FAQs

HotWax Commerce's order routing engine takes into account the following factors:

1. Store participation in the fulfillment program
2. Order priority based on the shipping method
3. Inventory proximity to the destination
4. Inventory levels at the store
5. Store-level parameters like safety stock and max order limit
6. Order splitting

Gain insights from our documentation.

Explore HotWax order routing solution here

Watch our informative video for a quick overview:

Order brokering in HotWax Commerce is a batch process by default. This process groups orders placed within specific time intervals and prioritizes them based on delivery methods such as standard, next-day, or same-day. This helps ensure inventory is allocated first to same-day and next-day orders, followed by standard orders, even if standard orders were placed earlier. Retailers can configure the order brokering process in HotWax Commerce to run at specific times and frequencies throughout the day.

HotWax Commerce rate shops by comparing shipping rates across different shipping methods and service levels offered by a carrier.

Before generating a shipping label, HotWax Commerce analyzes rates from various potential shipping methods within a given service level (e.g., one-day delivery, two-day delivery) and opts for the most cost-effective option that meets the service level agreement (SLA).

While HotWax does not support cross-carrier rate shopping, it does offer integration with aggregators like EasyPost and ShipStation for retailers seeking to rate shop across multiple carriers.

Yes, HotWax Commerce provides entirely user-configurable routing rules that can be modified at any time to meet your business requirements. This flexibility ensures that your order fulfillment is optimized, efficient, and perfectly aligned with your current operational needs.

Yes, HotWax Commerce allows you to configure routing logic based on sales channels. This means you can set specific routing rules for orders depending on the sales channel they originate from, whether it’s your online store, a social media channel, or a third-party marketplace. This capability provides significant flexibility and control over the order fulfillment process, ensuring that each order is fulfilled based on the unique needs of each sales channel.

The processing time for an order at the store or warehouse depends on the frequency of the order brokering job. For example, if it runs every hour and an order is downloaded at 7:00 AM, with the previous job having run at 6:30 AM, the order will be sent for processing at 7:30 AM.

Yes, you can immediately turn off any store or warehouse for fulfillment using Hotwax Commerce admin screens and reduce the order limit to 0.

Yes, store managers can set a maximum order limit and if the limit is reached, new orders are automatically routed to another fulfillment location. The store becomes eligible for new orders the following day. This ensures efficient order handling and prevents overload on any specific store.

If an order is rejected due to unavailability, the order automatically gets re-brokered to a different store or warehouse based on order routing rules.

HotWax Commerce integrates with third-party logistics companies like FedEx to get the delivery confirmation and then the order status is updated in HotWax Commerce.

HotWax Commerce gives multiple options to fulfill store pick-up orders:

• HotWax Commerce BOPIS fulfillment app:  For retailers who are open to using third-party apps, HotWax Commerce offers a stand-alone mobile app for fulfilling BOPIS orders from stores.

• In-house Custom POS application: Retailers who don't prefer using third-party apps for store fulfillment, avoiding additional training for store associates, prefer to develop custom store fulfillment applications in their existing POS. For these retailers, HotWax Commerce provides APIs to read and fulfill store pickup orders from HotWax Commerce. Using these APIs retailer’s tech team can choose to develop custom applications in existing POS to fulfill store pick-up orders.

• Shopify POS BOPIS fulfillment app: For retailers using Shopify POS, we offer a “Store pick-up” application that gets embedded in Shopify POS. Store associates can use this application from Shopify POS to see all the store pick-up orders assigned to their stores and fulfill them when customers come to pick up their orders.
  
  Once the BOPIS orders are fulfilled, HotWax Commerce syncs that information back to eCommerce which also marks the order completed on eCommerce.
  

Yes, HotWax Commerce can push the orders to POS by using APIs provided by POS. If POS does not offer APIs, another approach to push the orders to POS is putting orders in CSV format on a defined SFTP location and POS can read the orders from this location.

HotWax Commerce downloads payment method and order status information and syncs these with POS. However, payment processing and capturing are managed in eCommerce, as the transactions are online sales.

HotWax Commerce can display an estimated pickup date by determining the nearest stores or warehouses with inventory and the time required to transfer the product to the selected store. If the customer places a store pickup order, HotWax Commerce initiates a "ship-to-store" process and creates a transfer order in the POS/warehouse system. The transfer order status can be synced from POS/warehouse system to HotWax Commerce.

HotWax Commerce BOPIS Fulfillment App and APIs allow Store Associates to change the order's delivery mode from “Store Pick-Up” to “Delivery.” Associates can consult with customers and modify the delivery mode if approved, routing the order to the nearest store or warehouse. Alternatively, associates can use the HotWax Commerce BOPIS Fulfillment App to send an email to customers, informing them of the product's unavailability and providing alternative pickup options.

HotWax Commerce Store Inventory Management Suite includes a Receiving App. The app enables store associates to scan and receive new inventory from transfer orders and purchase orders, ensuring up-to-date inventory records.

Learn more about transfer orders and purchase orders.

Yes, HotWax Commerce provides robust support for performing cycle counts in stores through its Cycle Count App, which caters to both admin teams and store associates.

Admin teams can assign cycle counts to specific stores, while store associates use the app to scan requested items and upload the cycle count results.

HotWax Commerce also provides an approval flow, once the counts are submitted, they are reviewed by the admin teams. On approval, the inventory in HotWax Commerce is automatically updated accordingly.

Learn more about in-store inventory management.

Yes, HotWax Commerce handles pre-orders/backorders. The Shopify Pre-Order App by HotWax Commerce replaces the "Add to Cart" button with a "Pre-Orders/Backorder" button and displays an estimated delivery date for out-of-stock items. It also automatically converts the button back to "Add to Cart" once inventory is available. Available inventories are allocated to pre-orders/backorders on a first-come, first-served basis.

Here is a demo video for pre-orders and backorders: 

HotWax Commerce ensures transparent communication regarding shipping delays to comply with FTC Pre-Order regulations. In the event of a delayed Purchase Order, automated alerts promptly inform customers of the revised delivery schedule.

Learn more about Pre-Orders.

HotWax Commerce does not serve as a Return Management System itself but integrates with Shopify to download returns processed through third-party return management apps like Loop Returns, Happy Returns, and Returnly.

Once a return is completed in Shopify, HotWax Commerce downloads the return data and synchronizes it to the ERP system like NetSuite for financial accounting and reconciliation.

Additionally, for retailers using Shopify POS or Loop POS to process in-store returns, HotWax Commerce also captures these return transactions and updates the ERP system, all without requiring direct integration between the ERP and the Return Management Systems.

Learn more about returns

HotWax Commerce manages exchanges and appeasements similarly to returns. It downloads exchange and appeasement data from Shopify and synchronizes it to the ERP systems.

For exchange orders, HotWax Commerce creates the new order in the same manner as any other regular order, ensuring accuracy in inventory and financial records.

Learn more about exchanges

HotWax Commerce provides an out-of-the-box reporting module, BI Reports & Analytics (BIRA), that helps retailers analyze sales, returns, pre-orders, and fulfillment operations. Additionally, retailers also have the flexibility to create custom reports that suit their specific requirements using BIRA.

Learn more about reporting.

HotWax Commerce readily integrates with Shopify POS, X-Store POS, and Predict Spring. Furthermore, HotWax Commerce features a rapid POS integration kit that supports POSLog and TLog standards.

HotWax Commerce offers out-of-the-box integration with shipping carriers such as FedEx, UPS and Canada Post along with shipping aggregators like EasyPost, ShipHawk and ShipStation. For hyper-local last-mile delivery, HotWax also integrates with ShipT, Shipsi.

HotWax also extends its reach to Central American countries with shipping carrier integrations including C807, Guatex, CargoTrans, and TerminalExpress.

