How 'Google Checkout' module works

To provide Google Checkout service at an LiteCommerce-based store, the merchant needs to set up an account with Google Checkout. The merchant will be able to use this account in two ways. On the one hand, he or she will be able to use this account to log in to the Google Checkout Merchant Center and process orders from there. On the other hand, the merchant will be able to specify his or her Google Checkout account information on the Google Checkout module configuration page in the store's administration back-end and thus to enable the store to function in close connection with Google's Merchant Center. In the latter case, the merchant will not have to go to the Merchant Center every time he or she needs to check Google Checkout orders, because all the essential information will be available to him or her in LiteCommerce Orders Management section.

Google Checkout orders will appear in the Orders list along with orders placed in the traditional LiteCommerce checkout way. On the whole, processing of Google Checkout orders differs from processing of orders created using standard LiteCommerce checkout.

The first thing that needs to be understood is that, although both Google Checkout and LiteCommerce treat order processing as updating of an order's status, they are entirely different systems and use different terms to describe the process. LiteCommerce Google Checkout module combines the two systems in one, so the merchant has to deal with order statuses both in terms of Google Checkout and in terms of LiteCommerce.

Plainly speaking, every Google Checkout order in a LiteCommerce-based store is characterized by two statuses: its Google Checkout status and its LiteCommerce status. The Google Checkout status of an order is a reflection of the order's financial and fulfillment state in Google Checkout system. The order's LiteCommerce status is a reflection of the order's progress in LiteCommerce. As Google Checkout system plays a primary role in processing of orders created through Google Checkout, an order's LiteCommerce status is fully dependent on the order's status in Google Checkout system.

The Orders Management section of LiteCommerce admin menu provides an interface that allows the merchant to interact with Google Checkout system - a section titled 'Google Checkout'. The section is displayed on every 'Order details' page and allows the merchant to process the order opened for viewing/modification in terms of Google Checkout. The merchant uses the controls of this section to issue commands to Google Checkout telling Google Checkout what to do with the order (update the order's financial or fulfillment state, add information to the order, etc). When Google Checkout performs a command issued to it by the merchant, it sends LiteCommerce a notification as to whether the requested action has been performed successfully. LiteCommerce receives the notification and updates the order's LiteCommerce status accordingly.

Registered LiteCommerce customers can track the progress of orders placed through Google Checkout both in LiteCommerce and in their personal Google Checkout buyer accounts. Anonymous customers can place orders using Google Checkout, but, as they do not have access to the orders history in LiteCommerce, can track orders only using the Purchase history page in Google Checkout.

For more information on Google Checkout module, study the following chapters: