Aug/100
The latest release of NitroSell Commerce version 2.0.0.31, introduces several previously unsupported features to the POS 2009 platform. The following screencast demonstrates some of the powerful new image features available in NitroSell Commerce Dynamics POS 2009 edition:
Running an Integrated WebStore for Dynamics POS 2009 has never been easier!
Aug/100
What are they?
META tags are HTML tags used to describe the content of web pages. NitroSell eCommerce automatically generates and inserts META tags into department, category and product pages. Two types of META tags are generated – Keywords and Description tags – and they are populated with relevant data synchronized from your point-of-sale system.
For product pages, META keywords are taken from the Microsoft RMS POS item database such as the department name, category name, product name, lookup code and sub-descriptions. Additional data elements beside those found in the RMS POS and additional search engine keywords may be populated using the NitroSell Product Attribute Manager (NSc PAM). The META description tag is composed of a combination of the product name and the extended description.
What does a META keyword and description tag look like?
META Keywords: <meta name="keywords" content="Sidewalk Chalk Bucket 20 Pack, Pastels And Crayons, Student Chalks, Pastels And Crayons, Student Chalks, A0030778, S02564, S02564, buy, shop, order, store" />
META Description Tags: <meta name="description" content="Sidewalk Chalk Bucket 20 Pack: Colourful chalk perfectly shaped for little hands. Ideal for use on footpaths, schoolyards or playgrounds." />
How are they used?
The META description and the META keywords tags are not seen by users but search engines use them to supplement the index of pages listed in search results. NitroSell’s automatic generation of META tags ensures the webstore has unique descriptions for each page and that each page’s content is accurately summarized.
Aug/100
We have recently released a couple of improvements that greatly enhance the accuracy of stock levels in both your point-of-sale system and on your webstore. Firstly, we’ve added an option to Sync that reserves quantities of items in unprocessed web orders. It works as follows:
- When an order is placed on the webstore, the quantity for each item is automatically deducted from the webstore stock level to ensure the data are correct prior to the next synchronization;
- When a web order is downloaded, the item quantities in RMS are automatically updated so that the quantities in the web order are added to the committed quantities in RMS. This ensures in-store stock is appropriately reserved for web orders;
- Once the web order is processed, the committed quantities are correctly recalculated automatically.
You can find this option in Sync, under File, then Configuration, then Sync Settings:
NSc Sync Inventory Control: Include unprocessed web order items in Quantity Committed
Secondly, for high volume webstores, we’ve added a webstore basket checking feature, which works like this:
- At every step of the checkout – registration/login, shipping selection, credit card entry and just prior to order confirmation – the webstore examines all items in the basket and performs the following tests:
- Is the item still available, that is, is it still on the webstore?
- Is the item in stock?
- Is there enough in stock to match the quantity in the basket?
- Has the price changed?
- If any test fails, the customer will get redirected back to the basket page, with a message displayed at the top of the page for each scenario and for each item. The items in the basket will also be changed automatically to reflect the latest information.
This is a critical feature for Retailers who under no circumstances wish to sell products that they don’t have in stock.
* Please note that the basket checking feature is currently only available on the beta version of NitroSell eCommerce. Feel free to open a ticket on the Partner Portal if you would like to expose this functionality on your webstore.
Jul/100
Guest Checkout can now be enabled for NitroSell webstores to further simplify the checkout process and enhance the customer purchasing experience.
Some customers prefer to purchase online without the need to register an account because it can speed up the check out process and it reduces the amount of user information they to provide. Guest Checkout will allow the customer to simply enter basic purchasing information like name, billing address and contact number without the need to create an account.
The feature appears at the Checkout Page and lists two options under the registration box – “Checkout as Guest” or “Register an Account”.
* Please note that the Guest Checkout is currently only available on the latest version of NitroSell eCommerce. Feel free to open a ticket on the Partner Portal if you would like to expose this functionality on your webstore.
Jan/100
We’ve recently added an eCheck solution to our list of supported payment gateways. Currently available in the Beta version of Nitrosell eCommerce, we have integrated with Authorize.Net to expose their eCheck.Net platform to Authorize.Net merchants. The Authorize.Net website goes into eCheck.Net in more detail, with NitroSell KB Article #492: Setting up eCheck.Net describing how to enable and configure the eCheck.Net checkout option for your NitroSell WebStore.
If you are already a Beta customer with a question about this new feature or if you would like to enable this new feature on your WebStore, then please contact us via the Partner Portal.
