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      [Internal] Direct Messaging and Updates Feature Access

      Explanation of the process for turning on the new messaging and updates feature for Buyers and Suppliers

      Messaging and Updates is a new feature allowing Buyers and Suppliers to converse and provide updates through ShipServ, associating the particular messages directly to a transaction. More details about the feature can be found here. The help article visible to customers can be found here.

      Article contents…

      1. Who can send messages

      2. How do buyers opt-in

      3. Opt-in process

      4. Staged Rollout (Important)

      5. General FAQs

       

      Who can send messages?

      The feature is 'buyer driven' meaning that buyers will have the option to choose whether they prefer their suppliers to converse with them through ShipServ or via alternate means such as email.

      It is an opt-in feature for buyers. Only if the buyer is opted will the supplier be able to message them. Restrictions will be applied to both web and integrated suppliers based on the buyers preferences.


      What does a supplier see when a buyer is not opted in?

      When a supplier tries to send a message or update to a buyer who is not opted-in then they will see the following message…

       

       

       

      How do Buyers Opt-In

      Buyers can opt-in by letting their account manager know or the support team. A data request must be raised through SalesForce. See here for more details on the opt-in process.


      What happens when a buyer opts-in?

      Once the buyer is opted in, all suppliers they are trading with will be able to send them messages via Trade or through their messaging integration.


      How will buyers know the feature exists?

      In addition to the marketing materials, Buyers should be made aware of the messaging and updates feature by the sales-person or account manager.


      When can buyers opt-in?

      The feature is being released in stages. All buyers can register their interest to opt-in right away. We anticipate platform wide rollout in late January / early February. For more information on the rollout process, see below…

       

       

      What's opt-in process for Buyers?

      Without integrating with our messaging API, they will use our New Platform to view and send messages. As such buyers will need to be set up with user accounts on the new platform for all TNIDs they are trading from. The process takes just a few minutes and is identical as that for suppliers.

      The members involved in the process are the 🚢 buyer, 🧑‍💼 account manager, 🤗 platform support and 📊 data. The emojis act as the key on who is specifically involved in each step of the process.

      ❗ Note: If a buyer already has logins for the New Platform, skip to Part 2

      Part 1: General Onboarding of Companies to New Platform

      Please refer to the following article for the step-by-step process on how to onboard Buyers to the New Platform

       

       

      Part 2: Opt-in for Messaging

      1. [ShipServ] Once the Buyer has set up their users a data request should be sent through SalesForce to turn on messaging for Buyers. The data request must specify which TNIDs to opt-in. 🧑‍💼 🤗 📊

      2. [ShipServ] An email notification will be sent out to all suppliers of that buyer (or at minimum the main suppliers) notifying them that the buyer is now receiving messages and updates through ShipServ. You can find the email template below - the account manager and data to decide who to send to. 🧑‍💼 📊


      Note: If any TNID does not have a trading email, this must be collected. This is where buyers will receive notifications of new messages to (as well as usual trading emails when moved from legacy to New Platform).

       

      HTML for email - here

       

       

      Testing with Buyers in Beta (Staged Rollout)

      Today only a small number of buyers have logins to the new platform meaning that rolling out to all buyers right away will be operationally difficult over the Christmas period. In addition, as this is a new feature being introduced during the Christmas period we will do a gentle rollout.


      Therefore, the feature should only be made available by up to 5 buyers before Christmas. Those buyers can select up to 30 suppliers each to test the feature with before rolling it out to all their suppliers in late January / early February.

      What's the process?

      The process is the same as above (here) with exception that…

      1. Buyer Sales to select which Buyers to offer the invite for our Beta to and reach out to invite them.

      2. During Beta, account manager should gather which suppliers they wish to test with.

      3. When sending a data request to turn on the messaging feature for the buyer, the Suppliers chosen by the Buyer for the Beta should be specified in the data request.

      4. The email notifying the suppliers that the Buyer is receiving messages via ShipServ will only be sent to those specified Suppliers.


      General FAQs

      Can a Supplier Opt-Out?

      No. Whether a supplier can message a Buyer or receive a message from the Buyer via ShipServ is the choice of the Buyer.

      ShipServ cannot technically force messaging the buyer through the feature (nothing stops them emailing) however if the buyer has opted-in it would be in their best interests and likely lead to quicker response times and simpler communication.


      What happens when a Buyer Opts out?

      If a buyer opts out their suppliers will no longer be able to message that buyer through ShipServ. They will see the notification in app shown here.