Enhancement

We have the following enhancements on ACP. 

1. Materialized cart

2. Payment gateway failure - API

1. Materialized cart

Problem Statement

Earlier, there were issues with cart validation like the system cannot check whether the items added to the cart still have the same prices, discounts are still valid, and delivery mode is still applicable. 

Solution

With this release, the system stores cart details, either for a guest user or logged-in user. 

How does it work?

Brands can now configure steps or events to validate the cart. This involves one or more of the following steps.

• Cart page: While loading Checkout step 1 screen. For example, when the user clicks on Place Order on the cart page.
• Checkout step 1 (Login screen): When the user logs in and proceeds to the next step.
• Checkout step 2 (Address): When the user enters the address and proceeds to the next step.
• Checkout step 3 (Delivery slot selection): When the user selects the preferred delivery slot and proceeds to the payment page.
• Checkout step 4 (Payment page): The system checks if the cart is still valid and communicate if it has gone stale. The users can accept the changes and place an order or go back to the previous page/ cart to modify their order.

Which cart entities are getting validated here?

• Prices: Check whether the products are available at the same price.
• Availability: Check whether the products are still deliverable through the same delivery option.
• Voucher: Check whether the discount voucher or coupon code Is it still valid or not.
• Delivery mode: Check cart item's prices and availability at the delivery mode level.

Implementation details

To configure a materialized cart for a brand, we need to configure the steps for validation through a database entry and then make the necessary template and CSS changes.
This feature is currently live on Matalan. For details, see the documentation. 

2. Payment gateway failure - API

Problem Statement

Earlier, during payment gateway downtimes, customers get stuck on the payment pages and leave the website. This leads to a loss of business for brands. 

Solution

With this API release, the system displays messages to users to place orders through other payment options until the payment gateway is up and running.  

How does it work?

The system monitors all the API calls made for different payment gateways in the last 30 minutes and, based on responses, identifies whether payment gateways facing downtimes or temporarily offering degraded services. This payment gateway status appears in the form of messages on the user's screen - "XYZ (payment gateway) is experiencing high failure rates, please try other payment options."

Implementation

Refer to the following attachment (downtime - payment gateway fail notification) for implementation details.