OracleSellingPointInternetEdition4.2OracleSellingPointInternetEditionprovidesguidedbuyingandconfigurationcapabilitiesforsellingcomplexandcustomproductsandservicesovertheInternet.Untilnow,productsthatrequiredaknowledgeablesalespersontohelpthebuyerfindtherightproductfortheirneedscouldnotbeeffectivelysoldovertheInternet.Guidedbuyingandconfigurationemulatethebestpracticesofaknowledgeablesalespersonbyleadingthecustomerthroughaseriesofqualifyingquestionsandguidingthemtoanoptimalsolution.Configurationfore-businessOracleSellingPointInternetEditionprovidestheguidedbuyingandconfigurationmanagementcapabilitiesrequiredtosellcomplexandcustomproductsandservicesovertheInternet.OracleSellingPointInternetEditiondeliversthesecapabilitiesintheformofacustomizableDHTML(DynamicHyperTextMarkupLanguage)windowthatcanbeintegratedintoanyweb-basedapplication,includingOracleiStore.DocumentedAPI’smakeintegrationseamlessandeasy.OracleSellingPointInternetEditionisanintegralcomponentfortoday’scustomer-centric,self-servicee-commercesites.OracleSellingPointInternetEditionisamemberoftheOracleSellingPointfamily.TheOracleSellingPointfamilyincludes:§OracleSellingPoint—providesguidedsellingandconfigurationcapabilitiesforsellingcomplexandcustomproductsandservices.§OracleSellingPointInternetEdition—providesguidedbuyingandconfigurationcapabilitiesforsellingcomplexandcustomproductsandservicesovertheInternet.§OracleSellingPointDeveloper—thegraphicaldevelopmentenvironmentforbuildingandmaintainingOracleSellingPointapplications.GuidedBuyingGuidedbuyingisessentialtoanyorganizationthatwantstosellcomplexorcustomproductsandservicesovertheInternet.Historically,theInternethasnotbeenaviablechannelforproductsandservicesthatrequiredtheskillsofaknowledgeablesalespersontoguidethebuyer.Tobesuccessful,web-basedsalesapplicationshavetoguidecustomerstotheexactproductorservicethatmeetstheiruniquerequirements–regardlessofthecomplexityinvolved.OracleSellingPointInternetEditionisanintegralcomponentforeverywebstorefrontthatrequiresguidingcustomersthroughproductselectionandconfiguration,toanoptimalsolution.Aguidedbuyingsessionbeginsbycapturingthecustomer’srequirementsandmappingthemtoaninitialsolutionset.Thisguidedbuyingprocesscapturescustomerrequirementsandpreferencesintheformofbothqualitativeandquantitativeinputssuchascolor,size,weight,priceorperformance.Customerrequirementsdriveaninitialconfigurationofaproductorservice,limitingthefeatureandoptionselectionchoicesonlytothosethatfulfilltheirstatedrequirements.OracleSellingPointInternetEdition'sguidedbuyingcapabilitiesguidethecustomertoanoptimalsolution,basedontheiruniquerequirements.ProductSelectionProductselectionguidesthecustomerthroughaseriesoffeaturesandoptionsthatmeettheirstatedrequirements.Alloptionsarecolorcodedtoshowwhicharecurrentlyvalidandwhichareinvalid.Asselectionsaremade,theconfiguratorprogressivelyvalidatestheintegrityofeachchoice.Ifaninvalidselectionismade,itiseitherrejectedoutrightortheuserisprovidedwiththeabilitytoaccepttheselection,potentiallyoverridingpreviousoptionsorredefiningtheconstraintssetthroughtheguidedbuyingprocess.OracleSellingPointInternetEdition’sinteractiveconfigurationengineprovidesreal-timefeedbackabouteachselection’simpactintheformofpromptsandwarningmessagesthatguidethebuyertoasolutionthatmeetstheirrequirements.Whensellingcomplexproducts,servicesorportfolios,severalinter-dependentcomponents,productsandsub-systemsmayneedtobeaccuratelyspecifiedbytheuser.OracleSellingPointInternetEdition’sproductselectionscreensareautomaticallygeneratedfromtheconfigurationmodelandleadthecustomerthroughtheentireprogressionofselectionstoarriveatacompleteandvalidconfiguration.Productselectionscreensallowcustomerstoperformreal-time‘what-if’scenarios,byselecting/deselectingfeaturesandoptions.Theinteractiveconfigurationenginevalidateseachselection,ensuringavalidconfigurationSummaryInformationAtanytimeduringtheguidedbuyingandconfigurationprocess,customerscangototheSummaryscreenandreviewthelistofselectedconfigurationoptions,quantity,listprice,discountedprice,extendedpriceandtotalprice.PricinginformationisprovidedwhenintegratedwithOracleApplicationsrelease10.7or11.0.Integrationwithnon-Oraclepricingsystemscanbeprovidedthroughcustomintegration.SavingConfigurationsConfiguredsolutionscanbesavedfromanyscreenwithintheConfiguration/Summarycontentwindows.Iftheconfigurationisincomplete,awarningmessageisdisplayedtotheuser,promptingthemtocompletetheconfigurationbeforesaving.Theconfiguratorpassesconfigurationsessiondatatothehostapplication,whichinturncontrolshowtheconfigurationisarchivedandrecalledbythebuyeratalatertime.OrderSubmissionOrdersubmissionishandledbythehostapplication.Onceaconfigurationhasbeencompletedandsaved,thebuyeraddsittotheirshoppingcartororderinthehostapplicationbyselectingthe“Done”button.OracleSellingPointInternetEditionprovidestheoutputoftheconfigurationsessionintheformofagenericXMLmessage.Thehostapplicationisresponsibleforparsingtheinformationandsubmittingittothesite’sshoppingcartand/ororderentrysystem.DHTMLGene