Posts Tagged ‘ecommerce’

osComm WordPress eCommerce Theme

OSComm is a clean, modern, web 2.0 style wordpress theme suitable for online store and shopping cart sites.

This theme is fully compatible with WP Ecommerce plugin.

Main Features:

• WordPress 3.0
• Custom Post Type for Slider
• Custom Post Type for Testimonials
• Menu Manager
• Auto Image Resizing with New Post Thumbnail
• 2 Sidebar Position
• 6 Page Templates
• Custom Widget
• jQuery Slider
• jQuery PrettyPhoto
• Multi Level Dropdown Menu
• Cufon font replacement
• Cross Browser Compatible
• Well Documented
• PSDs files Included

Plugins Required:

• WP ECommerce
  Download: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-e-commerce/
• Widget Logic
  Download: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/widget-logic/
• Yoast Breadcrumbs
  Download: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/breadcrumbs/
• Easy Contact
  Download: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/easy-contact/
• WP PageNavi
  Download: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-pagenavi/

DOWNLOAD osCOMM NOW – $35

eCommerce for Import Export Companies

eCommerce for Import Export Companies

This year, according to eMarketer, one billion people worldwide will have Internet access and nearly 250 million households will have broadband. Although, Asia accounts for 56 percent of world population, but only 10 percent has access to the Internet at present. With the rapid economic development of Asian countries this figure will increase dramatically in the coming years. This ubiquitous presence of the Internet is forcing companies to embrace the Internet as a marketing and sales channel aggressively. Many companies have adopted Internet based technologies to streamline their crucial business processes and benefiting enormously from it.

Import Export companies are no difference! Most export import companies are using the Internet to augment customer base, tap into new markets, research competitors, find new products and evaluate country opportunities. However, many of these same companies are still slow in implementing eBusiness features in their daily business activities and, as a result, fail to garner true value from the use of the Internet. Trading companies – those which are still not doing online business transactions – should follow the examples of their retail counterparts and adopt eCommerce strategies.

According to a recent study conducted by Forrester Research, retail sales are expected to rise 20 percent to US$ 211.4 billion – a two fold increase from only three years ago. Whether you are in exporting or importing business it does not make any difference, by using eCommerce and adding some of the basic eBusiness functions to your website you can also profit from this trend.

Electronic commerce is the process of selling products through the Internet. There are two distinct segments of eCommerce – Business to Business and Business to Consumers. Retailers are mostly involved in B2C and import export traders are often more in the B2B sector. That’s why you need to realize that the components of eCommerce you may need in your website will be based on your business specifics. In general, all eCommerce sites are a combination of some of the following business functionalities:

• An eCatalog so that buyers can browse through the products you have to offer

• Product specification that gives detailed technical and delivery information

• A feature that allows sending request for quote online (RFQ)

• A product order placing system – normally a shopping cart

• Ability to view order status

• Sending a notification if a new product added to the catalogue which was requested by a prospective buyer

• At least one payment method. For small orders you should have a merchant account.

• Purchase order sending ability. Buyers should be able to send PO for the products readily available or the contracts already negotiated with you.

• Billing system should generate invoices automatically

Once you implemented these features there is virtually no geographic restriction on where you can sell your products. If you are an export company you may consider translating your eCommerce site to the language of your targeted market. This gives you an extra ability to leverage your sales endeavour.

Benefits of eCommerce

Increase revenue: By implementing eCommerce you are opening a new sales channel. Study shows, a well prepared eCommerce strategy can increase sales from mere 10 percent to several times within the first six month of implementation. There is a possibility that order size per customer will also increase thanks to some eCommerce functionalities like advanced eCatalog, Notification service, order status viewing system and ability to offer related products.

Expand client base: Depending on the exposure of your site, you can acquire customers from every corner of the world. You are no longer confined to any geographic area.

Reach niche market segments: You can market your eCommerce site by pin pointing a specific market segment with the help of the Internet.

Lower operating costs: Your eCommerce site will eliminate or reduce workloads of sales and support force. Marketing on the Internet is significantly cheaper than in offline world. You will also benefit from lower telecommunication costs, losses incurred from document errors, inventory and sales management costs. This will have direct impact on your company bottom line.

Better customer service: The ability to provide decisive information, real time interaction with customers and customer relationship management functionalities allow you to serve your customers better and help increase customer retention.

Enhance your company image: A well-managed, robust and user-friendly eCommerce site enhances positive image of a company.

Are you ready for eCommerce?

Before you implement an eCommerce plan, you need to figure out as an exporter or importer how viable it is for you right now? Are you going to receive the benefits mentioned above? Will the customers from different geographical location benefit from your new service channel? How critical is a well-described product specification for your customers?

Any company no matter how small or big it is from an eCommerce site no doubt it will benefit immensely from an eCommerce site. But the question is, are you ready to commit enough time and money to make your new venture successful?

