------------ Release Update 18.02.15h DB Version 161 ----------------

EDI

• EDI Backorder codes “B” and “Z” have been added to the Send Order screen.
• Code “B” is defined by Pubnet as Backorder only if New.
• Code “Z” is a Penguin Random House specific code for Backorder Hot and Not Yet Published (NYP) titles only.

Front List / PO Import

• The publisher code field was added to the import mapping field list.
• When adding a new product, the publisher and vendor fields can now be different.
• Previous releases forced the publisher to be the same as the vendor.
• [i]merchant will use the Import_PubCode field for the publisher.
• The Import_PubCode field must be a valid [i]merchant Vendor Short Name.
• If [i]merchant does not find a valid publisher, the publisher will be set to the same value as the vendor.

Receiving / Receiving Summary Reports

• Order and received margin columns were added to the report.

Receiving Summary Report

• A version of the receiving report allowing the user to summarize receiving information based on the fields selected.
• Instead of showing product level detail, this report add together tot amounts based on the fields selected for the report.
• This report can be used to get a total order and received for a vendor, or group of like products.

Transfers

• When creating a transfer PO, the transfer quantity will be adjusted so the on hand in the sending store is not exceeded.

 Po Finders

• A PO Number ending option has been added to the search forms that find by PO number.

Advanced Finders

• An “Ends with” option has been added to the list of operators.

Finders

• A “Select All” option was added to the edit menu.
• Control-A key can be used as a shortcut for the select all option.

POS Transaction Finders

• The “Txn Date” fields have been renamed “Sale Date” to be consistent with the other POS reports and inquiries.
• A “Sale Date” has been added to the field selection list making it easier to select a single sale date. Previously the “Txn From” and “Txn To” fields were needed.

System Options

• The POS tab has a check box option to display a message if a customer previously purchased the same product.
• POS checks for the product against all stores and items.
• The previous sale date information is displayed on the product detail area on the top of the form.

POS

• A check was added to prevent a sale from accepting an A/R payment and using the same A/R account in a single sale.
• Behavior of the Not On File prompt has changed.
• The user must click on a button or press enter to move from the NOF prompt.
• In previous releases, if the cashier did not check the screen, scanning the next product accepted the screen.

Vendor Policy

• The quantity column can now be used in a product type, or binding type discount schedule.
• Existing entries will assume a quantity of 1

Purchasing Agent

• The vendor minimum requirement check was changed.
• Previous versions set the Meet Minimum false when the vendor minimum quantity and minimum dollars were set to zero.

Main Menu

• Help now links to new site.
• The help menu has a link for the legacy document as well.
• The Imerchant error log can now be sent to Computac via ftp.
• SaaS users can now use the interface web links for Above the Tree Line, IndieCommerce, and Twilio.

Cost Profit Summary Report

A new report was added to the Reports, Reports. Sales Analysis menu, Cost Profit Summary.

• This report summarizes the cost profit information into a single row based on the product fields selected.
• The report is similar to the cost profit report, running in “totals only” mode.
• This report will be significantly faster than the corresponding Cost Profit report run with the totals only option.
• Use this report when you are looking for totals based on some product information such as Accounting Category, Department Category, Store or any other product field.
• Each row of the report will be the summed values of the product fields selected.

Customer Orders

The Total due amount did not include shipping charges.

POS / Customer Order Deposit

The total order amount used to calculate the deposit did not include sales tax.

POS

The Price evaluation rules for an EAN barcode with the price add-on have been updated to the BISAC standard. These changes allow the EAN price add-on to encode prices from $100.00 to $499.99.

General – New Search fields

Three new search fields have been added to the system, Product Query, Product Item Query, and Customer Query.

Searching with these fields are similar to using the corresponding Product List, Product Item List and Customer List fields. The queries, unlike the lists, are dynamic since they are evaluated when executed.

• The queries, unlike the lists, are dynamic since they are evaluated when executed.
• Queries are selected, created, and edited when needed. Lists must be created and saved before they can be used.

