Choose a Business Partner strategy
Lesson 5 of 15 8 min read
Decide which Enterpryze customer record each incoming order is assigned to, channel by channel, before you go live.
Every sales order in Enterpryze belongs to a Business Partner (BP). When Supply Lens receives an order from a storefront or marketplace, it has to decide which BP to put it against. This is one of the most important decisions in an Enterpryze project, because getting it wrong creates data problems that are hard to clean up later: thousands of duplicate customers, or B2B orders lost in a generic account. By the end of this lesson you will be able to choose the right strategy for each channel.
What a Business Partner is
In Enterpryze, customers and suppliers share the same kind of record: the Business Partner. Each BP has a card code, its unique reference. In Supply Lens, a Party can carry an Enterpryze Card Code identifier, and an Enterpryze Bill to Code identifier too.
The four strategies
| Strategy | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Single generic account per channel | All orders from a channel go to one BP, such as "Shopify DTC Orders" | High-volume direct-to-consumer and marketplace selling |
| One BP per customer (email-based) | A new BP is created for each unique customer email address. Repeat customers are matched automatically. | B2B or account-managed direct-to-consumer |
| One BP per company | BPs are matched or created based on the customer's company name | B2B channels |
| Pre-existing BP with a match key | The storefront or marketplace passes a BP code with each order, and Supply Lens uses it for an exact match | Established B2B accounts with known customer records |
Single generic account per channel
One BP per channel, such as "Amazon UK Orders" or "Shopify DTC". Every order from that channel is assigned to it.
- Pros: simple and clean. No duplicates, and no growing list of one-off customers.
- Cons: no individual customer detail in Enterpryze, so less useful for per-customer reporting.
This is the recommended starting point for most direct-to-consumer setups.
One BP per customer (email-based)
A BP is created the first time an email address is seen, and matched on later orders.
- Pros: customer history in Enterpryze, which supports payment terms and credit management.
- Cons: the BP list grows over time, and there is a risk of duplicates if a customer uses different email addresses.
In the WooCommerce to Enterpryze setup, the card code for a new BP is generated from the customer's billing email, so the same customer always resolves to the same BP.
One BP per company
BPs are matched or created on company name.
- Pros: orders are grouped at company level, which suits B2B.
- Cons: company names are imprecise ("Acme Ltd", "ACME Limited"), so this needs careful deduplication.
Pre-existing BP with a match key
The ordering system sends the Enterpryze BP code with each order, and Supply Lens matches it exactly.
- Pros: precise, with no risk of duplicates.
- Cons: the storefront or ordering system has to carry the BP code.
Choosing, channel by channel
You do not have to use one strategy for everything. Decide per channel and write it down.
Rules of thumb:
- Direct-to-consumer and marketplaces: single generic account per channel.
- Any B2B element: one BP per customer, or a pre-existing BP with a match key. Discuss B2B requirements with the Support Team before going live.
- Retailers trading by EDI: a dedicated BP for each retailer.
Fernhill's two kinds of customer
Fernhill's web shoppers buy once or twice a year, and nobody in the office looks them up in Enterpryze. Fernhill puts all web orders against one BP, WEB-DTC. Its twelve trade stockists are different: they have payment terms and their own price list, and they already exist in Enterpryze. Fernhill's trade portal already stores each stockist's card code, so trade orders use a pre-existing BP with a match key. Fernhill books a call with Supply Lens Support to confirm the trade set-up before go-live.
Hard to undo
Switching strategy after go-live leaves you with a mix of old and new records. Agree the strategy for each channel at the start.
Recap
- Every Enterpryze sales order needs a Business Partner. Customers and suppliers are both BPs, identified by a card code.
- There are four strategies: generic per channel, one per customer by email, one per company, or a pre-existing BP with a match key.
- Generic per channel is the simplest and recommended starting point for direct-to-consumer.
- For B2B, prefer per-customer or a match key, and talk to Support before go-live.
- Choose and document a strategy per channel, not one for the whole project.
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