Commerce Manager

App Overview

Commerce Manager is a unified interface and integration management app for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It connects Business Central to external sales channels — e-commerce platforms, customer portals, field sales apps, consignment systems, and shop replenishment tools — through a single, standardised API entry point. Instead of building and maintaining a separate integration for every channel, Commerce Manager provides one consistent layer for both inbound order traffic and outbound document and catalogue data.

At the centre of the app is Sales Order Import: a pre- and post-processing framework that accepts orders and quotes from any external system via a standardised API, creates the correct Business Central sales documents, and can automatically trigger downstream actions such as releasing an order or retrieving payment confirmation. Every inbound channel is identified by an Order Origin Code, which controls channel-specific behaviour without requiring separate integration flows.

On the outbound side, Commerce Manager provides two complementary export capabilities. Item Groups allow you to define, calculate, and export structured product catalogues — with pricing, item data, and optional Master Data Information enrichment — to any external channel. Item Group Availability pairs with Item Groups to calculate and export real-time stock availability figures using a highly configurable calculation method that controls which document types, date windows, and locations contribute to the result. Document Export handles the export of transactional documents — sales orders, invoices, credit memos, purchase orders, and posted shipments — as structured, enrichable payloads.

Two further features complete the picture. Credit Limit Check adds a formal credit status field to every sales order, with a customer-level indicator and a full release history audit trail. Sales Order Types, Statuses, and Order Origins provide lightweight classification and webhook-triggering capabilities on top of standard Business Central sales order metadata.

Feature Map

Use this table to find the right article for your task.

Feature	What it solves	Who uses it
Sales Order Import	How do external systems push orders into Business Central? Single API entry point for all inbound order and quote traffic, with automatic document creation and post-processing actions.	IT Manager, Sales Order Processor
Item Groups	Which items does this channel get, and at what price? Defines, calculates, and exports structured product catalogues with optional Master Data Information enrichment.	Product Manager, IT Manager
Item Group Availability	What is the current stock availability for this channel's assortment? Calculates and exports multi-source availability per item using a configurable calculation method.	Product Manager, IT Manager
Item Filters	How do I define which items belong to a group using field-based criteria? Reusable query definitions that drive automatic item group population.	Product Manager
Credit Limit Check	Which sales orders are blocked by a credit limit? Adds a formal credit status to orders with customer-level visibility and a full release history.	Credit Controller, Sales Manager
Document Export	How do I push transactional documents to an external system? Stages and exports sales, purchase, and shipment documents with optional MDI enrichment.	IT Manager, Sales Order Processor
Sales Order Types, Statuses, and Order Origins	How do I classify and route orders, and how do I connect classifications to automated actions? Lightweight classification tables with webhook trigger support.	IT Manager, Business Manager

Common Infrastructure

Several concepts are shared across all features. Understanding them once makes the individual feature articles easier to follow.

Data Contract Manager Core

Commerce Manager Core depends on Data Contract Manager Core (Abakion) for all API and webhook infrastructure. Data Contract Manager handles the low-level mechanics of receiving inbound API payloads, routing them to the correct processing functions, and dispatching outbound webhook calls. Commerce Manager adds its business logic on top of this infrastructure through event subscribers. Data Contract Manager Core must be installed and enabled for any Commerce Manager feature that involves API-based order import or webhook-based export.

Webhooks and API Functions

Throughout Commerce Manager, outbound actions (exporting an Item Group, sending availability data, triggering an order type action) are executed by invoking a webhook configured in Data Contract Manager. Each webhook is identified by a Webhook Code and is linked to an API Function name. The API Function name determines which processing logic is invoked. Item Groups, Item Group Availability records, Order Origins, and Document Export configurations each carry an API Function and a Webhook Code field that must be configured before the export or trigger action can fire.

Master Data Selection

When the Master Data Information app (Abakion) is installed, several Commerce Manager features can be enriched with MDI values. A Master Data Selection is a named set of MDI Information Code references, each specifying which MDI value type to read (Information Value, Value, Description, or File path) and where to write it (a dedicated sub-table row or one of ten numbered text columns on the target record). Master Data Selections are configured once and referenced by Item Groups, Item Group Availability records, and Document Export configurations.

