Prices and Discounts using Dynamics AX 2012 R3

Storefront AX is an e-commerce solution that moves Dynamics AX for Finance and Operations, Dynamics AX for Retail and Dynamics AX 2012 R3 into the web sites of Episerver CMS and makes for using features configured in Dynamics ERP in the web shops. All business logic configured in Dynamics ERP is available in the web sites using Dynamics Retail Server and Commerce Runtime (for Dynamics AX 2012 R3). Dynamics business logic handles all customers, assortments, catalogs, prices and discounts.

Dynamics business logic is used during the shopping experience in several cases. When an article is displayed on a product page, the business logic calculates the price. When the visitor adds articles to the shopping cart, price and discounts are calculated, and the cart itself is entirely managed by Dynamics business logic.

Finally, when the visitor creates an order, the Dynamics business logic is used to manage the checkout flow. The checkout includes cart editing, selection of delivery methods, selection of payment methods and the payment transactions created, and the last step of creating an order. The sales transaction is created and managed by the Dynamics Retail Server.

Storefront imports the products and navigation defined in Dynamics AX 2012 R3 for an online retail channel into Episerver catalog and loads the search engine used by Episerver with the information. The web site then uses the search engine and Episerver for instant access to the information, optimized for high performance, and renders the web site on demand. The navigation and the pages are filtered and loaded with information.

Storefront AX does not import any prices by default. The Dynamics Commerce Runtime manages all prices on demand.

A standard solution for many e-commerce systems is to handle the price- and discount calculations by itself. That is an approach that makes the solution complex when the ERP system is the master data system for prices and discounts, such as Dynamics ERP. The e-commerce system has to create calculation rules that copy the business rules set by the ERP system, and the risk that the calculations differ between the systems is obvious.

Storefront AX uses an approach that eliminates these problems and risks. Storefront AX does not create any price- or discount calculation at all. Instead, it uses the price services and discount services provided by Dynamics business logic with Dynamics Commerce Runtime. It makes for creating B2C and B2B solutions that use the pricing from Dynamics AX 2012 R3 for both cases on the webshop sites. It also ensures that the solution is an omnichannel solution that shares not only information but also business logic between the sales channels.

The approach guarantees that all price rules, such as trade agreements, price groups and price lists, configured in Dynamics AX 2012 R3, are instantly available in the e-commerce system. Any changes made in ERP that affects prices and discounts are available in Storefront AX instantly.

Display prices

Prices are displayed in two ways on the Storefront AX starter site; on a search result page, or on a category page where products are filtered from the product catalogue using the search engine. A recommended price from the search index is by default, displayed in the product list. It is the most common scenario for B2C-solutions.

With B2B price rules, the price must be displayed in all listings based on the logged in customer. The actual price is calculated and cached using a method that suits the solution being created. It is always customization that is specialized by the implementation partner. There is no caching in the default Storefront AX starter site, except for the Episerver caching.

The product detail page always displays the correct calculated price provided on demand by the Dynamics Commerce Runtime in both B2C and B2B solutions.

Discounts, offers and campaigns

A campaign is a collection of discounts and offers. A campaign is active during a specified period. An offer is a discount where the customer must perform some action to get the benefits of a discount. An example may be “Buy three and pay for two”. A discount may be valid during a date and period that is part of a campaign period or overlaps other campaigns. A price adjustment is a discount assigned to a group of products, like a category.

The discounts used in Dynamics AX 2012 R3 are:

• Simple discount. E.g. “Get 5% off any product in this category”.
• Threshold discount. A discount applied to the sales order depending on the order value of the cart. E.g. “Buy at for least 100 and get 5% off”.
• Quantity discount. A discount applied to the sales order depending on the quantity of one or more items. E.g. “Buy 1-100 and get 2% off. Buy 101-200 and get 5% off”.
• Mix and match discount. Ruled based offers that are very flexible. E.g. “Buy at least 3 of the following products and get 10% off any of these products”.
• Price Adjustment. Price adjustment is an adjustment that is applied before any discount is calculated.

All discounts created in Dynamics ERP are supported since Storefront AX uses the Dynamics business logic. Discounts are assigned to a price group and the online retail channels that the price groups are assigned to support the discounts. The price groups are used with trade agreements and may be assigned to catalogs and channels. All price rules used in Dynamics AX 2012 R3 retail module are supported by Storefront AX.

Any configuration of concurrency and discount codes are supported by Storefront AX.

Any updates of discounts in Dynamics AX 2012 R2 are instantly available on the web shops. Discounts are not imported to Episerver. They are used by the Storefront AX starter site using Dynamics Commerce Runtime.