Jan/100
We’re delighted to announce the availability of nine colour variations of our latest themes: Layered Browns, Layered Greens, Layered Pinks, Refined Blues, Refined Oranges, Refined Purples, Soothing Black, Soothing Brown, Soothing Peach.
You can switch your store to use any of these themes using your WebStore Manager. For instructions, please refer to KB Article #000332 : Changing the Active Theme.
Dec/090
If you are an existing PayPal Website Payments Pro (UK) merchant, you may have received the following communication from PayPal:
“We’ve noticed that you haven’t yet set up 3-D Secure on your website. As previously communicated, please be aware that as of 21 January 2010, you will not be able to process Maestro payments through UK Website Payments Pro – Direct Credit Card Payments without 3-D Secure technology. This is due to MasterCard Compliance rules.
It is important that before this date you remove the Maestro option as a card type on your Card deposit page. This will ensure you keep declines to a minimum, maintain conversion and provide a good experience for your customers.
If you want to continue processing Maestro transactions after 21 January 2010, you must implement 3-D Secure. PayPal does not charge for the use of 3-D Secure and nor does Cardinal Commerce, our chosen 3-D Secure technology provider”.
PayPal have teamed up with Cardinal Commerce to provide the 3D Secure technology that will permit you to handle credit cards operating under Visa Verified By Visa, Mastercard SecureCode, and, in the UK, Maestro MSC technologies. PayPal’s About 3D Secure webpage answers the following questions:
- Who does this affect?
- What do I have to do?
- How much will 3-D Secure cost?
- When do I have to do this by?
- What happens if I don’t implement 3-D Secure?
NitroSell eCommerce currently supports two versions of PayPal Website Payments Pro, which have been updated to handle these latest 3D Secure requirements:
- PayPal Website Payments Pro (PayFlow Edition UK);
- PayPal Website Payments Pro (US, Canada, UK).
For technical details on our support for these two versions, please visit NitroSell KB Article #488: Setting Up PayPal Website Payments Pro with 3D Secure
* Please note that the above 3D Secure updates are currently available only to webstores running in the Beta and Early Adopters’ versions of NitroSell eCommerce. Feel free to open a ticket on the Partner Portal to discuss your PayPal 3D Secure options with a member of our services team.
Dec/090
Recently, we released a Canada Post shipping integration module to the Beta and Early Adopters’ versions of NitroSell e-Commerce. If your webstore is currently on this version, you can access the new module using from the Shipping & Taxes section on your WebStore Manager (WSM). Detailed configuration instructions and support can be found in KB article #486 (Configuring Canada Post Shipping Options). Using your personal Canada Post / Sell Online merchant dashboard you can configure options such as:
- Insurance Fees
- Handling Fees
- Signatory Requirements
- Fuel Surcharges
- Custom Shipping Boxes
It is assumed that you already have a Canada Post merchant profile, so, before using the Canada Post shipping module, you will need to enter your Canada Post Merchant ID as detailed in KB article #131 (Configuring Shipping Options). As with our other shipping integrations, Canada Post requires that you first set up the various shipping services in RMS and synchronize those to your store, of which the following are supported:
Within Canada:
- Regular Parcel;
- Expedited Parcel;
- Xpresspost;
- Priority Courier.
From Canada to the US:
- Small Packet-USA Surface;
- Small Packet-USA AirExpedited Parcel-USA;
- Commercial Expedited Parcel-USA;
- Xpresspost USA;
- Priority Worldwide USA.
From Canada to Worldwide:
- Small Packet International-Surface;
- International Parcel-Surface;
- Small Packet International-Air;
- International Parcel-Air;
- Xpresspost-International;
- Priority Worldwide.
If you are a Canadian merchant and would like to move your store to the Beta or Early Adopters’ versions to access this new feature, please feel free open a support request on the Partner Portal. We look forward to your feedback!
Sep/090
NitroSell’s Content Delivery Network (CDN) consists of three tiers, with multiple redundancies in each tier:
- The origin servers facilitate synchronizations, the provisioning of the dynamic data associated with your store – such as product and customer data – as well as secure transactions, and configuration details;
- The storage servers cache the static content that is synchronized with your webstore, such as media – product images, etc. – and files like PDF documents, CSS stylesheets and client-side scripts;
- Edge servers deliver the static content to your shoppers from the server geographically closest to your end users, using the data on the storage servers.
