Mr. Matt Heverly, a Mechanical Engineer from Pasadena, CA, woke up this morning for an early tee time only to find that his favorite golf club, Callaway's Steelhead 2-iron, had been bent in half. The prime suspect? Mr. Heverly's kindergarten nephew, Jacob. Jacob has been witnessed in the Heverly backyard more than once playing a round of soccer-golf with his friends. For those unfamiliar with the sport, it involves six-year-olds swinging expensive golf clubs at heavy, oversized soccer balls, sprinklers, and fence posts.

Leaving all disciplinary measures up to his brother, Matt quickly refocusses on solving the problem and switches on his computer. Not more than a year ago, Matt bought his Callaway set at an online golf retailer, FirstFairway.com. He was so impressed with both the web site and the company's customer service that he bookmarked the page, www.firstfairway.com, for future golf purchases.

(If you haven't already done so, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the 'START DEMO' button. If you do not see the button, please use the address bar to visit our demo golf retailer at: WWW.FIRSTFAIRWAY.COM

Please note: This script is meant to be read in its entirety. The Italicized text will only serve for clarity. Not all instructions will appear italicized, but rather some actions are implied by the storyline. )

Comforted by the straightforward presentation of the site, Matt immediately finds the 'golf store' button. He is bounced to the FirstFairway.com online store and immediately notices the 'shipping policy' link (located in the upper right-hand corner of the storefront). After reading the policy, Matt feels even further convinced that eShopping on legitimate web sites can be every bit as rewarding as browsing through an actual store. He's seen too many web sites lose his business due to the "sacrifice of function for flash" (Business Week e.Biz, 'Building the Perfect E-Tailer', October 23, 2000).

Back on track to find his 2-iron, Matt clicks on the 'clubs' category and then chooses the 'irons' subcategory. At the top of the screen, Matt's eye catches the 'Backward Navigation Thread' ('Navigate'). This navigation feature continually reveals to Matt his exact whereabouts within the online store.

As luck would have it he sees the Steelhead 2-iron in the upper right under the 'irons' subcategory and it's on sale for $124.99. Great! He clicks on the club and bounces to the full product detail where he briefly skims the product long description. Convinced that he cannot golf without another Steelhead 2-iron, Matt selects his shaft type as 'graphite' and clicks 'add to cart'. His attention is then diverted to his shopping cart where he exclaims, "Wow, this site has a shopping cart that stays right on the screen and keeps a running total as I shop!"

(The ordering system is specifically designed for customer ease of use. Nexternal's embedded shopping cart not only promotes the purchase of multiple products, but significantly reduces the shopping cart abandonment rate.)

On the verge of pushing the yellow 'PROCEED TO CHECKOUT' button, Matt notices a yellow button just below it that reads 'Enter Coupon'. Recalling an email that was sent to him from FirstFairway.com just a week ago, he decides to enter 'callaway' as a coupon number. Amazing! Matt just used an eCoupon to save himself another $20 on his new 2-iron.

(If you haven't yet activated the coupon, click on the yellow 'Enter Coupon' button located just below the yellow 'PROCEED TO CHECKOUT' button in the shopping cart. In the popup window prompt, enter the word, 'callaway', to activate the coupon.)

Ecstatic with his eCoupon savings, Matt glances back over at the golf club description and notices the RELATED PRODUCTS section,

As advertised, you'll notice that only the steel shaft set is on sale. Scroll down to the bottom of this product detail and you'll see that the graphite shaft set remains at $905. The system is capable of pricing various choices individually. To verify the graphite shaft price, select a graphite shaft set and add it to your shopping cart.)

At this point, Matt is shopping on pure excitement and decides to visit the storefront to see if there is anything else he might need. (Use the Navigation Thread at the top and click on 'StoreFront'). He jumps into the 'golf balls' category and sees that his Callaway balls are marked down to $21.68, so he adds two packs to his cart.

(After adding two packs of golf balls to your shopping cart, modify your cart contents by removing them. To do this, click on the small trashcan next to the $37.40 for the two packs of golf balls. Now add one pack back to your shopping cart. To change the quantity to 2 packs, either click on the small yellow pencil in your shopping cart that corresponds to the golf balls and change the quantity to 2 or add the golf balls to your cart a second time.)

