Order Approvals

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Key Features
• Configuring Order Approvals for Store Owners
• Configuring Order Approvals for Company Associations
• Order Approval Email Templates

Overview

Order approvals are a powerful tool to manage your ecommerce business. Approvals can be configured to notify you or other staff members to manually review high value orders before processing them. Order approvals can also be configured for your B2B customers. They have the ability to be combined with company associations and credit terms payment options to provide your B2B customers with a robust internal ordering process.

Key Features

• Create unique order status: Max order value settings can be configured to hold orders in a separate order status, preventing them from being processed in your normal order fulfillment processes until they can be manually reviewed. 
• Easy order approval: Company associations allow orders to be placed by individual employees of your customer, which can be approved by their management before being submitted to you. No more order cancellations because orders were not approved by managers.

Configuring Order Approvals for Store Owners

The standard order approval workflow allows store owners and staff to approve orders placed over a specific amount. To configure this functionality, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate in the left menu to Settings > People > Companies. Then scroll down the Orders Approval section. 

2. To enable the order approval functionality, set the minimum order value which will trigger the workflow in the field “Approval required for orders over” field. For example, if you want to manually approve all orders over $400, input $400 here.
3. You can enable administrator and customer login links on the approval emails, if needed, by checking the appropriate boxes.
4. Select the Order Status that orders that require approval will be placed in. This can be either a standard order status, like Pending Processing, or a custom order status, like Approval Required, depending on your internal order management processes.
5. Select the Order Status that approved orders will be placed in. This status should be the status that is part of your order fulfillment processes For example, “Paid, Awaiting Shipping”. 
6. Select the Order Status that denied orders will be placed in. This status can be a standard order status, like Cancel Order, or a custom order status, like Order Denied, depending on your internal processes.

NOTE: For details on how to create custom order statuses, see Creating a New Order Status

Order Approvals are now configured. 

Configuring Order Approvals for Company Associations

Order approval workflows can also be applied to companies that want to be able to review and approve orders before they are submitted to you. To configure company order approvals, follow the steps below.

NOTE: For manager order approvals, the products need to have the setting checked for Approval Required. The minimum order value setting that was configured previously is what will trigger the company association workflow. For example, if an individual user places an order for $200, their cart does not contain any products set to "Approval Required," and the order minimum set is $400, the workflow will not be triggered and the order will simply be submitted without needing approvals in the company associations.

1. Navigate in the left menu to Settings > People > Companies. Then scroll down the Orders Approval section.
   
   

2. Click the checkbox for Enable Manager Order Approvals.
3. Select who receives order notifications by using the dropdown menu “Send Email to Customer/Parent”
   1. If Child Only is selected, only the user that places the order will receive the order confirmation emails.
   2. If Parent Only is selected, only the user’s immediate “parent” will receive the order confirmation emails.
   3. If Parent and Child is selected, both the user and the users immediate “parent” will receive the order confirmation emails.
   4. NOTE: For more information on the company association hierarchy and user parent / child relationships, see Company Associations - Relationship Tree.
4. Select the Customer Order Approved Notification email template so the customer can receive the order approved email when approved by the manager.
   NOTE: Some versions of Storefront do not have standard Order Approval Messages. If yours does not, you can create them using the content below
5. Check the box for Allow Customer to Receive Order Confirmation if the user should receive the order confirmation.
6. Check the box for Allow Customer to Receive Order Approved Notification if the user should receive an email when the order is approved by their manager.

The order basic configuration for Company Order Approvals is now complete. Next there are some advanced notification settings for Managers, Account or Company Admins, and Company Accounts.

1. For each user level, Manager, Company Admin, and Company Account, there are 3 settings to configure. 
   1. Manager / Admin / Company Order Approval Notification: This selects the email template to use for the Order Approval Requests.
      1. NOTE: Some versions of Storefront do not have standard Order Approval Messages. If yours does not, you can create them using the content below
   2. Receive Order Approval Notification for All: Checking this box will send order approval emails to the user for all of the orders placed by the users they can approve orders for. 
      1. For example, a Manager would receive all of the orders placed by the Individual users below them. Company Admin would receive all of the orders placed by all of the individual users in the company.
   3. Receive Copy of Customer Order Approved Notification: Checking this box will send order approved notification emails to the user for all of the orders approved for the users below them in the Hierarchy.
      1. For example, a Manager would receive all of the orders placed by the Individual users below them. Company Admin would receive all of the orders placed by all of the individual users in the company.

Order Approval Email Templates

If your store does not already have the standard order approval email templates, you can create them, following our KB article Email Templates Overview, using the content below.

