Ecommerce overview

System functionality overview

Highlights of the functionality provided by the system include:

• Provides true multi-language support over a single web site
• Provides not just a shopping cart functionality to take payments by credit card …
• But also a sales order processing environment that can be utilized by the client:
  • Customer order status functionality complete/unfinished: awaiting invoice, awaiting payment, awaiting despatch
  • Ability to print invoice to PDF and e-mail direct to the customer
  • Stock control (including stock/reorder levels)
• Send email to the customer informing them of an update to their order status
• Order with payment by credit card or debit card
• Order without payment by credit card for approved customers
• Customers can administer their own accounts
• Plus many more features including customer reviews, quantity discounts, promotions, currency, product options, etc.

Main features

W3C Standards Compliant

All front end pages are designed to adhere to the W3C's recommended XHTML specification. The placement and appearance of almost every page element can be controlled thanks to the extensive CSS implementation, with a "skinning" system which means graphic designers can work on the look and feel without touching any program code.

Product Options

Multiple product options per item such as size, color, style, etc. are possible. You can also turn these options into specific combinations and track stock of each separately.

Multiple Language Capability

• Database driven for easy editing and changes online
• Supports individual skins for each language.

Multiple Currencies

You can customize each currency separately, so that users can see each displayed in its preferred form, for example £ 5.20 (with space), $4.60 (no space), 7,30 Kr (symbol after amount and comma as decimal separator) or ¥165 (no decimal fractions). A real-time exchange rate update facility is available as part of support coverage.

Search Engine Friendly URLs

Replaces Google-unfriendly parameterized URLs with friendly hierarchical ones without requiring any components installed.

Search Engine Extras

Google Sitemaps support and static page generator.

Quantity Discounts

Bulk pricing for 2+, 5+, 10+ etc. - you can define the break points and number of bands.

Promotions

"Buy one get one free", "Buy X get Y% off", "Buy 2X get Y for free", etc.

Customer Groups

Create customer groups such as "reseller" and "valued customers", then restrict access to certain categories of products to a specified group only or give these customer groups a percentage discount.

VAT/sales tax and shipping calculations

Dependent on the products selected and where the customer is located, prices are, as required, calculated in terms of:

• Applicable VAT/sales taxes
• Etc.

You can choose prices including or excluding tax, tax displayed or hidden until checkout, US state tax, EU VAT support, tax exemption for overseas/out-of-state customers and base shipping charges on UPS real time quotes or the built-in banded shipping system.

Saved Baskets, Wish lists and Speed order

Save a basket to your account or during checkout and reload it whenever you need it. Set up wish lists for others to purchase items for you. Enter item codes of products from a printed catalogue or other source and add them straight to your basket.

Customer Reviews

Customer reviews configurable to allow:

• Anyone to post
• Only customers
• Only those who have bought the item they wish to review.

You can also require reviews to be approved before going live.

Product Attributes

Create new attributes such as ISBN (for books), author, manufacturer, etc. and choose whether these are searchable and can appear as options on the search form too.

Charging for access to online content

Payment functionality is supplied to support “charging for content” as well as the option to support the purchasing of physical product.

Other features

• Affiliate system to track clicks and sales via affiliates
• "My Account" section to review order history and other account info
• Support for downloadable items including time limiting and manual approval option
• EU VAT number format check
• Opt-in verified mailing list manager
• Enquiry feature (with option to attach cart details)
• Cross-selling "people who bought this also bought" and manually configured "related items" as well as "try these categories"
• Sophisticated search based on keywords and categories; can search custom-defined attributes such as ISBN
• Search results displayed in plain text format or using the category and product display options
• Highlight search terms in results
• Back end global search box finds customers, orders, configuration settings and site text matching terms
• Back end "to do" list automatically keeps track of tasks that need attention
• Administration logs keeps track of changes
• Markup tool - easily modify prices on all items matching the criteria you specify
• Skinned HTML invoice/receipt in back end and customer account section for printing/saving
• Optional display of stock level, weight and RRP ("recommended retail price" - list price)
• Add extra text pages with basic CMS functionality
• Edit most page and email text through the back end system

Additional features

For details of additional features see E-commerce - Additional features.

Shopping cart features

Shopping cart features were designed and developed with the UK, European and US markets in mind.

UK & EU VAT: Handling the basics

Extensive built-in VAT (Value Added Tax) handling. You can choose whether the price you enter for items in the back end administration section is inclusive or exclusive of tax; the store will then add VAT where appropriate if you entered ex-tax prices, or remove tax for foreign orders if your prices are including tax. You can set the VAT rates, include a zero rate for non-VATable items.  You can also choose whether to show both ex-tax and inc-tax prices on your store, or just the headline price (either including or excluding tax).

UK & EU VAT: Advanced tax handling for EU customers

If your store is in the UK or EU, you will typically have to charge VAT to all customers in your home country, and exclude VAT to those outside the EU. In the case of companies within other EU countries who are VAT registered, you should zero-rate the tax. They will then declare the order on their EU VAT return and pay tax at their own country's prevailing rate via their tax return.

EU VAT handling can be activated so that customers in EU countries outside your own will be prompted for a VAT number during checkout. There is a basic algorithm you can activate to check that the number meets the basic format of VAT numbers for the country in question (there are many different formats for VAT numbers across the EU). Orders with a VAT number supplied will have the VAT zero rated. You should always check of course with the VAT authorities that the number supplied matches the customer details; but this feature decreases typos and misquoting of VAT numbers significantly.

Support for popular payment gateways

Many of the most popular payment gateways are supported see E-commerce - Payment gateways.

Meets EU ecommerce requirements

The checkout procedure gives a full summary of the cart contents prior to checkout, and you can activate a "confirm terms and conditions" checkbox from the configuration settings. A printable receipt of each order is shown on screen after a successful purchase. An email copy of an order is also sent to the customer. solutions are web-standards compliant and meets basic accessibility requirements.

Payment options

Konnect Soft provide real time credit card processing linked to any of the major providers.  All e-commerce functionality utilizes secure communications to protect the client’s data.

The system utilizes appropriate purchase options:

• Credit card (real time credit card transaction verification) - multi-currency payment can be supplied on request
• Payment following invoice

Cards are checked and authorised online with major credit cards, debit cards and Paypal supported.

An online credit card payment gateway is utilized to validate and bill credit cards in real time.  This functionality increases security, reduces labour costs and (subject to the product or online service) fulfils the order automatically. 

The online payment gateway bills the credit card automatically and deposits the payment into the supplier’s account.

Multi-currency facilities can be provided as required.

Placing orders without a credit card

Approved Customers can order by PO (purchase order)/account number without a credit card.

SEO optimized

Best-in-class SEO (search engine optimized) features such as friendly URLs, Google sitemaps and static page generation.

Also class-leading features are available to improve search engine visibility, ranking and performance are provided including:

• Search-engine friendly URLs for database-powered pages
• Custom meta tags and page titles for products
• Static-page generator
• Google Sitemap