Although Matt has learned time and time again to quit while ahead, his wedding anniversary is next Sunday and he's been meaning to buy his wife a great gift. Tracy has been talking about a new golf bag for some time now, so Matt decides to try out FirstFairway's 'search' functionality and enters the word 'bag'. "Perfect! This Balance Max looks like a great bag. I'll bet Tracy Sue would love to have her initials on a bright red golf bag."

(In the upper right hand corner, input the word, 'bag', and click 'Search'. The search will find four golf bags for you. Click on the one entitled 'Balance Max'. Enter your initials for the monogram, choose your color, and click 'add to cart'. You'll notice that by entering your initials, the system automatically charges you an extra $9.99. You'll also notice that the image of the Balance Max bag will swap colors as you change the picklist.)

Decided that he's spent enough money for one day, Matt decides to check out with his order. Since he's shopped at FirstFairway.com before, he'll enter his user name and password to bypass entering his billing information.

(After clicking on the 'PROCEED TO CHECK OUT' button, enter the following:
        e-mail: matt@redwings.com
        password: redwings)

As if his shopping experience couldn't get any better, the first words to appear after 'Welcome, Matt Heverly' read,

IMPORTANT! After reading about your customer discount, click on the small yellow 'edit' tab for Matt Heverly's contact information and change the email address to your own. After making the change, click 'COMMIT'. By entering your email address, you will experience first-hand the customer service inherent within the Nexternal Solution's software.)

Before 'continuing to the secure payment page', Matt also notices that he can include a free gift card with his purchase. "That's not a bad idea."

(Click on the 'Add free gift card' link just above the continue shopping button in the cart. A pop-up window will appear. Check the box in the pop-up window and then click the 'Enter Text' link.)

Matt then types in:

As he's taking a final look at his invoice, Matt luckily remembers that he still has 20 more brand new Callaway golf balls in the garage. They were a birthday gift from last February. Guessing that he can still modify his purchase, Matt clicks the small yellow 'Edit' button next to the shopping cart display. He is bounced to the store where he uses the trashcan icon to remove his golf balls and then checks out a second time. Amazingly, the system remembers exactly where Matt had been and returns him directly to the final invoice screen.

He then enters his credit card information and clicks 'Submit Order'.

(For demonstrational purposes, the credit card fields are already populated for you. Click the 'Submit Order' button and then click 'O.K.' to the fake credit card warning. Once finished, wait approximately 10 seconds for a small blurb that introduces Nexternal's state-of-the-art Order Management System.)

MR. JEFF NIELSEN, ONLINE RETAILER

Not more than 200 miles from Matt's home town of Pasadena, Mr. Jeff Nielsen, the E-Commerce Manager and owner of FirstFairway.com, rubs his eyes and slowly makes his way out of bed. Mr. Nielsen recently bought a beautiful home overlooking the ocean in San Luis Obispo, CA. As he strolls down the spiral staircase that leads to the family room, he catches the scent of his morning coffee and smiles with satisfaction. It was just 18 months ago that he threw a Staff Celebration Party in this very room. The occasion? FirstFairway's online revenues had doubled every month since the inception of the online store just two seasons prior.

On his way to the kitchen, Jeff turns on his computer and discovers 16 new e-mails from sales@firstfairway.com. Happily he announces to his wife, "Hun, we took in 16 new orders last night in our sleep." After pouring himself some coffee, Jeff gets to work and pulls up the FirstFairway.com Order Management System to see what his new visitors were ordering last night.

Order Processing
(If you haven't already done so, click on the button entitled 'ENTER THE OMS DEMO'. If you cannot find the button, use your browser to visit the following address, www.nexternal.com/myfairway. You'll be taken to the login screen for the FirstFairway.com Order Management System. The user name and password are already populated, so go ahead and 'Log In'. By default, the 'ORDERS' screen will load for you where you can walk through and process an order with Mr. Nielsen.)

Mr. Nielsen has made it a habit to always click on 'Updates' (black link in upper left-hand corner of gray frame on left). Nexternal's e-commerce software is continually evolving. In fact, new software enhancements and upgrades geared specifically to bring Nexternal clients more online orders are released on a regular basis. 'Recent Updates' notifications are sent periodically via email to all Nexternal clients, but they are always listed in the Order Management System and automatically installed for free in the system.

