Products and Pricing Scenarios

This page describes common integration scenarios for products and pricing between Norce Commerce and external systems such as ERP, OMS, PDM, WMS or others.

Scenario 1: Norce as Product Master

Overview:
In this scenario, Norce Commerce is the master system for the product catalog. Products are created or updated in Norce and then synchronized to the ERP system.

1. Product created in Norce Commerce — sent to ERP

2. Stock and price updates from ERP — product becomes sellable

3. Product expires — removed from sale when stock reaches zero

Integration Steps:

Product Creation in Norce Commerce
- Products are created in Norce Commerce, either automatically (by rules) or manually (by an admin).
- When a product is created, an integration is triggered to send relevant information to the ERP system:
  - Product Identifier (PartNo) and short name (should become the product identifier in the ERP)
  - Manufacturer Information (Code, PartNo)
  - Category Code (for classification and default settings in ERP)
  - Type (only relevant product types are integrated; e.g., virtual products like ManagedStructure are usually excluded)
  - Status (new products are set to Coming)
  - Standard price (default price for the product)
- On product updates, only fields relevant to the ERP are checked and, if changed, sent for update.
Stock and Cost Updates
As soon as the ERP has received the new products, it is responsible for their stock and unit cost information, and should update these fields in Norce.
- Warehouse and Stock Updates
  - After products are added to the ERP, they are available for warehouse processes.
  - When stock values change, an integration updates stock values and unit cost in Norce Commerce:
    - Product Identifier
    - Warehouse and Location Identifier(s)
    - OnHandValue
    - IncomingValue (optional)
    - NextDeliveryDate (optional)
  - Only physical products are updated with stock values; virtual, service, or fee products are excluded.
- Price Management
  - Prices are maintained in Norce Commerce.
  - The standard price list calculates the standard price for all active products, typically based on unit cost.
  - The calculated sale price is sent to the ERP as part of product creation and update messages.
  - Other price lists (e.g., campaigns, member prices) are not sent to the ERP unless used on actual order rows.
- Product Enrichment and Activation
  - Products are enriched with content in Norce Commerce for frontend presentation.
  - Once enriched, the product status is changed to Active (done manually in the Admin UI).
Product Expiry
- When products can no longer be manufactured or bought, the ERP marks them as EOL (end of life).
- An integration is triggered to update the product status in Norce Commerce:
  - Product Identifier
  - Status (Expiring)
- Norce tracks expiring products and sets them to Inactive when stock is depleted.

Scenario 2: ERP as Product Master

Overview:
In this scenario, the ERP system is the master for the product catalog and standard sale price. Products are created in the ERP and synchronized to Norce Commerce.

1. Product created in ERP — sent to Norce Commerce

2. Stock and price updates from ERP — product becomes sellable

3. Product expires — removed from sale when stock reaches zero

Integration Steps:

Product Creation in ERP
- Products are created in the ERP system.
- When a product is created, an integration sends the following to Norce Commerce:
  - Product Identifier (PartNo) and short name
  - Manufacturer Information (Code, PartNo)
  - Category Code
  - Type
  - Status (Coming)
  - Standard price
  - Unit cost
- On product updates, only fields relevant to Norce are checked and, if changed, sent for update.
Stock and Price Updates
As soon as the products are in Norce Commerce, the ERP is responsible for their stock and standard price information, and should update these fields continuously.
- Warehouse and Stock Updates
  - When stock values change, an integration updates stock values in Norce Commerce:
    - Product Identifier (PartNo)
    - Warehouse and Location Identifier(s)
    - OnHandValue
    - IncomingValue (optional)
    - NextDeliveryDate (optional)
  - Only physical products are updated with stock values.
- Price Updates
  - In this scenario, the ERP is commonly the price master and provides the standard price to Norce Commerce. Along with the standard sale price, the ERP will typically also send other price information such as unit cost.
  - When prices change in the ERP, the integration updates the relevant price fields in Norce Commerce.
- Product Enrichment and Activation
  - Products are enriched with content in Norce Commerce for frontend presentation.
  - Once enriched, the product status is changed to Active (done manually in the Admin UI).
Product Expiry
- When products can no longer be manufactured or bought, the ERP marks them as EOL (end of life).
- An integration is triggered to update the product status in Norce Commerce:
  - Product Identifier
  - Status (Expiring)
- Norce tracks expiring products and sets them to Inactive when stock is depleted.

Variations and Customizations

Norce Commerce supports flexible integration patterns. Here are some common variations:

Existing PIM Integration:
Use Norce Commerce Connect to import data from multiple systems. Add logic in the header to distinguish product sources.
Custom ERP Fields or Logic:
Add custom fields and business logic in the import process to Norce Commerce Connect.
Stock Information from Other Systems (e.g., POS):
Allow different source systems to update different warehouses or locations. See POS adapters in Norce Commerce or the Norce partner community.
3rd Party Content Integration (e.g., DAM):
Use Norce Commerce Connect to import content from external sources.

Products and Pricing Scenarios

Scenario 1: Norce as Product Master

Scenario 2: ERP as Product Master

Variations and Customizations

Further Reading

Did the information on the page help you?