Updated after researching Helcim's actual WooCommerce integration: their
official plugin only supports immediate charge, not a hold/capture step tied
to a WooCommerce order (pre-authorizations exist on Helcim's platform but
only through POS/Virtual Terminal/Payment Pages, disconnected from
WooCommerce). A custom integration against Helcim's API to preserve the
original authorize-then-capture design was scoped and found feasible, but
decided against: checking supplier stock/price/margin live immediately
before charging closes most of the same risk window anyway, since no
dropship design actually reserves the supplier's physical inventory either
way.
Updated in place: Executive Summary launch definition, the custom plugin's
order state machine, Launch Business Rules, Week 3 deliverables, the
Payments/fraud work breakdown, the Staging Test Matrix, Launch Gates, and
the working-capital note — replacing authorize/capture/void language with
charge/refund throughout.
Added Appendix B documenting the decision in full: what was evaluated, why
immediate-charge was chosen over building a custom preauth/capture
integration, and the residual risks accepted (a post-charge failure becomes
a refund — fee loss only, not a structural loss — and a one-off
unfulfillable order can be manually covered via retail fallback rather than
requiring automated multi-supplier failover for launch).
twooey