Item Modified Flag

Item Group Lines carry an Item Modified flag that is set automatically whenever an item's master record or any of its Master Data Information entries is inserted, modified, or deleted. This flag powers the "export changes only" capability on Item Groups — allowing the integration to send a lightweight delta payload rather than the full group every time. After a successful delta export, the flags can be reset to mark all lines as unchanged.

Detailed App Feature Setup

Certain features within Commerce Manager — notably Credit Limit Check — are disabled by default and must be explicitly enabled in the Detailed App Feature Setup page. This allows you to activate only the capabilities you need, keeping the BC interface clean for users who do not use every feature.

Typical Workflows

Receiving an order from an e-commerce platform

The e-commerce platform sends an order payload to the commerceCreateSalesOrderBuffer API function in Data Contract Manager.
Commerce Manager's pre-processing classifies the incoming data — setting the document type to ORDER, marking the header and lines ready to carry out, and attaching the channel's Order Origin Code.
Data Contract Manager processes the batch and creates a Sales Order in Business Central with the correct customer, items, and quantities.
If the Order Origin Code has a Retrieve Payment webhook configured, it fires automatically when the order is later posted, pulling payment confirmation back from the platform.

Maintaining and publishing a product catalogue

Define Item Filters to express which items belong to the channel's assortment (e.g. items in category WEBSHOP, supplied by certain vendors, not blocked).
Create an Item Group and attach selection rules referencing the Item Filters.
Set Status to Certified and run Update Item Group Lines. Commerce Manager populates the lines automatically.
If Master Data Information is installed, attach a Master Data Selection and run Update Master Data Information to enrich each line with web descriptions, classification codes, or images.
Run Export Item Group Data to push the full catalogue to the channel.
For subsequent updates, use Only export changes to send only the items that have changed since the last export.

Publishing daily availability figures

Create an Item Group Calculation Method defining the date window and which document types (sales orders, purchase orders, transfers, etc.) contribute to the availability figure.
Create an Item Group Availability record linking the Item Group and the Calculation Method.
Run Calculate Item Group Availability. Commerce Manager calculates inventory, supply, and demand for each item and writes a net Available Qty.
Run Export Item Group Availability Data to push the results to the channel, ready for order taking or replenishment decisions.

Monitoring credit limits on incoming orders

Enable Show Credit Limit Check in Detailed App Feature Setup.
Configure the calculation method in Sales & Receivables Setup (Credit Limit section).
As sales orders are created or imported, the Credit Limit Status field is populated automatically.
From the Sales Order List, filter by Credit Limit Status = Blocked to identify orders requiring review.
A credit controller approves or rejects each blocked order; the decision is recorded in the Sales Order Release History.

Integration with Other Abakion Apps

App	Integration
Data Contract Manager Core	Required dependency. Provides the API and webhook infrastructure that all Commerce Manager import and export features use. Must be installed and enabled.
Master Data Information	Optional but significant. When installed, enables MDI-based item selection in Item Groups (Item Filter Type = Master Data Information), MDI enrichment of Item Group Lines and Document Export staging records via Master Data Selections, and a validated MDI lookup for the Order Type field on sales orders.
Abakion App Manager Core	Required dependency. Provides the app registration, licensing, and notification infrastructure that Commerce Manager uses for activation, feature toggles, and user notifications.

Setup

The setup user stories below cover the end-to-end configuration of Commerce Manager from first activation to a fully operational environment. Work through the Core Setup section first; the remaining sections are independent and can be completed in any order depending on which features you are activating.

Core Setup

SETUP-01: Activate Commerce Manager via Assisted Setup

As an IT Manager
I want to activate Commerce Manager using the Assisted Setup wizard
So that the app is registered and its features are available to users

Setup:

In Business Central, search for Assisted Setup and open the page.
Find the Commerce Manager setup entry and click on it.
Enter the required Email Address and follow the wizard steps to activate the app.
Click Finish to complete activation.

