CoreCommerce

Here are the new features released by CoreCommerce in the latest version, 8.8.90, which was completed on April 5th, 2012. Enjoy!

1. You can now configure content pages to ignore the “Force Login Before Viewing Categories/Products” setting (Checkout Settings > Checkout tab > Customer Login section). When this setting is enabled, then even if a customer is forced to login before viewing products, they will STILL be able to view content pages. Before this setting was added, content pages were also hidden until you logged in.
2. Added the ability to run credits from inside the admin panel when using the Paymentech gateway.
3. You can now import and export Custom product lists.
4. You can now configure the store to Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) the Gift Certificate emails to the  admin email account.
5. Added a new report that will show the current Reward Points Balance of each customer.
6. Added the ability to use ShipWorks fulfillment
7. When you view gift certificates in the admin you can now view 2 new columns for “Created Date” and “Expiration Date” (will say “Never” if there is no expiration date). In the admin Phone Order feature, we added a new field when you search for a customer. The new field is Customer Bill Company.
8. Added the ability for Braintree (orange) users to choose between auth and auth & capture.
9. Updated the Channel Manager Integration.
10. Added the Bing product feed export to allow a customer to export products to Bing’s product feed service.
11. Added 2 on/off switches to allow a user to exclude a product from the Bing and Google product feed exports. This way if you sell items you cannot send to Google, for example, you now have a way to exclude them from the export that CoreCommerce builds to send products to Google.
12. For a product that has Qty Based Pricing, the system used to NOT allow you to add that type of product from the product list template, since it had to calculate the Qty Based Pricing price. Now, we have added a setting that will allow the customer to add this type of product to the cart from the product list. It will use a Qty of “1” and auto give you the Qty Based Price of “1”. Qty.
13.  For the “Request a Lower Price” feature, you can now upload an image that will display on the product detail page instead of having to use text i.e. “Request a Lower Price”.
14. Altered how the category breadcrumbs work on the product detail so that it will only show 1 trail on the product page, vs. having to see all possible trails.
15. On the Admin Product and Category pages, add the ability to enter in product and category slugs that will become the “title” of the product or category page instead of it having to be the product name.
16. The Canonical URL in some situations will now auto update itself so you do not have to manually edit them all. For example, when you change your domain name, the Canonical URL inside each product can auto update itself to match, when in the past they would not.
17.  Added a new setting to choose the number of grid columns on the homepage.
18.  Altered how you edit a Coupon, so that you do not have to go through the wizard process to edit a coupon anymore. It’s a quicker way to edit a coupon.
19. Integrated with HubSpot Lead API.
20. Customers can now view a list of their previously ordered items and re-order them.

So you want to start a store and sell your products online. I hope you choose CoreCommerce, of course, but the purpose of this article is about the design of your site. A simple yet professional design can be key to your store’s success. It’s not the only factor of course, but it can make a difference.

A design that backs up the type of products you sell will give the customer the sense you know what you do and you are an expert in what you sell. For example, if you sell party supplies, you would most likely NOT want a site that is very dark and mysterious. You would want something colorful, happy, and gave the impression you are an expert on how to throw a party and what supplies are needed.

When you are looking for a design, sometimes you can stumble across a premade template that is exactly what you want your site to look like. Other times, you may find a template that just requires a few small changes.

But a lot of times, to get the exact look you want, you want/need something custom to be  built. The good things about a custom design are that you get something unique to your business or company, it tells the story of what your company is about and what types of products you sell, and it shows that you are an EXPERT in your field, giving customers the TRUST to buy from you.

You will see a LOT of sites with very complex designs, that do not sell a THING. Ultra complex designs may LOOK really nice, but if they are too busy, with too many options, customers tend to get overwhelmed and leave your site.

On the other hand, I have seen VERY SIMPLE designs on sites that bring in MILLIONS in dollars every year. So in the end the products you sell will be your bread and butter, but a good looking, but not too busy design can help keep customers on the site long enough to notice your products, and eventually buy from you.

A poorly designed site, can also have a negative impact. If a customer goes to a site that looks like it was slapped together with a spatula, they get the impression you are not serious about what you are selling (back to the whole “EXPERT” concept) and are much LESS willing to trust you with their money.

For example, here is a screenshot of a test site that has no design, no feel to it:

Now you see that there is nothing about this site that gives the customer any indication of what the site sells, what its company is about, how their products are the products the customer should purchase.