Developing your eCommerce site

Depending on the type of eCommerce site you are planning to build it might take somewhere from three months to over a year.

There are several ways of starting an eCommerce site.

Building in house: You should consider developing your eCommerce site in house only if you have significant experience in this field. In order to build a successful eCommerce site you will need a team of experts in programming, designing, copy writing, and, most importantly, a project manager with the knowledge of your business model, enough technical proficiency and experience so that the system gets developed on time with expected business functionalities.

Outsourcing: There is no doubt that outsourcing is more cost effective and less time consuming for most of the companies. The only thing is you have to choose the organization which will build your site carefully and professionally.

Using web stores: If you are constrained by time or would like to take advantage of eCommerce immediately you can also get eCommerce site from online service providers. These web stores have all the needed functionalities for a true eCommerce site. Some of them are also capable of providing supply chain management and other key business automation abilities. Check out sites like Rusbiz.com.

While implementing eCommerce strategy you need to remember that eCommerce just enhances and complements your present business model but the fundamentals of your business remain the same. However, eCommerce with it’s innate flexible nature may open new business horizons for you with all the risk and reward implications.

Ecommerce Web Design – Easier Methods for Merchants

Ecommerce Web Design – Easier Methods for Merchants

There are so many web designers and web design companies available online today for merchants to use as resources for their ecommerce needs, choosing the right one can sometimes be a difficult decision. What if the decision of who you decide to forefront your company’s ecommerce look and feel could be an easier decision than ever before? You would probably feel much better knowing that there are more affordable solutions that can be accomplished quickly and effectively to get your ecommerce business the online presence that it needs to sell the products and services you offer your clientele. With so many options, choosing the right ecommerce web site designer can be an overwhelming and stressful decision. Take these ideas into consideration before you hire your next ecommerce web site design company or web designer to assist you with your ecommerce web site needs.

One of the best available resources for ecommerce capabilities is using a web designer that can customize your ecommerce website using a third party shopping cart system. Ecommerce websites that are designed using third party shopping cart systems can be just as attractive, if not more attractive than a completely customized system. Because there are some very popular and useful third party shopping carts available, it not only is affordable, it makes customizing them a stress free process. Because more and more ecommerce developers are coming to third party shopping cart systems for their ecommerce needs, there are now lists of programmers that create modules to customize your ecommerce shopping experience to the next level. That means, having a shopping cart that can do everything you need, having your site laid out in a fashionable and professional manor, without sacrificing design or functionality.

Expanding your online resources to a more modern and professional system like many of the popular third party shopping carts can be an easy transition, if you select the right web design company to do the job. When selecting the right ecommerce web design company, consider their portfolio. Does there portfolio include several different web sites that they have designed in various industries? Is there portfolio impressive and professional? Speak with the web design company on the phone to discuss what specific needs you have for your ecommerce business. Many times, especially with the modules available, a talented ecommerce web designer can build you the ecommerce web site you have been waiting for. Finding an ecommerce web designer that’s affordable and provides quality work is the most important part. There are typically two different ways that ecommerce web sites can be built. By the hour and by the package. You will have to search around to find the best package that will work well for your ecommerce company. If there aren’t any packages that would support your ecommerce web design needs, inquire about paying per hour to have your ecommerce third party shopping cart system and web design packaged more personalized. Many web designers that are fluent in using third party shopping cart systems and are talented web designers can use there talents to come up with the perfect design and ecommerce implementation that will work perfectly for your business.

No matter what company you decide to go with for your ecommerce web site design project, make sure that your new ecommerce store is user friendly, professional and search engine friendly. Just having a website won’t make you money, you have to advertise via pay per click, search engine optimization and other methods of advertisements. Once you have the ecommerce web site you’ve been waiting for, show it to the online world and let them know about the great products or services you offer.

ECommerce Integration Developing for Microsoft Dynamics GP Notes

ECommerce Integration Developing for Microsoft Dynamics GP Notes

When you have legacy in-house programmed ecommerce web application in production with shopping cart, credit card payment interface, B2B or B2C items catalogs and promotional pricing – which does the job – likely that you will favor the idea to leave it there and try the way of ecommerce integration connectors to your Microsoft Dynamics GP Corporate ERP application.  Another option would be to try existing ecommerce module (available from various Dynamics GP ecommerce ISV partners, you can make your research or call Microsoft Business Solutions).  Respecting your approach to program ecommerce integration, we would like to offer this small publication, where we are considering several options and ecommerce programming instruments:

