Restrictions

Welcome

In this module, you will learn how to manage and set restrictions on product visibility and purchase options for specific customers within Configure Commerce.

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Understand what a restriction is and how it is used
• Implement customer-specific restrictions
• Set up product-specific restrictions

Why use Restrictions?

Restriction groups can be thought of as "exception groups"; they are assigned to customers to provide an exception for the way products are generally viewed and purchased. Use restriction groups to prevent or allow website users to view and purchase specific products. Customers and products may belong to multiple restriction groups.

How do I benefit from Restrictions?

Let's say you have a new line of products that you want to add to your site. The product vendor for the new line has some pre-existing agreements with other distributors and wants to be sure that their products are only made available to customers in three specific states. With restrictions, you can designate the three states so that the new product line only shows up for customers in those three states.

Here's how these features benefit different roles:

• Merchandiser: As a merchandiser, you can create a promotion that's only offered to customers who are in specific areas. If the promotion reaches a specific sales goal, offer another promotion to the same restriction group to show appreciation. You can also use restrictions to ensure that only specific customers can see an entire site.
• Researcher/Buyer: With restriction groups in place, you can be sure that you are only considering products that are available and appropriate. You'll also have access to products that have been made available specifically to your organization.

Restrict sites by customer

You can create a website that is restricted to specific customers. When a user signs in to the Configured Commerce website and is given the option to choose their customer or Ship To, only the customers and associated Ship To's that are allowed website access are displayed as options in the drop-downs.

Marking a website as Restricted in the Admin Console makes the website restricted globally. Then, assign the website to each customer that can access the restricted website.

Visit the link below to see how to restrict sites by customer in Optimizely Configured Commerce.

Restrict groups by product

You can also restrict products to specific customer groups. This could be used to allow access to a custom line of products that are only offered to a specific customer group.

Visit the link below to see how to restrict groups by product in Optimizely Configured Commerce.

Assign customer products

You can create customer or product associations within the Admin Console. Visit the link below to see how to assign customer products to a customer in Optimizely Configured Commerce.

Try it

It’s time to play in the Configured Commerce sandbox!

The following practice exercises take place in the Knowledge & Learning training site. Before jumping in, please log in to the Training site using the following credentials:

• Username: TrainingUser
• Password: Opticon1!#

After logging in, do the following:

1. Restrict sites by customer
2. Restrict products to specific customer groups
3. Assign customer products to a customer

Wrap up

Congratulations! You have completed the Restrictions module. You should now be able to:

• Understand what a restriction is and how it is used
• Implement customer-specific restrictions
• Set up product-specific restrictions

Learn more

While we covered a lot, there's always more to learn about restrictions and how to work with them!

Check out the below link for an up-to-date collection of helpful guides and technical documentation.