DocumentationAEM 6.4Administering Guide

Administering Generic eCommerce administering-generic-ecommerce

Last update: Wed May 03 2023 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

CREATED FOR:

  • Admin
CAUTION
AEM 6.4 has reached the end of extended support and this documentation is no longer updated. For further details, see our technical support periods. Find the supported versions here.

The AEM generic solution provides methods of managing the commerce information held within the repository (as opposed to using an external ecommerce engine). This includes:

NOTE
The standard AEM installation includes the generic AEM (JCR) eCommerce implementation.
This is currently intended for demonstration purposes, or as the basic foundation for a custom implementation according to your requirements.

Products and Product Variations products-and-product-variations

NOTE
The following procedures apply to both Products and Product Variations.

Before creating products you need to define a scaffold. This specifies the fields you need to define the products and how they are edited.

A scaffold is needed for each distinct product type. The appropriate scaffold is associated with the products by either:

  • path
  • the product can reference the scaffold
NOTE
The Geometrixx-Outdoors store has a single product type (and therefore a single scaffold):
/etc/scaffolding/geometrixx-outdoors
The Geometrixx-Outdoors product type is active on:
/etc/commerce/products/geometrixx-outdoors
You can create a new product definition anywhere under that without any additional setup.

Importing Products importing-products

Importing Products - Touch-optimized UI importing-products-touch-optimized-ui

  1. Navigate to the Products console, via Commerce.

  2. Using the Products console navigate to the required location.

  3. Use the Import Products icon to open the wizard.

  4. Specify:

    • Importer

      The importer for the specific commerce provider, by default Geometrixx.

    • Source

      The file you want imported; you can use the browser to select a file.

    • Incremental Import

      Indicate whether this is an incremental import (as opposed to full).

    note note
    NOTE
    The incremental import (of the sample geometrixx-outdoor importer) operates at the product level.
    A customized importer can be defined to operate as required.

  5. Select Next to import the products, a log of the actions taken will be shown.

    note note
    NOTE
    The products will be imported to, or relative to, the current location.
    note note
    NOTE
    Repeatedly using Next and Back will repeatedly import the product definitions. However, as they have the same SKUs the information existing in the repository will simply be overwritten.

  6. Select Done to close the wizard.

Importing Products - Classic UI importing-products-classic-ui

  1. Using the Tools console open the Commerce folder.

  2. Double-click to open the Product Importer:

    chlimage_1-54

  3. Specify:

    • Store Name

      Products will be imported to:

      /etc/commerce/products/<*store name*>/

    • Commerce Provider

      The importer for your commerce provider; by default Geometrixx.

    • Source File

      The location in the repository of the file you want imported.

    • Incremental Import

      Indicate whether this is an incremental import (as opposed to full).

  4. Click Import Products.

Creating Product Information creating-product-information

NOTE
The standard product management is basic, because the Geometrixx-Outdoors product set has been kept basic. The complexity is based on the product scaffolding, so with your own product scaffolding it is possible to achieve more sophisticated editing.

Creating Product Information - Touch-optimized UI creating-product-information-touch-optimized-ui

  1. Using the Products console (via Commerce) navigate to the required location.

  2. Use the Create icon to select either (depending on the structure and location):

    • Create Product
    • Create Product Variation

  3. The wizard will open. Use the Basic and Product Tabs to enter the product attributes for the new product or product variant.

    note note
    NOTE
    Title and SKU are the minimum required to create a product or variant.

  4. Select Create to save the information.

NOTE
Many products are offered in a range of colors and/or sizes. Information about the basic product and the related product variants can both be managed from the Products console.
Products and their variants are stored as a tree structure, the product information is at the top, with the variants underneath (this structure is enforced by the UI).

Editing Product Information editing-product-information

NOTE
Product images in geometrixx-outdoors are served from:
/etc/commerce/products/...
This means that, by default, they are blocked by the dispatcher, so configure as required.

Editing Product Information - Touch-optimized UI editing-product-information-touch-optimized-ui

  1. Using the Products console (via Commerce) navigate to your product information.

  2. Using either:

    Select the View Product Data icon:

  3. The product attributes will be shown. Use Edit and Done to make any changes.

Showing Product References showing-product-references

Showing Product References - Touch-optimized UI showing-product-references-touch-optimized-ui

  1. Using the Products console (via Commerce) navigate to your product information.

  2. Open the secondary rail for References with the icon:

  3. Select your required product - the secondary rail will update to show the reference types available:

    chlimage_1-326

  4. Click/tap on the reference type (e.g. Product Pages) to expand the list.

  5. Select a specific reference to show the options:

    • Navigate to Product Page
    • Edit Product Page

    chlimage_1-327

Search for Products search-for-products

  1. Navigate to the Products console, via Commerce.

  2. Open the secondary rail for Search with the icon:

  3. Several facets are available for you to search for products. You can use only one or several facets for a search. The products found will appear:

    chlimage_1-328

  4. Clicking/tapping a product opens it. You can also publish it or view the product data.

You can modify an existing facet or add new ones, using CRXDE Lite:

  1. Navigate to:

    http://localhost:4502/crx/de/index.jsp#/libs/commerce/gui/content/products/aside/items/search/items/searchpanel/facets

  2. You can modify for example the sizes that will appear on the product search page. Click the sizegroup node.

  3. Click items node, then click propertypredicate node.

  4. You can modify the propertyValues. For example you could add XS, or XXL, or remove a size.

  5. Click Save All and navigate to the products search page. Your changes should appear.

Multiple Assets multiple-assets

You can add multiple assets in the product component, then specify the asset that will appear on the product page.

NOTE
Everything related to multiple assets is done with the Touch-optimized UI.

Adding Multiple Assets adding-multiple-assets

  1. Navigate to the Products console, via Commerce.

  2. Using the Products console, navigate to the required product.

    note note
    NOTE
    You have to be at the product level, not at the variant level.

  3. Tap/click View Product Data icon with selection mode or quick actions.

  4. Tap/click Edit icon.

  5. Scroll to Add.

    chlimage_1-329

  6. Tap/click Add. A new asset placeholder appears.

  7. Tapping/clicking **Change **opens a dialog which allows you to choose an asset.

  8. Select the asset you want to add.

    note note
    NOTE
    The assets you can select are from Assets.

  9. Tap/click Done icon.

Two assets are now stored in your product component. You can configure which one will appear on the product page. This works with a category system. First you need to add a category to the individual assets:

  1. Tap/click View Product Data.

  2. Type an Asset Category under the assets, for example cat1 and cat2.

    note note
    NOTE
    You can also use tags for categories.

  3. Tap/click Done icon. You now have to rollout your changes.

Now your assets in the product component have a category. You can configure which category will be displayed at three different levels:

NOTE
If you do not set categories, the first asset will be displayed on the product page.

The mechanism to select the image to be displayed is as follows:

  1. Verifiy if a category is set for the Product Page.
  2. If not, verifiy if a category is set for the Catalog.
  3. If not, verify if a category is set for the Products Console.
NOTE
For both the Catalog level and the Products Console level, you have to rollout your changes to apply the modifications and to see the difference on the product page.

Product Page product-page

  1. Navigate to your product page.
  2. Edit the product component.
  3. Type the Image Category you chose ( cat1 for example).
  4. Tap/click Done. The page refreshes and the correct asset should be displayed.

Catalog catalog

  1. Navigate to your catalog.
  2. Tap/click View Properties.
  3. Tap/click Edit.
  4. Tap/click the Assets tab.
  5. Type the required Product Asset Category.
  6. Tap/click Done.
  7. Rollout your changes.

Products Console products-console

  1. Using the Products console, navigate to the required Product.
  2. Tap/click View Product Data.
  3. Tap/click Edit.
  4. Type a Default Asset Category.
  5. Tap/click Done.
  6. Rollout your changes.

Publishing/Unpublishing Product Information publishing-unpublishing-product-information

Publishing/Unpublishing Product Information - Touch-optimized UI publishing-unpublishing-product-information-touch-optimized-ui

NOTE
Often the product information is published through the pages that reference it. For instance, when publishing page X which references product Y, AEM will ask if you also want to publish product Y.
For special cases, AEM also supports publishing direct from the product data.

  1. Using the Products console (via Commerce) navigate to your product information.

  2. Using either:

    Select the Publish or Unpublish icon as required:

    The product information will be published or unpublished as appropriate.

Event Handler for Product Updates event-handler-for-product-updates

There is a Event Handler which logs an event when a product is added, modified or deleted and when a product page is added, modified or deleted. There are the following OSGi events:

  • com/adobe/cq/commerce/pim/PRODUCT_ADDED
  • com/adobe/cq/commerce/pim/PRODUCT_MODIFIED
  • com/adobe/cq/commerce/pim/PRODUCT_DELETED
  • com/adobe/cq/commerce/pim/PRODUCT_PAGE_ADDED
  • com/adobe/cq/commerce/pim/PRODUCT_PAGE_MODIFIED
  • com/adobe/cq/commerce/pim/PRODUCT_PAGE_DELETED

For the PRODUCT_* events, the path points to the base product in /etc/commerce/products. For the PRODUCT_PAGE_* events, the path points to the cq:Page node.

You can look at them in the Web Console in OSGI events ( /system/console/events), for example:

NOTE
Read also Event handling in AEM.

