Part Lists & Article Numbers

Some ERP systems do not know a configured article, only single articles. There, a banner of 100 × 100 cm consists of 1 × foil 1×1, 4 × eyelet and 1 × print article. With a part list, your shop orders exactly these single articles instead of the configured product. The link is made by the article numbers you maintain on characteristics and values in the configurator. This article shows how to set them up, what ends up in the order and how Magento, Shopware and PrestaShop differ.

How it works

1. In the configurator, you give values and characteristics an article number that matches an article in your shop.
2. In the shop, you switch on the part list in the plugin settings.
3. Your customer configures as usual. In the cart and at checkout they see the configured product and can change it at any time.
4. Only when the order is placed does the shop replace the configured product with the single articles. The order – and with it your ERP – contains only these articles.

Without the part list switched on, article numbers have no effect on the order. Components without article numbers are ordered as a configured product as usual, even with the part list switched on.

Article numbers in the configurator

On values

Open a value and enter the Article number under Basic settings. When the customer chooses this value, this article goes on the part list. For the example: characteristic Format with the values "1 × 1 m" (article number FOL-1x1) and "2 × 1 m" (FOL-2x1).

On characteristics

Selection characteristics have their own Article number under Selection settings. It applies when the chosen value has none of its own – a value with an article number always wins. For the example: characteristic Eyelets with the article number OES-10.

Input characteristics (Small input field, Large input field, Date) and calculation characteristics (Formula, Simple combination, Price list, Product attribute, Webservice) have the Article number under Behavior.

The quantity

You set the quantity of a selection characteristic under Selection settings with Quantity (No, Free entry, Range with Min. quantity and Max. quantity).

What does not go on the part list

• Characteristics without a value, e.g. an empty input field.
• Characteristics a rule currently hides.
• Characteristics with the Visibility Shop only. A characteristic that only calculates for the part list and should stay invisible to the customer gets No (hidden).

The table export of values does not contain the article numbers – after an import you maintain them by hand, see Add Characteristics & Values.

Switching it on

An article number must match exactly one orderable article: active, visible in the shop or sales channel and – if stock is managed – in stock. A product with variants or combinations does not name a specific article; enter the variant's number.

With the HTML snippet there is no order in a shop. There, the article numbers travel with the action button – as sku (characteristic), choiceSku (value) and valueQty (quantity) per characteristic, e.g. to your CRM.

The price

The order carries the prices of the single articles from the shop, not the price from the configurator. That is why the cart line already costs exactly what its single articles cost, calculated with your shop's prices, tier prices, taxes and rounding. If an article price changes while the configuration is in the cart, the cart and checkout recalculate.

For the customer to see in the cart what the configurator showed, the configurator has to calculate the same. The simplest way is to give the values the same prices as the articles in the shop. If the configurator differs only by rounding cents, the shop price applies; if it differs clearly, the cart does not accept the configuration (see below).

Quantities from a formula

A calculation characteristic with an article number orders its result as the quantity, e.g. foil by area. Shops only know whole quantities. So create the article in the shop in the unit the formula calculates in, and round in the formula: foil per 0.1 m² with width and height in cm becomes ceil($width * $height / 1000). Give the characteristic the Visibility No (hidden) if the customer should not see the number. More on formulas: Calculated Characteristics.

Checks before a customer orders

• In the back end you see for every product with a configurator all article numbers of the component with the article the shop finds for them – or the reason why not. In Shopware and PrestaShop this is in the configento.app tab on the product, in Magento under justSelling → configento.app → Part list check.
• A notice in the back end names products whose part list does not fit the catalogue, with a link to the product. The shop checks again at most once an hour.

If a configuration cannot be ordered as a part list – an article number is missing, matches several articles, an article cannot be ordered, a quantity is not a whole number or the price differs clearly – it does not go into the cart. The customer sees "… cannot be ordered right now. The shop has been informed." You get a mail to the shop address (at most once a day per component), the notice in the back end and an entry in the log.

In the order

• The order contains only the single articles – with article number, tax and stock movement. In Magento and Shopware each line names the configuration it belongs to ("Part of …"). In PrestaShop the order view in the back end shows this; if a single article is also in the cart on its own, PrestaShop merges both into one line.
• The order view in the back end shows the part list with article number and quantity for every configuration.
• If the customer cancels the payment and gets their cart back, or reorders later, the configured product is in it again – never the single articles.
• For ERP connections, the plugin announces every part list created: Magento with the event configento_part_list_created, Shopware with PartListCreatedEvent, PrestaShop with the hook actionConfigentoPartListCreated.

If the swap would change the order total, the shop orders the configured product and records the reason on the order (Magento: order comment, Shopware: internal comment, PrestaShop: internal note). You also get a mail. Typical causes:

• Discounts only for the configured product – a cart price rule or voucher that only applies to this product disappears with it.
• Shipping by weight or per item (Shopware, PrestaShop) – if the single articles weigh differently than the configured product, the shipping costs change. Give the configured product the weight of the single articles or ship by price. Magento keeps the shipping costs the customer confirmed.

Troubleshooting

1. The order contains the configured product – the part list is not switched on in the plugin, or the component has no article numbers. If the shop fell back, the reason is on the order.
2. "… cannot be ordered right now" – open the check in the back end (see above); it shows for every article number what does not fit. Check the spelling closely, including spaces.
3. The cart shows a different price than the configurator – the prices of the values do not match the prices of the articles in the shop.
4. "The quantity is not a whole number" – round in the formula, see Quantities from a formula.

Next steps

• Add Characteristics & Values
• Calculated Characteristics
• Installing the PrestaShop Plugin
• The Action Button