Archive for June, 2010
28
Jun
3dcart Launches version 3.2
3dcart 3.2 comes packed with great new features
to empower you to take your business into fertile, new territory such as the mobile and social markets. But we didn’t stop there; we’ve worked really hard on visual design tools to allow you to customize your cart in real-time and made plenty of improvements such as new templates, more third party integration and more.
iPhone / SmartPhone Template
The mCommerce addition to the 3dcart platform provides a complete mobile interface for visitors shopping on your site from an iPhone or favorite smartphone. This includes optimized pages for Home, Products, Categories, View Cart and Checkout. Visitors can easily browse and add products to their cart and checkout, all within the mobile interface.
Admin Panel Web App
This application allows store owners to access the store’s control panel via mobile devices. The app also provides a snapshot of daily activities, access to orders, customers and products as well as the ability to reply to CRM tickets or update the status of an order.
Facebook “Like” Button
The Facebook “Like” button enables users to make connections to your pages and share content back to their friends on Facebook with one click. Since the content is hosted by Facebook, the button can display personalized content whether or not the user has logged into your site. For logged-in Facebook users, the button is personalized to highlight friends who have also liked the page.
Blog
This built-in feature allows you to create a blog within your store with just a few clicks. The blog automatically uses the dynamic design elements from the website, eliminating the need of re-creating the design elements on a third party location; automatically increase your SEO efforts by having the blog within the same domain name as the website and store. 3dcart’s SocialCommerce auto suggests content, allows you to schedule posts, and provides an industry standard RSS feed to provide syndication capabilities for your blog.
Facebook Store
Reach more visitors by easily adding your online store directly to your Facebook Fan Page within its own tab. Select which products are displayed, such as products within a specific category, Home Specials or items “On Sale”. Merchants can empower their affiliates with the ability to create their own online stores within their Facebook profiles and choose which products will be displayed. SocialCommerce will automatically add the appropriate affiliate tracking code and affiliates will automatically get credit for any sales.
Social Bookmarking
Share your products and promotions anywhere and boost traffic to your site. It only takes seconds to install the “AddThis” social bookmarking tool and it’s free! Your product pages will provide your visitors with the ability to share products with their friends via Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.
Social Widget
Integration with Widgetbox makes the complexities of sharing your products on the web simple. With the use of a script your products can be shared on just about any website, including: Facebook, MySpace, Blogger and iGoogle.
Twitter & Facebook Updates
Update your Twitter and Facebook accounts from the convenience of your store’s control panel. With 3dcart SocialCommerce, you’ll be able to post to Twitter and Facebook directly from your online store. SocialCommerce easily provides you with a place to announce promotions, product links, or whatever else you’d like to tweet about, all with the touch of a button.
Quick Edit Bar
A front-end design toolbar that allows store administrators to easily change between templates, adjust the width of your site and hide/unhide elements. You can also add products, categories, and much more. The built-in Drag ’n’ Drop feature allows moving elements between the left and right bars of the website without having to modify the HTML!
Scheduled Email Scripts
Product Reviews Email
Automatically email customers that recently received an order to request a Product Review. Use this to easily collect reviews to improve the content of your product pages and encourage customers to place new orders.
Not Completed Orders Email
Increase conversions by automatically emailing visitors with open “not completed” orders or abandoned carts, offering special promotions or inquiring if there were any issues that prevent them from checking out.
SmartCategories™
These special types of product categories will automatically classify products in real time based on their settings or content. Setting up a new category with the use of SmartCategories™ will populate it with products such as sale items, new releases, free shipping items or a simple keyword search.
3dZoom
The new 3dZoom will instantly display a large, zoomed version of your product’s image when a visitor places the mouse cursor on top of the image. 3dZoom also includes an image gallery that features smooth transitions for a greater user experience. Uploading a large image to the product via the store manager, automatically enables 3dZoom without the need of uploading additional images via FTP.
