Frequently asked questions about Web-store-buddy
- What do I need to download and install on my web site?
- How easy is it to set up? What do I need to be able to do?
- How much does Web-store-buddy cost?
- I'm a web designer. Are there any discounts available?
- Does Web-store-buddy send my customers an order confirmation email?
- What countries and currencies does Web-store-buddy support?
- Can Web-store-buddy be set to my time zone?
- Can customers place orders by credit card?
- Do I need a secure server or secure certificate to take credit card payments?
- Does Web-store-buddy validate and authorize credit cards?
- Can customers place orders and pay me by check or money order or electronic funds transfer?
- How many product items can I have?
- I sell products with different "attributes", i.e. the same product but it comes in different colors and sizes. Can Web-store-buddy handle that?
- I need the shopper to be able to add some text when they select a product
- Can I import my product list into Web-store-buddy?
- Can I export or back up my Web-store-buddy product list and put it into a desktop spreadsheet or database?
- Can I charge for delivery on a "per item" basis?
- Can my delivery charges be calculated based on the value of the order?
- Can I set up different delivery charge rules for different countries?
- Sometimes I don't know in advance how much the shipping will cost. How can Web-store-buddy handle that situation?
- I like to display my prices excluding sales tax. Can Web-store-buddy automatically add tax when the order is placed?
- My prices include sales tax. Can Web-store-buddy automatically take off tax when the order comes from a country outside my tax zone?
- Does Web-store-buddy work with different browsers?
- Does Web-store-buddy remember the details of returning customers?
- If a shopper leaves my web site and then returns, will Web-store-buddy remember the contents of their shopping cart?
- Does Web-store-buddy use cookies?
- What do I need to download and install on my web site?
- Nothing! Web-store-buddy is a remotely hosted application, a form of "cloud computing"
[back to the top] - How easy is it to set up? What do I need to be able to do?
- Web-store-buddy is extremely easy to set up. If you already design and publish your own web pages,
then you're good to go!
Read more...
[back to the top] - Does Web-store-buddy send my customers an order confirmation email?
- Yes. Web-store-buddy sends a professionally designed customizable email to your customer that confirms
the order and itemizes any applicable delivery delivery and tax charges.
[back to the top] - What countries and currencies does Web-store-buddy support?
- Web-store-buddy allows you to set up a list of countries that you wish to trade with. That can be
just your own country, or a selection of countries, or anyone, anywhere who is prepared to pay you! At
present Web-store-buddy allows you to price your products in one of these currencies: USD, Euro, GBP,
CAD, AUD, ZAR, NZD, JPY, MTL. If you use PayPal or WorldPay to process your payments, your shopper will
be able to pay in their own currency.
[back to the top] - Can Web-store-buddy be set to my time zone?
- Yes. Web-store-buddy adds a time stamp to your orders and this can be set to reflect your local time.
[back to the top] - Can customers place orders by credit card?
- Yes. Web-store-buddy has built-in support for taking credit card payments via Google Checkout, PayPal
or WorldPay. On the other hand if you have a merchant account and you can accept cardholder-not-present
transactions, Web-store-buddy provides a secure payment gateway for your customers to provide card details. Read
more...
[back to the top] - Do I need a secure server or secure certificate to take credit card payments?
- No. If you use the Web-store-buddy Google Checkout, PayPal or WorldPay options, then they provide
the secure server ("secure sockets layer" SSL connection via "https:// "). If you
use Web-store-buddy's secure payment gateway (for offline processing), then we provide the SSL connection.
[back to the top] - Does Web-store-buddy validate and authorize credit cards?
- If you need real-time card authorization, then choose the Web-store-buddy PayPal, Google Checkout,
or WorldPay options. If you choose Web-store-buddy's secure payment
gateway option for offline processing, then Web-store-buddy provides you with your shopper's card details
(in a secure way) - but you will then need to process the transaction in your office using your merchant
card account in order to obtain payment.
[back to the top] - Can customers place orders and pay me by check, money order or electronic funds transfer?