Text Message Interface

Texting has been added to [i]merchant using a third party product called Twilio. The Twilio product provides the telephony tools needed to send and receive text messages from the [i]merchant application. The initial integration within [i]merchant supports outgoing text messages, to customers.

A subscription to Twilio is required to use this interface. The subscription provides an account ID and Access Token which is required by [i]merchant. Each user account also has at least one Twilio phone number which is used for texting. The account credentials and phone information will be entered into [i]merchant to enable the Twilio interface.

The Twilio web site for information and sign up is available via the [i]merchant interface menu. Interfaces > Twilio, Login/ Sign up, or from the Tools, Options general tab.

Before sending a message, [i]merchant will validate the customer contact method settings to make sure text messages are allowed. If allowed, the message will be sent to the mobile phone that is on file for the customer.

Text messages can be entered and sent to customers from the [i]merchant locations listed below.

• Customer Finder
• Customer Order Finder.
• POS finders
• The customer context menu.
• This is the menu you see when right clicking in a grid that contains customer.
• The Interfaces > Twilio menu has options to send a message to any phone number, a specific customer, or to customers on a customer list.

System Options

• The General tab has fields for enabling and entering the Twilio account and phone number information.

Store Properties / Texting

• A Twilio phone number has been added to the General tab of store properties.
• If a store specific phone number is not configured, [i]merchant will use the Twilio default phone number in the Twilio setup section of system options.
• A new field has been added to the bottom of the text message form showing the showing the store that will be used when sending the message.
• When sending customer order notifications, [i]merchant will use the phone associated with the store that took the customer order.

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Customer Properties

• The Mobile phone number on the customer’s primary address is the phone number used when texting from [i]merchant.
• Empty or invalid phone numbers are ignored.
• A send Text Message tool bar button was added.
• A Contact Method field was added.
• Since the customer screen is user designed, the field must be added to the design by the user in order to see and use the field.
• The settings are Any, Never, Email Only, and Text Only.
• New customers are set to “Any”.
• Customers on file have been set to “Any” when the release was installed.
• The field is used as a filter for selecting customers.

Customer Order Properties

• The header page has two new fields, Preferred Notification Method, and a Text Phone number.
• When adding a new customer order the Preferred Notification Delivery method will default based on the customer contact method value of the customer.
• Never = None
• Email Only = Email
• Text Only = Text
• Any  = Telephone
• The Preferred delivery method is used to select the orders when creating notices.
• The text phone field is the phone number [i]merchant will use when texting order notifications.
• [i]merchant defaults the customer’s mobile phone number on new orders.
• If a different number should be used for the notice override the default.
• Erase the phone number or change the preferred delivery method if a text should not be sent.

Customer Order Notifications

• The Notification Method selected on the form is used to create notices. The Preferred Notification Method entered on the customer order should be used to select qualifying orders.
• Text notifications are sent to the text phone number entered on the customer order. If the phone number is empty or not valid, the notice will not be sent.
• The customer contact method associated with the customer is not checked when creating notices. The customer order will have defaulted correctly based on the customer preferences. 

Globally edit customer

• Options to globally edit customers with and without review have been added to the global edit menu.

Physical Inventory

• The initial physical inventory selection form does not include the old completed inventories.
• A Cancel Inventory option was added to the Manage Physical Inventory process screen.
• Use this option to remove an inventory that was started, but never completed. Probably a test inventory.
• Canceling does not update any inventory records. Items that were counted and imported will be retained in case the inventory is restored.
• The inventory status must be Open or Verified in order to cancel an inventory.
• Once the update process has been started the inventory cannot be canceled.
• A canceled inventory can be restored from the Manage Physical Inventory Process screen.
• The status will be reset to Open when the inventory is restored.
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Sales Analysis / Cost Profit Reports

There has been some confusion as to how [i]merchant gathers together the information when the selected dates span multiple periods. Day, week or month.

The results depend on the “Show each period as a separate line.” check box as described below.

As an example assume the period is set to month with a start date of January 1 and an end date is March 31.

When checked:

• The periods remain separate and will print as distinct lines on the report.
• The report will show three lines for each product, January, February and March.

When unchecked:

• The report will show one line representing the entire period.
• The quantity and amount fields are added together to form a single line for the report.

