Applying store credit

Providing and highlighting a loyalty reward builds customer loyalty and increases profitability. This topic explains how to use the Commerce API to leverage the power of the store credit program to reward and retain loyal shoppers.

To support store credit, Commerce API requires more than one source in a cart. You need to create a source for the shopper's payment and another for store credit. Once you create both sources, you can attach them to the cart for the charge.

Store credit flow

A secondary payment source is leveraged to reward loyal customers in the store credit flow. This process involves creating and managing store credit and integrating it with primary payment methods to complete purchases. By effectively using store credit, businesses can enhance customer retention and provide a flexible payment option that improves overall shopping experiences. Below are the steps to implement and use store credit within the Commerce API.

1. Create a cart.

2. Create a store credit source.

3. Attach the secondary source to the cart (for example, the store credit source).

4. Attach the primary source to the cart (for example, the credit card source). Note: If the secondary source can cover the entire order amount, you can skip this step.

5. Submit the cart.

6. If you configured notifications, the shopper receives an order confirmation notification. See Post-order notifications for more information.

Store credit sequence diagram

Below is a sequence diagram outlining the process of implementing store credit in a Commerce API environment:

This diagram illustrates the interaction between the shopper, store, and Commerce API in using store credit for a transaction.

Cancel an order that used store credit

1. You can use Global Commerce to cancel an order or line item if it has not been shipped or fulfilled.

2. If you configured notifications, the shopper receives a cancellation notification. See Line item cancel completed for more information.

Refund an order with store credit

1. You cannot cancel an order or line item if it has been shipped or fulfilled. You must return or refund the order or line item using Global Commerce, the Refunds API, or the Returns API.

2. The shopper requests a refund. If you configure notifications, the shopper receives a user refund confirmation.

3. Digital River processes the refund request. See Store credit notification for more information.

Post-order notifications

Post-order notification (PON) polls events and collects data using real-time calls for your company or site. When an event occurs, it triggers a notification and sends it to your endpoint. The notifications are one way. Once you receive a notification, you are free to do whatever you want with that notification. To turn on and configure PON, see the Post-order notification integration guide.

A PON tells you when a shopper uses store credit and how much store credit the shopper uses when an event occurs. A PON is triggered when an order is submitted, refunded, or cancelled. The PON generates an XML containing the order data. The store credit amount and payment method amount will appear in the notification's Order object under extendedAttributes. You can extract the content of an order event to see the amount the shopper paid by store credit and other payment methods.

The following table shows that a PON is sent when: (1) a shopper submits an order, (2) a shopper requests a refund for an order or line item, and (3) a shopper cancels an order or line item.

Order submitted notification

The order submitted notification displays the payment method and store credit under extendedAttributes. If you want to receive a notification when an order event occurs, contact your Digital River representative.

Line item cancel completed notification

The line item cancel completed notification shows the cancelled store credit under extendedAttributes. If you want to receive a notification when the store credit was not consumed so you can reflect it on your system, contact your Digital River representative.

Return credit complete notification

The return notification shows the refunded store credit under extendedAttributes. If you want a post-order notification sent to your system to notify you that the store credit was not consumed so you can reflect it on your system, contact your Digital River representative.