1. Batch Mode ecommerce to Dynamics GP Great Plains Integration approach.  Here we assume that you have reasonable low volume of daily ecommerce invoices or sales orders (in B2B ecommerce you may work on Sales Order execution level and then transferring completed order to Sales invoice).  Batch mode assumes that you export your daily ecommerce documents into text files and then run integration manually.  For Batch mode integration we recommend you to deploy Dynamics GP Integration Manager.  If your source files for integration are text files exports from ecommerce web application, then IM is end user friendly and you may decide to do self discovery or call our office for short Integration Manager introduction in eCommerce integration design.  With IM, however, you can try more sophisticated approach, where you pull data directly from SQL Server (MySQL/PHP, Oracle, MS Access) ecommerce database.  IM has Advanced ODBC Data Source, where you can deploy such advanced SQL techniques as Union

2. Real Time eCommerce integration to Dynamics GP.  Real time means instantly, so IM is not an option, you can deploy, however Dynamics GP eConnect SDK.  eConnect allows you to include libraries into your Microsoft Visual Studio C#, VB.Net project, and then call eConnect methods directly from your ecommerce web application.  eConnect in our opinion came to its maturity with Dynamics GP version 9.0 and especially current version 10.0 (January 2010).  We assume that new version of Microsoft Dynamics GP 11.0 will be relying on eConnect technology as well or even with greater emphasis.  EConnect is Microsoft Visual Studio programmer friendly and if you are such a developer, we recommend you to invest your time in eConnect research and self discovery.  eConnect, however doesn’t allow you to post Dynamics GP batches directly from its methods, if you need batch posting from ecommerce application, consider Alba Spectrum Posting Server.  And we would like to make this comment for small and mid-size ecommerce retailers – real time ecommerce integration is often not required and is in essence luxury for the majority of ecommerce community.  Only large volume ecommerce chains need real time integration, so if eConnect training approach seems too unrealistic to you, please continue reading the next paragraph

3. Quasi Real Time eCommerce integration to Microsoft Dynamics GP.  Quasi means almost, and we agree with you, when you say that new customer account setup confirmation with login instructions should be emailed in a second.  You may also decide that charging customer credit card should be instant (technically you are just reserving your amount via credit card processing service, real transfer to your account will happen later).  However, there is no need to integrate ecommerce transaction to your Dynamics GP application immediately, you can do it every hour or every twenty minutes without visible delay for the new or existing ecommerce customer.  If Quasi real time approach seems to be reasonable for you, please review the methods to schedule Dynamics GP Integration Manager to run automatically every half an hour or more (or less) frequently

4. eCommerce Integration Strategies.  Here we recommend you to speculate on which system is master and which is slave.  You may decide to define all your new items, price lists, customers directly in Dynamics GP (master) and then propagate them to your ecommerce application or do it just the opposite, where your ecommerce is master and Great Plains Dynamics is slave.  There are pluses and minuses – obviously GP has matured user interface, where you can create or update your cards and transactions, that are subject to be pushed down to your ecommerce slave application.  But, in some scenarios, you would prefer custom objects with advanced interface in ecommerce to be pushed back to Dynamics GP

5. eCommerce and Dynamics GP, Great Plains Dynamics versions.  As general advise, we believe that being on current version of your Corporate ERP application is a way better, comparing to being on really outdated version.  If you are deploying Microsoft Dynamics GP 11.0, 10.0, 9.0 (where you can deploy eConnect SDK for ecommerce programming), or no longer supported versions of Dynamics GP 8.0 and 7.5, or Microsoft Great Plains 7.0, Great Plains Dynamics 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.0, 3.2 or earlier (including versions on Pervasive SQL Server 2000/Btrieve or Ctree) – we recommend you to update to GP 11 (10) and deploy eConnect or IM on currently supported version.  We also respect the situation, when MBS annual enhancement reenrollment cost might be too high and you have to stick to your legacy Great Plains version.  In our opinion, if you are on legacy version, investment to ecommerce should be very modest.  For legacy GP versions we recommend you to consider Alba Spectrum Order Connector

6. eCommerce to Dynamics GP in International Environment.  We are sitting in USA, but if you are multinational corporation with facilities overseas or in South America, please note that international business rules require compliance to local country tax code and additional regulations.  Microsoft Dynamics GP is available (often used term – localized) in English speaking countries (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Oceania), plus in French speaking Quebec Canadian province.  If you plan to deploy ecommerce link to your international facility in such countries as Russia, Poland, Kazakhstan, Brazil, China, India, Continental Europe – we recommend you to make integration to localized Accounting Application (SAP Business One would be good candidate to consider)

7. Please, give us a call 1-866-528-0577 help@albaspectrum.com

ECommerce Integration Add-Ons for Microsoft Dynamics GP

ECommerce Integration Add-Ons for Microsoft Dynamics GP

If you are on the way to evaluate Microsoft Dynamics GP ecommerce integration options, and in your case you already have custom programmed (often in-house) ecommerce web application in production and you do not like the idea to redeploy ecommerce on new platform (and write off investment in legacy ecommerce program) – we respect your approach and would like to recommend you this small publication.  Instead of promising so-called “turn-key” ecommerce to Corporate ERP tandem, we recommend you so-called “solutions” approach, where your ecommerce programmers deploy and tune connectors, libraries or code samples, proven and tested in multiple ecommerce integration to Dynamics GP environments:

