SPPC - Allowng Customer to Choose Their Group in "Create Account"

[cindyt2009]

Hi,

Is there a way to have the CUSTOMER choose their category (retail, whlesale, distributor, etc) when they create an account instead of everyone automatically being put in the "retail" category and the admin having to change it?

Reasoning: people buy online at all hours of the day...thus a customer may not buy if they only prices they see are retail where the ordering quantity is pieces and the wholesale pricing is in half dozens and they have to wait for someone to change their status. What if the admin is on the west coast and the buyer is in Europe or Australia, etc.? A sales could be lost or more could be gained if this was an option in "create an account".

Is this something do-able? Can someone point in the direction on how I go about this mod?

Thanks in advance,
Cindy

[met00]

Okay, you put up a store. I go into your store and add stuff to my cart and have $500 worth of product in my cart. I go to checkout and create an account. When I get there I see I can say I'm retail, wholesale, a distributor, etc.I choose wholesale. I finish submitting and see that my price in the cart has dropped from $500 to $425. I can create an account and get lower rates. Why would I ever buy retail from you?

[ridexbuilder]

Now that's not a very professional way to respond, Met00. Are you inferring that the Opening Post hasn't been thought through, or at all?
Be careful you may get chastised!

[met00]

No, I'm suggesting that what has been proposed is a way to allow customers to "game the system" and that while it may seem to be a good idea to shove some administrative work off on to the customer rather than being responsible for doing it themselves, the downside is that it allows the system to be gamed as well as creating a much greater administrative headache at a later time (as well as the associated loss of revenue/margins).

A possible better idea is to have a place in the create account that says...

"Attention wholesalers an distributors, please continue to create your account , but do NOT checkout yet. We offer wholesale and distributor pricing, but we have to set your account properly to establish it, so once you create your account, please use the <link target=_new>Contact Us</link> page to let us know that you have established an account and we will place you into the correct pricing group within 1 business day so you can complete your transaction at the correct pricing. Thank you for your patience and we look forward to serving you."

Now you capture the cart (since they have an account) and they send you a message and you can change their group and then contact them and advise them that the cart is ready for checkout.

[now Ridex, stop attempting to start aflame war :-0 ]

[ridexbuilder]

Of course. (Excluding speeling mistooks.) You didn't recognise the tongue firmly in cheek then.

[cindyt2009]

Thank for the "clever & funny" responses. I curently have a store where buyers have to choose to go to the retail or wholesale stores. To date - after 5+ years, we rarely have that problem BECAUSE individuals only want to be 1 piece where a wholesaler HAS to be in minimum piece counts of 6.

I am guessing here the answer is no. Thanks for the banter. : )

[met00]

Right, I have nothing better to at 2 in the morning than sit here and put down "clever & funny" responses. In fact I live for that.

[cindyt2009]

Right, I have nothing better to at 2 in the morning than sit here and put down "clever & funny" responses. In fact I live for that.

I can promise you that you will NEVER have to do it again for any inquiry from me. You and ridexbuilder are two of the most unprofessional people I have ever worked with. Forums are for HELPING PEOPLE. The people who use these forums have usually researched their problems - even tried to figure out themselves and because YOU do not understand their business or their reasoning behind what they wish to do, you come back with comments like yours.

Be happy - you have run me off from using this program. I may not be a "team developer" but I am/was a contributor - both money and to the forum when I could - when I had something "useful" to say - unlike you who simply choose to offer rude and useless and snide comments. It's a shame - it is a great program but I would gladly give up a "great" program than to have to cringe everytime I ask a question in the forum - which isn't often, and hope neither you nor ridexbuilder answers because it is always rude, unprofessional and not helpful. It is not only to me. Perhaps you should review some of the stuff you write when people who are not as saavy as you are - it is not always nice nor helpful.

Look up the word forum in the dictionary. Forums are to help people - regardless to their experience level because you want them to use your product - to spread the word - even vote for it. With contributors like you, why would anyone want to use this software???
I don't.

Cindy

[ridexbuilder]

Shut the door on your way out.

[met00]

Well excuse me! I am just dripping with sorrow right now. YOU have a business process YOU understand. I saw the question you posted and pointed out, from a business process standpoint, that such a change MIGHT allow people to game the shopping cart and therefore cost the store owner margin. Since you didn't describe your business process as different from a standard store, I considered my post to be helpful in pointing out a business process flaw that you (or anyone else) might want to consider before implementing the code as you suggested you wanted to.

Ridex saw the same business process flaw in the post and made a remark on it as well. I then responded with a clarification to ensure that there was no confusion. Ridex responded that he agreed. The you came back and did two things. First you clarified your business process to explain WHY the business process concern I had raised was NOT one that would affect you, and second you made a snarky remark on the "help" you were provided. I snarked back at you with dripping sarcasm.

Then you went totally insane and pointed out that Ridex and I are not helpful. That we are "two of the most unprofessional people I have ever worked with". Let's cover this simply. We don't work with you. We help you for free. I get nothing from you, yet every time you use recover carts you are using software I designed and developed and get no compensation for. Much as when you use osCmax you are getting software that has several thousand manhours worth of effort put into it by Michael, Ridex, PGM, JohnW, Mflee a few others and myself, and we get no compensation for it.

Now, here's what you do.
1) edit your create user template so that it picks up all your groups and presents them in a dropdown (or if you prefer, radio buttons)
2) go to the admin and find the code where it sets the group for the customer in the database
3) copy that code to the create user database code in the catalog

It's about 30 minutes of PHP coding, maybe less, and 10 minutes of testing. And if you couldn't have figured out how to solve this challenge yourself, then odds are you don't have the skills necessary to do the work. If you were expecting someone to do the code for you, then may I suggest that you post in getafreelancer and not in the forums.

Now, if you feel a need to leave this community, I'm sure Michael will miss the donations you may have made in the future, but as Ridex said,

Shut the door on your way out.

If you want to see a nice way to deal with Ridex, look at how Cabana did it in the thread where he is looking to ensure that 2.5 has the latest upgrades to the fedex module. If you want to have help from me, you should make your requirements clear and NOT take anything personal. The requirement you initially stated had a big flaw in the business process, I obviously thought I was helping when I pointed it out. If there is anyone who seems to need an attitude adjustment in this thread, it's you.