YouTube Video Integration
The full emergence of the power of video in e-commerce is noticeably bringing products to life, improving visitors experience and increasing conversions. The YouTube Video Search allows easily searching YouTube from the 3dcart Control Panel, selecting a related video, whether it’s a product review, demonstration or viral commercial; and displaying it within your product pages.
Newsletter SmartLists ™
The Newsletter SmartLists ™ dynamically group customers or mailing list subscribers based on their history, allowing to easily send out newsletters to all customers who ordered a specific product, placed an order within a specific date, have an unpaid order, placed orders over a specific amount, etc. The groups would automatically include new customers that match the criteria, since the information is collected in real-time when the newsletter is sent out.
Picnik Image Editor
Easily adjust your product images from your 3dcart Control Panel with Picnik Image Editor. Picnik is a powerful photo editing tool that works within your browser and is integrated with 3dcart. Picnik has a number of one-click tools, including auto- fix, exposure, colors, and red-eye correction, which require no prior experience at all. Other features, like rotate, crop, resize, and sharpening, can be controlled with easy-to-use controls.
Seamless Third Party Integration
Out of the box integration with these great partners:
Quick Search
Admin Quick Search
Easily find Orders, Products and Customers using he improved search from the 3dcart Admin panel. A real time preview of your possible search term will display as you type.
Front-end Search
The built-in Quick Search functionality in 3dcart allows visitors to easily find products within your store by displaying product matches as the user types in the search box. Quick product results are “suggested” to the visitor as they type the keyword.
Redesigned Admin Panel Interface
Reviewed by usability experts, the 3.2 version includes a redesigned Admin Panel Interface to provide an improved user experience for store managers.
Featuring new top and left navigation elements, quick search, display of store url and current user, quick access footer bar and SocialCommerce quick launch icon.
Partners, Resellers & Developers
Our new White Label Option, ideal for agencies or designers, will increase your branding and revenue while new APIs for developers will allow unparalleled custom control.
RSS Feeds
The RSS feeds are used for syndicating regularly changing content on a web site. You can open an RSS feed with any RSS reader and look for new content on the site, or you can set up a server-side script to parse the feed and display the content of the RSS on another web site. 3dcart has a built in feature to publish featured items, on sale items, new releases, best sellers, and blog posts to an RSS feed.
50+ Templates
The 3.2 version introduces over 30 new prebuilt design templates, and revisions to existing ones to allow for the new 3.2 features.
All templates have been professionally designed and are included free for all accounts.
25
Jun
3dcart Ushers in a New Era for Mobile Shopping Carts
Mobile and iPhone Shopping Emerges as an Industry Leader
On June 24th, Apple released its 4th generation mobile device and judging by the lines, online chatter, and sales figures, its already a success. The mainstream adoption of iPhones and other similar smartphones has changed the landscape of eCommerce forever. Not too long ago, the only smartphones being used were by business folk. Nowadays, you cannot walk by a line of people without seeing most people happily browsing the web, texting, or shopping on their phone. A typical dinner conversation amongst all family members may include an iPhone app recommendation. Smartphones are here to stay and being embraced by all users, young and old.
Mobile Shopping Statistics.
Apple has sold 33.75 million iPhones to date- 1 in 10 mobile subscribers carry a smartphone
- In 2013, the number of mobile phone users in the US is expected to reach 255 million
- Ebay launched an online app last year and is expected to surpass 1 .5 billion in sales from mobile users alone this year.
- The most expensive item purchased via a mobile device was a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder that went for $139,000.
3dcart’s mCommerce Revolutionizes the Mobile Shopping Experience
For Customers
We’ve created our mCommerce platform with the customer experience as its number one priority. 3dcart’s mCommerce will give your customers an optimized mobile experience. When browsing your store, your visitors can view your homepage specials, browse categories, and view full product details, options, multiple images, and one page checkout. Our mobile store templates have been customized for the smaller screen and are fully customizable by you.