1. Ecommerce master-slave concept.  Before you jump into the technology details, let’s speculate about strategy.  If your current ecommerce website application has rich functionality (inventory item adding, counting, pricing, including sales promotion campaigns, potentially logistic automation by initiating product allocation to Sales Order and delivery, new and existing customers maintenance, etc) then you may decide to make your current ecommerce application to be a master and push its records to Dynamics GP (which should be in this case Slave application).  Often we see opposite situation, where ecommerce application is pretty simple and all the logic is done in Microsoft Dynamics GP and records should be pushed to ecommerce (here we have GP as master and ecommerce as slave)

2. Ecommerce integration target in Dynamics GP.  In most of the scenarios you are targeting Dynamics GP Sales Order Processing  (ecommerce invoices or sales orders), Inventory Control (new and existing items, price lists, items availability in warehouses), Receivable Management (new and existing ecommerce customers), Purchase Order (Purchase Receipts – typically when you are receiving merchandise in GP and pushing new items into ecommerce database)

3. Ecommerce integration programming tools.  Microsoft Dynamics GP is available on Microsoft SQL Server DB platform (2008, 2005, 2000 and earlier) and Microsoft Windows Servers (2008, 2003, 2000 and earlier), and these facts make Microsoft Visual Studio and Dynamics GP eConnect SDK.  If fact, you can review Dynamics GP table structure in GP SDK (could be installed from GP 10 CD #2), or directly in Dynamics GP user interface (Dynamics GP -> Tools -> Resource Description -> Tables), however you should be cautious and we recommend you to use direct SQL Select statements only to pull data from Great Plains and avoid feeding data via SQL Insert statements (as you could violate business logic and compromise data integrity, instead consider pushing data to Dynamics GP via eConnect methods)

4. ECommerce Order Connector.  This product is the set of SQL Stored Procedures, dedicated to ecommerce developer to move ecommerce orders to Dynamics GP Sales Order Processing module.  It is “Solution” in the sense of being tunable and customizable, it is also compatible with historical versions of Microsoft Great Plains and Great Plains Dynamics  (on Microsoft SQL Server, not available for Pervasive SQL Server 2000 or Ctree).  Currently we are in progress to extend Order Connector to cover major ecommerce generic platforms integration to Microsoft Dynamics GP with intuitive user interface setup

5. Alba Spectrum Posting Server.  Often in ecommerce you require complete automation, where you expect ecommerce walk-in or on account customer to pick the products into ecommerce shopping cart, go to check out, pay with credit card or on account and then your ecommerce application automatically creates Microsoft Dynamics GP Invoice (including posting it – or in ERP terminology transfer it from work to open phase).  If you already reviewed eConnect libraries and methods – you should of realize, that eConnect doesn’t have Dynamics GP Batch Posting logic.  If you want to do automatic batch posting directly from your ecommerce application, please review Alba Spectrum Posting Server

6. Cross Platform eCommerce integration to Microsoft Dynamics GP.  Web hosting is very popular on Linux and Sun/Solaris platform.  eCommerce DB could be high end Oracle, DBII, Sybase, Progress.  If this is your case, you can still use eConnect, Order Connector or Posting Server, assuming that you are familiar with such technologies as JDBC-ODBC Bridge, ODBC connection from Oracle development environment

7. ECommerce for legacy Great Plains Dynamics versions.  As general recommendation (we are ready to do the job, if you decide that you would like it anyway), we recommend you to update to current Dynamics GP version 10.0 (or if you are reading this lines in second half of 2010 – then to Microsoft Dynamics GP 11.0).  Current version has the following advantages: it is supportable by Microsoft Business Solutions directly in case when you are disappointed in your Dynamics GOP Partner; it si compatible with current MS SQL Server and Windows Server versions to name a few

8. Dynamics GP Software Development Factory.  If you would like to outsource Great Plains Ecommerce development project, we are happy to offer you our Great Plains Dexterity and eConnect Software Development Factory services.  We serve you USA, Canada nationwide, plus in Spanish speaking Central and South America (in Brazil we offer you SAP Business One to Dynamics GP integration services)

9. Local Dynamics GP eCommerce Integration Programming Service in USA.  We serve you from our offices in Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta (in GA we only support SAP Business One customers locally)

10. Service in Europe and Central Asia.  As Microsoft Dynamics GP is no longer supported in continental Europe (including eastern Europe: Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland) – Alba Spectrum is supporting old versions of Dynamics GP and Great Plains Dynamics in Russian, German, Polish, French: 9.0, 8.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.0 and earlier

11. Please, call us in USA or Canada: 1-866-528-0577, or internationally 1-630-961-5918, or email us help@albaspectrum.com  Our Dynamics GP, SAP Business One and Microsoft CRM consultants and programmers speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian, Filipino