The Image with Add to Cart Links component allows you to quickly add a product to the cart by creating a hotspot linked with a product on an image.

Clicking the hotspot opens a dialog which let you choose the size and quantity of the product.

  1. Navigate to the page where you want to add the component.

  2. Drag and drop the component in the page.

  3. Drag and drop an image in the component from the assets browser.

  4. You can either:

    • click the component and then click Edit icon
    • make a slow double click

  5. Click the fullscreen icon.

    chlimage_1-330

  6. Click the Launch Map icon.

    chlimage_1-331

  7. Click one of the shape icons.

  8. Modify and move the shape as required.

  9. Click the shape.

  10. Clicking the browse icon opens the Asset selector.

    note note
    NOTE
    Alternatively, you can type directly the product path which has to be at the product level, not the variant level.

    chlimage_1-332

  11. Click the confirm icon twice then click exit fullscreen.

  12. Click somewhere on the page next to the component. The page should refresh and you should see the following symbol on your image:

  13. Switch to preview mode.

  14. Click the + hotspot. A dialog opens where you can choose the size and quantity of the product you entered in Path.

    chlimage_1-333

  15. Enter a size and a quantity.

  16. Click the Add to cart button. The dialog closes.

  17. Navigate to your cart. The product should be here.

Configuration Options configuration-options

You can configure how the dialog looks like when you click the hotspot:

  1. Click the component and click the configure icon.

    chlimage_1-334

  2. Scroll down. There is a ADD TO CART tab.

    chlimage_1-335

  3. Click ADD TO CART. There are 3 configuration options that you can use.

    chlimage_1-336

  4. Click the Done icon.

Catalogs catalogs

Generating a Catalog generating-a-catalog

Generating a Catalog - Touch-optimized UI generating-a-catalog-touch-optimized-ui

NOTE
The catalog will reference your Product Data.

To generate a Catalog:

  1. Open the Sites console (for example, http://localhost:4502/sites.html/content).

  2. Navigate to the location where you want to create the new page.

  3. To open the option list, use the Create icon:

  4. From the list select Create Catalog, the Create Catalog wizard will open.

    chlimage_1-337

  5. Navigate to the required Catalog Blueprint.

  6. Tap/click Select button and tap/click the required Catalog Blueprint.

  7. Tap/click Next.

    chlimage_1-338

  8. Type a Title and a Name.

  9. Tap/click the Create button. The catalog is created and a dialog opens.

    chlimage_1-339

  10. Tapping/clicking Done button brings you back to the Sites console where you’ll be able to see you catalog.

    Tapping/clicking Open Catalog button opens your catalog (for example http://localhost:4502/editor.html/content/test-catalog.html).

Generating a Catalog - Classic UI generating-a-catalog-classic-ui

NOTE
The catalog will reference your Product Data.

  1. Using the Websites console, navigate to your Catalog Blueprint, then the Base Catalog.

    For example:

    http://localhost:4502/siteadmin#/content/catalogs/geometrixx-outdoors/base-catalog

  2. Create a new page using the Section Blueprint template.

    For example, Swimwear.

  3. Open the new Swimwear page, then click Edit Blueprint to open the Properties dialog, where you can set up the Products selection.

    For example, open the Tags/Keywords field to select Activity, then Swimming from the Geometrixx-Outdoors section.

  4. Click OK to save your properties; example products will be shown under the Product Selection Criteria on the blueprint page.

  5. Click on Rollout Changes…, select Rollout page and all sub pages, then click Next then Rollout. Once the rollout is completed successfully the Status indicator will be shown as green.

  6. You can now click Close and check the new catalog section; for example, on and under:

    http://localhost:4502/cf#/content/geometrixx-outdoors/en/swimwear.html

  7. Again from the blueprints page click Edit Blueprint and in the Properties dialog open the Generated Page tab. In the Banner list field select the image you want to show; for example, summer.jpg

  8. Click OK to save your properties; banner information will be shown under the Product Selection Criteria on the blueprint page.

  9. Rollout these new changes.

Rolling Out a Catalog rolling-out-a-catalog

Rolling out a Catalog - Touch-optimized UI rolling-out-a-catalog-touch-optimized-ui

To rollout a catalog:

  1. Navigate to the Catalogs console, via Commerce.

  2. Navigate to the catalog you want to rollout.

  3. Using either:

    Select the Rollout Changes icon:

  4. In the wizard, set the rollout as needed and then tap/click Rollout Changes.

  5. A dialog opens. Tap/click **Done **when the process is finished.

Rolling out a Catalog - Classic UI rolling-out-a-catalog-classic-ui

To rollout a catalog:

  1. Navigate to the Catalog you want to rollout. For example:

    http://localhost:4502/cf#/content/catalogs/geometrixx-outdoors/base-catalog.html

  2. Click Rollout Changes…

  3. Set the rollout as needed.

  4. Click Rollout.

Blueprint Importer blueprint-importer

Blueprint Importer - Touch-optimized UI blueprint-importer-touch-optimized-ui

  1. Navigate to the Catalogs console, via Commerce.

  2. Navigate to the location where you want to import the catalog blueprint.

  3. Tap/click the Import Blueprints icon.

  4. In the wizard, select the Source as required and tap/click Next.

    chlimage_1-340

  5. Tap/click Done once the import is finished.

Blueprint Importer - Classic UI blueprint-importer-classic-ui

  1. Using the Tools console, navigate to Commerce.

    For example:

    http://localhost:4502/miscadmin#/etc/commerce

  2. Open the Catalog Bluprint Importer.

  3. Set the import as needed.

  4. Click Import Catalog Blueprints.

Promotions promotions

Creating a Promotion creating-a-promotion

Creating a Promotion - Classic UI creating-a-promotion-classic-ui

NOTE
The following example deals with a promotion held directly in a campaign, this is used for vouchers.
A promotion can also be in an experience within a campaign.
For more information see Promotions and Vouchers.

  1. Open the Websites console of your author instance.

  2. In the left-hand pane select your required Campaign.

  3. Click on New, select the Promotion template, then specify a Title (and Name if required) for your new voucher.

  4. Click Create. The new promotion page will be shown in the right-hand pane.

  5. Edit the Properties by either:

    • opening the page, then clicking the Edit button to open the Properties dialog
    • selecting the page in the Websites console, then using the context menu (usually the right mouse button) to select Properties… and open the properties dialog

    Specify the Promotion Type, Discount Type, Discount Value and any other fields as required.

  6. Click OK to save.

  7. You can now activate your promotion, so that shoppers will see it on the publish instance.

Vouchers vouchers

Creating a Voucher creating-a-voucher

Creating a Voucher - Classic UI creating-a-voucher-classic-ui

  1. Open the Websites console of your author instance.

  2. In the left-hand pane select your required Campaign.

  3. Click on New, select the Voucher template, then specify a Title (and Name if required) for your new voucher.

  4. Click Create. The new voucher page will be shown in the right-hand pane.

  5. Open your new voucher page with a double-click, then click on Edit to configure the information as required.

  6. Click OK to save.

  7. You can now activate your voucher, so that shoppers can use it in their carts on the publish instance.

Removing Vouchers removing-vouchers

Removing Vouchers - Classic UI removing-vouchers-classic-ui

In order to make a voucher unavailable to customers, you can either:

  • Deactivate the voucher - it will remain available on the author environment so you can re-activate it at a later time.
  • Delete it completely.

Both actions can be done from the Websites console.

Modifying Vouchers modifying-vouchers

Modifying Vouchers - Classic UI modifying-vouchers-classic-ui

To change the properties of a voucher or promotion, you can double-click on it on the Websites console and click Edit. After saving it, you should activate it so that the changes get pushed to the publish instance(s).

Adding Vouchers to a Cart adding-vouchers-to-a-cart

To allow users to add vouchers to their carts, you can use the built-in Vouchers component (Commerce category). You need to add this to the same page as where the cart is displayed (but is not mandatory). The vouchers component is merely a form in which the user can enter a voucher code, it is the shopping cart component that actually shows the list of applied vouchers and their discount.

In the demo site (Geometrixx Outdoors - English) you can see the voucher form on the cart page, under the actual shopping cart.

Orders orders

NOTE
It should be remembered that out-of-the-box AEM does not have actions required for standard functionality related to orders, such as returning merchandise, updating order status, doing fulfilment, generating packing slips. It is primarily intended as a technology preview.
The generic order management in AEM has been kept basic; the fields available in the wizard are dependent on the scaffold:
/etc/scaffolding/geometrixx-outdoors/order/jcr:content/cq:dialog
If you create a customized scaffold you can store more order information.
NOTE
The orders console exposes the vendor order information, which is never published.
The customer order information is held in their home directories and is exposed by the Order History for their Account. This information is published along with the rest of their home directory.

Creating Order Information creating-order-information

Creating Order Information - Touch-optimized UI creating-order-information-touch-optimized-ui

  1. Using the Orders console navigate to the required location.

  2. Use the Create icon to select Create Order.

  3. The wizard will open. Use the Basic, Content, Payment and Fulfilment tabs to enter the information about the new order.

  4. Select Create to save the information.

Editing Order Information editing-order-information

Editing Order Information - Touch-optimized UI editing-order-information-touch-optimized-ui

  1. Using the Orders console navigate to the order.

  2. Using either:

    Select the View Order Data icon:

  3. The order information will be shown. Use Edit and Done to make any changes.

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