(Click on the top order number, '102???', corresponding to 'Heverly, Matt'. This is the order that you just placed. Clicking on the order number will pull all the information needed to process Matt's order. Be sure to click the actual order number hyperlink and not the blue pencil 'edit' button.

Notice the small yellow 'Edit' tabs corresponding to each part of Matt's order information. The details of Matt's order can still be changed even after order submission.

Now scroll down to the section entitled 'Ship To Information'. Noticing the green check mark next to 'Gift Card', click on the blue hyperlink entitled 'See Text'.

After reading the gift card text, close the box and scroll down further so that you can see the items that Matt purchased. At the very bottom left part of the order, you will find the message that Matt left for FirstFairway.com under 'Customer Comments:')

Recognizing that Matt used an e-coupon and judging by his customer comments, Mr. Nielsen hunches that Matt might be a returning customer to FirstFairway.com. Mr. Nielsen truly appreciates his regular customers, so come with him to see if Matt has ordered online at FirstFairway.com before. It's possible that he'll offer Matt a customer-based discount for future orders.

(To view the customer information that FirstFairway.com has on Matt Heverly, including his order history, scroll back to the top of this order and click on Matt's last name, 'Heverly'. This will bounce you to the 'Customer' section of the Order Management System. Just below his last name in Matt's customer information, you will see that Mr. Nielsen as already assigned to Matt a customer discount of 5% off all online orders.

Take note of the 'Navigation Thread' at the top of the screen. The thread traces exactly where Mr. Nielsen has been in his system, facilitating easy backward navigation.

If you're at all like Mr. Nielsen, you place value in personalizing online ordering as much as possible. He'll always use the comments box to jot down a few personal comments to his customers before processing the order.

(After scrolling back to the top of this order, go ahead and click on the green dollar sign button entitled. This is the 'Process Order Payment' button and can be seen in the order list view as well as a specific order view. Now click 'O.K.' to the prompt that appears and wait three seconds. Matt's credit card number is invalid for demonstrational purposes, so you will receive a message telling you that the credit card has been declined.)

Because Mr. Nielsen has upgraded his merchant account to offer online credit card processing, he uses the 'Process Order Payment' button to process his online orders. With just one click,

Assume now that Mr. Nielsen has successfully captured funds for this order.

Mr. Nielsen must now create a label include on the package. Jeff scroll's down to the bottom of the order detail screen and clicks on the yellow 'Shipping Labels' button. Jeff knows that this is a standard shipment and hence leaves the default shipping options, continuing by clicking the 'Next' button at the bottom of the screen. The system then asks Jeff on what date he will ship this order and he leaves today's date in the box. Clicking 'Create' sends all of the order information to the UPS Server which then returns a tracking number and a shipping label. Jeff 'View Print' button and prints out the label. Jeff knows that a second e-mail was triggered off to Matt letting him know that his order has been shipped.

(Now, click on 'Orders' on the main menu on the left. You will notice that order 102??? now has a status of shipped.)

Each Monday, Jeff will take a quick look at how the numbers fell for his last week's online sales.

(Click on the small yellow 'Report' button at the top of the screen. The system is geared to generate a quick online sales report dating back exactly one month by default. Reset the start and end dates to any period you'd like and then push the gray button entitled 'Next'. Next, click 'Create Report.'

After viewing the Orders Report, close the 'Report' window and then click the gray 'Finish' button.

To see how Mr. Nielsen exports his order data into his accounting software, click on the yellow 'Export' tab at the top of the screen. If you don't see the 'Export' tab, divert your attention to the left frame (in black). This is the Main Menu. Click on the 'Orders' button in the Main Menu. This will enable you to see the yellow 'Export' tab. Mr. Nielsen uses this functionality on a monthly basis to export sales data straight into his accounting software. For now, click 'Cancel' to go back to the main 'Orders' page.)

To track exactly that portion of his business that is generated by his web site, Mr. Nielsen also uses his Order Management System to take phone orders. As if shopping himself, he simply clicks the 'New' button on his 'Orders' page and places the caller's order for him.

(At the top of the "Orders" screen, click on the small yellow 'New' tab to see how phone orders are placed.)

