> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.arcuserp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Sales Channels and Customer Portal > Sales Channels identify where orders come from and can supply default pricing, payment terms, and origin type. Customer Portal settings control what customers can access when they log in or open shared order, invoice, payment, tracking, quote, and return links. ## Open Sales Channel and Portal Settings 1. Open **Settings**. 2. Choose **Entity Settings**. 3. Open the **Sales Channels** group in the left navigation. 4. Select **Sales Channels** to manage order-source defaults. 5. Select **Customer Portal** to manage customer-facing access, visibility, links, and branding. **These settings affect customer-facing behavior** Sales channel defaults can change how new orders price and classify. Portal settings can change what customers can see or do. Test with a sandbox customer before changing production behavior. ## Sales Channels A sales channel is the source or selling lane for an order, such as Phone-In, In-store, Online, Shopify, Amazon, eBay, or Wholesale. Channels help Arcus classify orders and choose sensible defaults. Sales Channels settings page showing channel rows, type badges, system channel badges, default pricing, terms, origins, and import controls * **Name**: the channel label operators see on orders and reports. * **Code**: the short code used for import and identification. * **Type**: direct, wholesale, Shopify, Amazon, eBay, or another configured channel type. * **Default Pricing Level**: preselects the price tier when an order uses the channel. * **Default Payment Term**: preselects the net term when no more specific term is chosen. * **Default Origin Type**: classifies how the order came in, such as phone, online, or in-store. * **System**: connector-managed marketplace channels that should be managed from Integrations. Add Sales Channel modal with name, code, type, default pricing level, default payment term, and default origin type fields **Channel defaults are fallbacks** A value selected directly on an order wins. If the order does not specify a value, Arcus can use the channel default, then account or entity defaults where the workflow supports them. ## Connector-Owned Channels Marketplace channels created by connectors are marked as system channels. They cannot be deleted from Sales Channels because imported marketplace orders may already reference them. To connect, disconnect, or troubleshoot a marketplace channel, use **Integrations**. **Disconnecting a connector does not erase order history** Existing orders keep their channel history. Disconnecting a connector stops or disables the connector-owned channel going forward, but it should not remove old order records. ## Customer Portal Access Customer Portal settings control whether customers can log in and which self-service actions are available. The portal link is the login entry point for customers who have portal access. Customer Portal settings page showing portal login link, access toggles, and customer visibility toggles * **Portal enabled**: controls whether customers can use the login-based portal. * **Allow customers to cancel orders**: gates self-service cancellation for eligible unfulfilled orders where that portal flow is available. * **Allow customers to request returns**: treat this as return-related customer visibility where available. Staff still create and manage RMAs internally; do not treat this setting as a public return-request launch point. * **Allow customers to manage addresses**: lets customers maintain their saved addresses. * **Show order tracking**: shows tracking details where shipments and tracking are available. * **Show serial numbers**: shows serialized product details to customers when applicable. * **Show account credits**: shows customer credits where portal account-credit display is available. **Tokenized links are separate from portal login** Disabling the login-based portal does not automatically invalidate already-issued public token links, such as order view, payment, quote acceptance, or tracking links. Manage those links according to your document and customer communication policy. ## Share Links, Fees, and Branding Portal settings also control shared link expiration, cancellation fee defaults, header color, and the welcome message shown on the customer dashboard. Customer Portal settings page scrolled to share link expiry, cancellation fee settings, header color, and welcome message * **Default token expiry**: how long new shared links remain usable by default. * **Cancellation cutoff**: the timing rule used by cancellation settings. * **Cancellation fee**: optional fee settings used when an eligible order is cancelled. * **Portal header color**: changes the customer-facing header color. * **Welcome message**: message shown to customers on the portal dashboard. ## Recommended Setup Order 1. Create custom sales channels for internal selling lanes. 2. Connect marketplace channels from Integrations, not from Sales Channels. 3. Assign channel default pricing levels, payment terms, and origin types. 4. Create a test order for each important channel and confirm the defaults. 5. Review Customer Portal access and visibility toggles. 6. Set shared link expiry and branding. 7. Test a login-based portal session and a public shared link before sending customers live links. ## Common Blocks * **A marketplace channel cannot be deleted**: manage the connector from Integrations. * **An order used the wrong pricing level**: check direct order selection, sales channel default, account default, and product pricing policies. * **A channel default did not apply**: confirm the order is using that channel and no more specific value was selected. * **Customers cannot log in**: confirm the portal is enabled and the customer has portal access. * **A shared link still opens**: check whether it is a tokenized link rather than a portal-login session. * **Portal payment is unavailable**: confirm the payment connector and customer-facing payment settings are configured. ## Related Articles Understand portal login, dashboard, customer navigation, setup requirements, and account-scoped visibility. Use tokenized public links for customer order view, payment, shipment tracking, and quote approval. Help customers review portal quote history, open quote detail, and approve eligible quotes safely. Help customers track authorized RMAs in the portal while staff create and manage returns internally. Help customers download visible documents and manage optional email preferences from the portal. Explain token-based email preference links, unsubscribe choices, re-subscribe, and transactional email limits.