- Yes, Web-store-buddy has these three payment options. And you're able to provide customizable payment
instructions to the shopper (e.g. who to make the check or money order out to, where to send it, and
so on).
[back to the top] - How many product items can I have?
- We do not set a limit. Most Web-store-buddy merchants sell anything from a handful of products to
a thousand or so products. Beyond that a shopping cart system with a CMS (Content Management System)
may be more appropriate. Read more...
[back to the top] - I sell products with different "attributes", i.e. the same product but it comes in different colors and sizes. Can Web-store-buddy handle that?
- Yes. Each product you have needs to have a unique code. But you don't need to create extra codes for products that are available with different options such as size or color. So let's say you sell hats, and you sell them in sizes small, medium, or large, and you sell them in three colors (blue, green, and red). Let's assume the product code for the hat is 'HAT001'. On the product page of your web site you can do this: [back to the top]
- I need the shopper to be able to add some text when they select a product
- No problem. Perhaps you need this so that the shopper can order a personalized product or so that
they can add special instructions. On the product page of your web site you can do this kind of thing:
[back to the top] - Can I import my product list into web-store-buddy?
- Yes. With Web-store-buddy you can import a list of products in tab-delimited format. So let's
say you have a spreadsheet with columns like so:
PRODUCT CODE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION PRICE
You would simply save the spreadsheet as a tab-delimited text file and then upload the data into your store.
[back to the top] - Can I export or back up my Web-store-buddy product list and put it into a desktop spreadsheet or database?
- Yes. With Web-store-buddy you can export a list of products in tab-delimited format. You can then
save that as a text file and it can then be imported into any desktop application that supports the tab-delimited
import format. In the case of most spreadsheets you can simply copy
and paste the data straight in.
[back to the top] - Can I charge for delivery on a "per item" basis?
- Yes. And to make it easy Web-store-buddy lets you set up a "default" delivery charge for
your products. After that, all you need do is configure the delivery charge for those products that need
to have a special rate.
[back to the top] - Can my delivery charges be calculated based on the value of the order?
- Yes. You can either set up specific charge bands e.g. "charge $10 for orders less than $100",
or you can set up percentage rates such as "charge 5% for orders less than $100".
[back to the top] - Can I set up different delivery charge rules for different countries?
- Yes. You can have different per-item rates, or order value rates for different countries.
[back to the top] - Sometimes I don't know in advance how much the shipping will cost. How can Web-store-buddy handle that situation?
- Web-store-buddy has an option that will allow your customer to place the order, but will
inform the shopper that you will get back to them to confirm the delivery charge.
[back to the top] - I like to display my prices excluding sales tax. Can Web-store-buddy automatically add tax when the order is placed?
- Yes. And Web-store-buddy's order confirmation email will show the tax calculation.
[back to the top] - My prices include sales tax. Can Web-store-buddy automatically take off tax when the order comes from a country outside my tax zone?
- Sure! Web-store-buddy can take care of that for you.
[back to the top] - Does Web-store-buddy work with different browsers?
- Yes. Web-store-buddy is a server side application and that means that it requires nothing special
from the shopper's browser such as Java, JavaScript or Flash. Read
more...
[back to the top] - Does Web-store-buddy remember the details of returning customers?
- Yes. When a shopper returns to place repeat orders all their contact and address details are “remembered”
from their previous order. More about Web-store-buddy as a shopper
friendly e-commerce system...
[back to the top] - If a shopper leaves my web site and then returns, will Web-store-buddy remember the contents of their shopping cart?
- Yes. A shopper can move from page to page on your web site and any items they have placed in their shopping basket (and any address or order details they have entered) are stored. This means that you do not have to keep your shoppers within a restricted “ordering section” of your web site. A shopper can even leave your web site altogether, and when he/she returns their shopping cart contents will be still there. However once a visitor to your web site closes down their browser, their details are not stored (unless they have actually completed an order).
- Does Web-store-buddy use cookies?
- Web-store-buddy uses an uncontroversial form of cookie (called a "session cookie" as opposed to a
"persistent cookie"). Whereas some types of privacy software will block the use of persistent cookies,
this does not happen with session cookies. Read more...
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