Customers
Mr. Nielsen uses the Customers section for a variety of tasks. Sometimes, he will have to contact a customer via email or telephone to verify a shipping address. Other times, he'll examine the makeup of his customer base. Mr. Nielsen likes to get a feel for who he's marketing to when he sends out promotional newsletters to announce new products or limited time promotions. It's not uncommon for Mr. Nielsen to, first, send a bulk email and then use the system to print out mailing labels for a monthly promotional newsletter.

(Focus again on the 'Main Menu'. It is located in the gray frame on the left. Click on the 'Customers' button (fifth choice from top).

To sample some of the functionality offered in the Customers section, click on the yellow button in the upper right-hand side of the screen entitled 'Search'. In the form that appears, find out how many of FirstFairway.com's customers are from California.

You will find the 'State' select box in the form that follows. Change the select box from 'Any' to 'CA' and then either hit 'Enter' on your keyboard or click the gray 'Submit' button at the bottom of the form.

Now that you've pulled a list of all customers from CA, click the small yellow tab at the top of the page that says 'Mail Wizard'.)

As you can see, Mr. Nielsen has the ability to, at any time, create and send a bulk e-mail to either

Perhaps better than a link to a product from within an e-mail is a link that actually validates a coupon. Periodically, Mr. Nielsen will offer a promotional e-coupon that can be validated in his online store. He'll use the Mail Wizard to announce the new coupon. His entire online customer base will receive an e-mail from FirstFairway.com that incorporates a link that both channels them back to the store and validates the new coupon.

(If you haven't already done so, select 'Results of Current Search' and click 'Next.' Click 'Next' again, type a brief message, then click 'Send')

e-Coupons
With two years of online experience, Mr. Nielsen has found that there's no better target for his e-marketing campaigns than those shoppers that have already purchased from him. On a monthly basis, FirstFairway.com will send out two new e-coupons in a bulk email.

e-coupons can be created to offer discounts on:

(In the 'Main Menu' on the left, click the 'Coupons' button (6th from the top). In the list that follows, choose the coupon entitled 'golf.' This will display all pertinent information for that particular coupon. As you can see, Mr. Nielsen created this coupon on October 18, 2000. It offers a $10 discount on any order over $50. Not bad!)

In addition to announcing his e-coupons via bulk email, Mr. Nielsen will also advertise them on his home site and create links to his store that actually validate the coupon. What would be the brick and mortar equivalent? Imagine a bellhop handing you a coupon as you walked into Sportsmart.

(Now focus your attention on the upper half of the 'golf' coupon detail. Just below the text that reads, "To send customers directly into your BtoC store with this coupon, use the following URL: http://www.nexternal.com/fairway/?Coupon=golf".)

Mr. Nielsen uses this hyperlink for three functions:

Statistical Analysis
Mr. Nielsen will also use his 'Statistics' section (5th from the bottom in the Main Menu) to determine what types of coupons to create. The Statistics section offers a real-time snapshot of the activity within the FirstFairway.com online store.

At the top of the page, take a quick glance at some numerical statistics. The application will display the number of entries into the FirstFairway.com store since the last time Mr. Nielsen reset his Statistics. The Statistics section also offers useful ratios like Entries/Day, Orders/Day, and Orders/Entry.

More powerful than numbers, though, are the pictorials that show Mr. Nielsen not just how many people are shopping in his online store, but where people are looking. Notice that, from the graph, Mr. Nielsen can determine that most visitors to FirstFairway.com seem to be interested in golf clubs.

That wasn't always the case, though. For some time, golf bags received the most attention. Back in September, Mr. Nielsen submitted his site to the major search engines and guaranteed himself the top spot under a few key words relating to golf bags.

(Important! Ask Nexternal Solutions how you can guarantee yourself the top spot on America Online, Earthlink, Alta Vista, Lycos, Netscape, and more with Overture. Call 800-914-6161.)

He then reset his statistics in order to produce some accurate data on his marketing investment. This marketing move significantly increased the traffic to his site, his store, and to his 'Golf Bags' category, but the analysis did not stop there. Mr. Nielsen also examined a pictorial representation telling him which products within his 'Golf Bags' category were the most popular.

(Scroll down some until you see numerical statistics for each category. Click on the 'Golf Bags' to generate an in-depth graph depicting activity just within the 'Golf Bags' category. You'll notice a third statistic in blue carried at the product level called 'Add to Carts'. It enables you to determine how many customers are adding items to their cart, but not completing the purchase. )

From time to time, Mr. Nielsen will come across a product with significantly more viewings than orders. More often than not, he'll troubleshoot the situation by determining why people aren't adding the product to their shopping cart. Is it the price? Is it the image file? The long description? Maybe it's time for a coupon or a new photo.