Now check this screenshot out:

You can see by viewing this site’s design, its not too busy, simple, yet professional, and you immediately know what types of products this site sells. this type of design allows the customer to know they came to the right place, yet they will not be overwhelmed with too many images, or links to confuse or frustrate them from wanting to buy from you.

So in the end, a good design can go a long way, and a custom one can give your site the unique, and “experty” (yes I made that up) feel you are looking for. Just make sure it tells the story of why you are in business and why customers should buy from you (since you are the expert).

Til next time!

We have launched our new “Get Satisfaction” community. This replaces the previous “forums” we had and will help us better manage customer feedback. Tell us what we are doing good at, where we need to improve or anything else on your mind. We would love to hear from you. We are migrating the old and new forums over the next month or so.

Old: http://forums.corecommerce.com
New: http://community.corecommerce.com

QR (Quick Response) Codes is a matrix bar-code that looks a lot like UPC bar-codes. QR codes are read by many mobile smartphones. Phones like the iPhone and Android have many free apps to read QR codes. These QR codes can hold URL’s, text or other data.

QR codes can be found on posters, magazine ads, business cards or anywhere where a user might need to know more information.

You can use QR codes in your business perhaps while at conventions or trade-shows, on any brochures or at your place of business.

For example, if a customer comes into your store and you want them to sign-up for your mailing list, instead of giving them a long URL, just use the QR code to send them directly there quickly.

You can create QR codes really easily. You can do this by following these steps:

1) Go to bit.ly
2) Type in the URL you want to send your customers to when they view the QR Code.
3) Take the shorten URL bit.ly gives you and add to end of the URL: .qrcode. For example if the shorten URL they give me is http://bit.ly/aoh4Ni, I would add http://bit.ly/aoh4Ni.qrcode.
4) Save the QR image and use it any marketing or promotional material for your business.

In the end, customers like things quick and scanning a simple code will be much faster than typing in a long URL. Pretty cool stuff.

Here is another reason to use Twitter/Facebook for your ecommerce store. ComScore conducted a survey and found that 28 percent of those who have begun their holiday shopping this season said social media has influenced their purchases.

Seven percent of respondents said they followed a Facebook fan page to find special offers and deals, while 6 percent said they have been influenced by a friend’s Facebook status update referring to a particular product.

Five percent of those surveyed said they had followed a company on Twitter to take advantage of special offers and deals. Three percent said that a friend’s Twitter tweet helped trigger their product purchases.

Need real proof. Dell reported that it made $6.5 million in sales for PCs, accessories and software thanks to its promotional placement on Twitter.

The best news for CoreCommerce store owners, is you can tap into the power of social networking. With Facebook and Twitter integration directly integrated into your CoreCommerce store, CoreCommerce store owners will have a leg-up on the competition.

If you need a store which can drive sales and integrate directly into social networking, try CoreCommerce for free for 15 days. Remember no credit card is required.

Online shopping surges as consumers choose online ecommerce over brick and mortar stores.

Online retail sales grew 13.7% Monday and 35% on black Friday, according to web analytic firm Coremetrics.

Online retailing is led by great deals for consumers, free shipping or low shipping cost and tax free purchases. Consumers online also pruchased more per an order versus brick and mortar stores, according to Coremetrics.

Here are key metrics for Monday’s online retail sales from Coremetrics, including the year-over-year change from Cyber Monday 2008:

* Bounce rate (leave after viewing one page), 28.86%, 17.75%
* Put items in shopping cart as percentage of visits, 12.13%, 11.18%
* Placed orders as percentage of visits, 5.26%, 31.83%
* Page views per session, 8.8, -24.07%
* Minutes:seconds per session, 7:32, -10.14%
* Items per order, 5.92, 29.82%
* Average order value, $180.03, 38.23%
* Shopping cart conversion rate, 36.81%, -3.11%
* Shopping cart abandonment rate, 63.19%, 1.90%

According to a recent online survey by eMarketer, over 34 million mothers go online at least once a month. The reports says:

“Moms are the key decision-makers for many family purchases, and increasingly the information they obtain and activities they engage in online affect those decisions.”

CoreCommerce has empowered many working moms and stay at home moms to start successful online stores. Here is an article about one of clients who is a working mother who started babyobaby.com.