A confirmation message has been added to remind the user when multiple periods have been selected, and the “Show each period as a separate line.” box has not been checked.

Vendor Mapping

             

A vendor mapping tool has been added to [i]merchant which allows [i]merchant to default the vendor and publisher/manufacturer fields for new products. The mapping defaults are used when an explicit vendor or publisher/manufacture has not already been set. For example, if a vendor or publisher/manufacturer is available via the front list import, the mapping is not used.

The vendor map can be based on the beginning portion of the product number, or the beginning portion of the vendor name extracted from Venstock. The Vendor Mapping Finder and Property forms are available within Vendor properties, and on the Product tab of system options (Tools, Options, Product tab).

• Enter the beginning portion of a product number or vendor code to be compared.
• [i]merchant will match on as many characters as possible.
• The “Match By” setting tells [i]merchant which field, Product Number or Venstock Vendor, should be compared.
• A minimum of 3 character must be entered for a match.
• Product numbers that are ISBNs, beginning with 978 or 979, must be at least 5 characters long.

 

System Options

 

• A check box was added to the product table to enable or disable updating of the product create date.
• A check box to enable or disable Above the Tree Line was added to the Above the Tree Line tab. previously this was a Computac administration setting.

• Fields on the account information tab that correspond to importing or defaulting product information have been moved to the product tab.
• The Product tab has been modified so it contains all the system wide settings used when adding a new product.
• A Vendor Mapping button and Priority setting are new to product defaults.
• The Vendor Mapping button shows the existing mappings and allows the user to maintain the entries.
• The priority drop down list tells [i]merchant which method of comparing should be used first, Product or Vendor. If a match is not found using the first method, the opposite method is then tested.
• [i]merchant will use the first matching entry it finds.

Product Context Menu

             

• The Link to Web site option has been modified so that multiple sites can be listed.
• Sites are defined under Tools, Options. Use the “Product Web Links” button to define the sites.
• A separate menu column has been added to the context menu for the sites.
• The current product link site is transferred to the web link list as “Link to Website”. This name can be changed to a more meaningful name.

Rewards

             

• Configuration options for the reward parameter have been added which alter how the reward behaves.
• The reward type field controls the reward program behavior. The settings are:
• Multiple Premiums Allowed.
• Single premium when earnings met.
• Membership Only.

Program Behaviors

Multiple Premiums Allowed:

• This is the standard / legacy reward program behavior.
•  A customer can be associated with multiple reward programs.
• When a customer has multiple programs, POS will review the quantifying rules for each program in the order they appear on the Customer Reward Properties screen. Credit is assigned to the first program which the product qualifies.
• POS issues the reward premium once the requirements are met. If there are extra qualifying items in the sale, the unused items are credited towards the next reward.
• These programs can be associated with a membership.

Single Premium when earnings met:

• The Single premium program is exclusive. A customer cannot belong to other reward programs.
• Qualifying items are credited and retained for the customer until the reward requirements are met.
• Once the reward requirements are met, POS will issue the reward and reset the earnings.
• Any extra qualifying items are not carried forward toward the next reward.
• Using a percentage of the sale amount allows credit for all qualifying items.
• Only one reward will be issued per sale.
• This program can be associated with a membership.
• This type of program works well for a community “give back” donation program.

Membership Only:

• The Membership Only program is exclusive. A customer cannot belong to other reward programs.
• Reward premiums are not earned under this type of program. Only the membership dates and discount features are allowed.

POS

             

• An option to “round up” a sale amount for a donation drive has been added to the system.
• The POS Option tab of Store properties has a setting to accept a donation service.
• Register Properties has a check box that enables or disables the option for the particular register.
• When the store service and register options are enabled, POS gives the cashier the choice of rounding the sale up to the next dollar amount. If accepted, the amount is added to the service to round out the sale total.
• POS will only display the round up prompt once.
• The amount is calculated when the prompt is accepted. If the cashier cancels the tender and modifies the sale the amount is not recalculated or offered again.
• The donation service is not carried over to a suspended sale. The donation offer will be presented on the restored sale.

