ShopSite Newsletter – August 2004

[AnonymousParticipant]

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LexiConn ShopSite Newsletter – August 2004
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In this month’s issue:
- Order Status Module Update – exports, tracking
- U.S. Postal Service online services
- Tip: Shipping options as radio buttons

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Order Status Module Update – exports, tracking

The Order Status Module for ShopSite has been updated to include some great new features. The module now can link directly to the tracking status of an order for UPS, FedEx, or DHL/Airborne. The module also makes the tracking number a link that a customer can click on, opening up a new window with the detailed tracking information from the shipping company’s website.

The other new feature is the ability to export any data from any number of orders in any format you desire. The export feature allows you to perform an export based on a range of order numbers, a date range, or a particular order status. You can also select which fields you want to export (Name, Email Address, Phone, Shipping Total), as well as append any number of product fields. The data can be output to the screen or saved to a tab delimited text file.

Uses for the export feature include:
- Export data for importing into shipping solutions such as UPS World Ship, Endicia, Stamps.com, etc…
- Export email addresses from a certain time period for seasonal promotional offers
- Export data for the day to a text file to send to your fulfillment or drop ship center.

The Order Status Module, priced at only $99.00, is a great tool for any Manager or Pro store. It allows you to offer a realtime online status to your customers, which can help cut down on customer calls inquiring about the status of their order. It also gives you a great organizational tool for viewing all your orders, sending internal comments to your staff, and exporting data to other applications.

More information and demo links can be found on our website at:

http://www.lexiconn.com/ecommerce/shopsite/orderstatus.html

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U.S. Postal Service online services

Two online services offer automation and easy of shipping for merchants who ship items via the U.S. Postal Service.

http://www.endicia.com
Endicia allows you to print postage directly from your computer using your printer. Choose any shipping option, enter the address, set the weight, and you’re all set. This service can help you save time and money, and can make your items ship faster as they are already bar coded. Combined with LexiConn’s Order Status Module, you can import addresses directly into the software.

http://www.stamps.com
Stamps.com also makes it easy to print postage from your computer. It offers a simple interface through its software for managing and printing postage for any U.S. Postal Service shipping method. Stamps.com also supports importing addresses for better automation and faster processing.

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Tip: Shipping options as radio buttons

If your ShopSite store uses realtime shipping rates in the shopping cart and especially if you offer free shipping when a customer reaches a certain dollar amount, we generally recommend that the shopping cart be set up to display the shipping choices via radio buttons rather than a drop down box. This ensures that the customer can easily identify all shipping options each time a product is added to the cart.

In the ShopSite backoffice, you can switch the shipping options from a drop down menu to a list of options with radio buttons. If this fits with your cart layout, this may be a better option so the shopper can always see all of their available shipping choices anytime they update the cart. This is very important if you offer free shipping over a certain dollar amount as the ‘Free Shipping’ shipping option will not appear until that dollar amount is reached. You can also set the Sort Order to sort options by cost to help with organization.

This can be adjusted in the backoffice at:
Commerce Setup -> Shipping

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As always, feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. Complete contact and support options can be found at:
http://www.lexiconn.com/support.html

Sincerely,
- The LexiConn Team

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