Pricing

Video Tutorial

The following video tutorial introduces the Price Management module on the CloudBlue Connect platform:

Overview

The Price Management (Pricing) module allows establishing and automating a cost-effective process of price lists exchange from Vendors to Distributors and Resellers.

The price list creation is an optional procedure of the Product Flow. Namely, Vendors can create a price list instance during the product definition operation or once the product the product is successfully defined. Vendors can create price lists and make those available for Distributors by attaching them to a corresponding Listings.

Once a listing request with price lists is successfully accepted, the system enables Distributors and Resellers to generate Subscriptions based on these price lists. Note, however, that Distributors or Resellers cannot edit provided price list information.

Price Lists and Versions

Price lists and their versions represent two key objects of the Price Management Module. These key objects are introduced and highlighted with red in the following diagram:

• Price List represents a container for price list versions that includes the following attributes:
  • ID: Unique immutable ID that is assigned by the system.
  • Status: Indicator of the current price list state (Draft, Scheduled, Active, or Terminated).
  • Name: Short name that outlines price list purpose, like “Pricing for NA market”, “Pricing for Ingram Micro DE”, etc.
  • Description: Overview and additional information related to the price list.
  • Currency: Currency that is used in the price list.
  • Precision: Data precision of the prices with up to be up to 8 decimal digits (i.e., 0.00000001).
• Price List Version is an object that resides within a particular price list that includes various values associated with items for each attribute of the price list; price list versions provide the following attributes:
  • ID: Unique immutable ID of the price list version that is also assigned by the system.
  • Status: Indicator of the current state of the price list version (Draft, Scheduled, Active, Expired).
  • Start at (UTC): Date and time when price points from the price list version become “effective”.
  • Description: Overview and additional information related to the Price List Version.

Price list objects can be considered as templates for their versions as schematically illustrated in these diagrams:

State Machine

The following schematically illustrates and describes the Pricing module state machine:

Vendors can generate draft price lists and draft price list versions by using the Connect platform. Thereafter, Vendors can activate created drafts or delete them if necessary.

Furthermore, the system enables Vendors to schedule price list version activation. In this case, the system assigns the Scheduled status to price list version and its associated price list object. Thus, both objects can be activated on specified time.

Vendors can also unschedule price list version activation (i.e., remove scheduled activation date). Therefore, the system transfers your price list version and its interconnected price list object back to Draft state.

Note that in case the activated price lists are no longer relevant, Vendors can terminate such price lists. Therefore, the system assigns the Terminated status to the price list and transfers the price list version to the the Expired state.

More Information

Learn more about the Pricing module API and user interface operations by accessing the following articles: