Store Commerce app
This topic explains how to set up and configure the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce Store Commerce app and applies to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce version 10.0.25 and later.
The Store Commerce app in Dynamics 365 Commerce is the next-generation offering for physical stores. It unifies Modern Point of Sale (MPOS) and Cloud Point of Sale (CPOS) into a single application, provides deployment choices to retailers, helps improve performance, and offers superior application lifecycle management (ALM). At the same, it retains all the functionality of MPOS and CPOS, including extensibility.
The Store Commerce app provides rich commerce functionality for first-line workers such as cashiers, sales associates, inventory associates, stock clerks, and store managers. It lets these workers perform commerce operations such cash-and-carry transactions, cash/shift management, customer engagement, assisted selling, clienteling, endless aisle, order processing/fulfillment, inventory management, and reporting.
Store Commerce is a Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) shell application for Windows that uses the Microsoft Edge WebView2 control to render the CPOS application. Although CPOS can run only in a web browser, Store Commerce can run as a native Windows application such as MPOS. Therefore, it provides the benefits of both MPOS and CPOS.
Store Commerce supports local hardware station and offline usage, and can be directly integrated with a payment terminal, printer, and cash drawer. It can use hardware devices without requiring that a shared hardware station be set up.
To render the user interface (UI), Store Commerce uses the Chromium engine instead of the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app rendering framework. The Chromium engine has better rendering performance than the native JavaScript UWP app in Windows. The main difference between MPOS and Store Commerce is that Store Commerce uses the Chromium engine to render the app.
Benefits of Store Commerce
- ALM is simplified.
- Extension or independent software vendor (ISV) code that is developed for MPOS or CPOS by using the Commerce software development kit (SDK) can be reused in Store Commerce with minimal changes.
- Store Commerce provides the benefits of both MPOS and CPOS.
- Performance is better.
- POS and extension upgrades are easier.
- Dedicated hardware station is supported.
- Offline deployment is supported.
Application lifecycle management
The Store Commerce app runs on Windows devices and can be downloaded from the Shared asset library in Microsoft Lifecycle Services (LCS). On the Shared asset library page, select Retail Self-service package as the asset type, and then find the file that ends with "Store Commerce." Be sure to select the version for the Commerce release that you're using (for example, 10.0.25 or 10.0.26).
Store Commerce deployment options
Store Commerce supports two types of deployment topologies:
- In-app – All the components, such as Modern Point of Sale (MPOS), are deployed locally. Offline and local Hardware Station (HWS) are supported.
- Hybrid – Store Commerce renders the Cloud POS that is deployed in Commerce Scale Unit (CSU) and supports local Hardware Station. However, offline isn't supported.
There are no separate installers for the hybrid and in-app topologies. The deployment options are determined by the parameters that are passed during installation.
In-app deployment
For the in-app deployment option, the application content is locally deployed in Store Commerce, just as for MPOS. Store Commerce then renders the application content from its local deployment. It doesn't connect to CPOS that is hosted in CSU to get the application content.
To update the application content, run the latest version of the Store Commerce installer. The application content won't be updated if you update the CSU. Therefore, you can manage the updates at individual registers.
In-app mode supports offline. Therefore, during installation, pass the --installoffline parameter to deploy the offline database. During offline (that is, when there is no connectivity), the application won't be able to connect to CSU or Commerce headquarters, and will use the locally deployed CRT.
Note
During the installation of Store Commerce, users can pass parameters to select either the hybrid option or the in-app option. The default option is in-app deployment.
Hybrid deployment
Store Commerce is a shell that renders CPOS and connects to Headless Commerce and Commerce headquarters by using CSU in online mode. In hybrid mode, Store Commerce app content is rendered from CPOS that is hosted in CSU. When the Store Commerce app is opened, it will prompt for the CPOS URL.
To update Store Commerce, just update the CSU. Store Commerce will then automatically receive the update. Because updates are centrally managed in CSU, they don't have to be managed at individual registers. The Store Commerce application shell must still be updated separately by using the installer. For more information about how to update the CSU, see Apply updates and extensions to Commerce Scale Unit (cloud).
Store Commerce and MPOS parity
Store Commerce has full functional parity with MPOS. Store Commerce currently doesn't support dual display. For more information about the different POS applications and topologies, see Choose between Modern POS (MPOS) and Cloud POS.
Store Commerce and CPOS parity
Store Commerce has full functional parity with CPOS. In addition, Store Commerce supports dedicated hardware station and offline deployment.
Store Commerce and MPOS/CPOS
We recommend that you use Store Commerce or CPOS for all new deployments. Existing customers should plan to migrate MPOS to Store Commerce.
Comparison between Store Commerce and MPOS
| Store Commerce | MPOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating environment | Windows | Windows |
| ALM | Store Commerce is self-serviced by using LCS and Commerce headquarters. It's packaged and installed by using the Store Commerce installer, and CPOS is deployed through CSU. | MPOS is self-serviced by using LCS and Commerce headquarters. It's packaged and installed by using the MPOS installer. |
| Extensions | Extensions are deployed to CPOS or installed by using the extension installer. | Extensions are packaged with MPOS, or an independent extension package is used. |
| Support for offline mode | Yes | Yes |
| Support for local hardware station | Yes | Yes |
| UI rendering engine | The Chromium engine is used to render the UI. | The UWP app rendering framework is used to render the UI. |
Setup and installation
Prerequisites
- Windows 10 version 17763.0 or later, Windows 11, or Windows Server 2019
- Microsoft Edge WebView2 (Use the Evergreen Standalone Installer.)
