Orax SDI Cloud Reference

Online Sales and Point of Sale

Once you're ready to sell products or services on the Orax SDI system, you may optionally choose to make use of the built in Point-of-Sales module or online eCommerce using the Web Shopping Catalogue.

Both the Point-of-Sale module and Online Shopping module makes direct use of the Inventory and creates sales quotation, orders and invoices as needed for automated self-help sales direct to the customer, external sales agent or shopping assistant.

Using these modules will in many cases require that you upload pictures and more information to your inventory items to allow customers to see and understand better what they are buying. All of these sales aids are added to your standard inventory to make administration and maintenance simple.

One of the biggest advantages of using the POS (Point of Sale) or eCommerce (Online Shopping) modules is that they are completely integrated with your normal sales processes. An online sale creates a Sales Order in the system that has to be fulfilled like any other sales order. You no longer need to maintain different systems to ensure the inventory and sales on an external shopping or POS system is integrated with your Orax SDI backend system.

Please note that both of these modules require additional licensing and configuration charges. A Point-of-Sale system may also require additional hardware. In most cases the POS system will run on a PC with a USB connected barcode scanner and a supported Epson slip printer. For more detail see below.


Sales Options & Shop Variations
Both the POS and Online Shop allow for "Sales options", configured on the inventory item. Sales options are also available in the normal Orax SDI sales documents. In addition the Online Shop allows for item "grouping variations" (like size and colour) to be incorporated into your inventory by using Product Code and Title semantics that allow the system to link items together in the shop. If you for instance sell a product in 3 colours and 3 sizes, each as it own item in the inventory (9 items), you can link them together by using a product code that tells the system they are variations of each other. You also need to ensure that your item names follow a fixed semantic so the system can derive the variations from the names. In the online list catalogue, each of the items will be listed, but when one of them is clicked to display more detail, the variations (derived from the code and name semantics) will be displayed on the item for quick selection by a person.

To create a linked product variation group, use the following example as a starting point and add a "Group by Code" Sales option for one of the items (see more detail below):
CODE (Name)
M8B-BL-L (M8 Bracket Black Large)
M8B-SI-L (M8 Bracket Silver Large)
M8B-BL-M (M8 Bracket Black Medium)
M8B-SI-M (M8 Bracket Silver Medium)

Notice the dashes between the sections of the product code. The first section always need to be the same for all items in the group. You can add your first variation after the first dash and your second variation after the second dash. Notice that the names also keep the order of the variations (Eg. Common name, then colour variation, then size variation).

In your inventory these variations items will be distinct items that can be counted and manufactured as individual items. In the Online Shop, one of these items will display the variation links to the other items in the group.
Eg. Black Large, Silver Large, Black Medium, Silver Medium.

Experiment with variations before you decide on a way forward for your company. Many things should be considered when you decide between "Sales Options" and "Grouped Variations". Remember that sales are part of a fulfilment process that may have many checkpoints and manipulations in the process. You need to think through all of these steps and scenarios before you decide on an inventory sales strategy. Maintaining inventory is also important to consider. If you inventory is not properly maintained because it is too much work, your entire sales and fulfilment process will suffer.

A note on Sales options:
There are 3 types of sales options and you can only use one of these types per item.

The first option (Group different items by this part of the product code) is only used in the Online Shopping Modules. If you add this option to an item, you need to add the part of the Product Code that should be used to "group" several items together in the "Option name" field. See the tooltips on these fields for more detail. You also need to create other items with the same product code and title variation (see above) so they can be grouped together by their product codes.

The second option (Select only one of the options) will create a dropdown list of options that someone can select from. This means that only one of these options will be available as a sales option. You need to create several of these options individually on the same item.

The third option (Add any combination of the following options) provides a list of items that someone can select as an add-on for the product/service. You have to also add these options one by one to the item.

Sales options can create price adjustments. Experiment with these settings to find the right solution for your catalogue.


Point of Sale setup
The Point of Sale system requires a licensed user to log into the Orax SDI system with the required security privileges to launch the POS module and access any other functionality needed by the specific person. A user may need to lock their terminal during breaks to ensure the terminal is secure. Locking the screen is standard functionality in Orax SDI. Users may also make use of the Orax SDI smartphone app for quick and secure sign-in to the POS. It is best practice that each person have their own device (tablet or PC) to access the POS as this ensures security, auditing and effective processing of sales operations. When planning a Point of Sale installation keep in mind the physical workflow at the counter as well as the shifts and all other security considerations. It is very important to ensure security a your POS. The Orax SDI Point-of-Sale module allows a user to exit the POS screen to access other more advanced features, should they require it. This should also be carefully planned as managers may require access to more advanced features, whereas normal sales clerks not. Do not create security gaps in your system due to bad POS design or management. Should more than one user share a terminal, it is important that you consider how fast user switching will be performed to ensure that people are not wearied by tedious login-in/logout activities. There are options for this and you may need to consult Orax support before and during the implementation stage. Keep in mind that extensive testing and proof of concept validation is needed before you rollout the Orax SDI POS.


Online Shop setup
A new online web shop will require styling and web design to prepare the basic module for your specific branding look and feel. Orax support will be able to advise on this process. Styling is performed with CSS and JavaScript enhancements to the basic shopping content. Web Design and styling can be done by any experienced and skilled web designer/developer, but keep in mind that it is required that CSS and JavaScript files be created and maintained on the Orax SDI system. This means that a designer needs to have access to the required features via a user account on the Orax SDI system. They also need to have the Skills to manually code CSS and JavaScript as this is the best way to do it on the Orax SDI system. References to files (eg. CSS and JS) need to be coded as per the Orax SDI web links. Orax SDI has the ability to host web sites by creating HTML, CSS and JavaScript files in the Website module. This same module is used to enhance the online shopping website.

Online Shop domain
An online shop is accessed by a specific URL (address) like https://amazon.com. These addresses are created in an external service that also hosts the rest of your domain configuration. When you run an online shop via the Orax SDI system, you need to configure your external address (URL) to redirect to the system URL provide by Orax SDI for your shop (usually https://your-system.oraxsdi.com/shop). You can also point the domain directly to the Orax IP Address, but keep in mind that this can change without notice. There are several settings that can facilitate the behaviour of your Orax SDI URL and your web shop. You will need to consult with Orax Support to find the best combination for your situation and needs.