Brink Commerce API Updates for September 2024

September Product Updates

This September, we’ve introduced several updates designed to make managing your eCommerce operations even smoother. From refining order management processes to improving discount management, here’s a quick rundown of what’s new.

Order Management

Refund/Capture with Zero Amount

Some payment providers don’t support zero-sum transactions for refunds and captures. We’ve updated the process for Qliro, Adyen, and Svea to address this. Now, when the total amount is zero, we automatically skip delivery and refund, making the process more streamlined for merchants using these providers.

Release Authorization

Merchants now have more control over order lines. If you no longer plan to capture an outstanding amount, you can cancel it by releasing the order’s authorization.

For example:

Imagine a customer placing an order that includes three products: a pair of shoes, a T-shirt, and a hat. Each of these items is an individual order line.

You’ve already received payment for the shoes and the T-shirt, but the hat is on backorder and won’t be delivered. Therefore, you decided not to receive payment for the hat and no longer plan to fulfill it.

In this case, you can release the authorization for the hat. This means you’re canceling the permission to charge the customer for the hat while keeping the payments for the shoes and t-shirt. You don’t have to do anything with the items you’ve already processed—the system will only release the payment authorization for the remaining item (the hat).

By releasing the authorization, you ensure that the customer is only charged for what they’re actually going to receive. This feature works with Klarna, Adyen, Qliro, Walley, and Svea.

Compensation Flexibility

Earlier, we released the Refund function in Merchant Portal. This time, we are introducing Compensation, which gives you more flexibility in reimbursing customers. While refunds must be tied to a specific order line, compensations don’t have to be linked to any particular item.

This makes compensation perfect for resolving issues like delayed deliveries or other concerns not directly related to a specific product. You can issue compensation in the form of a payment, gift card, or bonus. If needed, you can still link the compensation to an order line for reference in other systems, but it’s not required. This allows you to handle post-delivery situations with more ease and flexibility.

Discount Management

Bundle Pricing

Creating bundled offers just got easier. Merchants can now apply a discount to multiple products, with the discount applied to the entire bundle.

The discount can be a fixed amount or a percentage. You can bundle up to 10 items, and the bundle pricing will remain active if the products are added separately to the cart. For example, you can offer a combined discount for X & Y products when purchased together, increasing your flexibility in pricing strategies.

Other improvements

Tax Percentage with Decimals

We've added support for merchants who need to apply taxes with decimals, such as 27.5%. You can now set tax percentages with one decimal place, making it easier to comply with local tax requirements.

These updates are all about giving you more flexibility, efficiency, and control over your eCommerce operations. At Brink Commerce, we’re always looking for ways to improve your platform experience, and we hope these updates will positively impact your business.