Mr. Nielsen also uses the 'Search Statistics' to find out what key words and phrases his visitors are typing into his key word search. (Scroll to the top of the 'Statistics' section and click on the yellow 'Search Statistics' button.)

Affiliate Marketing
Aside from SE Optimization strategies (search engine placement) and marketing directly to his current customer base, Mr. Nielsen also takes advantage of Affiliate Marketing strategies on the Internet. That is, FirstFairway.com has established relationships with other companies such that, if a new customer is channeled to FirstFairway.com from from any one of these companies, the customer's purchase is marked with where he/she came from. Essentially, Mr. Nielsen has offered an incentive for other companies to offer links to his web site. Companies like Golf.com and Pebble Beach Golf Course earn a certain percentage of any new sale that they are able to bring to FirstFairway.com.

(You'll see the 'Affiliates' button in the Main Menu on the left. Click to see a list of all FirstFairway.com affiliates. Now click on Golf.com. This Affilate detail screen shows Mr. Nielsen a list of all customers and orders that have come from Golf.com. On a monthly or quarterly basis, Mr. Nielsen will write the due checks to all his affiliates. Nexternal's Order Management System takes care of and organizes his entire Affiliate Marketing program, including an automatic sign-up form for new companies seeking to advertise for FirstFairway.com.)

Products (Creating, Managing, And Improving Your Online Store)
The Products section of the Order Management system is used for adding new products, modifying existing products, and much more. Nexternal places absolutely no limit on the amount of products that are stored and displayed within an online store.

Note: For a complete tutorial on adding a product, please refer to the Appendix under the 'Add Product' section.

When Mr. Nielsen is changing a price, updating an image, adding a new option, etc., he uses the edit functionality within the 'Products' section (3rd choice from top) under the Main Menu.

(Click on the 'Products' button now to generate a list of the entire product line for FirstFairway.com.)

Go ahead and look on while Mr. Nielsen takes a quick peek at his data for the 'Balance Max' golf bag by Belding.

(If you haven't already done so, click on the blue hyperlink reading 'Balance Max'. The camera next to the product title indicates that there is also an image displayed along with the long description.)

After Mr. Nielsen clicks down on the product title, he immediately can see all quick reference details for the 'Balance Max' in a neat, organized fashion. Typically, he'll glance at the current price (single, discounted, volume based tiers, or by sku), category, COGS, shipping weight, etc. He'll then make sure that the 'Status' select box (upper right) is selected as 'Normal'. If Mr. Nielsen has activated his inventory capabilities, he'll this 'Status' select box will automatically notify his shoppers that the product is backordered, sold out, etc.

Scrolling down, you'll see that Mr. Nielsen can use the 'Long Description' to review or 'Edit' his product description (Please do not alter the long description.). This long description text area box will also execute HTML tags.

Scrolling further, take note of the fact that Mr. Nielsen is displaying the 'Balance Max' golf bag both in the 'Golf Bags' category and in his 'Weekly Specials' category. The system is configured such that a product may appear in multiple locations within the online store.

Below the 'Categories' section, you will see a 'Product History', any current 'Specs', and an 'Attributes' section. The product history should not to be confused with the 'Product Sales' data. The product history indicates to Mr. Nielsen the last person to have edited the product. The specs section allows for the quick creation of a detailed specs table that can be displayed to shoppers. The attributes section enables the addition of select boxes for things like color and size choices.

The 'Write-In Attribute' section enabled Matt to enter Tracy's initials for embroidery on her new golf bag. Also, take a look at the 'Related Products' section. Mr. Nielsen uses the related products functionality regularly. Related products allow him to promote upsales by strategically placing advertisements within his store. For example, he can suggest a certain golf bag from within the product detail for a set of clubs. In fact, had Matt not seen the related product link pointing to the entire Steelhead set from within the 2-iron, he would have never told his brother, Dave, that they were on sale.

(In the Main Menu on the left, click on the 'Products' button once more to regenerate the product list.)

