Standard Store Administration Highlights

You've built a dynamic storefront, and customers are ordering. Now what? Many commerce packages fall short at this point, but merchants know that the key to success is repeat business. Repeat business is generated by a positive customer experience - not only during the shopping process, but after the order is placed. How well the order is managed is often what is most remembered by the customer. StoreSense gives you the tools to manage the entire customer experience with its powerful, easy-to-administer back office.

Designing Your Store
StoreSense offers powerful yet easy-to-use tools that help you design your store, as well as unparalleled design flexibility to let you create your own unique presence on the Web. Start with the simple Setup Wizard, which guides you through the store creation process. Choose from more than one hundred professionally designed themes.

Use the Design Studio to build on the framework you created in the setup wizard. You can customize the look and feel of your store, add design elements such as multimedia files (including Flash and MP3s), logos, images or buttons, and create links to other sites, all without HTML skills.

Do you already have a website? StoreSense makes it easy to reuse your existing design. In the Design Studio's Copy Center, you can transfer all or part of your site design to your new e-store through a simple drag-and-drop interface, thereby preserving your initial investment in your web presence.

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Administration
The StoreSense back office is organized by functional manager, with each having responsibility for a specific aspect of store operations, much as in a physical retail location. User-friendly, collapsible navigation allows you to customize your views of each manager, enabling quicker access to the features you use most. Those new to e-commerce can choose the Basic navigation mode, while power users can opt to display StoreSense's most sophisticated features using the Advanced mode.

The Store Administration home page gives you a high-level snapshot of store activity and key business metrics. You can select and customize the information to be displayed on this page. "At a Glance" information regarding store activity is also available on each manager landing page.

StoreSense is packed with wizards and context-sensitive help to simplify complex tasks and assist with managing your store on an ongoing basis. For example, wizards are available to help you set up your shipping and billing, helpful tips appear on more complex pages, and an extensive Online Guide is available in the toolbar.

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Security
StoreSense allows you to password-protect each section of management consol for your online store, assigning varying access rights to different individuals. For example, you can grant your shipping department access to the Shipping Manager, but not the billing area. This allows you to maximize efficiency while keeping your critical business data secure.

SSL data encryption ensures that sensitive data is kept secure while shoppers are placing orders or merchants are managing the store.

Also, if your credit card processor supports it, you can collect an additional credit security code from your shoppers.

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Billing Preferences
Payment options include credit card, store card, electronic and paper check or PayPal®. You can accept all of these or just a few. StoreSense allows you to define purchase minimum and maximum limits. In addition, you also have the option of returning to the customer a customizable note based on their method of payment.

If you do not have an Internet merchant account, StoreSense allows you to apply for one online. Upon confirmation of your application, usually within 24 hours, StoreSense will automatically generate your account. No more lengthy applications. No more weeks of waiting and faxing paper back and forth. StoreSense brings you the power of the Internet in a way that's immediate and tangible for your business.

If you prefer not to invest in an Internet merchant account, you can accept payments in your online store using PayPal, electronic checks or paper checks.

For secure, real-time transaction processing, you may choose from one of the many popular real-time payment processors already integrated into StoreSense. If you already have account established with one of these companies, one can easily configure StoreSense to leverage that existing account. If your credit card processor supports it, you can collect an additional credit security code from your shoppers.
View a list of payment processors/gateways currently integrated with StoreSense.

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Shipping
Determine how shipping will be calculated based on your business model and product offering. You can choose to calculate shipping based on destination and order value amounts or on order item count or on order weight. Or, use StoreSense's built-in shipping capabilities with FedEx®, UPS®, USPS®, or Canada Post®.

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Sales Tax
Tax is calculated automatically and presented to the shopper based on their address. You determine the states where tax should be collected. Or, calculate tax automatically by adding the external CyberSource Tax Calculator service.

If you conduct business in Canada, StoreSense offers sophisticated tax calculation capabilities to determine GST (Goods and Services Tax) and PST (Provincial Sales Tax).

You may also choose to include the cost of shipping in the taxable amount of the invoice. A report is available that allows you to view your sales tax liability within a specified date range.

