CoreCommerce

We have added several new features in our latest release. The biggest of which is our new template tokens.

We have changed our entire templating system, making it even easier to modify any themes. This includes our all new token system, so instead of relying on complicated php to pull in data or to create if statements, you can now use our new tokens, which completely removes PHP code from our design templates. To view the new token list go here.

The following new features have been added during the July Release:

• New Template System
• Use text personalization fields as a quantity fields
• Progress bar option when submitting a customer submits an order

Below are training videos on how to use each of these features.

New Template System

NOTE: We are currently working on an updated customization guide to go along with our new token system, which will be released by late July.

Use text personalization fields as a quantity field

Progress bar option when customer submits an order

We are excited to announce the debut of CoreCommerce v7.8 (www.corecommerce.com), the newest version of our #1 rated shopping cart solution that features a new, first of it’s kind custom logo design tool, price matching feature and more easy-to-use features designed to put Fortune 500-style functionality in the hands of small business merchants.

“We’re excited to be the first e-commerce provider to offer this exciting new logo design tool that allows merchants to create their own logo using colors, fonts and styles that match the look of their store template,” said Matt DeLong, president and CEO of Sum Effect Software. “Hiring a designer to create a custom logo can be costly, but this easy-to-use logo wizard lets businesses get a professional-looking logo to go with their website on a shoestring budget.”

The new price matching feature in CoreCommerce v7.8 enables merchants to offer customers a chance to request price matching. Customers may inquire about a lower price for a product they’ve seen advertised cheaper somewhere else and the merchant can choose whether to match the price. This flexibility allows CoreCommerce merchants to be more responsive to market pricing, generate more sales and prevent the loss of business because of unknown competitor pricing.

“These new features are part of our ongoing program of continuous improvement and responsiveness to the merchants who use our platform,” DeLong said. “Online retail and marketing is evolving quickly, and we’re committed to providing small businesses with the flexible and innovative options they need to compete in a global online marketplace.”

For nonprofit organizations that solicit and accept online donations, CoreCommerce v7.8 now allows the individual donor to input a custom donation amount, rather than require the choice of a pre-determined option from a list. This adds greater flexibility for both the donor and the organization that can help to encourage larger donations that fall between previously-established thresholds.

Additional features included in CoreCommerce v7.8 include:

* Updated HST tax rates for British Columbia and Ontario to accommodate the Canadian merchant tax changes coming into effect in April. CoreCommerce is one of the only shopping cart systems to support the full Canadian tax system and this upgrade ensures that Canadian customers will be ready when the new mandates are in place.
* New FedEx Freight shipping option for vendor-based shipping, which is ideal for drop shippers who need to transport bulky or heavy items over 150 lbs.
* A new design setup wizard that allows new merchants to create a logo, choose from one of 125+ site templates and get up and running with their store as quickly and easily as possible.
* Integrated Moneris US gateway to provide another option for payment processing.
* The option to upload custom header background and foreground images into pre-designed templates to achieve a more customized site design and greater personalization.
* Support for Android systems on the recently-launched Mobile CoreCommerce smart phone sales interface.

Current CoreCommerce customers will automatically be upgraded to the newest version.

CoreCommerce’s comprehensive shopping cart system is the most affordable, flexible and easy-to-use shopping cart system designed specifically for the small business retailer. With no setup fees, enterprise grade hosting and fully-encrypted security, 24/7 ticketing support, live chat and flexible payment processing and shipping integration, CoreCommerce is ideal for businesses looking to add e-commerce to an existing website, replace their current shopping cart provider or build their first online store.

Consistently maintaining an industry-leading 93 percent customer satisfaction rating, CoreCommerce is already being used by some of the most trusted names in retail, including Olan Mills, Clear Channel Radio, Minnesota Work Wear and many more. It was recently ranked the number one shopping cart software for 2010 by ZippyCart, and the company was a finalist for the 2010 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and a finalist in the Nashville Business Journal’s Best of Business – 2010.

To sign up for or a 15-day free trial of CoreCommerce or get more information, visit www.corecommerce.com.

We just released CoreCommerce 7.5. We have added many features you have been requesting (of course we have more in the queue). We have redesigned the admin interface based on customer feedback surveys. We thank each one of you who helped participate in that process.

* Drag and Drop Design Mode – If you are using generic design or any of our free templates you will be able to drag and drop any existing widgets in your store front. You will also be able to edit any word or phrase by simply clicking on the word and editing it right on the fly. Important Note: If you already have a pre-designed template installed you must restore it to use this new functionality. There is some extra code and css which is needed to be in your templates. If you do not restore the templates, the drag and drop will not behave correctly. Remember, restore will remove any design changes you made (it won’t remove products or categories, etc).

* Phone Order System – You can now quickly place orders on the phone directly inside of your store’s administrative interface.

* Template Stylesheet Management – You can now edit your css and header/footer templates without using FTP with our new code editing with syntax highlighting. To use this feature, just click on the configure active design under the design link on the top right of the admin. Then click on templates/css.

* Custom Dashboard Layout – The old admin main menu is now a drag and drop dashboard. You can create custom Key Performance Indicators, connect with RSS feeds and more.