Although Mr. Nielsen created his online store by adding one product at a time. Most companies with more than 50 products use the small yellow "Import" tab at the top of the 'Products' page. With this functionality, companies can bulk import an entire product line into their Nexternal Store with a templated Microsoft Excel file.

Categorical Organization
Mr. Nielsen uses the 'Categories' section to organize his product line. He places great importance on a clear, organized presentation of his product line.

The 'Categories' section is amazingly robust. Mr. Nielsen uses this section to create new categories or rework existing categories. He can define which categories appear first and which ones appear last within his online store. More powerful is his ability to assign a product order within a given category. For instance, if he wants the 'Golfer Knife' to appear first when a shopper clicks on the 'Accessories' category, he can easily reset the product order in the 'Categories' section.

(After clicking on the 'Categories' button in the Main Menu, click on the 'Accessories' title. The screen that follows will offer all pertinent information on this category. Notice that the Order Management System displays for you every product within the 'Accessories' category.

To change the order by which the accessories appear in the online store, click the yellow 'CHANGE ORDER' button that is located on the second black bar from the top entitled 'Products in Category'. Now assign numerical values to each product to redefine their order.)

The Order Management System will also support an infinite hierarchy of subcategorization. For example,

Help
Although Mr. Nielsen is quite familiar with his e-commerce software, it is not uncommon for him to use the 'Help Desk' button. If he can't remember how to assign price tiers, display a shipping disclaimer, or change his welcome banner, he'll click on 'Help Desk' and search the help database on a key word. Sometimes, he'll use the 'Help Desk' section to submit a new idea or to find out if his Order Management System is currently capable of handling some new task. More often than not, he will receive an e-mail response within five minutes telling him that, in fact, Nexternal's e-commerce package can, indeed, handle partial shipments, order discounts, accounting exports, etc., and his problem is solved.

Vendors
Mr. Nielsen has vendor information for his entire product line catalogued in his Order Mangement System for quick access. The ability to call or email his vendor contact at any moment to place an order or ask a question saves him tons of time.

Mr. Nielsen will also use the Vendor 'Report' tab to generate an online sales report that breaks down orders by vendor. It helps him forecast how many of each product he should buy from his vendors.

(Click on the small yellow 'Report' tab at the top of the page to generate an online sales report by vendor from any time period you specify.)

Company (Administrative Tools)
(Click on the 'Company' button in the Main Menu. This section of your Order Management System aids you in all administrative work.)

The 'Company' section provides the following functions:

• Change General Information including
  • company info
  • web site location
• Alter Site Options including
  • order confirmation e-mail
  • available shipping methods
  • method for determining shipping/sales tax costs
  • UPS® Online Tools Signup Form
  • define which credit cards are accepted
  • 'create privacy policy, shipping policy, return policy
  • create any necessary legal disclaimer
  • customize order confirmation e-mails
  • customize further boolean options to activate various features such as
    • display phone number
    • storefront display (main page or specific category)
    • coupon availability
    • gift card/wrap offer
    • online credit card processing
    • search functionality
    • 'tell a friend' functionality
    • and more!
  • activate inventory control

To start building your own online store, visit www.nexternal.com and click on the 'get started' button in the e-commerce menu. After completing the sign-up form, Nexternal Solutions will automatically issue you an empty storefront as well as your cutting edge, proprietary Order Management System.

ADD PRODUCT
Although initial store creation is typically done with Nexternal's product import functionality, new products are often added or edited one at a time after the initial import. Consequently, setting aside these initial ten minutes to walk through a product addition in Mr. Nielsen's golf shop will prove beneficial when you begin to customize your own online store.

Add a new product to FirstFairway.com by first visiting Mr. Nielsen's Order Management System at www.nexternal.com/myfairway and click the gray 'Log In' button. Once inside the Order Management System, click on the red 'PRODUCTS' button in the Main Menu on the left. Now click on the small yellow 'New' button that sits at the top of the white frame.

Note: Many common tasks can be directly accessed with the 'Smart Navigation Menu'. This menu sits just underneath the Main Menu in the left frame. Click on the select box that lies just beneath the white italicized text reading, 'What do you want to do?'. You'll notice that one of the choices in this smart navigation menu reads 'Add a product'.

Go ahead and begin to fill out the 'Add Product' form by first entering the product title. Although some fields are optional (noted by an *), enter values for all of them.