SETUP-02: Create Order Origin Codes for each sales channel

As an IT Manager
I want to create an Order Origin Code for each external channel that will send orders to Business Central
So that imported orders are identified by channel, and channel-specific behaviour (freight, payment retrieval) is applied correctly

Setup:

Search for New Order Origin Codes and open the page.
Add one row per channel. Enter the Order Origin Code (e.g. WEBSHOP, FIELD, B2BPORTAL).
Enable Use Special Freight if this channel requires special freight handling logic.
Set Retrieve Payment to the relevant webhook code if payment information should be retrieved automatically when an order from this channel is posted.

SETUP-03: Configure Trigger Actions for classification-driven automation

As an IT Manager
I want to define the webhook action codes that will fire when specific order types or statuses are applied
So that downstream systems are notified automatically when an order's classification changes

Setup:

Search for Trigger Actions and open the page.
Add one row per webhook action. Enter the Trigger Action code and a Trigger Description.
Configure the corresponding webhook in Data Contract Manager to respond to each action code.

SETUP-04: Create Sales Order Types and Sales Order Statuses

As a Business Manager
I want to define the order types and custom statuses used in our sales process
So that orders can be classified consistently and trigger the correct automation when a type or status is assigned

Setup:

Search for Sales Order Type and create the relevant type codes (e.g. PREORDER, STOCK, SAMPLE). Assign a Trigger Action to any type that should trigger a webhook.
Search for Sales Order Status and create custom status codes (e.g. PICKING, PACKED, SHIPPED). Assign a Trigger Action to any status that should fire a webhook.

Item Group Setup

SETUP-05: Create Item Filters for assortment selection

As a Product Manager
I want to define the field-based criteria that determine which items belong to each channel's assortment
So that item groups are populated automatically from the item master without manual line maintenance

Setup:

Search for Item Filters and create one filter per selection criterion.
For each filter, add lines specifying the Field Name and Field Filter value.
Use BC standard filter syntax (wildcards, ranges, OR pipes) as needed.

SETUP-06: Create and configure Item Groups

As a Product Manager
I want to create an item group for each external channel's product catalogue
So that the channel receives a curated, up-to-date assortment with correct pricing and optional MDI enrichment

Setup:

Search for Item Groups and create a new group. Enter an Item Group Code and set Status to Certified.
In the Item Selection Lines sub-page, add Include and Exclude rules referencing your Item Filters.
Run Update Item Group Lines to populate the item lines.
If Master Data Information is installed, set a Master Data Selection and run Update Master Data Information.
Configure the API Function and Export Item Group Code for the export webhook.

Availability Setup

SETUP-07: Create an Item Group Calculation Method

As a Product Manager
I want to define the rules for how availability is calculated — which documents, which date window, which location
So that the availability figures exported to the channel accurately reflect the supply and demand relevant to that channel

Setup:

Search for Item Group Calculation Methods and create a new method.
Set the General Start Date Formula and General End Date Formula.
For each document type, choose All, Only Released, or None.
Optionally add Calculation Method Detail overrides for per-document-type date, location, or dimension filters.

SETUP-08: Create Item Group Availability configurations

As a Product Manager
I want to link each item group to a calculation method so availability can be calculated and exported
So that each external channel receives availability figures based on the correct assortment and calculation rules

Setup:

Search for Item Group Availability and create a new record.
Set the Item Group Code and Item Group Calculation Method.
Optionally set a Location Code, Sales Forecast, and dimension filters.
Configure the API Function and Export Item Group Availability Code for the export webhook.
Run Calculate Item Group Availability and verify the results before enabling the export.

Credit Limit Setup

SETUP-09: Enable and configure Credit Limit Check

As a Business Manager
I want to enable the credit limit check feature and configure the calculation rules
So that sales orders with credit limit issues are flagged automatically and visible to the order management team

Setup:

Search for Detailed App Feature Setup and enable Show Credit Limit Check for Commerce Manager.
Open Sales & Receivables Setup and configure the Credit Limit section: set the Credit Limit Field Calculation, Order Status Approved Credit Limit Control, and Planned Credit Limit Control Date Formula.
Verify that credit limits are set on the relevant Customer Cards using the standard Credit Limit (LCY) field.