Ecommerce Web Designers For Professional Ecommerce Website Design

Ecommerce Web Designers For Professional Ecommerce Website Design

eCommerce is the activity of engaging in business online.. As many people now shop online, ecommerce has become a principal economic activity in many parts of the world. In keeping with this trend, eCommerce websites have taken the lead in the online world presently. Ecommerce website designing takes care of the special designing needs of ecommerce websites.

eCommerce websites are specially designed to encourage visitors to buy products and stay longer on the site so that they can spend more. eCommerce websites include a business relevant look and feel, reflect the vision and philosophy of the business, possess an organized layout and professional design, include proper navigation, carry lucid and market friendly content and have a customer friendly user interface, and also comprise of a simple checkout and uncomplicated shopping cart. These sites are integrated with a professional gateway to ensure smooth and hassle free online payment.

Designing an ecommerce website is an extremely professional task. The creation and designing of ecommerce websites is not the work of lay designers. It requires very professional and talented ecommerce website designers to design an ecommerce website that can eventually become a success.

So, if you want to start a new ecommerce project or would like to upgrade your existing ecommerce website, then you should hire a competent ecommerce website designer. Thus, you can rest assured that your ecommerce project is in the safe hands of a professional.

Any professional ecommerce website designer will have several successfully completed projects to his or her credit. The designer should normally have sufficient exposure to all elements of ecommerce website designing. The website designer may work independently or even as part of a team that is specifically into designing professional ecommerce stores. The result that you should expect either ways is a successful website that has the ability to draw prospective customers and deliver significant conversions.

Any ecommerce website designer should have the talent and the professionalism to take his or her job seriously. Most clients usually expect designers to take up the entire responsibility of designing the website from start to finish. The designer’s sole aim should be in designing an ecommerce website that delivers the requisite ROI and becomes a profitable venture.

The designer or the designing team should be able to lead the website from conceptualization to the final integration of the website with the payment gateway. Moreover, the buying experience for the customers should be a smooth affair right from landing on the site and choosing the products to proceeding to the checkout for payment. In effect, customers should be able to choose a product of their choice effortlessly and there should be minimal shopping cart abandonment.

Clients should choose an ecommerce designer that understands the responsibilities of designing an ecommerce store well. What is essential for the designer is a complete set of well-developed skills that comes along with a thorough aptitude for design. Alongside, the designer should be conversant with market trends so that the store can be designed in line with the preferences and the professional standards that the target audience expects.

To summarize, with the right ecommerce website designers in hand, you will surely be able to develop or enhance your ecommerce business to reap the rich rewards on the Internet.

eCommerce Website Development with CMS – eGrove Systems

eCommerce Website Development with CMS – eGrove Systems

eCommerce is now one of the most important applications of internet. In the last few years a whole new world started in eCommerce. There are many eCommerce CMS are available in the market both freeware as well as commercial such as osCommerce, Zen Cart, Virtuemart, Magento, Xcart, PrestaShop, Ubercart, Product Cart etc. Also there is a list of eCommerce plug-ins for some generic CMS like Joomla, WordPress, Drupal, etc. A good online store has the following features:
â?¢ Full product catalogs
â?¢ Shopping cart and checkout system
â?¢ SSL secure layers for ordering process
â?¢ Multiple payment options
â?¢ Multiple shipping Options
â?¢ Order management and fulfillment
â?¢ Inventory management
â?¢ Customer Service
â?¢ Marketing Promotions and Tools such as Discount Coupons, Promotions, Specials, Sales, etc
â?¢ Multi Currency Support
â?¢ Multilingual Support

Some of major shopping carts used by web developers.
Magento
Magento is one of the newest shopping carts on the market. The coding is based on the latest PHP 5 object oriented coding standards and the Zend framework. This has Multi-Store Capacity. But it heavily layered and overly complicated coding style and thousands of files requires a lot of time to learn and do customizations.
Oscommerce
Oscommerce is the basis for both Zen Cart and CRE Loaded. It is simpler and does not have all of the contributions already added that Zen Cart and CRE Loaded do. It runs well though and is a good back to basics shopping cart. It has the most available number of contributions and modifications.
Zen Cart
Zen Cart has a very nice wide array of features based on Oscommerce but has gone its own path. Some of the nice features include product attributes managers, template system, html editor for regular web page contents, built in coupon code system, ability to select what credit cards you accept, and more. There is no licensing fee for this cart.
X-Cart
X-Cart is a commercial shopping cart, but one of the most competitively priced and easy to modify. This uses Smarty Templates system.
Joomla & Virtuemart
This is the best solution for website wants CMS (Content Management System) combined with the shopping cart. It is easy to install and combine well with the Joomla.
Prestashop
This is a latest professional shopping cart in the industry. It code was developed in Web 2.0 innovations such as dynamic AJAX-powered features and next-generation ergonomy. It is easy to install and customizable.