* Google Site Search Integration – We have integrated with Google Site Search. You will now be able to have the search widget use the power of Google Search to power your store’s searching capability. This does require a fee to Google to use this service. To access this feature, put your mouse over settings in the top right of the admin panel, click on widget settings, then click on search result logic. There you will see the option to use this feature.

* 3D-Secure Integration – With PayPal Payments Pro, we have integrated with 3D-Secure to work with Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode.

* Auto Meta Tags – Have us do some of the meta tag work for you. We will auto-populate your meta tags to help improve your search engine results. This happens when you add a product, category or content page and leave the meta tags blank.

* Free Shipping Membership Groups – You can set an entire membership group to receive free shipping.

* Custom Lists Can Now Have Meta Tags – When you create any custom lists you can now set meta tags for each list.

* Recently Viewed Widget Update – The recently viewed widget will now display the product thumbnail image.

* Featured Product Update – Specify the number of products to display in the feature product widget (previously you could only have 1 at a time in the widget).

* Gift Certificate Expiration Dates – You can setup gift certificates to have expiration dates for your store.

* Shipwire Integration – We have integrated directly into Shipwire fulfillment.

* Upload a Photo to a Customer – You can now upload a photo on the admin customer form. This is typically used for folks who require a fax of an ID to prove they are over a specific age for certain products.

Thank you,

CoreCommerce Development Team

CoreCommerce has now released version 7.0. There has been many new features added, along with revamping of existing features to allow for more flexibility.

We have worked a long time on revamping shipping, options and adding personalization. We have also added features like the iphone view. We have also added another way you can submit tickets by going to this url: https://www.corecommerce.com/myaccount. If you ever have trouble logging into your admin to submit a ticket, you can always do so by going to this link.

* Admin Design Change – Changed the overall admin design for easy navigation to features.

* IPhone View – To access your admin with your iphone, just go to your admin URL on your iphone and from there you will be able to login and view orders, tickets, and messages. You will be able to submit tickets, respond to tickets and close tickets directly from your iphone.

* Product Options – We sent out a message about a week ago on this. The message is below to help explain this new feature. We also have added a training video for this feature.

* Product Personalization – We sent out a message about a week ago on this. The message is below to help explain this new feature. We also have added a training video for this feature.

* Product Detail Layouts – You can choose from up to 6 different pre-designed layouts for your product detail template. You can of course create your own layout here also. To use this feature though, you must restore your pre-designed template. To read more about this go here.

* Shipping Zones – You can now setup multiple shipping zones. This will allow you to setup different shipping methods based on the shipping location of the customer. We also have added a training video for this feature.

* Product Cost Report Update – Added the SKU column to the report.

* Quickbooks Update – You can now send the product/option sku over as the QB item name/number.

* Photo Group Sort – You can now batch update photo groups when viewing the photos section of a product.

* Order Subtotal Shipping Update – You can now add a percentage sign for the rate value to use a percent of the order subtotal versus a flat rate.

* Hyperlink Product on View Cart – You can have the product on the view cart page hyperlinked back to the product detail.

* Meta Tags Multi-Lingual

* Inventory Reports Update – Added a print/view all option for inventory reports.

* Easy Design Editor – By clicking on the design link and choosing easy design editor you can quickly edit product, categories, add widgets directly from your storefront.

* Delete All Products – Quickly delete all of your products in your store. Be careful, once deleted they cannot be restored.

* Canadian Tax Update – Orders with Canadian tax now break down the GST, HST and PST tax amounts.

* Coupon Shipping Method – You can create a coupon, if used, will create a new shipping method based on the amount you specify with the coupon.

* Added New Order Status – Added a status Processing

* AtLast Fulfillment Integration – Can be used if using AtLast fulfillment.

* Newsletter Update – You can batch assign all customers to a mailing list by clicking the assign link in the newsletter section.

* Email Receipts Update – .You can now select whether or not to send out admin and customer receipts when the order is placed or only when it is saved as approved.

* Upload a Flash Logo – When using pre-designed or generic design, you can now upload a flash logo directly from the admin.

* Sales Price Date Field – You can use the sales price date field to active a sales price some date in the future.

* Emails Support Multiple Languages

* Maximum Order Quantity – Under the advanced section when adding/editing a product, you can now specify a maximum order quantity for a product.

Everyone of these features have been driven by the requests of our customers. We would like to thank each one for all of their suggestions.

Also stay tuned for even more features. We are having follow up releases in the next few weeks to add even more great features.

This our latest release with a few new features, including a major change to how our pre-design templates work and the customer group discounts functions.

• Pre-Designed Templates Modifications – You can now control directly in the admin your widgets for the left and right side of your pre-designed templates just like in Generic Design mode, in addition to be able to change the colors and fonts. We also stretched out many of the templates to give them a wider look. To be able to use these new features you will need to either add a pre-designed template to your store and click configure after you active the template or if you are already using a pre-designed template you must click the restore button when viewing the pre-designed templates for your current active template to get the latest changes.

• Customer Groups – You can now offer customer group discounts for your product options, along with your regular product price. Along with this you can also use a percentage discount for a customer group instead of an exact dollar amount.

• Real-Time Shipping Update – If you are offering real-time rate quotes from multiple providers your customers can now quickly view other rate-quotes from the other providers without having to use the back button on the preview shipping calculator on the view cart page and the standard checkout payment page.

Thanks again to all of our customers for their ideas and suggestions!