Configurable products

Think of configurable products as made-to-order products that are dynamically configured by the customer. This configuration (or grouping) of products is based on the customer's requirements and is sold as a single unit. In WebSphere Commerce, this type of configuration is called a dynamic kit and is one of the available catalog entries. The components of a dynamic kit are composed by an external product configurator through a set of predefined rules and user interaction. There are several product configurators available that can be used to configure dynamic kits. While WebSphere Commerce does not supply a product configurator, support and integration is provided for an external product configurator. 

Adding a dynamic kit to an order is similar to adding a package. Like a package, the individual components of a dynamic kit cannot be modified and the entire configuration must be fulfilled as a whole. However, you may change the dynamic kit components by re-configuring it using an external product configurator.

For a better idea on how a product configurator works within WebSphere Commerce, imagine at the following shopping scenario:

  1. A customer navigates through an electronics online catalog until finding a personal computer that she is interested in.
  2. Since the chosen computer is a dynamic kit, it needs to be configured through an external configurator.
  3. The customer selects the Configure this product link (or a similar link) to interact with the configurator. This interaction may be as simple as answering a series of questions or as complex as manually selecting detailed configuration options for the computer.
  4. When the customer has completed the interaction, the configurator returns a bill of materials that represents the grouping of items (also known as SKUs) that make up the fully configured computer dynamic kit. The customer can then decide to add this configured computer into the shopping cart.
  5. If the customer wants to change the configuration options for this computer, WebSphere Commerce will redirect her to the external configurator where a modified grouping of items can be selected.