eGrove Systems is an eCommerce Development Company Offering Services Like eCommerce Solutions, eCommerce Websites Development, eCommerce Solutions India, B2C eCommerce Solutions, eCommerce Website Design, eCommerce Web Design, eCommerce Shopping-Cart Solutions, eCommerce Solutions Web Development, eCommerce Shopping Cart, eCommerce Solutions Web Development Company, eCommerce Development, eCommerce Shopping Carts, eCommerce Solutions Services, Software Solutions, eCommerce Company, PHP eCommerce Development, PHP eCommerce Web Developer, PHP eCommerce Solutions, PHP eCommerce Web Design, Open Source Shopping Cart, Open Source CMS, Custom eCommerce Solutions for India, UK, USA, Australia, Singapore, Ireland, Germany and world wide.

eCommerce software is generating more and more of the total consumption in today’s world and without the ability to handle all of the data that is presented, and all of the incoming traffic of information

We will meet your needs successfully. We have the team of experts who are well versed with the latest trends in software development. Using their expertise we use the right program and incorporate the most recent ones. Depending on your needs, we offer following services to the clients:

â?¢ We make a software application planning strategy.
â?¢ Offer content management system for your ecommerce website.
â?¢ Make unique and effective design.
â?¢ Formulate online marketing strategy.
â?¢ Does search engine optimization. But on additional services do offer organic SEO and SEM facility as well.
â?¢ Once the complete web application is ready they provide with testing, tracking & analysis services as well. This helps in knowing exactly where your ecommerce website stands in the e-commerce world and what next is to be done to promote the site completely.

Dynamics GP Ecommerce Shopping Cart Integration Options

Dynamics GP Ecommerce Shopping Cart Integration Options

If you have Microsoft Dynamics GP implemented in your organization as Corporate ERP application and now you are looking for phase two, where such nice feature as ecommerce shopping cart is subject for the integration, this small publication is for you.  First of all we would like to share with you our believes  that ecommerce shopping carts, such as Magento/PHP (especially when you are on Linux), ASP.Net Storefront, Nop Commerce and others, are pretty robust and there is no real need to program shopping cart from scratch internally (until you are really huge ecommerce wholesaler or retailer, where you prefer to have complete control over program proprietary business logic and source code, and have the budget to afford that kind of luxury approach).  In our case, we tried to give you ecommerce add-on for Microsoft Dynamics GP (often referred by its historical name Great Plains Dynamics and eEnterprise, in case if you have some confusion with the application name) where you simply follow setup wizard, selecting your ecommerce shopping cart name from drop down list on one of the initial steps.  Other steps are specific to Dynamics GP typical integration with ecommerce: settings in Inventory Control, Sales order Processing modules:

1. Ecommerce Shopping Cart Image in Great Plains.  It is typically Sales Order Processing Invoice or Sales Order with Customer Deposit in the form of Credit Card payment (especially in B2C scenario, while in B2B scenario you may sell on account, and prepayment is optional).  If you plan to allocate Invoice or Order lines automatically directly from the Shopping Cart, you need to specify default ecommerce SOP Document ID as the one with automatic allocation (in this case item line fulfillment happens instantly as ecommerce document is transferred to GP).  If you would rather prefer to fulfill the lines via Warehouse Management System/Barcoding on the warehouse floor, then pick document ID where allocation is set to manual.  Second important concept is default ecommerce Inventory Site ID – in Great Plains it is important to have default settings to minimize data entry per document.  In the case of Sales Order Processing document each one may have default site ID, and if it is specified – each line will be automatically allocated (or assigned for manual fulfillment) from the specified site.  Inventory control hosted Site object is participating in the logic is such distribution modules as Sales Order Processing, Purchase Order Processing, Bill of Materials, Manufacturing Suite of Modules, Invoicing (this module however is rather legacy, we do not recommend it for serious consideration in eCommerce implementation)

2. eCommerce and Non-inventory items.  For smaller ecommerce retailers, especially specializing in very volatile (changing every week or month) reselling catalogues of items, you may decide to completely abandon such Inventory Control features as Quantity on-hand, returned, damaged, in-service and only track items sold through Sales Reports (based on SOP30200 and SOP30300 tables – document header and line history).  If you transform your ecommerce shopping cart document lines into non-inventory items in Dynamics GP SOP – item id is simply capitalized text (or flow of the characters), then description is the combination of Capital/Small letters, digits and delimiting characters, plus there is no pricelist (you must specify QTY sold, price and cost if known)

3. eCommerce integration technology.  Our Add-on ecommerce module is based on Alba Spectrum proprietary technology Order Connector.  According to our performance tests, Order Connector is more efficient, comparing to Dynamics GP SDK eConnect (both technologies as based on SQL stored procedures, however Order Connector is geared toward light weight Sales Order Processing transaction logic, where eConnect validates 100% of the Dynamics GP SOP business logic, which might contribute to longer stored procedures execution time and in our opinion and taking into consideration the set of processes in ecommerce add-on module – only some of the business logic must be validated, the rest of the logic realm is really optional)