NitroSell eCommerce Content Delivery Network
Origin Servers:
- Our origin servers are divided into groups, with servers in each group providing a single function, while still being capable of additional functions as a fail-over mechanism. Functional groups include: database management, web provisioning, logging, e-mail and DNS;
- A minimum of two servers is dedicated to each function of your store, with workloads continually load-balanced between them to ensure maximum performance and responsiveness;
- Origin servers are networked in secure, private local area networks (LANs), in a PCI-DSS-compliant environment, with all external traffic filtered through dedicated Cisco (hardware) firewalls, which are in turn fronted by enterprise-level Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS).
Storage Servers:
- Our storage servers are part of a secure service that consists of: multiple terabytes of storage capacity, geographical data replication, a hugely scalable architecture, and proprietary mapping and routing technology;
- By using this fault-tolerant storage service, NitroSell eCommerce makes your content available to shoppers on demand, anywhere in the world;
- When you upload static content to our origin servers, it is automatically uploaded in turn to the nearest storage server. As soon as the upload completes, the content is replicated to multiple storage servers in multiple geographical locations.
Edge Servers:
- The edge servers we use are part of the world’s largest distributed computing platform; it is a network of consisting of tens of thousands of servers, equipped with proprietary software and deployed in 69 countries;
- These servers reside within almost 1,000 of the world’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs);
- When content is requested by end users, our edge servers determine the optimal storage server from which to pull fresh content;
- Advanced algorithms are used to optimize routes and replicate data dynamically to deliver content more quickly, reliably and security;
- Therefore, static content, which makes up the bulk of your webstore’s content, is delivered via the fastest, most reliable path from the edge server closest to the user, improving performance and reliability of both retrieval and delivery;
- Finally, freshness control features ensure that the content served to end users is always current.
Since NitroSell manages your entire e-commerce solution, concerns about the availability, reliability and performance of your webstore are worries of the past.
Aug/091
Between Goods & Services Tax, Provincial Sales Tax, and Harmonized Sales Tax, getting your shipping tax set-up correct in Canada can be pretty confusing:
- Goods & Services (GST):
- Everything imported into Canada is subject to GST @ 5%. The GST is calculated after customs duties have been applied.
- Provincial Sales Tax (PST):
- This can vary from province to province, as do the goods and services to which the tax is applied and the way the tax is applied.
- Harmonized Sales Tax (HST):
- This is currently charged at 13%, but only in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador and is applied in these states rather than separate a GST and PST.
What makes things even more difficult is that the current version of RMS does not support tax on shipping! So how can you, as a dutiful and law abiding RMS-powered store owner apply these various taxes? The answer lies with NitroSell eCommerce! We have overcome the problem with a new WebStore Manager feature titled Enable Tax on Shipping.
The 6 Step Shipping Tax Solution – an Advanced Example:
Let’s use the following Canadian based example.
Example (and crazy!) tax rates:
- HST: 10%;
- GST: 20%;
- PST: 25%.
Test Cases:
- Ontario – charge GST and PST on Shipping;
- Nova Scotia, new Brunswick or Newfoundland, Canada – charge HST on Shipping;
- Any other Province in Canada – charge GST on Shipping;
- Any country outside of Canada – do not charge tax on shipping.
Steps:
- Create a new item with Item Lookup Code shipping in your RMS item list. This non-inventory item must exist in your point-of-sale at the time of processing the order for the WSM option to work correctly;
RMS Shipping Item
- Set-up your Customer Tax, Sales Tax, and Item Tax options and Item Options in Store Ops Manager. This can tricky, so make sure to zoom into the screen shot below if you need more detail;
RMS Store Operations: Tax Assignment to the Shipping Item
- Ensure that your store configuration is set to assign tax schedules on a per item basis:
RMS Store Operations: Tax Method and Basis
- Synchronize these changes to your web store, and log into your WebStore Manager. If you browse to the Shipping Options tab, you should find the Enable Tax on Shipping option available to you. A related knowledge base (KB) article can be found here that goes through all the options in detail.
Enable Tax on Shipping Option on the WebStore Manager
- Configure your shipping & tax options in your Web Store Manager as required. Here, you will see the flexibility of NitroSell eCommerce because you can set up the options to meet as many tax-on-shipping requirements as you need. Try out the test cases above for yourself!
Tax Configuration for Canada and Ontario on the WSM
- Now you can test your new tax on shipping configuration. In our test, we shipped an item worth $100 to Ontario with a shipping cost of $97.10. Notice how the tax correctly calculated the GST + PST shipping tax configuration;
GST and PST Charged for Ontario at Checkout
Please note: this feature is currently available on the Early Adopters’ version of the webstore!