- SQL Server Express, SQL Server Standard, or SQL Server Enterprise (required only for offline). For information on which SQL Server edition to use, see Commerce offline implementation and troubleshooting.
- Dynamics 365 Commerce (Commerce headquarters and Cloud Scale Unit)
Device setup in Commerce headquarters
For Store Commerce, a new application type that is named Store Commerce has been added on the Devices page (Retail and Commerce > Channel setup > POS setup > Devices). Select this application type when you create a device for Store Commerce.
If the Store Commerce application type doesn't appear on the drop-down menu, try to run the Initialize function from the General tab of the Commerce parameters page (Retail and Commerce > Headquarters setup > Parameters > Commerce parameters). Then refresh the page.
You must create a register and a device for Store Commerce. Then, before you activate the app, run the register job from the distribution schedule in Commerce headquarters. During device creation, set the Application type field to Store Commerce.
Device installation
Store Commerce can be downloaded from the LCS Shared asset library. On the Shared asset library page, select Retail Self-service package as the asset type, and then find the file that ends with Store Commerce. After the file has been downloaded, follow these steps to install the app.
- Go to the folder where you downloaded Store Commerce, and open PowerShell in administrator mode.
- In PowerShell, find the Store Commerce installer, and pass the install parameter to install the app. To install offline components, pass the --installoffline parameter. (For example, enter
Store_Commerce Installer_exe_name install --installoffline.) If you want to enable debugging mode during installation, pass the --enablewebviewdevtools parameter.
Store Commerce installation parameters
You can also use the help command in PowerShell to find information about all the parameters. In PowerShell, find the Store Commerce installer, and then enter Store_Commerce Installer_exe_name help install.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| installoffline | Deploy the offline database. |
| sqlservername | Specify the name of the SQL Server instance that Store Commerce uses in offline mode. If you don't specify this parameter, the installer will use a default instance. |
| skipsqlfulltextcheck | Skip validation of the SQL Full-Text Search that is required for offline deployment. |
| trustsqlservercertificate | Trust the SQL Server certificate when a connection is established to SQL Server. To help avoid security risks, you should never use this argument for production deployments. By default, the SQL Server certificate isn't trusted. |
| enablewebviewdevtools | Enable developer tools for Store Commerce. If you don't specify this parameter, developer tools will be enabled only if Windows Developer Mode is enabled. |
| retailserverurl | Specify the default Retail Server URL to use for Store Commerce. If you don't specify this parameter, the user will be prompted to enter the Retail Server URL during device activation. |
| useremoteappcontent | Use the remote application content to download the Store Commerce app content from CPOS that is hosted in CSU. By default, the local application content that is deployed with Store Commerce is used. |
| skipversioncheck | Skip the validation during downgrade. |
| skipurlcheck | Skip the validation of URLs that are passed to the installer. |
| logdirectorypath | Specify the path of the log's directory. |
| config | Specify the path of the configuration file that will be used as part of the installation. |
| verbosity | Deploy the offline database. |
| help | Show parameter information. |
| version | Show information about the app version. |
Activate Store Commerce
To activate Store Commerce after installation, follow these steps.
- On the Windows Start menu, search for Store Commerce, and then open the application.
- On the application's start page, if you select Remote app content as the deployment option, enter the CPOS URL, and then select Save. You can find the CPOS URL on the environment details page in LCS or on the Channel profiles page in Commerce (Dynamics 365 Commerce > Channel setup > Channel profiles).
- Activate Store Commerce by following the steps in the POS activation guide.
- After activation is completed, sign in to the application by using an employee account.
Troubleshooting setup issues
I can't activate the app and get a connectivity error message
After you enter the valid CPOS URL, you might receive a connectivity error such as "A connectivity error has occurred, and your device can't connect to the Cloud POS. The Cloud POS URL typed may have some issues." In this case, review the URL for typographical errors, or determine whether Cloud POS can't be reached because it's offline.
Additionally, verify that the CSU version is 10.0.25 (9.35.*.*) or later. CPOS version 10.0.25 or later is required to use Store Commerce.
Installation issues
During installation, you might receive an error such as "A version (9.*.*.*) of this product (Modern POS) has been previously installed through the legacy installer." To fix the error, you must uninstall the MPOS app for all the users on the machine and try again. You can confirm whether MPOS has been removed for all the users by running the following PowerShell command.
Get-AppxPackage | Where-Object {$_.PackageFullName -like "Microsoft.Dynamics.*.Pos"} | Remove-AppxPackage -Allusers
I can't activate the app due to an invalid URL or error state
If the CPOS URL that you entered isn't valid and you want to change it, or if the app is in an error state during activation, you can restart the process by resetting the app. Note that the Store Commerce app will save only a valid CPOS URL.
To reset the app, follow these steps.
- On the Windows Start menu, select and hold (or right-click) the app, and then select More > App settings.
- Scroll down the app settings page until you find the Reset button.
- Select Reset, and then, when you're prompted, confirm that you want to reset the app.
Customize the app
Store Commerce can be customized by using the Commerce SDK. You can modify and create the POS user experience, enhance or modify out-of-box functionality, add validations, and add custom features. For more information, see Point of Sale (POS) extension overview, or review the samples on GitHub.
Hardware station extension
Store Commerce can be extended so that it's integrated with hardware devices. You can use the sample extension code that has been added in GitHub to generate Store Commerce hardware station extension packages. For more information, see Integrate the POS with a new hardware device.
Known issues with the Microsoft Edge WebView2 control
- During activation, when prompted for entering the AAD password with multiple options, choose password. The other options might not work.
Additional Resources
Modernizing the Dynamics 365 Commerce in-store technology stack
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