E-Commerce Extra
The E-Commerce Site Extra, enables your school to sell uniforms, stationary or anything else. Features include full on-line payments, inventory tracking and endless flexibility in adding products, product options and multiple 'shops'. For record keeping purposes, there is full reporting to export sales reports, sales reports and exporting to Xero or other accounting software.
The first step in setting up the e-commerce extra is to enter your products. In order to do this efficiently, is best to have as much of the information as you can about the products you will be selling.
Categories
You can set up multiple, nested categories for the products you are selling to give you flexibility in how the products display on your site. This can be to simply organise items like 'Girls Uniforms' and 'Boy's Uniforms'. Categories can also be used to create separate shops that display in separate areas on your site. For example you could choose to feature a separate 'Uniform' and 'Stationary' shops, or create a special fundraising or event shop that was only open for a set period of time.
Brands
Adding brands allows your users can search your shop by specific brands to find what they are looking for. If you intent to enable this, make sure add the brands you are working with before you begin to add products as you can attach the brand to the product as you go. Add Brands by clicking o brands in the main menu.
Suppliers
Clicking 'Suppliers' in the main menu allows you to track who your suppliers are and track which products are supplied by which suppliers. As with brands, it is best to add your suppliers before you start adding products if you want to track this information.
Inventory
If you have a finite number of products to sell, the E-commerce Extra can track stock levels for you to prevent overselling an item. It is a good idea to do an accurate stock take of your inventory before you begin to add products. You need a total for each variant of a product as well.
For each product and variant, you add to the system, you will enter a stock quantity. Then as products are sold, the system will subtract from these initial values to give you an accurate report. If a product's stock value reaches '0' its status will be set to 'out of stock' and it will be removed from your site. You can edit a product's stock quantity at any time to reflect what you have on hand.
If you have an unlimited supply of a product, you can leave the stock value empty.
Product Photos
Depending on what you are selling you will probably want to feature images of your products and if you have products that are available with different options (colors for example) you will want photos of these options as well. Clear, shadow-less photos of your products on on white background work best.
Adding Products with Multiple Options
If you are entering a product that has multiple options, like clothing with different sizes, start with entering the base or first option set. For example, if you were adding a school jersey that came in three sizes small, medium and large, you would start by entering the options for the small size.
Once you have entered the required information for this base option, click the save button and the screen will refresh and you will see an list of options with your first variant listed, and a button below '+Add Option'. Clicking this will allow you to enter a new product option, including a unique SKU code and different pricing values if necessary.
Once you are finished adding the information for the 2nd option, click 'Save' and you will see the option added to the list of options. You can continue adding options as necessary and clicking options in the list will allow you to edit them.
Product Name
Give the product a descriptive name
Summary
Here you enter a paragraph describing the product in detail.
Status
Set the a status for the product to change the way it displays on your site.
Active - The product is live and available for sale on your site.
Out of Stock - If a the stock value has reached '0' this status is automatically set and the item can't be purchased. You can also use this setting to temporary remove an item for sale without deleting it completely.
Categories
Choose the category for the product. If no categories exist, you can click the link 'Manage Categories' to add some. If no category is chosen the product will be placed in the default category.
Feature this product
Tick this box to make this product display more prominently in your on your site
Promote this product
Tick this box to make this product display more prominently when it is shown in a list of similar products.
SKU
If you use SKU (stock keeping unit) codes for the products enter it here. This must be a unique value.
Variant Name
For products that have multiple options there will be a drop-down select for the buyer to choose from and the value you enter here will display in the list there for this option.
Cost
Your cost of the product or option.
Price
The default price you wish to charge customers for the product or variant.
Special
The discounted price you wish to charge for the item or variant to put it on special. The value you enter here will override the normal price. To return a product to the normal price, set this value to '0'.
Stock Level
If you tracking inventory for this item enter the number you currently have in stock. This value can be edited at any time to reflect your stock levels.
Min Qty *
The minimum quantity of this products that purchasers are allowed to buy in a single session.
Max Qty *
The maximum quantity of of this products that purchasers are allowed to buy in a single session.
Backorder Text
If the item stock value drops to '0', this text will display to the user.
Display Order
Add a numerical value here to effect the order in which this option displays in the list of options.
For larger shops this view offers a more visual way to manage your products. Products can to be edited and deleted from this screen.
To view the purchases that have been made, click the 'Manage Orders' in the main menu. As purchases are made, rows will be added to this page. Each order will display a status that indicates whether or not the purchase was successful.
Statuses
Paid - The customer successfully completed the Payment and funds have been transferred to your account.
Step 1 - The customer filled out the initial form but did not complete payment step.
Redirected to DPS- The Payment was not completed due to a problem with the customer's card or other reason.
Declined - If the purchaser card was declined.
Refunded - If you have refunded a purchaser's payment manually you can set this the payment to this status
Each order has two statuses, an order status and a payment status. The payment status reflects the state of the credit card payment, whether or not that order has been paid for. The order status allows you to track whether or not the order has been shipped, waiting for customer pick up etc.
Click view for the order you wish to you and you will see all of the details of the order including the customer details, items ordered and options to print an invoice or packing slip.
When you are viewing an order you have the option to send an email to the the customer under 'Contact Customer'. This can be use to give the customer an update as to the status of their order, send a postal tracking number etc.
Payments History
The payments history section shows all of the payments attempts made by the user for this order.
