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May 2007 ShopSite Newsletter
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In this month’s issue:
* New U.S. Postal Service rates and services
* Google Base (formerly Froogle)

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New U.S. Postal Service rates and services…

The U.S. Postal Service has changed their rates and service options for mailing items as of Monday May 14th. The new rates have automatically been updated for any client using the ShopSite USPS add-on module from LexiConn.

However, the services for international shipping did change to new names and options. Here is a quick breakdown of what has changed:

Global Express Mail (EMS) -> Express Mail International (EMS)
Airmail Letter Post -> First-Class Mail International
Airmail Parcel Post -> Priority Mail International
Global Priority Mail -> Priority Mail International
Economy (Surface) Letter Post -> First-Class Mail International
Economy (Surface) Parcel Post -> Priority Mail International

To facilitate this change, all hosting clients of LexiConn that are using the USPS add-on shipping module or the combined FedEx/USPS module have been patched to use these new international options. The following settings will apply:

- As long as “Airmail Parcel Post” is enabled in your current config settings, Priority Mail International will be a valid shipping option.
- As long as “Airmail Letter Post” is enabled in your current config settings, First-Class Mail International will be a valid shipping option.

LexiConn will be developing and releasing a new version (version 3) of the USPS shipping module that will have these specific international options, as well as adding options for international insurance, dimensions for US domestic priority mail, and the ability to choose what type of US first class packages you ship (envelope or box). We hope to have this released in the next few weeks.

Please let us know if you have any questions, or notice any problems with the new USPS shipping system. We apologize for the late notice, but the US Postal Service only released the finalized API documentation in the last two weeks.

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Google Base (formerly Froogle)…

ShopSite 8.3 offers merchants the ability to publish their products on “Google Product Search”, formerly named “Froogle”. This is a great way to gain more exposure for the products and services you sell through ShopSite. The built-in functionality makes it easy to keep your product line updated for others to search for through Google.

This can be found in your ShopSite backoffice under: Merchandising -> Google

The initial setup is a bit involved, but if you follow the help documentation step by step, it is not too difficult:
http://www.shopsite.com/help/8.3/en-US/sc/pro/froogle.configure.html

If you have less than 200 products, you can use the API method to submit your feed to Google. If you have more than 200, you will need to use the FTP method. A few things to watch for:

- You must obtain a Google Base API key regardless of the method you use to send your feed.
- You must register your FTP upload with Google Base first before sending an FTP feed

Before sending your products to Google, there are a few requirements for your products that must be met.

- All products must be assigned a “Product Type”. This can be set in the backoffice under: Products -> Edit Product Info in the Froogle section. This is usually a description of what the product is used for, for example clothing, jewelry, or furniture.
- All products must be assigned a “Brand”. If you produce your own merchandise, this could be your company name. This is set under “Edit Product Info”.
- All products must be assigned a “Condition”. This can be New, Used, or Refurbished. This is set under “Edit Product Info”.