Transfers

             

• Label settings have been added to the form so that a label can be batched or printed when using the immediate transfer option.
• The label settings are ignored when scheduling a transfer.

             

• A New Item button was added to the tool bar.

General

             

When applying a database update, [i]merchant will look to see if there are any offline POS servers defined in the system. If a POS server is found, a remainder message is displayed on the progress screen telling the uer that the servers also need to be updated.

POS / Customer Orders

             

• A customer order specific invoice option has been added to the system. This invoice form will include the quantity still on order for the customer order prior to this sale, the quantity shipped (sold) on this invoice, the quantity remaining after this sale and complete code for the product, O, open or C, complete.
• [i]merchant keeps the customer order quantities and status per POS invoice so a historical invoice can be reprinted.
• The customer order invoice can be printed from several locations if the sale includes a customer order.
• A system option allows the default invoice of POS to be the customer order invoice when the sale includes a customer order.
• The end of sale menu in POS will have a Customer Order invoice option,
• The POS review form can reprint the customer order invoice.
• The customer order number, and order type from the first customer order print on the invoice header section.

 Customer Orders

             

• The customer order header tab allows the default address attention/contact line of the selected address to be overridden with an order specific attention/contact line.

Customer Order form report

             

• A Total of Discounts field was added to the report header and footer pallets.
• The discount total assumes all items in the order are filled.

System Options

             

• The POS tab has a check box that allows POS to select the customer order invoice automatically when a sale has a customer order.
• The Options Customer Order tab has a check box to import printable notes into the sale.

 

Buying Manager

• The PO quantity column was incorrectly using the original PO quantity ordered not the quantity remaining on the PO.
• This incorrect quantity was also being used in the Auto Buy calculation.

Reports

• The Product designer pallet field list includes both the original PO ordered quantity and the remaining quantity on the PO.
• The description for the Original PO quantity has been changed from “Total Pending POs” to “Total PO Qty Ordered”.

Customer Orders / POS

• The Ship To and Contact address selection form has a button which allows a different customer to be selected for picking an address.
• The alternate customer address will carry over to POS.
• The same address selection feature is available via the POS shipping form.

• The customer order notes can be imported into POS as a comment to the sale.
• The system Options Customer Order tab has a check box to enable this feature.
• When importing notes, only notes with the Pint/Export box checked are imported.
• Customer order notes and the customer order product notes for the products included in the sale are imported.

Receiving

• The report menu on the receiving screen now include a quick report and PO form option.

 

Customer Reports

• The barcode text for a customer or customer order did not include the [i]merchant identification characters, “CID” or “CO”.
• These have been added for an accurate representation of the barcode information.

 

Finders

• The F12 key has been added to the shortcut keys that can close the form.

Sales

• Ten user definable sales periods have been added to [i]merchant. These can be added to reports, grids, screens, and product searches
• The sales periods can be configured under Tools, Administration, Designers, Custom Sales Periods.
• A custom sales period must be added to a product property screen for it to be visible in the system.
• Sales are accumulated from the weekly or monthly sales analysis information within [i]merchant.
• Sales are accumulated dynamically looking back from the current date.
• The starting Periods Back field tells [i]merchant the first period to use in the calculation.
• The Ending Period Back indicates the last period to include.
• Each custom sales period contains the following fields:
• Caption – the field name displayed in [i]merchant.
• Short Caption – shortened version of the caption.
• Period – Toggle between week or month sales.
• Starting Periods Back – The number of weeks or months from current that will be used as the starting sales date.
• Ending Period Back – The number of weeks or months from current that will be used as the ending week or month.
• Sales are calculated dynamically by [i]merchant. Performance will vary based on the number of periods needed to accumulate and the number of custom sales fields added to a screen or report.

