Shopping in AggieBuy

This page provides detailed shopping instructions for AggieBuy.


General Navigation in AggieBuy

As with any system, getting started involves understanding the "geography" of the system layout. Below are several tips and tricks that can help you get up to speed in AggieBuy in no time!

General Tips

Clicking on the AggieBuy logo in the upper left corner will always take you back to the homepage.

Magnifying glass icon (Quick Search)

  • Upper right-hand corner
  • Allows you to easily search for documents
  • A drop-down menu will appear, allowing you to narrow your search
  • Hot Key: Alt+Q

Magnifying glass icon (Menu Search)

  • Bottom left-hand corner
  • Allows you to search all of the menus on the left-hand ribbon at once
  • A lot easier than memorizing the breadcrumbs!
  • Unlike Product Search and Document Search, does not correct for misspellings
  • As you type, a list of options will appear
  • Hot Key: Alt+M

Heart icon (Bookmarks)

  • Upper right-hand corner
  • Allows you to bookmark frequently visited pages

Person icon

  • Upper right-hand corner
  • Can add your frequently used shipping and account information and set defaults (Defaults will pre-populate your requisitions, but you can override them).
  • Can edit your notification preferences.
  • Access recent orders you've processed.

Locating Items in AggieBuy

There are several ways to locate items:

  • Search hosted catalogs: Use the search field in the Product Search section of the AggieBuy homepage, or one of the links below the field. Advanced Search enables searches on other criteria. The Easy Buy indicator is used to retrieve items ONLY from the Fisher Scientific catalog. Quick Order enables searches by SKU. 
  • Enter a punch-out site: Clicking on a supplier tile will give the option to access their punch-out (if they feature that type of catalog), or to search the hosted catalog for items specific to that supplier
  • Shopping cart icon: Click button on the left side of the page.
  • Favorites: Use a shortcut to items you’ve designated as favorites
    1. In the Product Search section of the homepage.
    2. In the Shop window by clicking on the shopping cart icon on the left side of the page.

Narrowing Search Results List

  • Filter results using filters on the left side of the page.
  • Add keywords to your search by typing them in the box on the left above the filters.
  • Sort results by choosing a sort method from the drop-down menu at the top of the list.
  • Compare selected items: for each item you’d like to compare, click “compare” on the right side of the listing, then click the “Compare Selected” button above the right side of the list.
  • Find out more about an item by clicking the name of the item.

Once You’ve Found What You Want

  • Make it a Favorite - if you’d like, by clicking “add favorite” under the Add to Cart button on the right.
  • Add it to your active shopping cart - click the Add to Cart button. If you’d like to add it to a cart other than the active cart, click the down arrow next to the Add to Cart button and choose Add to Draft Cart or Pending PR/PO. A window will open allowing you to choose a cart.

Once You’re Done Shopping

  • Review your cart by clicking “view cart” under the Add to Cart button of the last item you added, or by clicking on the cart icon at the top right of the screen.
  • Make any changes by using the options to the left of each line item or by typing into editable fields. After making changes, click the Update button for the line item or at the top of the list.
  • Share shopping carts with others: If you’ve been set up for this function you can put a check in the “Share my cart with others” box, then choose from your list of options.
  • Assign your cart: If you’re a Window Shopper and need to assign your cart to someone else for submission, click “Assign Cart” at the top of the page and choose your assignee. 
    NOTE: Until the cart is submitted, you have the option of unassigning it by viewing it in your list of draft shopping carts and clicking the Unassign button to the right of the cart listing.

Creating and Reviewing Requisition

  • Proceed to Checkout: Click on the button at the top of the page.
  • Review each section: enter required information or make changes by clicking on the pencil (edit) icon.

Requisition Screen Sections

  • Shipping: Ship To address and Delivery Options.
  • Payment: Chart of Accounts: Account(s) for the entire order or individual line items. In either case, you can click the + icon and then identify whether you want to distribute the account by percentage of price, quantity, or amount of price.
AggieBuy Account Split

 

  • General: In the General section, you can change the Cart Name. The Cart Name field defaults to the user ID of the person placing the order and the date, but you can change it to something more meaningful, such as the name of the person for whom the order is for or the name of the lab. The Cart Name is included in the approval notifications for the approver.  In general, we recommend keeping the data in the field to 40 characters or less.  The Business Purpose field is also required, and should identify how the purchase supports teaching, research, public service, or patient care. This field should be kept to 100 characters or less.
AggieBuy Checkout Screen General Section

 

