on the product ‘Tomatoes’ in the Product:Unit column.
A box will appear at the top of the page, showing the total quantity ordered (across the date range/order cycle you’ve selected).
You can then adjust the quantity (or delete products) of each unique order in the Quantity column. The Total Quantity Ordered in the box at the top will update automatically as you adjust orders.
No automated email will be sent to customers after you have adjusted their orders. It is good practice though, to manually do so else the customer may be disappointed on collection/delivery.
Here, the amount of tomatoes allocated to each order has been reduced to meet the total available of 10kg:
This checkbox allows you to make adjustments to all variants of the same product at once. For example, you may retail tomatoes in 1kg and 3kg bags. By selecting 'Shared Resource' you will be able to edit the quantities of both variants ordered at once.
When selling indivisible products such as legs of lamb, or whole pumpkins, you may not know the final weight and price of the product until after the customer has placed their order. (Read more here.) You can use Bulk Order Management to update the item’s exact weight once you have the product in front of you.
For the example of a 1kg fish:
Filter for the order cycle or date range of interest.
Search for the desired product
Make the Weight/Volume and Price columns visible.
Enter the actual weight of the fish that each customer will receive in the weight/volume column. The price will automatically recalculate based on this weight.
Click update.
Your customers can view a list of their orders when they login to the OFN, and click on their account (see below).
Here your customers will be able to see the past orders and payments as well as a running balance at your shop (and any others on OFN where they have placed an order).
For non-automated payments (cash, cheque, bank transfer etc) the customer's 'balance' will display as 'owing' until you have manually recorded the payment. If payments are not updated regularly by a shop/hub manager this can be confusing to your customers as they may have in fact paid but it won't be documented above.
From time to time, a customer may request that their order is adjusted, either to remove or add items.
On other occasions you, as a business manager, may need to change an order. Common scenarios include:
A product was not delivered by a supplier
A product was of lower quality than expected
An order contains products with variable weights such as meat or large vegetables (i.e. whole items priced by weight).
The process of issuing a refund or requesting further payment depends on the payment method employed.
On the OFN platform, refunds and additional payments can only be taken automatically using the Payment Method Provider Stripe/Stripe SCA.
Using the OFN Platform, you can either process a Total refund, or make an adjustment to the order to change the balance owing, and then process a Partial refund.
If you have integrated with Stripe as a Payment Method, you can log in to your Stripe account and issue an invoice to the customer via Stripe. The customer will be sent an email asking them to pay with a Credit or Debit Card, but be aware that OFN will not be notified of this transaction and you will still need to manually capture the payment as received in OFN.
To issue a refund, select the relevant payment method from the tabs below:
For non-automated payment methods (such as cash on collection or BACS), there are two scenarios:
The customer has not yet paid for the item. If a customer places an order, selecting a payment method such as cash on collection or BACS and the payment has not been captured on the system it will appear as 'payment state: balance due':
You can cancel the order straight away following the steps below for 'Marking an order as cancelled'.
The customer has paid for the item.
When viewing orders the order appears as 'payment state: paid':
Arrange for the customer to be reimbursed independently of the OFN platform.
Record this action by Orders -> Edit and select the ‘Payments’ tab from the right hand menu. Select the ‘X’ to the right hand side of the payment to void it.
Then mark the order as ‘cancelled' using the steps below.
Order payment is collected automatically on creation (except for subscriptions) and so in listing Orders the order appears as:
To process the total refund, visit Orders -> Edit and select ‘Payments’ from the right hand menu. Click on the ‘X’ to the right of the payment to void it.
This will automatically send the payment back to the credit or debit card used by the customer.
Note that Stripe payments can take 3-5 working days to appear on a customer’s bank statement.
Once you have issued a refund, follow the steps below to cancel the order.
Payment is collected automatically on checkout from the customer and so in listing Orders the order appears as:
Going to the 'payments' screen from Orders -> Edit will show the payment method used:
Orders placed and paid for via PayPal can not be refunded through the OFN platform.
To refund the customer you will need to log into your PayPal account and issue the money back to the customer’s account through Paypal's interface.
Once this has been done, you can mark the order as cancelled using the steps below.
Once you have issued a refund, you can now cancel the order. Edit the order and select ‘Cancel Order’ under ‘Actions’ (top right hand blue button).
The customer will receive an email to state that their order has been cancelled.