 

Email Settings

• Additional fields have been added to the Tools > Parameters > Email Settings.
• The additional fields are needed to access email servers outside of the local system domain.
• Helpful notes if you are using Google Gmail:
• SMTP server =  smtp.gmail.com
• Port = 587
• Use SSL = true (Checked)
• You will need to enable less secure Apps.
• Link to google help on configuring an app for SMTP : https://support.google.com/a/answer/176600?hl=en

Add/Receive PO

• A list of the items received in the current session is not displayed on the lower portion of the screen.
• The product selection area has been shortened to provide space for the receiving items.
• The Order Cost on the PO was not being filled when adding a new product.
• When adding a new product using the “All Stores” option, the incorrect product item was placed on the PO.

Product Adjustments

• The reason code setting for product adjustments can now be set to require selecting a reason from the adjustment reason parameter list.
• The setting is available under Tools, Options, on the Product tab.
• The adjustment reason setting has been changed from a check box to a drop down list.

POS

The behavior of selling a quantity of balance cards coded as “Must Scan” has changed.

• Selling the initial card remains the same: Enter the card value and name to be placed on the account, then scan the balance card.
• If the quantity is changed, a screen will pop up where the cards to be sold can be scanned. Scan each card to be sold and [i]merchant will automatically close when the correct number of cards have been scanned.
• If the card numbers are in sequence, there is a check box on the bottom of the screen which will add the sequential card numbers to the list. The populated list does not close automatically.
• The Accept button will validate and accept the cards entered.
• The Cancel button returns to the sale without making the quantity change.
• If a card needs to be removed from the list, select the card and press the delete key on the keyboard.
• Cards should be scanned to insure the barcode is accurate and readable. Card numbers can be manually entered if necessary by using the F10 key.

POS

• The account numbers were not printing properly when selling a balance card with a quantity.

On Demand Books – Primary search option

• The system can be configured so that the product finder always begins with a Books On demand search.
• A default system setting is located under, Tools, Options, on the Account Information tab.
• A check box to in the On Demand Book section controls the default behavior.
•  When checked the option is enabled.
• Changes to this setting requires users to log out and back into [i]merchant.
• Users can select Tools, Customize to override the default behavior by clicking on the radio button in the Primary Product Search section.
• This section is only available when the ODB interface is enabled.
• The “Uses System Option Setting” uses the setting saved under Tools, Options.
• When enabled, selecting the Product find option from the main menu toolbar will first display the On Demand Book Screen. A Product Find button was added to the ODB search which calls up the [i]merchant product finder.
• The ODB primary search is not used when using the find product option is part of another [i]merchant function such as POS, Buying, Customer Orders, etc.

Customer Properties

• A customer sales window was added to the Customer history menu.
• A Customer history tool bar button was added.

Customer Screen Designer

• A customer sales control was added to the pallet.
• This control will automatically call up the customer sales information.
• A customer notes control was added to the pallet.

On Hand Adjustment / Used Receiving

• On Hand adjustment was not working properly.
• Multiple entries were being made and tagged as used receiving entries.

Customer Sales Report / Extract

• A customer sales report and extract was added to the customer report menu.
• The report can display all the customer information as well as POS net sales.
• Sales are available for this year and last year by month or for the year.

POS

• Scanning has been disabled when tendering cash, checks, simple or foreign exchange, tenders.
• Previously scanning on these screens would accept the barcode as an amount.

Add/Receive PO

• A new method of adding a PO and Receiving the items in one step has been added to the Purchasing and Receiving menus. The process is call Add/Receive PO.
• When started, the user is prompted for a PO. A new PO can be created, or an existing PO selected.
• The program assumes products are not already on the PO. If the product is already on the PO the user is given the option to launch detail receiving to add or adjust the existing PO entry.
• The user can find existing items to be received, add new items for existing products or add new products.
• A default receiving quantity of 1 is assumed, but can be changed by the user.
• Received items are added to inventory, checked for customer orders, and labels created.
• A security setting is available to control access to Add/Receive PO.
• A column designer is available for Add/Receive PO.

Product properties

• A Save As and add to all stores option was added to the file menu.
• When selected the product will be saved and added to all the stores if the user is permitted.
• The original product remains on the product properties screen. Any changes made after the Save As is selected only apply to the item on the screen.

Product Sales Report

• The product sales report located under Reports, Inventory Status. Product Sales Report was renamed “Product Sales Summary.
• This report was added to the POS reports menu.