Article - Setting Up the Customer Portal Product Catalog (Business Portal)

dbook · 46m ago

I'm posting the below article as I found the existing documentation for using the Product Catalog on the Business portal to be fragmented and unclear. I'm hoping this will help others who are looking to utilise the OOTB Product Catalog to serve their customers via Self-Service within the Business Portal.

Overview

The Business Portal (sn_b2b_portal) provides customers with a streamlined, self-service experience for browsing products, selecting product offerings, and submitting orders through Sales and Order Management.

By enabling the Product Catalog on the Customer Portal, organisations deliver a clear, guided purchasing journey that helps customers easily discover available products, validate eligibility, and submit orders without agent intervention.

Key Benefits for Customers

Self-service product discovery – Customers can browse products and offerings organised into catalogs and categories.
Faster ordering process – Reduces the need for manual agent interactions by providing a direct self-service cart and checkout flow.
Improved accuracy – Catalog visibility rules ensure customers only see products they are eligible for.
Unified digital experience – Integrates with Order Management case handling for seamless lifecycle tracking.

App Installation Requirements

Before configuring the catalog experience, administrators must install the required plugins using the Application Manager. Install the following in the listed order:

Order Management Portal – sn_ord_mgmt_portal
Product Catalog Management Portal – sn_prd_pm_portal
Customer Service Portal – sn_csm_portal
Business Portal – sn_b2b_portal
UI Components for Customer Portals – sn_ciwf_ui_cmpnt
Sales Cart plugin – sn_sales_cart

Documentation:

Configuring the Business Portal

Enabling the Business Portal

Before You Begin

Role required: admin
Ensure all required plugins are installed.

Procedure

Open CSM Configurable Workspace.
Navigate to All > Portals.
Select Business Portals.
Clear the Inactive checkbox.
Click Save.

Configuring Catalog Visibility

Catalog visibility is controlled by the script include CustomerPortalCatalogAccessUtil, ensuring only authorised customer users can see Product Catalog menu items.

OOTB Visibility Requirements

A user must:

Be logged in.
Have the role sn_customerservice.customer.
Have an associated Company record.

A user must NOT have:

sn_customerservice.customer_admin
sn_customerservice.consumer
sn_customerservice.partner
sn_customerservice.partner_admin

OOTB Script Include

var CustomerPortalCatalogAccessUtil = Class.create();
CustomerPortalCatalogAccessUtil.prototype = {
    initialize: function() {},

    canShowCatalogMenuItem: function() {
        var user = gs.getUser();
        
        if (!gs.isLoggedIn()) {
            return false;
        }

        if (!user.hasRole("sn_customerservice.customer")) {
            return false;
        }

        if (!user.getCompanyID()) {
            return false;
        }

        var excludedRoles = [
            "sn_customerservice.customer_admin",
            "sn_customerservice.consumer",
            "sn_customerservice.partner",
            "sn_customerservice.partner_admin"
        ];

        for (var i = 0; i < excludedRoles.length; i++) {
            if (user.hasRole(excludedRoles[i])) {
                return false;
            }
        }

        return true;
    },

    type: "CustomerPortalCatalogAccessUtil"
};

Configuring Product Catalog Data

To display catalog items in the portal, the following at a minimum must be configured and published:

Product Offering Catalogs
Product Offering Categories
Product Offerings

Documentation:
Managing Product Catalogs

Configuring Product Catalog Data

To display catalog items in the portal, the following at a minimum must be configured and published:

Product Offering Catalogs
Product Offering Categories
Product Offerings

Documentation:
Managing Product Catalogs

Pricing

Price Lists define how product and service pricing is presented to customers in the Business Portal and Sales & Order Management.
They serve as the central mechanism for managing different pricing models, such as standard currency-based pricing, regional variations, or customer-specific contracted pricing.

A Price List can represent:

Standard pricing for a given currency (e.g., global GBP pricing)
Customer-specific pricing based on negotiated or contracted rates

Beyond the Price List itself, additional pricing configurations—such as attribute-based price adjustments—can influence the final amount displayed to the user. When designing product offerings, it’s important to consider how pricing complexity affects the self-service experience.

For example, using bundles may provide clearer pricing than relying solely on characteristics, as characteristic-driven adjustments are not always displayed dynamically in the portal. Ensuring pricing is transparent and predictable helps customers make confident purchasing decisions and reduces friction in the ordering journey.

Documentation:
Price lists

Pricing detailed documentation

End-User Experience

Once configured, customers can access:

Product Catalog browsing
Product Offering details
Add-to-cart and checkout flows
Order history and status
Case management for order issues (optional but recommended)

End-user documentation:
Order Management Business Portal – End User Experience

Optional: Self-Service Order Case Management (But Recommended)

If you want customers to raise and manage order-related cases from the portal, install the relevant self-service apps. These extend the Business Portal with:

Order inquiries
Order changes or amendments
Order cancellation requests
Technical or delivery issue tracking

The apps that must be installed from the ServiceNow Store to enable your customers to create and view order cases from the Business Portal:

Order Case Self Service [sn_ord_case_ss]
Order Case Playbook [sn_ord_case_pb]

These plugins have the following dependencies:

Customer Service Portal [com.snc.customer_service_portal]
Order Operations Case Management [sn_order_case]
Playbooks for Customer Service Management [sn_csm_playbook]

If you want your customers to be able only to view order cases in the Business Portal, you do not need to install the Order Case Playbook [sn_ord_case_pb] plugin and the Playbooks for Customer Service Management [sn_csm_playbook] plugin is not necessary.

Conclusion

Setting up the Customer Portal Product Catalog through the Business Portal creates a powerful and intuitive self-service ordering experience. With the correct plugins installed, catalog data configured, and visibility controls applied, organisations can empower customers to browse, select, and order products with ease—reducing manual effort and improving overall customer satisfaction.