Manufacturer of electronic components
Manufacturers of electronic components such as transistors, resistors, IC's allow consumers, organizations and companies to buy components directly from their site . Moreover for promotional purposes they let students and R&D engineers to sample some components for free.
As a regular order to cash scenario (order, pay, deliver) applies for this use case we'll focus on the sampling process.
A dedicated sample link next to a product allows the visitor to request a sample of the given product. The link is only available if the component is allowed to be sampled. Expensive components such a touch screen TFT screens are too expensive to be sampled. Clicking the sample button displays the availability together with the desired order quantity. Some manufacturer limit the order quantity on a product basis. The requested sample is added to a sample basket which can coexists with a regular order basket. This means that a customer can have products in the order basket and at the same time have products in the sample basket. Both need to be checked out independently.
Each sample request order needs to be approved by a sales clerk. Requests for expensive parts need additional approval from a (regional) sales manager. The sales manager calls the customer to verify the authenticity of the request and decides whether or not to approve. The sample order request can be fully rejected or samples can be rejected on an individual base. A notification will be send in either case notifying of the rejection reason.
Although sampled products are offered free of charge, it can happen that the manufacturer asks for shipment costs
Not all visitors are allowed to sample components. The common policy is only to allow companies to sample parts. The manufacturer deserves the right to decline a sample request. Typically the email address used for ordering should belong to a company linked with electronic components. It happens that the website is checked prior approving the sample request order.