Custom shipping integrations can be developed on request for an additional fee with an estimated turnaround time of one week.

HotWax Commerce supports CSV-FTP-based integration with NetSuite ERP, Infor M3 ERP, and Microsoft Dynamics AX. It also offers a rapid ERP integration kit that facilitates swift ERP integration.

HotWax Commerce provides ready integration with Shopify & Shopify Plus. Additionally, HotWax Commerce offers open APIs and its own integration toolkit, enabling rapid eCommerce integration with various eCommerce systems such as BigCommerce, Adobe Commerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and Commerce Tools, among others.

HotWax Commerce retrieves orders from Shopify using its API, which allows for downloading 250 orders in a single call. However, HotWax Commerce downloads 100 orders per call to prevent file size limit errors, as some orders may contain multiple items, increasing the file size.
The order throughput from Shopify depends on the API response time, which is generally 2-3 seconds but can take 5-10 seconds during peak seasons. Each API call is made after the previous one is completed.
Order throughput can range from 600 to 5,000 orders per minute. HotWax Commerce has achieved a throughput of 17,500 orders in 5 minutes, or 3,500 orders per minute, during the holiday season.

Yes, HotWax Commerce allows for custom enhancements. Clients can either utilize our APIs to develop their own extensions or request specific features using an SOW for customization.

If there's a feature already on our roadmap that requires prioritization, enterprise clients can choose the SOW route to accelerate the implementation.

Yes, HotWax Commerce offers APIs that enable retailers to build the integration with their systems. Alternatively, HotWax integration team can also build the integration. During the onboarding process, we provide technical advisory, including guidance on API structure, data format, and best practices for integration.

HotWax Commerce can be subscribed to webhooks of external systems for various scenarios, including but not limited to creating and deleting products, updating inventory level, cancelling orders and returns etc.

HotWax Commerce pushes inventory updates to Shopify in near real-time. Inventory synchronization is performed as a batch process, running every 10 minutes. This approach is chosen because real-time updates can hit Shopify's rate limits and potentially lead to data leaks. The batch process is more reliable and ensures data accuracy.

The inventory computed by HotWax Commerce can be pushed to other systems in two ways:

Inventory Feed from HotWax Commerce: HotWax Commerce provides a feed of inventory that the dev team of retailers can use and transform as per the specification and file format expected by their system.

HotWax Commerce Integration Platform: Alternatively, HotWax Commerce Integration Platform can integrate with other systems to sync inventory data.

Yes, HotWax Commerce supports both automated and manual data export and import. The platform provides several out-of-the-box automated feeds designed specifically for integration with external systems like Shopify and NetSuite. These feeds are consumed by HotWax's Shopify and NetSuite connectors. For example:

Create Orders Feed: Tracks and creates new orders in NetSuite.

Fulfilled Order Items Feed: Updates order statuses in both Shopify and NetSuite and synchronizes inventory levels in NetSuite.

Brokered Order Items Feed: Updates order item locations in NetSuite when items are sent to warehouse or store locations.

Shopify Inventory Feed: Keeps Shopify updated with the latest inventory levels.

Inventory Cycle Count Variance Feed: Aligns inventory data between HotWax Commerce and NetSuite by tracking variances.

Learn more additional feeds offered by HotWax Commerce and how do they work.

Additionally, HotWax Commerce offers the Master Data Management (MDM) Export Import (EXIM) Tool for manual data handling, allowing retailers to export and import data as needed that may not be available in out-of-the-box feeds.

HotWax Commerce is a cloud-based SaaS solution, eliminating the need for retailers to manage server hardware scaling. All in-store HotWax Commerce apps are web-native, so any device with full browser support can access and use them.

HotWax Commerce is cloud-based and requires an internet connection to function.

HotWax Commerce support system is designed to address urgent issues promptly and effectively both during and after implementation. HotWax adheres to industry-standard incident prioritization levels to ensure that critical issues receive the highest level of attention.

1. Priority 1 Incidents (P1): For critical production issues that severely impact service usage and halt business operations, our target initial response time is within 30 minutes, with a resolution time of 2 hours. Dedicated resources are required from both the client and HotWax Commerce to address these issues.

2. Priority 2 Incidents (P2): Major functionality issues causing high impact to business operations but allowing service continuity with restricted functionality are addressed with an initial response time of within 1 hour and a resolution time of 4 hours.

3. Priority 3 Incidents (P3): Partial, non-critical loss of service use with medium-to-low impact on business operations is handled with an initial response time of within 4 hours, with resolution targeted by the next business day.

4. Priority 4 Incidents (P4): General technical inquiries, cosmetic issues, or routine technical inquiries are responded to within 24 hours, with resolution within five business days.

For self-help troubleshooting, HotWax Commerce provides resources including user manuals, instructional videos, and community forums.

For enterprise clients, the support also includes a dedicated account manager that is available daily over email, chat, and phone.

HotWax Commerce offers different support levels depending on the chosen plan. We also provide comprehensive user manuals, a growing collection of online tutorials, and initial onboarding training. IT teams receive training on common browser settings and configurations to troubleshoot any unexpected behavior from HotWax Commerce.

The data is securely stored on servers hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the United States.

Yes, you retain ownership of all your data, including orders, products, and inventory. Upon termination, HotWax Commerce provides a copy of your data and does not retain it afterward, unless specified by contract.

HotWax Commerce has a streamlined contract process. Once both parties sign the online contract, implementation can begin immediately.

Yes, you can visit HotWax Forum for updates and common cases.

We conduct regular internal and third-party audits to evaluate and maintain the security of our platform. These audits are part of our compliance with SOC 2.

We implement multiple layers of security, including encryption, firewalls, and regular vulnerability assessments. Access control is enforced through two-factor authentication and restricted user permissions.

Access to your data is strictly limited to authorized personnel who require it for operational purposes. We employ role-based access control (RBAC) and two-factor authentication (2FA) to ensure secure access.

HotWax Commerce ensures data security and reliability by maintaining real-time data replicas along with automated daily backups. These backups are stored across geographically separate environments, providing robust data redundancy and safeguarding against potential disruptions or failures.

Yes, you can request data deletion at any time by contacting us. We are committed to processing these requests in alignment with data privacy regulations and your service agreement.

HotWax Commerce does not share your data with third parties without explicit consent, unless required by law or as part of contractual agreements with trusted service providers who adhere to strict data protection standards.

The expected time frame for the entire OMS implementation varies depending on project specifics and the number of integrations involved.

Typically, it could range between 12 to 16 weeks. If your tech stack includes Shopify for eCommerce and NetSuite for ERP, for which HotWax Commerce offers out-of-the-box integrations, the implementation timeline could be expedited, with the potential for going live within 8 weeks.

HotWax Commerce provides flexibility to manage multiple brands, each with its own eCommerce store, within the same OMS. This often occurs when a retailer supports multiple brands with a centralized operations team and enables access to shared data between brands.

Scenarios where HotWax Commerce recommends each brand should have a separate OMS instance:

1. If a retailer operates multiple brands as independent legal entities, each with its own operational requirements and confidentiality protocols regarding data access, separate OMS instances are necessary. This ensures that each brand maintains autonomy and compliance with legal regulations.

2. If a retailer operates different brands in various countries, each brand may have unique regulatory requirements, tax obligations, and operational processes. In this scenario, having separate OMS instances for each brand allows for better localization and compliance with regional laws and standards.

Using pre-built integrations, HotWax Commerce can process orders from eCommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce. Shopify's integrations with social media sales channels like Facebook and Instagram also allow HotWax Commerce to handle orders from those platforms. Additionally, HotWax Commerce can process in-store Endless Aisle/Send Sale orders from POS systems, either through APIs or FTP locations. New sales channels can be integrated using HotWax Commerce's open APIs.

The three main resources expected from the client's side are:

1. A dedicated project coordinator tasked with facilitating communication and gathering input from business stakeholders to define project requirements effectively.

2. The IT head, responsible for discussions related to integrations, who will approve integration methodologies and make decisions on integration strategies.

3. A Quality Analyst (QA) responsible for conducting User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and ensuring that the system aligns with business processes based on the specified requirements.

Additionally, as the project progresses, it's expected that additional team members, potentially from the business team, may be involved in discussions related to specific aspects such as order routing and inventory flows.

The team plans two-week sprints for implementation and customization, with weekly client calls for user training and progress updates.

User manuals, videos, and onboarding sessions are provided for all omnichannel features and functionalities.

HotWax Commerce continuously updates its platform, providing the latest features and bug fixes without a traditional release cycle.

Clients have full control over deployments for their instances. HotWax Commerce acknowledges the need for auditing certain changes within client teams or platforms and is ready to collaborate accordingly. Ensuring version control for enterprise retailers, particularly regarding API dependencies, is prioritized. While new versions are regularly available and recommended, clients are fully supported in their decision to remain on a specific version until instructed otherwise. Particularly during critical periods like the holiday season, upgrades are not enforced to maintain stability and operational continuity.

HotWax Commerce offers open APIs, enabling retailers' tech teams to extend the platform and create custom applications. Back-end apps are also open-sourced for further customization.

In the OMS, every user is assigned specific permissions based on their roles and responsibilities. Users can be divided into administration, fulfillment, catalog management, and customer-facing roles.

By establishing user profiles, retailers can grant access to critical operations involving orders, products, and inventory data.

Learn more about user management.

No, eCommerce operations are not paused on the go-live date, they will continue as usual.

On the go-live day, a test order walkthrough will be performed either by us or by the client in the production environment to verify that everything is functioning as expected. This process usually takes about 20 minutes. To ensure a smooth transition, the go-live is scheduled during off-peak hours, allowing any issues that may arise to be promptly addressed.

Yes, HotWax Commerce offers multi-language support and internationalization. We provide a translation file containing a list of labels to be translated. Retailers can submit their translations in their preferred languages, which we then upload into the platform. For example, some of our clients leverage HotWax Commerce in Japanese and Spanish.

HotWax Commerce does not impose any user limitations per license. Access to HotWax Commerce can be provided to as many users as needed, based on the retailer's requirements.

Yes, to help you better understand how HotWax Commerce works, we provide a demo OMS instance on request. By exploring and interacting with the platform you can gain a solid understanding of various order and inventory management workflows in HotWax Commerce.

Yes, HotWax Commerce provides multiple mobile apps that serve various purposes for store associates and managers:

Fulfillment App: Assists with picking, packing, and shipping orders allocated to stores.

Picking App: Manages picklists for efficient picking of order items and ensures quick fulfillment.

BOPIS Fulfillment App: Handles the fulfillment of Buy Online Pickup In Store (BOPIS) orders.

Cycle Count App: Facilitates regular cycle counts to maintain accurate inventory levels.

Inventory Receiving App: Streamlines receiving of Transfer Orders, Purchase Orders, and Returns in stores.

These apps are designed to address different aspects of store operations, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.

HotWax Commerce orchestrates the journey of an order from creation to approval, routing, and fulfillment, ensuring accuracy at every stage.

Orders imported from eCommerce platforms and undergo an approval process before being processed for fulfillment.

Approved orders are routed to the most optimal fulfillment locations based on routing rules set by retailers. If a store or warehouse rejects an order, HotWax Commerce automates the re-routing process.

Additionally, HotWax Commerce also manages cancellations by ensuring that any changes or updates are accurately reflected, regardless of whether they are initiated through the eCommerce platform or within HotWax Commerce.

Learn more about order lifecycle in HotWax Commerce.