Greetings from Robert Schow, VP of Customer Relations
The summer is drawing to a close, and we at StoresOnline trust that you have had a successful Summer season and are gearing up for Fall. In this month’s newsletter we will discuss product variations.
Merchant Webinar
Do you feel as if you don't have all the answers you need all at once? Or feel as if you have great information at your hands but need some kind of interaction, or someone to talk to?
Attending a webinar is like attending any seminar apart from the place where the event takes place. Instead of meeting in a conference room you meet in a virtual conference room on the web. Joining a meeting does not take long and is relatively fast and easy.
With the way technology is today and the added convenience Webinars bring to any given company for further instruction of a certain discussion or topic, Stores Online is proud to announce our first Customer Support Webinar which will be held on August 21, 2008 live at 3 PM MST, and we invite all active merchants that wish to receive further enlightenment in setting up your own personal websites.
Our topic of discussion will be in regards to setting up your own Ordering Rules which if you are familiar with, will calculate the shipping costs of your orders which you ship out to your consumers that visit and purchase from your website. We will have some of the best instructors in this given area of discussion.
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Again we invite you to join us on August 21, 2008 at 3 PM MST live where we will discuss with you Products and Product Variations and then open the last few minutes to Questions and Answers. Go to https://storesonlineevents.webex.com/storesonlineevents/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=668404577 and select the Register button to register for the webinar and receive further information about it.
Or check http://www.storesonlinepro.com/for a link to the webinar.
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With the StoresOnline web based software, you have the ability to make changes and experiment in ways that will make your website experience better for your business and customers. Through the interface that StoresOnline has provided for you, you have access to three different databases: Products, Customers, and Orders. In this August Newsletter, we are going to focus on a specific part of your Product database to help you organize your products that have many different options for your customers.
When you login to your site, you have the option at the top of you screen to choose from many different tabs. We are going to direct our attention toward the Products tab in the edit screen of a product by double clicking on one of your products already added to your database or by simply clicking the add button down at the bottom left hand side of your screen.
In the product edit screen you will find that there are many other sub tabs on the right-hand side. On this screen you can enter general information about the product you are editing, including the product’s SKU, name, description, image, price, sale price, category, features, specifications, variations, links, and more.
What are variations and how do they work? A variation is a set of options customers have to choose from when ordering a product. For example, a website selling t-shirts might offer the same shirt in several sizes and colors. In this case, size and color would be variations for the product. When you create a variation, you place an interactive element, such as a field or list of choices, on your product's ordering page. Customers then specify their choice before adding the product to their online shopping cart. Variations are a useful feature for merchants who offer customizable products.
- Select the Products menu, and ensure you are within the Products submenu.
- Double-click an existing product row, or select the Add button. Both methods provide access to the Variations submenu.
- Select the Variations submenu in the right-hand navigation.
- Now that you are in the Variations submenu, select a type of variation from the drop down menu. You can choose from the following variation types:
List
The List variation appears as a list of choices, allowing your visitors to select a single variation.
Editable
An editable element appears as a blank field into which customers type their preferences. For example, if your site sold customized t-shirts, your customers could enter the text for their t-shirt into an Editable variation field.
File
This option allows your customers to upload a file from their local computer. If the customer uploads a file and completes the order, you could then access the file in the Orders directory of the Files submenu of the Account menu.
Price Sheet
This option allows you to display your pricing in a table. This is helpful for products with multiple variations, such as size and color.
- After selecting the type of variation, click the Add button.
- After you select the Add button, a new page will appear. Give the variation a name in the Name field (e.g. Color?).
- Select the type from the Type pull-down menu.
Pop Up
A popup menu displays a variation's choices as a menu that drops down when the user clicks a downward pointing arrow button. This option allows for only one selection.
Menu
A menu appears as a white box containing a list of choices a customer can scroll through and choose from. This option allows for multiple variation selections.
Radio
Radio Buttons appear as little circles next to the choices provided. This option allows for only one selection.
Checkbox
Checkboxes appear next to each variation choice. This option allows for multiple variation selections.
- Select the number of choices you wish to add from the Choices to Add pull-down menu and click the Add button. This will add the choices to the product variation.
- Type your choices (i.e. "Yes," "No," "Red," "Green," "Blue," etc.) into the blank Name fields that appeared as you added the choices.
- If a choice requires an increase in product price, place a positive symbol (+) in the Price Adjustment field, followed by the additional price (for example, "+3.00"). If a choice requires a reduction in the original price of the product, place a negative symbol (-) in the Price Adjustment field, followed by the price to be subtracted (for example, "-3.00"). To replace the original price of the product with a new price, place an equals sign (=) in the Price Adjustment field, followed by the new price (for example "=43.00"). If a choice requires a percentage increase or decrease in the original price of the product, place an asterisk symbol (*) in the Price Adjustment field, followed by the percentage (for example, "*1.05" will produce a five percent increase in the product price).
- To create a new SKU for this variation, type the SKU in the field. The value you type into the field supplants the original SKU. To augment the product's SKU, use an asterisk (*) to identify where to position the base SKU (e.g. "*-R." will append the bas SKU 1234-97 with "1234-97-R").
- If a choice increases your product's weight, place a positive symbol (+) in the Weight Adjustment field, followed by the additional weight (for example, "+2.6"). If a choice decreases your product's weight, place a negative symbol (-) in the Weight Adjustment field, followed by the amount of the decrease (for example, "-2.6"). If you wish to give the variation a new weight, not an adjustment, place an equals sign (=) in the field, followed by the new weight (e.g. "=2.6"). If a choice requires a percentage increase or decrease in the original weight of the product, place an asterisk symbol (*) in front of the product weight (e.g. "*1.05" will produce a five percent increase in the product weight).
Variations on a website can and will be very helpful to you and your business and your customers if used properly.
To better help all of us understand the importance of Products and Product variations, Stores Online will be hosting its second webinar that will be held on August 21, 2008 at 3 PM MST. Here we will go in depth with some of our Customer Service Team and explain to you what you can do with Products and Product variations. We had such a great success with our last webinar we would like to have even more of you join us LIVE this Thursday August 21, 2008 at 3:00 PM Mountain Standard Time.
New StoresOnline Pro
FeaturesPDF Catalog: You now have the option of creating a PDF catalog of your products for your customers. To generate a catalog, go to the Print submenu in the Publish menu. Select Catalog from the drop-down menu, and then select the Add button. You will be directed to the Catalog window where you can set your cataloge preferences and process your print request.
New Tutorials: There are two new tutorials available in Merchant Services: Anchor Text Linking and Pay Per Post Advertising. These are both brand new optimization and marketing techniques that are proving to be quite affective.
Our customer service and programming departments are committed to providing the best possible service to our merchants by listening and responding to their needs. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for our customer service department, you may visit us at www.myquickresponse.com for 24/7 Customer Support Live Chat. You may also call 801-434-8582.
As always, we are grateful to have you on board as a merchant with StoresOnline! See you next month!
Robert Schow
VP of Customer Relations
StoresOnline, Inc.