  • In the General section, you can also change the name of the person for whom the cart was prepared in the Prepared For field (if you have a Requester role). This option can be helpful if your business office processes AggieBuy Requisitions for multiple users/departments, or if you are going to be out of the office and want someone else to receive the order notifications in your absence
    • By default, the Prepared For field displays the name of the Window Shopper (if they initiated the cart) or the name of the Requester
  • In the General section, you can also add a note to all the suppliers on the order or to individual suppliers related to line items, or add an RUA (Radiation Use Authorization) number. The General section also contains the following two fields:
AggieBuy Dept Approver Selection
    • Shopping on Behalf Of: Allows a user to specify a different department other than the one to which they are assigned (which displays as the default setting). An option must be selected for this field in order to select and cite a Department Approver.
    • Department Approver: Based on the Department selected, the user can then select a Department Approver if set up for that specific department. If a Department Approver is not selected, the order will bypass that optional level of routing and route to the Fiscal Officer/Delegate(s) assigned to the account(s) as it usually does and then route to any Organization Review set up for that department (if applicable).   
    • NOTE: Please note that the Shopping on Behalf Of functionality only appears within AggieBuy and is primarily used for the associated departmental routing. The Shopping on Behalf Of information does not appear on the associated POs in KFS or FIS Decision Support (DS). 
  • Capital Asset(s): Capital asset information can be added by the requester or by the fiscal approver. This section is REQUIRED when purchasing capital assets. It should NOT be filled in for items that do not meet the capital asset definition. Requisitions submitted without this section filled in when required will be automatically returned by the system.
  • Internal Notes and Attachments: These notes can be seen by all users who are UC Davis employees, but not by external suppliers.
  • There are also a few links in the upper section of the checkout screen:
    • Taxes, S&H: For individual line items, changes can be made to the percentages used for Sales Tax, Use Tax, Shipping, and Handling.
    • Comments: Shows comments added to the order. These are also captured in the order’s History. Click on the + icon if you’d like to add a comment or attach a file to the order. 
    • Attachments: Click to view any attachments that were added in the Comments section.
    • PO Preview: The numerals in front of each item do not designate number of units. These just number the items in sequential order.

Submitting or Withdrawing Your Requisition

  • Place Order: Click the button in the upper right corner of the page. Your order has now entered the approval process. NOTE: If you only have the button to Assign Your Cart, this indicates you are assigned the role of Window Shopper. Contact your AggieBuy Department Administrator for assistance if you need to be set up as a Requester in AggieBuy.
  • Withdraw the Requisition: If you decide to do this before it becomes a PO, open the requisition, and click Withdraw Entire Requisition from the upper right corner.
  • Withdraw an individual line item: If you decide to do this before the requisition becomes a PO, open the Requisition page, scroll down and select the item, then click Select Line Item Actions at the top of the list of line items. Choose Withdraw Selected Items from the menu.

NOTE: Withdrawing a Requisition (or line item) makes the Requisition (or line item) no longer editable. However, if necessary, you can copy the information to a new shopping cart. To do this, click on Document Actions at the top of the page and choose “Copy to New Cart.”  Once the Requisition is fully approved, and a Purchase Order has been created, it is not possible to made modifications to the order.


Special Note for Assignment of Department Approvers and Requesters

If assigning a cart to a Requester, or entering a Department Approver, it is always a good idea to ensure that the person is available for taking action on the request. However, what happens if you assign a cart to a Requester or select a Department Approver, and after submitting the order, you realize that the staff member is out on extended leave or was incorrectly assigned?

Unassigning a Cart: If you wish to assign the cart to a different Requester, you will need to first unassign the cart from the current assignee:

  1. Click on the shopping cart icon on the left menu.
  2. Click My Carts and Orders.
  3. Select View Draft Shopping Carts.
  4. Go to the My Drafts Assigned to Others section.
  5. Locate the applicable cart and click on the Unassign button.
  6. You will then be able to assign the cart to another Requester.

Changing the Department Approver: If you need to change the Department Approver on a requisition, you will need to withdraw the Requisition and copy the contents to a new cart:

  • Cick on the Document Search (paper with clock icon) on the left menu, select My Orders, and My Requisitions.
  • After locating and opening the applicable requisition, click on Withdraw Entire Requisition.
  • You will not be able to modify the requisition, but clicking the document number will allow you to Copy to New Cart; this will create a brand new cart with all of the same information as in the previous cart.
AggieBuy Copy New Cart
  • Click Proceed to Checkout in the upper right corner of the screen. IMPORTANT: Make sure you update the Department Approver in the General section of the cart, or your new requisition will go to the same Department Approver as the previous one!

Viewing Requisition History/Reason On Why Requisition Returned

If an AggieBuy Requisition is returned to you as the initial requester, an automated email notification will contain the reason, such as "Requisition 2395285 was returned because Account: 3-1519905 has expired. This document does not allow the usage of expired accounts." 

You can also view the history of all activity taken on an AggieBuy Requisition by doing the following:

  1. Click on the View Requisition button in the email to open up the Requisition. 
  2. Click on the History link in the upper right corner
  3. A pop-up History screen will appear, displaying the history of any changes made, when they were made, and by whom. The Notes column on the far right will indicate any user-generated or system-generated Notes. The system-generated notes will indicate what data is required to complete the Requisition.
    • History Notes Log