How Standard B2B Commerce Checkout Works

Learn how the standard B2B Commerce checkout process works using Commerce APIs. Checkout runs through a series of steps, each triggering background calculators based on cart status and available information:

The steps include:

1. Add to Cart

   • If CartStatus=ACTIVE. This runs the Pricing and Promotions calculator.
   • If CartStatus=CHECKOUT. This runs the Pricing, Promotion, and Inventory calculator.
     • If shipping address is present/selected, then Shipping and Tax calculators are also executed.

2. Start Checkout

   • Use the PUT Checkout API.
   • This checks if there’s an existing Checkout Session and returns the same if found.
   • If no session exists, create a new Checkout Session and run Pricing, Promotion, and Inventory calculator. If the delivery address is present (registered user has an address saved), then it also runs Shipping and Tax calculators.

3. Enter contact information (Only for Guest User)

   • Add contact information such as phone number or email using the PATCH Checkout API for a headless use case, but it must be done after a checkout session is created.

4. Enter Delivery Information

   • Use the PATCH Checkout API to update contact and delivery information.
   • If the delivery information wasn't available prior to this or there's a change in the address, this triggers Tax and Shipping calculators.
   • Even if shipping is turned off, an address is required for tax calculation. In such a case, adding an address triggers only the Tax calculator.

5. Select shipping method (If shipping is enabled).

6. Process Payment – Captures payment authorization.

7. Place Order – Validates and creates the order.