For Store Owners
3dcart puts your store in your fingertips. No more rushing home or to the office to see how your sales are doing or to interact with your customers. Search and view your orders, respond to customer inquiries via the CRM, and even change order status on the go.
3dcart’s mCommerce is not just for iPhone users and has been optimized for :
- iPhone 3g/3gs
- iPhone 4
- iPad
- Android based smartphones
- Blackberry phones utilizing a webkit based web browser
- All smartphones using a webkit based web browser
23
Jun
The First iPhone 4 Compatible eCommerce Stores – mCommerce
We just received an iPhone 4 and we’re happy to announce that our mCommerce platform, debuting on June 28th, looks stunning on it.
The mCommerce addition to the 3dcart platform provides a complete mobile interface for visitors shopping your site on an iPhone or favorite smartphone. This includes optimized pages for Home, Products, Categories, View Cart and Checkout. Visitors can easily browse and add products to their cart and checkout, all within the Mobile interface.
Admin Panel Web App
This application allows Store Owners to access the store’s control panel via mobile devices. The app provides a snapshot of daily activities, access to Orders, Customers and Products as well as the ability to reply to CRM tickets or update Order statuses.
mCommerce is available on June 28th and only on 3dcart.
21
Jun
Intuitive Editing with 3dcart’s Quick Edit Bar
Build and Design Your Store Visually
3dcart’s easy to use shopping cart just got easier with our new Quick Edit Bar. Build and design your store in real time, change templates on the fly, or alter your store without ever leaving the 3dcart Store Manager. Want to add content? A new page? Or perhaps you wish to edit a product and see the changes in real time? No problem. Our rapid on-site editing tool will assist you every step of the way.
3dcart’s Quick Edit Bar allows you to:
- Change templates on the fly
- Edit product information
- Create and edit blog posts
- Add and remove options such as new releases, top sellers, and more
With our new Drag & Drop mode, you can create your own unique layout quickly and easily. Using our Content Editor, you’ll be able to add pages, or edit existing pages. Advanced tools will provide our more technical customers with the ability to edit HTML and CSS code on the fly and see those changes instantly.
The quick editor, allows you to edit product information such as name, price, and stock amount. You’ll also be able to create discounts and edit discounts directly without leaving the product page.
The Quick Edit Bar, only available from 3dcart, is the fastest and easiest way to design your online store.
17
Jun
June Featured Client – Royalyarns.com
Royal Yarn & 3dcart; A Close Knit Team
Fernando, what brought you to 3dCart ?
My online world is shaped by integration; there is no single “best of breed” solution. So, I look for systems that easily integrate with other systems. In 3dcart’s case, what brought me originally was its complete integration with Stone Edge Order Manager. Between 3dcart (frontend) and Order Manager (backend), we can easily scale to order volume many times our current level. Furthermore, 3dcart recent announcement regarding its various integrations with Facebook and Twitter available in version 3.2 is very gratifying and potentially lucrative.
How have sales been in the past year?
We are about 10% down to last year. We sell crafts supplies which are particularly susceptible to cutbacks in consumer spending. What is your favorite product in your product database?
Between both 3dcart stores, we sell about 30,000 items. So it is hard for me to pick just ones. In general, however, I like selling the patterns for our knitting yarn store; it is always fun to see the fresh ideas the fashion designers create each season.
Which shopping carts did you try before coming to 3dcart?
I started selling online in late 2002 using Microsoft’s BCentral shopping cart. Then I migrated to Monster Commerce, then landed with 3dcart almost two years ago. I am very satisfied with 3dcart where I am impressed by the level of customer service and managements’ commitment to product improvement and development.
What do you have on the horizon?
Back to my main theme of integration, I constantly look for ways to extend my catalog into all venues where customers reside, whether they are on Ebay, Amazon, comparative shopping sites. The other focus I have is developing ways to increase the size of my catalog by adding more product categories.
What prompted you to start selling online?
