Overview
We have introduced the ability to configure more granular rules around controlling what orders and order line items should go through approval.
Until now, approval has been an on/off switch where the only control you could have was to enable it per product and to allow some people to bypass it entirely.
In this latest update we now have a whole series of rules that you can configure ranging from approval based on order quantities, shipping fees and order totals.
Enabling Advance Requirement Rules
In order to start using this feature simply first enable the approval workflow, as per this article.
Then navigate to the second tab on the Workflow Settings page called 'Approval Requirements'.
Configuring your rules
Firstly you need to decide, similar to our Access Permissions, if you want by default everything to go through approval and you are applying exception rules for situations where it shouldn't go through approval - or the opposite - where nothing goes through approval until you configure a rule that states it should.
Your approach depends on your requirements, but in this article we will focus on the approach that we want nothing to go through approval unless it matches one of our requirements we will setup.
So the first thing we need to do is enable the Global Exemption setting at the top of the Approval Requirements tab.
This will disable the default Infigo approval behaviour and despite the approval workflow being enabled, it will not cause anything to go through approval.
Now we are free to start setting up our Approval Rules for orders/products that we require to be approved before being released.
Below is a list explaining all the different rule types that you can now configure, and how they work:
Order Quantity
Based on the number of individual items being ordered.
Available Rules:
- Lower quantity threshold
- Upper quantity threshold
- Requires Approval
This rule allows you to specify a lower and upper quantity threshold for an entire order and then whether if that threshold is met it should go through approval or not.
When this rule is executed the entire order will require approval.
Order line Quantity
Based on the quantity of an individual order line. Can be controlled on a per product basis.
Available Rules:
- Lower quantity threshold
- Upper quantity threshold
- Product
- Requires Approval
This rule allows you to specify a lower and upper quantity threshold for an individual order line on a per product basis. You can specify the product(s) you want to apply these thresholds to and then configure whether if that threshold is met it should go through approval or not.
When this rule is executed only that order line will require approval.
Order Subtotal
Based on the sub total value of the order. Can be controlled on a per customer basis.
Available Rules:
- Lower quantity threshold
- Upper quantity threshold
- Customer
- Requires Approval
This rule allows you to specify a lower and upper value threshold for the order sub total on a per customer basis. You can specify the customer(s) you want to apply these thresholds to and then configure whether if that threshold is met it should go through approval or not.
When this rule is executed the entire order will require approval.
Order line total
Based on the total value of an order line.
Available Rules:
- Lower quantity threshold
- Upper quantity threshold
- Requires Approval
This rule allows you to specify a lower and upper value threshold for order lines and then whether if that threshold is met it should go through approval or not.
When this rule is executed only that order line will require approval.
Shipping Fee
Based on the value of an orders shipping cost (excl. tax)
Available Rules:
- Lower quantity threshold
- Upper quantity threshold
- Requires Approval
This rule allows you to specify a lower and upper value threshold for a shipping cost for an order and then whether if that threshold is met it should go through approval or not.
When this rule is executed the entire order will require approval.
Checkout attribute
Based on the value of a Checkout Attribute. Can be controlled on a per Checkout Attribute basis.
Available Rules:
- Checkout Attribute name
- Regex
- Requires Approval
This rule allows you to specify a Checkout Attribute you want to check the value of and then specify a Regular Expression rule that it should be compared against. Then specify whether if the value of that checkout attribute matches the set regex it should go through approval or not.
When this rule is executed the entire order will require approval.
By Product Group
Based on a specified product group
Available Rules:
- Product Group
- Requires Approval
This rule allows you to specify a Product Group. So instead of explicitly enabling approval on a product basis, if you are using Product Groups you can set this to the entire group meaning approval is required for all products within it.
When this rule is executed only that order line will require approval.
By Product Tag
Based on a specified product group
Available Rules:
- Product Tag
- Requires Approval
This rule allows you to specify a Product Tag. So when a product is ordered that has that specific product tag applied it will require approval.
When this rule is executed only that order line will require approval.
By Category
Based on a specified category
Available Rules:
- Category
- Requires Approval
This rule allows you to specify a complete category of products that should require approval.
When this rule is executed only that order line will require approval.
If an order or order line item is forced through the approval workflow due to it meeting one of the configured rules, we will add a status history item to it that is visible in Shared Print Operations indicating why approval is required.