Think about the number of repetitive, order-driven tasks that you and your team have to spend time on each and every day. By creating custom, order-related rules, you can automate many of these routine processes and workflows and better use that time.
This is why Descartes Sellercloud has developed our order rule engine. With this feature, our omnichannel ecommerce platform becomes an even more powerful tool for streamlining and scaling your brand.
How an Order Rule Engine Works
In its simplest terms, a rule engine is a tool that uses a series of conditions that, when met, initiate defined actions. By combining a condition with a resulting action, you have a rule. If ‘X’ is true, then ‘Y’ happens. If ‘X’ is false, ‘Y’ does not happen.
For instance, you could set a condition for orders of a specific weight range and pair it with an action like creating a shipping label using a specific shipping service. Orders of a specific weight will trigger the rule; orders that do not match the specified weight will not.
While you probably can already imagine how singular if/then statements could be used to automate any number of your ecommerce routines, there is additional power to unlock.
Rather than relying on a singular condition to define a rule, multiple conditions can be combined. You can set actions that execute only when an entire list of conditions are met, or you can create actions that trigger when one or more of a set of conditions are met. For instance, you could create a rule that automatically fulfills orders of a specific SKU from specific marketplaces from a specific warehouse or 3PL partner.
By layering multiple conditions and actions, you can create specific use cases to automate and optimize your order-related workflows. A rule engine allows protocols to be carried out with less chance of human error and without the additional time and cost associated with manual alternatives.
Examples of Order Rule Engine Use Cases
Once you grasp the available conditions and actions in a rule engine, the only limits on its power are your imagination and ingenuity. Descartes Sellercloud’s order rule engine feature is designed to empower ecommerce businesses with the ability to drive efficiency and simplify their workflow.
Order rules can be created for any order, whether created manually or imported from an external sales channel. Only you know the automations that would have the greatest impact on your order-fulfillment processes, but there are some use cases that would be applicable to many omnichannel sellers:
Handle Local Store and Website Orders Differently than Marketplace Orders
When orders are placed via a third-party channel like Amazon or Walmart, very specific terms govern the fulfillment process—especially when orders are fulfilled by a merchant. However, when selling from your own store (physically or online), you have more freedom. It is possible to create actions to vary shipping carriers specifically for your in-house orders.
Direct Orders to the Most Cost-Effective Shipping Options
By creating conditions related to total units, shipping weight, product type, order value, or other defining characteristics, you can create actions that automatically assign specific products and orders to specific shipping providers.
Create Dropship Orders Based on Specific Conditions
Descartes Sellercloud’s order rule engine allows you to create rules that dictate which orders get fulfilled through dropshipping based on channel, product, and more.
Flag Orders with Unknown SKUs
A rule can be created to detect an order that comes through with a SKU that isn’t recognized. From there, actions can be assigned to prevent it from being processed and mark it for further review.
Apply Actions to Orders That Correspond to a Saved Set of Filters
In Descartes Sellercoud’s Delta UI, users can create a Saved View with customized search filters from within the Manage Orders and other related search pages. The order rule engine allows you to use an Order Saved View as a condition and apply actions accordingly.
Automatically Add Orders to Groups
Create a rule, and if an order meets its specific set of conditions, it can automatically be categorized and labeled as part of a named order group.
Execute a Post Order Plugin Action
This powerful feature allows users to set a condition or series of conditions that, if met, initiate one of the hundreds of post-order plugins already integrated into the Descartes Sellercloud ecommerce platform. This advances the order rule engine to a new level, empowering users with an even greater pool of logic and actions that can be applied to orders automatically.
Creating effective rules is just the beginning. With Descartes Sellercloud’s order rule engine, you can create, start, pause, and delete any of your rules with the click of a button. Furthermore, you can monitor which rules have been carried out. The rule engine execution log can be filtered by Rule ID, OrderID, and more. The result is efficiency you can see.
Contact us directly for a free demo and see how Descartes Sellercloud’s order rule engine uses the power of automation to immediately cut down on the wasted time and unnecessary costs associated with your routine order fulfillment tasks.
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