4. What if your organization is in position to sponsor ecommerce shopping cart programming from scratches?  If shopping cart is generic ecommerce shopping cart interface compliance, we might be able to incorporate it into our ecommerce add-on for Dynamics GP.  If your shopping cart is really complex and proprietary, feel free to call us for estimation.  We have really challenging carts integrated in the past, especially in such environments as Linux/PHP/MySQL.  Plus there are unlimited options to move proprietary shopping cart document to Dynamics GP via Text or Advanced ODBC connection in Integration Manager.  IM is capable to provide you quasi real time integration (every 20 minutes, or you name the time interval), being scheduled in Windows Scheduled Tasks on the Server (there are multiple shareware and even freeware, providing calling Executable program with DOS parameters), the same approach could be called when new ecommerce shopping cart document is triggered as being completed directly in ecommerce application (you can simply call IM with parameters from your ecommerce web application code)

5. eConnect versus Integration Manager.  Dynamics GP eConnect SDK is really powerful instrument, initially it was dedicated to ecommerce programmers, to open Great Plains objects and transactions for ecommerce shopping cart integration.  In our opinion eConnect became stable and bug free with introduction of Dynamics GP version 9.0, so we do recommend you to try yourself (especially when you are considering yourself as practicing Microsoft Visual Studio C# or VB.Net coder).  The best scenario to deploy eConnect libraries, is when your ecommerce website is programmed in Microsoft Visual Studio.  In the case, when you are on Linux e-commerce platforms, there are ways to call Windows DLL as well as eConnect methods (stored procedures) indirectly via Linux to Windows bridges, however it might give you too much hard time and learning curve.  So, if you are on Linux, Unix, Oracle/Java, IBM DBII platforms, we would rather encourage you to reconsider exporting ecommerce shopping cart into text (tab or comma delimited) file or even cross-platform compliant XML format.  Regarding Integration Manager and eConnect performance comparison, you might be aware that Integration Manager for Dynamics GP version 10.0 (and especially current version 2010/11.0, as we are writing these lines in September 2010) introduced eConnect integration connectors, where IM integration is in fact calling the same SQL Stored procedures as if you deploy eConnect libraries directly in your Visual Studio Web Project, so the performance should be comparable

6. Which version is recommended prior to diving into ecommerce integration project?  The answer depends on the scope of the project.  You might be fine deploying Integration Manager on all the versions of Dynamics GP and even legacy Great Plains Dynamics and eEnterprise: 9.0, 8.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.0 (please note that Integration Manager works even for such archaic DB platforms as Pervasive SQL 2000/Btrieve and Ctree) .  However if you are looking forward to integrate real time ecommerce shopping cart directly from Magento, ASP.Net Storefront or other full-featured shopping cart platform, we recommend you to upgrade to Dynamics GP at least version 10.0

7. Combining Ecomerce with Warehouse Management System and Barcoding technologies.  If you are seeking for complete automation, where Shopping Cart is scheduled for automatic fulfillment on the warehouse floor via barcode scanning, we recommend you to consider Alba Spectrum WMS Add-ons for Microsoft Dynamics GP

8. If you are expanding internationally as ecommerce wholesaler or retailer.  Here you need to familiarize yourself with such concept as Corporate ERP localization.  It typically includes two components: local or regional language support and tax code or local country business regulation compliance (custom code, invoice form, sometimes government approved chart of accounts and how transactions should be posted in GL – good examples are France or Russian Federation).  Current version of Dynamics GP is 2010/11.0 as well as version 10.0 are localized for English speaking countries: USA, UK, Ireland, Canada (Including French speaking Quebec province with Montreal), Spanish speaking Latina America, Caribbean basin, Oceania, South East Asia, where English language is in use as the language of business.  If you are multinational subsidiary, expanding internationally and your country is not listed here, please consider to give us a call for consultation or consider another Corporate ERP platform for you overseas subsidiary: Dynamics AX Axapta or if you prefer SAP platform – SAP Business One.  Also you have to be aware that Dynamics GP Dexterity platform doesn’t support Unicode based languages (typically hieroglyph characters based alphabets, such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean)

9. For further information, please call us 1-866-528-0577, email us help@albaspectrum.com  By the nature of our service we are available for WMS implementation USA, Canada nationwide.  Local service is available in Western Michigan: St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Holland, New Buffalo; in Chicagoland, North Western Indiana, Southern California (Los Angeles, San Diego, Irvine, Orange County), Houston and Dallas areas of Texas

Decode the Basics of Ecommerce Solution

Decode the Basics of Ecommerce Solution

Let us begin by understanding the meaning of ecommerce solution. Ecommerce stands for electronic commerce. Ecommerce can broadly be defined as the use of electronic networks to exchange information, products, services and payments for different commercial and communication purposes between individuals and business organizations..

