Magento Open Source, engineered for public and internal buyers.
The Purdue Extension Education Store sells educational materials to the public and to Purdue's own departments. IWD built it on Magento Open Source, branded to Purdue, with Cybersource payments, internal transfer and invoice billing, tax-exempt checkout, and custom procurement reporting, then keeps it current with annual platform upgrades.
Purdue Extension
Purdue Extension brings the university's research and education to communities across Indiana and beyond. Its Education Store sells the materials behind that work to two very different audiences at once: the general public and Purdue's own internal departments. IWD built the store on Magento Open Source, branded it to Purdue, and engineered the payment, tax, shipping, and reporting logic both audiences need, the kind of work our Adobe Commerce experts do across the Magento platform.
A store selling to both the public and internal university departments doesn't fit a stock Magento install.
So we engineered the layer that does.
One store, two audiences
A single platform runs the public storefront and a gated internal store for Purdue departments.
A gated internal catalog
Its own products, categories, and group pricing, visible only to assigned internal buyers.
Card payments, lighter PCI scope
A full-redirect Cybersource checkout keeps card data off the store and out of heavy PCI scope.
University billing methods
Internal transfer, invoice, and purchase-order billing for departments that don't pay by card.
Tax-exempt checkout
Certificate upload, admin approval, and expiry, applied inline at checkout.
Procurement reporting
Purchase reports that reconcile to Purdue's internal accounts, exportable to CSV.
Engineered,
not assembled.
When one store has to sell to the public and to a university's own departments, off-the-shelf Magento isn't enough. So we built the layer that is.
Nine systems. One platform.
Payments, shipping, search, tax, and procurement reporting, wired straight into the Magento storefront and Purdue's finance process, not bolted on as a side process.
PlatformMagento Open SourceSelf-hosted store foundation, performance-tuned and hardened
PaymentsCybersourceVisa redirect gateway, reduced PCI scope
ShippingUSPSLive USPS rates via Endicia
ShippingUPSLive UPS shipping rates
SearchOpenSearchCatalog search and indexing
B2BInternal Purchasing FlowInternal transfer, invoice, and a gated catalog- TaxTax ExemptionCertificate upload, approval, and expiry
- ReportingProduct Purchased ReportCustom admin report by account, CSV export
- FinancePurdue FinanceInvoice and internal-account handoff
Built to keep growing.
The Purdue Extension store wasn't a single launch. It grew capability by capability, from a clean store build to university payments to tax, shipping, and procurement reporting, each phase shipped without losing the layer beneath it.
- Phase 01Store build & brand
A clean Magento Open Source store stood up from a fresh install, performance-tuned and hardened, then branded to Purdue's standards on a Luma child theme, through UAT to go-live.
- Phase 02Payments & buyers
A full-redirect Cybersource checkout, internal transfer, invoice, and back-office payment methods, plus a gated internal customer group with its own catalog and group pricing.
- Phase 03Tax, shipping & reporting
A tax-exemption workflow with certificate upload and approval, live USPS and UPS rates, an internal-account product attribute, and a custom procurement report that reconciles to Purdue finance.
- Phase 04Kept current
A recurring upgrade program across Magento releases with current-PHP compatibility patching of every extension, environment sync, staging QA, and a structured go-live, so the store stays supported year over year.
Built to last, not just to launch.
Launching the store was the start. Each year IWD upgrades the platform to the current Magento and PHP releases, patching every extension for compatibility, so the store stays secure and supported well ahead of end-of-life deadlines.
- One store, two audiences. Public and internal buyers share one platform with separate catalogs and pricing.
- Lean by design. Magento Open Source plus a Cybersource redirect keeps both cost and PCI scope down.
- Kept current. Annual platform and PHP upgrades patch every extension and stay ahead of lifecycle deadlines.
Less manual work,
cleaner procurement.
The build was never the point. This is what changed day to day for Purdue's order desk, internal departments, and tax-exempt buyers.
Get this for your storeEvery purchase ties to an account
A custom admin report lists order, product, SKU, quantity, price, and internal account for any date range and payment method, exportable to CSV, so Purdue finance reconciles purchases against internal accounts instead of stitching native reports by hand.
Custom builds. Engineered for two audiences.
Selling to the public and to internal departments from one store means two catalogs, group pricing, university payment methods, tax exemption, and procurement reporting. So we built the features stock Magento doesn't provide, and patch every one of them through each platform upgrade. Every build is owned by Purdue.
PlatformMagento Open Source Store Build
What it doesA from-scratch storefront stand-up on a clean Magento Open Source install: catalog and product types, checkout, cron, indexing, caching, JS and CSS optimization, sitemap and robots, and a hardened admin, through UAT to go-live.
Why from scratchThere was no platform to migrate. The store was configured and launched from a clean install, tuned for performance and for Purdue's two distinct audiences.
BrandPurdue Brand Style Guide
What it doesA custom child theme over Magento's Luma base with brand variable overrides, fonts, logos, favicons, and placeholders mapped to Purdue's brand standards.
Why from scratchPurdue's marketing brand has strict standards. We branded a stock theme to meet them without the cost and risk of a full creative redesign.
PaymentsCybersource Payments
What it doesA full-redirect Cybersource (Visa) checkout, so card data goes directly to Cybersource on a branded payment page rather than through the store.
Why from scratchRouting cards straight to Cybersource keeps the store out of the heaviest PCI-DSS scope while still giving buyers a branded, seamless checkout.
PaymentsInternal Transfer Payment
What it doesA payment method restricted to internal Purdue buyers that collects an internal account number and GL code instead of a card.
Why from scratchUniversity departments pay each other by internal transfer, not credit card. The method captures the account and GL data Purdue finance needs.
PaymentsPay By Invoice
What it doesAn invoice payment option that places the order in pending while Purdue generates the invoice in its finance system, then marks it complete.
Why from scratchInstitutional buyers pay against invoices, so the checkout had to hand off cleanly to Purdue's internal billing process.
PaymentsBack-Office Payment Methods
What it doesOver-the-counter, check, and money-order methods restricted to the admin so staff can record in-person and offline orders.
Why from scratchNot every order comes through the storefront. Staff needed admin-only methods to capture walk-up and mailed payments accurately.
B2BInternal Customer Group & Gated Catalog
What it doesA dedicated internal customer group with its own products and categories, visible only to assigned internal members.
Why from scratchInternal buyers see different products and prices than the public. A gated, group-scoped catalog keeps the two audiences cleanly separated.
B2BGroup Pricing & Discounts
What it doesCustomer-group-specific pricing and discounts so internal departments see their own rates at checkout.
Why from scratchInternal pricing differs from public pricing. Group rules apply the right price automatically rather than by manual adjustment.
CheckoutTax-Exemption Workflow
What it doesBuyers upload an exemption certificate in My Account; an admin approves it and sets an expiry, after which a tax-exempt option appears at checkout.
Why from scratchMany institutional buyers are tax-exempt. The flow validates and applies exemptions inline instead of sending buyers to a separate process.
ShippingUSPS & UPS Shipping
What it doesLive USPS (via Endicia) and UPS shipping rates with a shipping-rules layer, plus admin-only options for internal fulfillment.
Why from scratchPhysical materials ship by multiple carriers. Real-time rates and rules give buyers accurate costs and staff control over methods.
DataAccount # Product Attribute
What it doesA custom product attribute that tags items to internal Purdue accounts, carried through to orders and reporting.
Why from scratchProcurement reconciliation needs the account on every line. A lightweight attribute handles hundreds of accounts without a heavy data model.
ReportingProduct Purchased Report
What it doesA custom admin report (Reports, Sales, Products Purchase) filterable by order range and payment method, listing order number, product, SKU, quantity, price, and account, exportable to CSV.
Why from scratchPurdue finance reconciles purchases against internal account numbers. Native reports could not produce that view, so we built it.
PlatformAnnual Platform Upgrades
What it doesA recurring, branch-based upgrade program across Magento releases, patching every extension for current-PHP compatibility, with environment sync, staging QA, a rollback plan, and a structured go-live.
Why from scratchOff-the-shelf extensions break on new PHP and Magento versions. Each upgrade is planned, patched, and tested so the store stays current and supported.
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