To download a spreadsheet document (.csv) of all of your orders click the export orders button.
Getting Started
Planning Your Shop
The first step in setting up the e-commerce extra is to enter your products. In order to do this efficiently, is best to have as much of the information as you can about the products you will be selling.
Categories
You can set up multiple, nested categories for the products you are selling to give you flexibility in how the products display on your site. This can be to simply organise items like 'Girls Uniforms' and 'Boy's Uniforms'. Categories can also be used to create separate shops that display in separate areas on your site. For example you could choose to feature a separate 'Uniform' and 'Stationary' shops, or create a special fundraising or event shop that was only open for a set period of time.
Brands
Adding brands allows your users can search your shop by specific brands to find what they are looking for. If you intent to enable this, make sure add the brands you are working with before you begin to add products as you can attach the brand to the product as you go. Add Brands by clicking o brands in the main menu.
Suppliers
Clicking 'Suppliers' in the main menu allows you to track who your suppliers are and track which products are supplied by which suppliers. As with brands, it is best to add your suppliers before you start adding products if you want to track this information.
Inventory
If you have a finite number of products to sell, the E-commerce Extra can track stock levels for you to prevent overselling an item. It is a good idea to do an accurate stock take of your inventory before you begin to add products. You need a total for each variant of a product as well.
For each product and variant, you add to the system, you will enter a stock quantity. Then as products are sold, the system will subtract from these initial values to give you an accurate report. If a product's stock value reaches '0' its status will be set to 'out of stock' and it will be removed from your site. You can edit a product's stock quantity at any time to reflect what you have on hand.
If you have an unlimited supply of a product, you can leave the stock value empty.
Product Photos
Depending on what you are selling you will probably want to feature images of your products and if you have products that are available with different options (colors for example) you will want photos of these options as well. Clear, shadow-less photos of your products on on white background work best.
Adding Products with Multiple Options
If you are entering a product that has multiple options, like clothing with different sizes, start with entering the base or first option set. For example, if you were adding a school jersey that came in three sizes small, medium and large, you would start by entering the options for the small size.
Once you have entered the required information for this base option, click the save button and the screen will refresh and you will see an list of options with your first variant listed, and a button below '+Add Option'. Clicking this will allow you to enter a new product option, including a unique SKU code and different pricing values if necessary.
Once you are finished adding the information for the 2nd option, click 'Save' and you will see the option added to the list of options. You can continue adding options as necessary and clicking options in the list will allow you to edit them.
Adding Products
Product Name
Give the product a descriptive name
Summary
Here you enter a paragraph describing the product in detail.
Status
Set the a status for the product to change the way it displays on your site.
Active - The product is live and available for sale on your site.
Out of Stock - If a the stock value has reached '0' this status is automatically set and the item can't be purchased. You can also use this setting to temporary remove an item for sale without deleting it completely.
Categories
Choose the category for the product. If no categories exist, you can click the link 'Manage Categories' to add some. If no category is chosen the product will be placed in the default category.
Feature this product
Tick this box to make this product display more prominently in your on your site
Promote this product
Tick this box to make this product display more prominently when it is shown in a list of similar products.
SKU
If you use SKU (stock keeping unit) codes for the products enter it here. This must be a unique value.
Variant Name
For products that have multiple options there will be a drop-down select for the buyer to choose from and the value you enter here will display in the list there for this option.
Cost
Your cost of the product or option.
Price
The default price you wish to charge customers for the product or variant.
Special
The discounted price you wish to charge for the item or variant to put it on special. The value you enter here will override the normal price. To return a product to the normal price, set this value to '0'.
Stock Level
If you tracking inventory for this item enter the number you currently have in stock. This value can be edited at any time to reflect your stock levels.
Min Qty *
The minimum quantity of this products that purchasers are allowed to buy in a single session.
Max Qty *
The maximum quantity of of this products that purchasers are allowed to buy in a single session.
Backorder Text
If the item stock value drops to '0', this text will display to the user.
Display Order
Add a numerical value here to effect the order in which this option displays in the list of options.
Product Grid
For larger shops this view offers a more visual way to manage your products. Products can to be edited and deleted from this screen.
Managing Orders
To view the purchases that have been made, click the 'Manage Orders' in the main menu. As purchases are made, rows will be added to this page. Each order will display a status that indicates whether or not the purchase was successful.
Statuses
Paid - The customer successfully completed the Payment and funds have been transferred to your account.
Step 1 - The customer filled out the initial form but did not complete payment step.
Redirected to DPS- The Payment was not completed due to a problem with the customer's card or other reason.
Declined - If the purchaser card was declined.
Refunded - If you have refunded a purchaser's payment manually you can set this the payment to this status
Each order has two statuses, an order status and a payment status. The payment status reflects the state of the credit card payment, whether or not that order has been paid for. The order status allows you to track whether or not the order has been shipped, waiting for customer pick up etc.
Viewing an Order
Click view for the order you wish to you and you will see all of the details of the order including the customer details, items ordered and options to print an invoice or packing slip.
Contacting the Customer
When you are viewing an order you have the option to send an email to the the customer under 'Contact Customer'. This can be use to give the customer an update as to the status of their order, send a postal tracking number etc.
Payments History
The payments history section shows all of the payments attempts made by the user for this order.
Exporting Orders
To download a spreadsheet document (.csv) of all of your orders click the export orders button.
Updated on: 07/09/2023
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