I owned several brick & mortar business in the past. One business was a website development and design firm at the high of the internet craze in 2000/2001. One of my programmers built his own bead retail site in 2001 and was soon selling $150,000 from his home late 2001. At seeming his success and convinced that the internet was the future of retailing, I should all business and plunged into the online world soon afterwards.
What feature do you like best? How has 3dCart increased your business?
What I appreciate the most about 3dcart is the SEO capabilities. This feature alone has enabled me to more than double my business since joining 3dcart. 3dcart built-in SEO features like automatic sitemaps.xml, category & page meta tag customization, html rewrite scripting, etc. that make it very effective in attaining 1st page position on most search engine result pages.
Fernando, thank you for taking the time to sit down with us. It’s my pleasure to award you with the 3dcart Excellence in Ecommerce award for June 2010.
Until June 1st, our readers can use the code 3dcartknit at RoyalYarns.com and save 10%!
What brought you to 3dCart ?
16
Jun
The New 3dcart Knowledge Base
3dcart is always striving to improve our technical support resources. In preparation for the release of version 3.2, we have updated and redesigned our Suport Site and Knowledge Base with a fresh new look, new tutorials, and support documents covering the new features.
Visit our knowledge base at support.3dcart.com and you will find:
- Quick Search – Quick Search will make suggestions about what you’re looking for, based upon what you are typing, in real time.
- Streamlined Navigation -. Find what you’re looking for, quicker than ever with our new streamlined navigation menu which matches the navigation of our Online Store Manager.
- Updated KB articles – We’ve gone through every KB article and updated them with new screenshots, information and made them easier to utilize.
- We’ve also added new KB articles for all of the new features in version 3.2 and we’re adding new ones each and every day.
- Additional Topics – To better assist our store owners, we’re adding articles on everything from site design tips, shipping settings, to video tutorials. 3dcart is committed to your success and we’ll be updating these weekly.
15
Jun
3dcart Attends IRCE 2010
3dcart traveled to Chicago last week to visit the largest e-commerce conference in the world, IRCE. While walking amongst the 6500 in attendance, we were overwhelmed with the amount of vendors offering everything from search engine marketing, to automatic gift wrapping machines. We were far too busy this year with finalizing version 3.2, so we did not have a booth. Next year, we will be in full attendance and we’re very anxious to meet everyone.
We were lucky enough to meet a number of existing partners, including:
More than shipping software, the new ReadyShipper 3.2 by TrueShip gives you the tools to import, organize and route your order information. Create standard 4 x 6 shipping labels instantly, or produce all-in-one forms for enterprise level efficiency. If you are one of the many who cut and paste your order information, or has multiple processes just to create your shipping labels, then look to ReadyShipper.
TRUSTe Privacy Seals help consumers click with confidence by guiding them to trustworthy Web sites. Thousands of Web sites rely on TRUSTe industry best practices to help them make the right decisions about privacy and protecting confidential user information.
GoDataFeed empowers 3dCart merchants by offering an affordable, time-saving tool to improve visibility and performance on all major comparison shopping sites. GoDataFeed is a 3dCart integrated, easy-to-use datafeed management software that automates and optimizes shopping feed campaigns to various marketing channels like Shopzilla, Shopping.com, NexTag, Yahoo! Shopping, Google Product Search, and many more — with 50+ shopping sites to choose from. Best of all, because of its seamless 3dCart integration, GoDataFeed retrieves your store’s data on a nightly basis and submits your updated shopping feeds automatically.
PM Digital is a full-service digital marketing agency that specializes in Paid Search Advertising, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Comparison Shopping Engines, and other Search Engine Marketing services. We connect clients to their customers online by creating, implementing, and managing fully customized online marketing campaigns. With our industry expertise and suite of proprietary technology, we help clients build their brands and business revenues online.
The Stone Edge Order Manager is the leading order management system for small-to-medium Web merchants. The Order Manager makes it easy to import orders from your shopping cart and then gives you the tools you need to manage your business efficiently.
