New Release - ShopSite version 6.2

ShopSite, Inc. recently released ShopSite version 6.2. This is the first ShopSite 6 version for Windows 2000 servers. Some of the new features in v6.2 include:

Support for eBay's PayPal payment service.
Custom Checkout Fields - Merchants with ShopSite Pro can add their own fields to the billing screen. With this feature merchants can ask shoppers survey questions, prompt for gift wrapping, ask for business or frequent shopper IDs, additional ship to addresses, and more.
Specify Shipping Sort Order - Shipping options can be sorted by shipping costs and also by shipping type (e.g. UPS, ShopSite, Custom Add-on).
Custom Template Enhancements - New tags for Store Name, Merchant e-mail, On Sale Text, and Product database Style or Size.

For a complete list of new features and enhancements in ShopSite 6.2, please go to this page.

Feature Profile: Digital Downloads

ShopSite Pro v6 lets you sell software, documents, music, and images that customers can download right after they complete the purchase. You can configure ShopSite to immediately make the download available after the customer finalizes the order (this works best if you are using a real-time payment gateway to verify the credit-card purchase) or you can have ShopSite e-mail them the download information after you have verified their payment. Either way it is simple for the shopper to click on their unique link to begin their download.

ShopSite provides several security features to help prevent unauthorized downloads. The data to be downloaded is stored in your ShopSite data directory where it is not accessible to web browsers. Only through the unique URL (download link) to a ShopSite program (CGI) can the data be retrieved. Before granting access to the download data this program verifies the unique key that is passed in the link. In addition the program can check if the download time has expired or if the product has been downloaded the maximum number of times. By specifying how long a link can be valid or the number of times it can be used merchants can help prevent users from sharing links.

To see digital downloads in action go to our Al's Tools Demo Store and click on the "rate calculator" to select the type of download you want to try out. This is a demo store so feel free to try it and purchase any product. Nothing will be shipped or billed (but the downloads will work.)

Merchant Tip

The following was posted on the ShopSite Newsgroup:

"Some international shoppers report that they do not have a zip code. How do I configure ShopSite to not prompt them for a zip code?"

Solution
Except for Egypt, I am not aware of any country that does not have Postal (zip) codes. All of Europe, the United Kingdom and Australia have postal codes. If you ask for the "ZIP" code in your form, most people from this side of the ocean (Europe) don't know that it means "postal code". Make sure your shopping cart displays "Zip or Postal Code" in the zip code area. To modify the zip/postal code message go to Preferences -> Store Text -> Shopping Cart then change the "zip/postal code" field to display the desired message.

-Niko
http://www.watersafety.net

Submit a Tip
Do you have a marketing or ShopSite tip you'd like to share with other merchants? If so, submit it to

The "Support Queue"

Q: I let the shopper select their country from a pull-down list. This is a great way to only allow orders from countries that I am willing to ship to. How do I make "United States" be the default value in the list?

A: If you are using ShopSite v6.2 go to Commerce Setup --> State and Country and choose the appropriate country from the "Default Selected Country" field. If you are using an earlier version of ShopSite 6 you will need to edit a file called countries.dat that is located in your ShopSite data directory. The first name in this file will be the default displayed to a shopper. Find the line containing the country that you want to be the default and move the entire line to the top of the file. Do not change the format or contents of the line or the file other than to move the entire line to the top.

ShopSite In The News

ScanAlert announced an agreement with ShopSite which will allow online shoppers to receive independent third-party verification of a website's security. Read more about the service here.

ShopSite, Inc. Releases Version 6.2 of its Easy-To-Use E-Commerce Shopping Cart for the Windows Server Platform. Read the press release here.

Industry Articles

Shoppers Gearing Up for Season
E-commerce.internet.com/news/insights/trends/article/0,3371,10417_1494361,00.html
"e-commerce is a viable option over braving the mall for some holiday shoppers. An online survey from CoolSavings conducted among 4,230 respondents found that 'long lines and crowds" caused stress in 34 percent of the men and 24 percent of the women that were polled.'

Have You Hugged a Customer Today?
E-commerce.internet.com/news/insights/ectips/article/0,,10380_964121,00.html
"Forget the data mining, number crunching, high technology tools for a moment and personally thank some of your valued customers. With simple expressions of appreciation, you can convert a one-time customer to a long-term loyal shopper."

Current Product Information

Most recent release of ShopSite:

6.2 (On Windows 2000 servers)
6.1.1 (On Linux, Solaris/SPARC, Irix, FreeBSD or BSDI servers) v6.2 for Unix servers will be available in November.

To upgrade your ShopSite store, contact your authorized reseller hosting partner.

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