Streamlining Shipping/Payment Capture Process

[b_white]

I have a client who is complaining about the time it takes to process orders fully. They are using AUTH_ONLY on the order/gateway side. They then pull the order and prep it for shipping (in order to get accurate shipping charges). Then they have to:

- open the order in SC
- change the total (if necessary) and UPDATE the record
apparently you cannot change the total AND add shipment at the same time
note: this save action takes a long time for some reason (there are 6000 records)
- add shipment (tracking number, etc.) and save
- login to gateway admin
- find the transaction (not always easy)
- change dollar amount (if necessary)
- capture payment

Needless to say, this takes a lot of time and slows them down quite a bit.

The question is, is there anything I can configure in SC that will streamline this process?

Is there any way that SC can request the AUTH_CAPTURE (from the gateway) at the time the order status is changed to shipped (with the updated total)? The client has indicated that their old system could do this - I have not been able to find any cart that can do that UNLESS the cart and the gateway are part of the same package and I'm not even sure about that.

Is there any way to avoid multiple record saves or speed up the save process (arch off some order records? Optimize tables?)

All suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Jamie]

The question is, is there anything I can configure in SC that will streamline this process?

If you are running an old version (2.x), it is going to be slower than the latest version, especially with a large database like this. I would highly recommend upgrading before trying to troubleshoot anything. That should be the very first thing that is done.

Is there any way that SC can request the AUTH_CAPTURE (from the gateway) at the time the order status is changed to shipped (with the updated total)?

No, not without custom programming.

Is there any way to avoid multiple record saves or speed up the save process (arch off some order records? Optimize tables?)

Upgrade to version 3.4.1 first. That will improve performance. Troubleshooting an old version is honestly a waste of time. I would also recommend trying to figure out why they are having to change the shipping and order totals after the order has been placed. If they are doing that on every order, it would indicate a problem with their configuration. I would think a better goal for them would be to figure out why they are not charging the customer the correct amount in the first place.

I had a very long phone conversation with this customer, and we touched on most of the issues mentioned here.