Tips for Creating an Online Store

Archive for the ‘Flying Cart Features’ Category

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

You can now take care of all Google payment management from within Flying Cart. Look for the Google Payment Manager link on the bottom of each order page in the Headquarters. You can view the order payment history, monitor the payment status, send refunds, send messages, cancel an order, and view the risk level of the customer’s payment method. The data shown on this screen matches what is in your Google Checkout account in real-time so this new feature can save you the trouble of going back and forth.

New order features

Category: Flying Cart Features, News

2 Comments
Tags: google, Google Checkout

New: Packing Slips, Add Tracking Info, Send Shipping Notices

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

We have just added some cool new features to make your order fulfillment process a snap. Look for these new options on the bottom of each order page in your Headquarters.

New order features

Step 1: Print Packing Slip

Click Print Packing Slip to display a printable page that functions as a receipt and a mailing label. It includes all the order information, your store contact information, and a snail-mail friendly section that you can cut off and attach to the package. Print this on label paper so all you have to do is cut and stick. [Note: print in Landscape mode for best results.]

New order features

Step 2: Add Tracking Info

Your package is ready to go and you have purchased postage through your favorite shipping service (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL). You can now save the shipping service and tracking number with the order so the customer can track the location of the package after it has been shipped.

New order features

Step 3: Send Shipping Notice

Send your customer a personalized message to let him/her know that the order has shipped. We provide you with a basic message (including tracking info, if available) but you can modify the message as you wish. Shipping notifications are now done on an individual basis, rather than as an automatic option as they were before. This allows you to give your customers a more customized experience.

New order features

Step 4: Check It Off

Click on the shipping icon (picture of an envelope) to mark it as shipped. When you are done processing the order completely, click on the check icon to put the order in your archive. A blue icon means that step is complete. Look for these icons on the top of each order page.

New order features

Category: Flying Cart Features

5 Comments
Tags: shipping

Post your favorite products with link sharing

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

I’m excited to announce our latest feature, which will be useful for both eager shoppers and for store owners looking for some free marketing. Link sharing lets people post products from any Flying Cart store on their Facebook, MySpace, StumbleUpon, and Twitter accounts. Once a product is posted, it is seen by all of the person’s friends. Then the friends click the link to come visit the store. It’s a fun way to shop and a simple but very powerful marketing tool.

Look for the link sharing icons on product pages just below the “Add To Cart” button.

How does it work? For example, if I find a product I like such as the Tokidoki Kaniza from Immortal Beloved Toys, I can click on the Facebook icon (third from the left) to show all my Facebook friends. A screen pops up with the product information and I can add a comment. Then I click “Post” and I am done.

Link sharing can be turned off on the Store > Settings page when logged in.

Category: Flying Cart Features, News

3 Comments

Expanded store category list

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

Several of you have emailed to tell us that there isn’t a category in our list that fits your store. Agreed! We definitely needed some finer categories, and now we have them. This new list should allow you to set a category that better describes your store. Here is the updated list:

You can assign a category to your store on the Network > My Store Profile tab in the Headquarters.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what else we could add?

Category: Flying Cart Features, News

7 Comments

New! Google Checkout and Lots More

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

We are very excited to show off what we have been working on for the last month. A lot of love and elbow grease went into this.

Google Checkout is Here!

You asked for it, and we now bring you an alternative to PayPal. Process credit card payments using your Google account. Solid and reliable. Yippee! Go to your Store > Settings tab to set this up.

Why we love Google Checkout:

Its cleaner and easier to process payments
More reliable (did we mention that?)
If you advertise on Google (via Google Adwords) they will display “Google Checkout” under your ad

Using Google Checkout with Flying Cart is easy. Here are our step by step instructions.

Orders Nearly Manage Themselves

Well not quite, but close. Orders now have a nice little three-step process with matching icons:

Get Paid – shows you when the payment is in your account
Ship – click the icon when you have shipped the order
Archive – file the order in your archive to get it out of the way

That’s Not All

Order numbers now correspond to your PayPal or Google Checkout order number
A PayPal or Google logo on each order shows you how the customer paid
Your customer’s billing information is displayed below the shipping information
You can send email notifications to tell your customer that you shipped her/his order (see the Store > Settings tab)

Expanded Options for Charging Tax

You know what they say about death and taxes. Yep, inevitable.

In most states you only have to charge the customers in your state. Now you can easily apply a percentage to the total for customers in your state.

Simplified Shipping Page

Our old shipping page was a little confusing so we changed it around to be more straightforward. ‘Nuf said.

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Category: Flying Cart Features, News

1 Comment
Tags: Google Checkout

WYSIWYG HTML!

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

What You See Is What You Get. I just added a graphical HTML editor in the Flying Cart Headquarters so you can add style to your site without knowing any HTML. Take a look for it on the pages where you edit your Homepage, About page, Return policy, and product descriptions, to name just a few. You can change the font, size, and color of your text, add bullet points and images, and more.

The new editor is a free Open Source web plug-in called TinyMCE. It is so easy to use and useful, I can’t say enough good things about it. Have fun.

TinyMCE HTML Editor

Now everyone, it’s election day so don’t forget to vote! Let’s bring in some positive change.

NOTES TO ADVANCED HTML USERS …

1. You can still write your own HTML by clicking on the “HTML” button on the toolbar and entering your code in the popup window.

2. Any existing HTML tags (that you entered before this feature was available) that are visible in the editor window will display as raw HTML tags on your page if you save changes. TinyMCE will convert all HTML tags to HTML escape characters. This is probably not what you want. To avoid this problem, you can either copy and paste your exising code into the HTML code window, or you can redo your formatting using the graphical editor.

Category: Flying Cart Features, Store Design

5 Comments

New! Inventory Management Addition

Sunday, September 28th, 2008

new inventory management feature

Now you have the option to keep displaying your products even if they are sold out. Your customers won’t be able to purchase it but they can see it.

Category: Flying Cart Features, News

4 Comments

Learn More about Google Checkout

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

Google Checkout™ is a checkout process that you provide on your website to enable your customers to buy from you quickly and securely, using a single username and password. And once they make a purchase, you can use Checkout to charge their credit cards, process their orders, and receive payment in your bank account.

Google Checkout Payment Page

Top benefits to using Google Checkout:

Attract more leads. Buyers that use Google Checkout actively look to buy from merchants that offer it on their websites. If you use Google search advertising, you can help these potential buyers find you by displaying the Google Checkout badge on your search advertisements.
Convert more leads into sales. A fast, secure checkout process helps persuade shoppers to buy on your site and buy more often.
Lower sales processing costs. For every $1 you spend on Google search advertising, you can process $10 in sales for free. If you don’t use Google search advertising or you use up your free transaction processing, you can process additional sales at a low 2% and $0.20 per transaction.
Protect yourself from fraud. Google Checkout’s fraud prevention tools stop invalid orders from reaching you. And Checkout’s Payment Guarantee policy helps protect you from charge backs.

FAQ about Google Checkout:

Category: Flying Cart Features

Comments Off
Tags: google, Google Checkout

Extreme Makeover HQ Edition

Friday, September 26th, 2008

The next time you log in to your store you will notice that the HQ has an updated look. We don’t have a hot tub and a deluxe kitchen yet, but check out the following improvements:

the menu items are easier to navigate
the background is one of our “flashy backgrounds”
the Help page includes frequently asked questions
new buttons

Enjoy

Category: Flying Cart Features

5 Comments
Tags: headquarters

New! More Tax and Shipping Options

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

Want to tax different provinces or states? Want to provide your customers next day delivery if they pay a little extra for it? Now you can with PayPal override.