Internet is elementary and indispensable tool for ecommerce business nowadays. In consumer market, ecommerce business is pertaining to buying and selling products. But in corporate sector, ecommerce business has played a crucial role for communicating and collaborating with business partners.

To be at par and stand competitive in this evolving business industry, a business must be able to adapt itself with the evolving demands in technology. Most of the business transactions are being done online. To address this important issue, we have a solution in store — call it ecommerce. Coming to its reach and extent, ecommerce solutions allow customers and business owners to buy or sell out their products worldwide. Ecommerce business can be conducted from any nook and corner of the world. Ecommerce business can be conducted 24/7. But there is much more to ecommerce solutions than simply being a tool for purchasing goods and services electronically.

Ecommerce has leveled the platform for all business entities around the globe — be it, small- or mid-sized business houses to large corporate ones. Here we can easily say that ecommerce is a convergence of various technologies and these technologies are a basic driving factor for the exponential growth of ecommerce solutions.

Ecommerce solutions involve affecting factors like:

* Target market identification

* Concentration of online activity for particular business.

* Getting qualified traffic from consumers.

* Converting visit to your website into business

* Great ROI (return on investment)

Talking of its domain, ecommerce web solutions also entail a list of services enumerated as below:

* Ecommerce web design

* Ecommerce software solution

* Ecommerce content management

* Ecommerce shopping cart software

* Ecommerce website development

* Ecommerce package

* Ecommerce solution

In today’s technology-driven times, ecommerce solutions serve businesses worldwide. Various diverse organizations globally are being served by exclusive ecommerce website design and custom software development. This includes the design and development of an entire ecommerce website along with a database of products, product information and product search, order processing and payment systems, etc.

Ecommerce solutions are designed with the sole objective of benefiting your business by:

* Increasing sales revenue

* Improving client service

* Strengthening brand image

* Reducing operational expenses

So by now you must have got a clear picture of ecommerce solutions. And you must have also realized that ecommerce solutions are always available at your service for minimizing the time for marketing, grabbing customers and achieving unparalleled and optimized growth.

Be ready to get hold of success with ecommerce solutions!

Power That an Ecommerce Website Can Bring

Power That an Ecommerce Website Can Bring

eCommerce internet solution is proving its significance in the world of business for the last few years. It has become equally beneficial for entities involved, customers as well as companies who are providing ecommerce solutions. The ratio of providing satisfaction to customers by ecommerce solution providers in the business world is measured unequal or it varies due to many factors.

Global business world is the blend of big business players as well small companies, both are providing ecommerce solutions to their customers at their respective levels. Every company wants to expand their business and internet is the best way to expose products and services and to reach out the customers spread all over the online business sphere. Good technically sound, interactive design, smooth navigation, error-free payment system is some of the qualities or properties of good ecommerce website that helps the companies for exposing their products & services to achieve maximum level of customer satisfaction.

Many studies all over the business world use to conclude variety of results over the concept of ecommerce. Many of them conduct studies with company point of view, such as they use to research on companies ecommerce websites, there are many issues like whether the website is exactly according to company? Whether it is able to gather the potential customer base? Whether the ecommerce website of the company functioning properly?

On the other hand there are also studies conducted on the customer satisfaction, customer complains about ecommerce solutions provided to them, customers good and bad experiences about ecommerce internet solutions as well as variety of customer views about visualization of the ecommerce website and online security of the personal information.

Hence it is concluded by various studies, ecommerce websites are playing key role in between company and customer. Ecommerce website provides the power to both the entities involved, companies need to develop well functioning ecommerce websites and customers expect excellent services from the company and more from their ecommerce website which is main mode of interaction between them.

Power that ecommerce website can bring to business and to achieve highest level of customer satisfaction depends on professional business web design. A website demands for the professional design that makes selling process easy for customers, design of the website is most responsible factor for ecommerce success. Professional design plays great role in any company’s ecommerce website that helps in gathering customers from the online market.

For the success of the ecommerce website there are few important tips that should come under consideration of ecommerce solution providers:
Regular watch on visitor’s expectations from your ecommerce website
Keep essential, useful and limited information on the website
Well planned website
User friendly website
Easy to load website
Search engine friendly design

Companies providing ecommerce solutions should understand the value of professional design that gives power to their websites to drive sales.

Online security of the information is another big issue for the ecommerce solution providers. Error full ecommerce website is the big constraint in the success of online business today. There must be online security for attracting more and more customers to ecommerce websites, error-free shopping cart that provides security to personal information of the customers is very essential for the success of online business.

Among various effecting factors to ecommerce business websites a “professional ecommerce design” and “error free shopping cart” plays significance role in the world of ecommerce business. Perfect ecommerce website brings great power to ecommerce business in the global online business environment.