ShipWorks is for people who sell online. It connects to your online store or seller account. It downloads your orders and makes it easy to create shipping labels, manage customers and emails, and update the online status of each order.
With eBridge’s 3dcart integration to accounting systems, customer and sales order information is automatically entered into the back-office financial system from the 3dcart storefront. In turn, product information and order status updates are automatically entered into the 3dcart platform to provide customers with essential and up-to-date information. eBridge currently supports over 37 accounting packages.
International Checkout guarantees against fraud, provides shipping to over 200 countries, and offers world class multi-lingual customer service. Within hours, retailers can tap into the world market with no investment of internal resources. With the click of an “International Checkout” button, the retailer’s shopping cart is seamlessly transferred to a user friendly branded AJAX-driven single page checkout, which includes real time price quotes, real-time price quotes, settlement in local currencies, and duties and taxes at a guaranteed rate.
Choose PowerReviews Express if you’re looking for a customer reviews solution that is:
- Affordable: low monthly fee
- Easy integration: integration wizard allows for quick implementation—takes less than a day
- Compatible with your eCommerce platform: simplified integration with ProStores, Shopify, Infopia and Yahoo
- Award-winning technology tailored for small businesses
We were also lucky enough to meet with a few clients and find out what was important to them at the show. This input, as well as your emails, tweets, and phone calls, helps to decide what gets put into future releases.
It was a pleasure meeting you Rungreen.com, waterfilters.net, and bestinsoles.com.
If you were unable to attend, we’ve got a special promotion that we are extending to everyone. For a limited time, you can save up to $750.00
See everyone next year!
03
Jun
3dcart Recognized as Visa PCI DSS Validated Service Provider
Joins Short List of Approved e-Commerce Solution Providers for Outstanding Adherence to Security Standards
TAMARAC, Fla., June 3 /PRNewswire/ — Shopping cart software leader 3DCart today announced its inclusion in Visa’s Global List of PCI DSS Validated Service Providers, a comprehensive list of Visa-certified service providers named for passing a rigorous security screening process. Inclusion on Visa’s short and exclusive list helps further validate security measures to protect credit card data and other personal information put in place by 3DCart for local and international online merchants of all sizes. 3DCart was officially validated by Visa as of March 31, 2010.
“Instances of online fraud have pushed stricter regulations on financial transactions that take place on the web,” said Jimmy Rodriguez, chief technical officer for 3DCart. “General PCI DSS compliance is crucial, and verification by Visa serves as a validation that online storefronts are doing everything in their power to protect the personal information of their customers, in turn adding value and increasing brand credibility. Online stores with Visa-approved e-commerce platforms position themselves as cutting-edge within their niches.”
PCI DSS compliance is now required for any service provider that collects sensitive financial information over the internet. The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) is crucial for all service providers that collect payment by credit card.
3DCart was officially named PCI DSS compliant by the PCI Security Standards Council on February 26, 2009 following rigorous testing by third-party PCI DSS compliance experts SecurityMetrics. In order to gain compliant standing, twelve stringent requirements must be met or exceeded to help build and maintain a secure network, protect cardholder data, maintain a vulnerability management program, implement strong access control measures, regularly monitor and test networks and maintain an information security policy.
To view the complete Visa Global List of PCI DSS Validated Service Providers, visit http://usa.visa.com/download/merchants/cisp-list-of-pcidss-compliant-service-providers.pdf.
About 3DCart:
3DCart (www.3DCart.com) is a complete e-commerce solution for new or existing websites. The company’s services include the tools, advice, support, and technology to manage an entire online operation, so clients can focus on managing their orders. 3DCart is able to design and implement innovative web solutions to meet a company’s specific requirements. Whether clients are looking to update their existing web store or develop a completely new design, 3DCart maintains a flexible approach to ensure they provide the right solution for the company. One monthly fee pays for the store setup, security, design, and maintenance.