Order Approval Needed:

<div style="max-width:602px;margin:0 auto; background-color:#f8f8f8">
<table align="center" width="600" bgcolor="#F8F8F8" style="max-width:602px;margin:0 auto; background-color:#f8f8f8">
<tbody><tr>
<td align="center" width="300" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="background-color:#ffffff; margin:20px;padding:30px;"><div style="margin:20px auto; padding: 20px;">
<a href="##STOREURL##" style="display:flex;justify-content:center;">
##LOGO##
</a>
</div></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="600" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="background-color:#ffffff; margin:20px; padding:20px;"><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<h2>Order Approval Needed</h2>
</b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> </b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="600" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="background-color:#ffffff; margin:20px;padding:20px;"><p>A New Order has been placed and needs approval at ##STORENAME##<br><br>
To approve/reject specific order items, <a href="##DOMAINNAME##/store/OrderApprovalList.aspx">Click here</a>
</p>
<p>
To approve/reject the entire order, ##ADMINORDERLINK##.
</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="600" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="background-color:#ffffff; margin:20px; padding:20px;"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>

Order Approved:

<div style="max-width:602px;margin:0 auto; background-color:#f8f8f8">

<table align="center" width="600" bgcolor="#F8F8F8" style="max-width:602px;margin:0 auto; background-color:#f8f8f8">

  <tbody><tr>

  <td align="center" width="300" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="background-color:#ffffff; margin:20px;padding:30px;"><div style="margin:20px auto; padding: 20px;">

    <a href="##STOREURL##" style="display:flex;justify-content:center;">

      ##LOGO##

      </a>

    </div></td>

</tr>

<tr>

  <td align="center" width="600" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="background-color:#ffffff; margin:20px; padding:20px;"><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;">

<h2>Order Approved</h2>

</b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"></b><b style="font-size:32px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> </b></td>

</tr>

<tr>

  <td align="center" width="600" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="background-color:#ffffff; margin:20px;padding:20px;"><p>Your Order from ##STORENAME## has been approved, but some items may have been rejected. Please see below for more details.<br><br><a href="##DOMAINNAME##/store/login.aspx?r=myAccount.aspx&progress=false">Click here to view and manage Orders.</a></p></td>

</tr>

<tr>

  <td align="center" width="600" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="background-color:#ffffff; margin:20px; padding:20px;"><p style="margin: 0;"><!--ORDERITEMLAYOUTSTART--></p>

<table class="row row-7" align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt;">

 <tbody>

 <tr>

 <td>

 <table class="row-content" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; background-color: #FFFFFF; border-radius: 0; color: #000000; width: 600px;" width="600">

 <tbody>

 <tr>

 <td class="column column-1" width="50%" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 50px; padding-top: 5px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px;">

 <table class="html_block block-1" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt;">

 <tbody><tr>

 <td class="pad">

 <div style="font-family:Montserrat, Trebuchet MS, Lucida Grande, Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Sans, Tahoma, sans-serif;text-align:center;" align="center"> <img src="https://##DOMAINNAME##/##ITEMIMAGEURL##" width="150" alt="##ITEMNAME##" data-image="s6mpfuwtbfrc"></div>

 </td>

 </tr>

 </tbody></table>

 </td>

 <td class="column column-2" width="50%" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px;">

 <table class="paragraph_block block-1" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; word-break: break-word;">

 <tbody><tr>

 <td class="pad" style="padding-left:20px;">

 <div style="color:#000000;direction:ltr;font-family:'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0px;line-height:120%;text-align:left;mso-line-height-alt:19.2px;">

 <p style="margin: 0; margin-bottom: 5px;"><strong>##ITEMNAME##</strong></p>

 <p style="margin: 0;">##ITEMPRICE##</p>

 </div>

 </td>

 </tr>

 </tbody></table>

 <table class="paragraph_block block-2" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; word-break: break-word;">

 <tbody><tr>

 <td class="pad" style="padding-bottom:5px;padding-left:20px;padding-top:5px;">

 <div style="color:#000000;direction:ltr;font-family:'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0px;line-height:120%;text-align:left;mso-line-height-alt:16.8px;">

 <p style="margin: 0; margin-bottom: 5px;">Qty : ##QTY##</p>

 <p style="margin: 0; margin-bottom: 5px;">SKU :&nbsp;##ITEMNR##</p>

 <p style="margin: 0; margin-bottom: 5px;">##VARIATIONS##</p>

 <p style="margin: 0;">##PERSONALIZATIONS##</p>

                                   <p style="margin: 0; color:#ff0000;"> ##ITEMNOTE##</p>

 </div>

 </td>

 </tr>

 </tbody></table>

 </td>

 </tr>

 </tbody>

 </table>

 </td>

 </tr>

 </tbody>

 </table>

<p style="margin: 0;"><!--ORDERITEMLAYOUTEND--></p>

<table class="row row-8" align="center" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt;">

 <tbody>

 <tr>

 <td>

 <table class="row-content stack" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; background-color: #FFFFFF; border-radius: 0; color: #000000; width: 600px;" width="600">

 <tbody>

 <tr>

 <td class="column column-1" width="100%" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 5px; vertical-align: top; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px;">

 <table class="paragraph_block block-1" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" role="presentation" style="mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; word-break: break-word;">

 <tbody><tr>

 <td class="pad">

 <div style="color:#000000;direction:ltr;font-family:'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:0px;line-height:120%;text-align:left;mso-line-height-alt:19.2px;">

 </div>

 </td>

 </tr>

 </tbody></table>

 </td>

 </tr>

 </tbody>

 </table>

 </td>

 </tr>

 </tbody>

 </table></td>

</tr>

</tbody></table>

</div>

The Company Association Order Approvals workflow is now configured.