Cancelling an order will automatically update stock levels. For example, if a shop had five loaves of bread in stock and a customer ordered three, stock levels would show two in stock. Cancelling the customer's order automatically updates stock levels, such that five will again show as in stock.
Note you cannot cancel an order which has been marked as ‘Shipped’
To issue a partial refund, you first need to edit the order to change the balance owing. There are two main ways to edit an order when you want to issue a partial refund. You can either remove an item, or make an adjustment:
1. Edit by removing an item which is not in stock or changing the quantity of an item by going to Orders -> edit order and clicking on the ‘edit’ icon:
You can then reduce the quantity, remembering click the 'tick' button to save your changes:
You can also remove an item from an order completely by clicking the 'delete' button:
Select ‘Update and Recalculate Fees’ at the bottom of the page to save your changes.
If the product has been deleted by the supplier from their master product list then it will not be possible to edit this page. In which case, use the ‘adjustments’ method below.
2. Edit by adding a new Adjustment to the order by visiting Orders -> Edit -> Adjustments from the right hand menu and selecting +New Adjustment (the top right hand button).
Add the relevant details, remembering that for a refund, the value needs to be a negative number. When finished, click ‘continue’:
You can use ‘Adjustments’ to partially refund a customer for a substandard product.
Once the order has been amended to reflect either the missing/adjusted products or the new adjustment, the order will appear with the payment state of ‘Credit Owing’ for the amount the customer no longer needs to pay.
Process the Partial Refund To process a partial refund of the amount that is now owing on the order, see instructions by choosing the payment method from the following tabs:
Arrange for the refund to be made to the customer independently of the platform.
Record this action by going to Orders -> Edit and selecting ‘Payments’ from the right hand menu, then '+ New Payment':
Enter a negative value in the ‘Amount’ field to record the refund as having been made.
The button for + New Payment will only be visible if you have already added an adjustment (e.g. the payment state is 'credit owed')
Using the OFN platform you can automatically refund a customer who paid by Stripe. This will directly process the refund to their credit or debit card.
Visit Orders -> Edit Order and then select ‘Payments’ from the right hand menu.
2. As you created the adjustment in the previous step, the payment screen will now say 'Credit Owed' with the amount you specified. By clicking the tick next to the payment any credit owed to the customer will be automatically refunded.
Clicking the 'X' will void the whole payment and issue a full refund to the customer.
Note that Stripe payments can take 3-5 working days to appear on a customer’s bank statement.
You can not issue a partial refund to a customer who paid by PayPal automatically via the OFN platform at present.
You will need to log into your business PayPal account and refund the customer the correct amount through their interface.
To record this action you will need to set up a new Payment Method as follows: Name= ‘Paypal refunds’ Display = ‘Back Office Only’ Payment provider = ‘cash/EFT/etc’.
Visit Orders - > Edit Order-> Payments (found in the right hand menu).
Select +New Payment and select ‘Paypal refunds’:
A negative value in the ‘Amount’ field means that a refund is recorded.
If you opt to add a new payment with the payment method provider ‘Paypal’ this will not be possible:
Follow the steps above for Partial refunds to add extra items to a customer's order or make adjustments via the Bulk Order Management page.
Orders will now display with the Payment State = ‘Balance Due’:
To record payment of the extra monies due visit Orders -> Edit Order and then ‘Payments’. Select +New Payment (top right hand blue button)
If customer has given your business the money owing in cash or BACS payment then record this in the same manner as detailed for a refund, but use a positive value in the ‘Amount’ field.
If the customer is present or on the end of the phone you can take the extra payment by Stripe. You will need the customer’s credit/debit card details to do this:
Note collection of the extra monies by PayPal through the platform is, at present, not possible.
If a payment method has an associated fee attached then the fee will be recorded by the system every time you collect extra money from the customer or issue them a refund.
Monies owing (credit) or due (debit) for individual orders can be viewed on your listing orders admin page.
Remember that only payments for integrated payment methods (PayPal and Stripe) are automatically captured by the platform. If a customer pays your business by cash or BACS (or similar) you will need to capture this payment manually to keep your records up to date.
You may wish to allow your trusted customers to pay (by BACS) once a month for all their orders in that time period, or give those who have cash flow one week a bit of lee-way with their payments. To keep track of individual customer balances with your business, visit your Customer list. The amount of credit/debit due is displayed to the right of each customer's entry.