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Promotions
StoreSense gives you the flexibility you need to create promotions at the product level.

Place individual products on sale, including start and end sale dates. StoreSense allows you to use special promotional codes. Multiple special promotions can be held concurrently.

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Order Management
StoreSense allows quick and easy access to orders by invoice number, tracking number or customer name.

View and manage pending orders by their status (missing billing information, awaiting authorization, ready for shipping, etc). If you are processing payment information offline, it's easy to update order status and mark orders shipped. For those merchants processing credit card information real-time, the entire process can be completely automated - from credit card authorization through settlement (based on your business model and processor).

StoreSense also lets you easily manage orders that have been authorized or shipped. You can adjust elements up or down of an invoice ready for shipping. And, once an order has been shipped, you have the option to adjust the shipping tracking number and ship date.

Issue credits, partial credits and partial line-item credits. Choose to credit the shipping charge, in full or part, based on your store policies.

StoreSense includes a Store Monitor feature that tracks activity in your store and automatically notifies you of new orders. An icon in your Windows desktop environment will appear, even if you are not logged on to your store. In addition you can keep informed of new orders via email, by indicating that you want to be copied on order notifications sent to customers.

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Product and Inventory Management
StoreSense supports a robust number of product data element fields for each product. This insures the merchant has the flexibility to properly support the needs of their catalog, customers or business model. In addition to traditional data elements (i.e. SKU #, OEM, keywords, image), StoreSense also includes more sophisticated product data elements such as ISBN, MPN and UPC numbers, thumbnail images, brief descriptions, weights, dimensions, condition and attributes

StoreSense allows you to easily import your product database from QuickBooks or other common business applications. This time-saving benefit is especially valuable in getting your store up and running quickly, or when you want to make major changes to your product catalog. For smaller changes, an easy-to-use interface is available that allows you to view and update product information. Changes are available immediately to shoppers.

With StoreSense any type of business can conduct business online. StoreSense allows you to sell both products and services in your online store. Easily associate products with multiple categories or sub-categories. These associations can be changed at any time through the category manager. When adding categories, you can include a description of what the shopper will find in the category. Any new categories or sub-categories you create are dynamically displayed in your storefront.

Entice your customers to return to your store by offering a featured selection on your home page. Using a simple checkbox, you can designate one of your items to appear as your Featured Product, and change it as often as you wish.

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Customer Management
StoreSense allows you to automate many of your customer service functions, creating a positive experience for your shoppers. Customers can check the status of their order online at any time. Additionally, an automated e-mail look up of lost passwords is available to provide a quick response if someone forgets their password.

If a customer does call, their order history and profile are accessible, enabling you to easily respond to account inquiries. Customer profiles are maintained that contain billing information, such as address and payment information. Once a customer has purchased from you, the next time they buy, they do not have to reenter their billing information. A search engine allows you to retrieve all customer profiles, or individually by last name, e-mail or customer number.

At any time you can update a customer's record. Additionally, you can add a new customer's information through an easy-to-use interface.

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StoreSense Reporting Highlights

Customers are coming to your store, and they're buying. The entire process is managed to provide superior service and generate repeat business. Now what? StoreSense provides you with the information you need to stay on top of trends and continue to satisfy your customers.

Get a quick view of your site's activity, highlighting: number of visitors, number of orders, new customers, sales, number of created and abandoned carts. This information screen is accessible to you at any time and is in addition to reports provided. Additional reporting details best and worst selling products, order/visit ratios, most and least visited products and search summary.

Learn what visitors are searching for and if their search was successful. Compare this information to how many times a product is requested and placed in a cart. Know the percentage of visitors who place orders.

Know who your top customers are, how much they are spending and what they are buying.

Analyze your sales results from multiple angles. Know your top selling products by total sales, as well as the products that sell the least. View sales by product, category and manufacturer.

If your reporting needs are more customized, you have the option of exporting your orders, credits, customer, products and manufacturer databases for use in applications like Excel and Access. Most report selections are available with pre-defined date ranges (such as "Last Month"), or you can choose your own.

Some features are only available in the Professional version. Please refer to Compare Editions for details.

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