In an e-commerce application, there are typically two main entities: Buyers and Providers (or sellers). Here's a breakdown of each:

Buyers

• Customers: these are the end-users of the DPS platform who browse, search, and purchase products (e.g. Spare Parts, Consumables) or activate subscriptions (e.g. Service Levels, Service Plans).
• Partners: an external business entity (e.g. Reseller, CAT) who may need to buy OEM original parts and consumables. For this reason in the DPS a partner can act also as a buyer. In respect to others, this buyer type may have specific requirements such as bulk pricing, or integration with procurement systems.

Roles and actions of buyers in an e-commerce application include:

• Browsing and Searching: users explore the product catalog, filter and search for specific items based on their preferences or context.
• Adding to Cart: buyers add desired items to their shopping cart for purchase.
• Checkout: users proceed to the checkout, where they provide shipping information, select payment methods, and review their orders before finalizing the purchase.
• Account Management: registered buyers can manage their profiles, shipping addresses, payment methods, and order history within their accounts.

Providers

• OEM: the main organization in the DPS, who can sell products to its ecosystem, including Partners and Customers.
• Sub-Organization: a sub-organization in the DPS, who can sell products to its local ecosystem, including country/area Partners and Customers.
• Partner: an external business entity (e.g. Reseller, CAT) who can sell products or provide technical assistance to its customers.

Roles and actions of providers in an e-commerce application include:

• Product Listing: sellers create listings for the OEM defined products or services.
• Inventory Management: providers manage their inventory levels, ensuring that they have sufficient stock to fulfill orders.
• Order Fulfillment: providers process incoming orders, package items, and arrange for shipment or delivery to the buyers.
• Customer Communication: providers may communicate with buyers regarding order status, shipping updates, or addressing any inquiries or concerns.
• Performance Monitoring: Providers track their sales performance, monitor customer feedback and reviews, and analyze metrics such as sales volume, revenue, and profitability.

Orders Assignment

The interaction, between Buyers and Providers, starts from the need to replace a spare part, to replenish a consumable, to subscribe to a service, or to replenish the warehouse in case the buyer is a Partner (e.g. Reseller).

In the DPS, partners and organizations can be marked as providers of purchasable products (e.g. spare parts, consumables). This is used by the DPS order management system to automatically assign an order to the right provider.

An order created by a Customer is assigned to the provider with this precedence:

• an authorized Partner marked as PROVIDER;
• an authorized Sub-Organization marked as PROVIDER;
• the Main Organization, which is a provider by default.

An order created by a Partner is assigned to the provider with this precedence

• an authorized sub-organization marked as PROVIDER;
• the Main Organization, which is a provider by default.

With reference to the previous image, here are some scenarios:

• An order created by the customer "Mark Hamill" will be processed and provided by the partner "TAC Italy".
• An order created by the customer "Food Packaging SPA" will be processed and provided by the organization "ACME inc.".
• An order created by the partner "TAC Italy" will be processed and provided by the organization "ACME Europe".

DPS Entities Configuration

In the DPS, within the editing pages for partners and organizations, you can find the Store Settings tab allowing to configure:

• whether the organization/partner is a provider;
• whether the organization/partner provides also an installation service for the purchased products;
  If selected, during cart checkout, the customer can request installation service, which must be priced during the order processing flow;
• whether the prices of purchasable products must be hidden (even if defined) to the customer users.
  If selected, the supplier must price all products and services included in the order.

Once an order has been created and assigned to the right provider, it is up to parties to complete the order flow which is described in the Order Flow Management article.