Wholes vs. Retail

I have a web site with two classes of customers, wholesale and retail. I need to be able to have the different classes view slightly different information, including the main page and product pricing. I also need to have the shopping cart act slightly differently on checkout depending on the customer class.

I have posted a detailed description of what's needed at http://ipicdg.com/jballotti/private/WS_SOW.pdf.

Could someone look at this and tell me first if all the requirements can be met, and if so, how to do it.

Thanks :smile:

Hi there
The is a dual pricing mod in the download area of Zen Cart that I use that will address your pricing needs. Not sure about the rest.

I just created a whole new site off my retail site where they can login (page is locked until wholesale customer is approved) they can create an account but cant see prices.

I needed different info for both too, it was too hard for me to do any coding to get it going so I just used all my current database (retail) and uploaded it to the new wholesale site, so i didnt need to re-enter anything, them i just change what i needed in the wholesale, eg prices, shipping, min orders etc

the dual pricing is good if you do not have to do all the extra bits, but as i needed all different pages/info i just recreated a copy of the original.

cheers

The dual pricing mod is already installed and working. But it doesn't give me the rest of what I need. I thought of installing a second cart just for wholesale customers, but that's not a very elegant solution.

Hi again
I you want to run to sites there is also a mod that allows you to have multiple front ends controlled by one admin site. You can then simply have two different categories that equal retail and wholesale.

What do mean by "not a very elegant solution"

If you are not a webmaster and dont know much about coding and you find dual pricing mod not what you need then this is your only solution, sorry but I tried for over 6 weeks to do different solutions without having a separate 2nd store, but in the end it had to be done. It took me about 4 days using my backups and changing prices etc. So basically I wasted 6 weeks, i dont want you wasting time when i think this is your best option

For example I needed pages the public can't access, like terms, prices and little bits and pieces that needs to be there, yet the retail needs other pages that wholesale customers couldn't care less about so I have one lot of ezpages for retail and one lot of ezpages for wholesale

If you do not want to do a second store off your main store then this is your choice, I wish you luck

Excuse me, I didn't mean to upset anyone. But, implementing separate shopping carts for retail and wholesale customers means doubling the store owners admin tasks. A truly elegant solution would be one where retail customers and guests would see the main front page and be presented with retail pricing and information, but wholesale customers (when they log in) would be redirected to a front page specifically for them. Wholesale customers would see wholesale pricing. They would only be allowed to order a minimum quantity of any item (a different minimum than retail). The minimum order that triggers free shipping could be set to a quantity that is different for wholesale customers than it is for retail customers. And, wholesale customers can be offered products that aren't available to retail customers. And all of this can be done from a single shopping cart using a single database. That is the elegant solution I'm looking for.

While I'm not a programmer, I know enough about programming and the PHP language to know that what I'm asking for is not unreasonable and that it can be done.

Being the only solution doesn't make it an elegant solution.

BrookieWookie:

What do mean by "not a very elegant solution"

If you are not a webmaster and dont know much about coding and you find dual pricing mod not what you need then this is your only solution, sorry but I tried for over 6 weeks to do different solutions without having a separate 2nd store, but in the end it had to be done. It took me about 4 days using my backups and changing prices etc. So basically I wasted 6 weeks, i dont want you wasting time when i think this is your best option

For example I needed pages the public can't access, like terms, prices and little bits and pieces that needs to be there, yet the retail needs other pages that wholesale customers couldn't care less about so I have one lot of ezpages for retail and one lot of ezpages for wholesale

If you do not want to do a second store off your main store then this is your choice, I wish you luck

What is that mod and where can I get more information about it?

wolfsz:

Hi again
I you want to run to sites there is also a mod that allows you to have multiple front ends controlled by one admin site. You can then simply have two different categories that equal retail and wholesale.

well goodluck with it anyway, but it will involve alot of customising in the code

I never said it couldnt be done, everythings possible if you know how

You are absolutely right. Any programmer who took on such a project could probably create a module that would make them money. I know I would pay for it.

BrookieWookie:

well goodluck with it anyway, but it will involve alot of customising in the code

I never said it couldnt be done, everythings possible if you know how

jballotti:

What is that mod and where can I get more information about it?

Going to the Downloads section and entering 'multi' came up with MultiSite Module. Might be what you are looking for.

Thanks for your reply Rob.
I've looked at the Multi-site module information and it would probably help, but only after creating a second cart to handle wholesale customers separately from retail customers.

Website Rob:

Going to the Downloads section and entering 'multi' came up with MultiSite Module. Might be what you are looking for.

jballotti:

What is that mod and where can I get more information about it?

YO, :yes:
What is the mod Wolfsz is talking about, that can run two front ends with one ADMIN!!? Its exactly what I need, where is it, what's it called?
thanks
JSC
Boulder

thanks
JSC
Boulder

Hi again
See it here:
http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=product_contrib_info&products_id=563

Hi Jamie,

Did you implement the multi site mod? I need the wholesale and retail as well and I wondering how you made out.

Thanks,
Kelly

I don't know about addressing all those problems, but in trying to figure out my own problems, I was considering something using Dual Pricing and showing or not showing parts of the site to people based on whether or not they were logged in as wholesalers or not. The code to check for this (apparently, I haven't implemented it into anything as of yet) is:

if##($_SESSION['customer_id'])##{
####$customers_id##=##$_SESSION['customer_id'];
########$customer_check##=##$db->Execute("select##*##from##"##.##TABLE_CUSTOMERS##.##"##where##customers_id##=##'$customers_id'");
##if##($customer_check->fields['customers_whole']##!=##"0")##{

CODE##YOU##WANT##TO##USE##IF##CUSTOMER##IS##WHOLE##SALE


##}
}##

ignore all #'s, i can't figure out why it inserts those when i paste the code.

But point being, could you use that to check to see if they are logged in as wholesaler, then display/hide parts of the code? Just a thought.

What I've done is to install a second ZC to support my client's wholesale customers. The original cart was installed in <sitename.ext>/cart/. The new cart is installed in installed in <sitename.ext>/wscart/. There is a link in the retail home page that goes to the WSCART home page. The WSCART is configured so that anyone wishing to access the cart must sign in with an authenticated account before anything is revealed. This solves all the support issues (with certain shortcomings) mentioned in the requirements document (http://ipicdg.com/jballotti/private/CustClassReqSpec.pdf).

One thing I'm trying to figure out now is how to improve the Create Account form to include additional information about the Customer's company to speed up the authentication process (the customer MUST own a retail business in order to qualify for wholesale customer status). As it is now, my client must request additional information from a customer submitting the current Create Account form in order to verify the customer's qualifications for wholesale status. :frusty:

Why not try and implement the vat checking module for european companies, if they are vat registered then sell to them as wholesale if not only sell to them retail.
I am sure it would need some work to do what you want but it does add extra fileds at registration so you could use this as a validity check?

VAT-mod for European companies

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Zen Cart™ Version: v1.3.7
Version: 1.2.6
Last Updated: Dec 05 2007
Author: Sebastian Bergquist (Beez) & Viktor Bergquist (vike)

Assuming that you only sell to companies that are in the E.E.C. I should have checked the origin of the post but may help someone.