eCommerce Platform Updates

5/16/2012		E-Mail Layout - Specify layout parameters specifically for automatically generated HTML-format e-mails
5/16/2012		Mobile Store - Enable a version of your Online Store designed for the smaller browsers used by smart phones
5/1/2012		USPS and Endicia Enhancements - Utilize Adult Signature Required, C.O.D., and other new features offered by USPS and Endicia
4/13/2012		Marketplace Options: Exclude from Marketplace - Exclude Certain Products from the Automated Marketplace Feeds
4/13/2012		Bulk Order: Use Customer Search Results - Use the results of a customer search as the list of customers eligible for a Bulk Order
3/12/2012		Nexternal Twitter Feed - View Nexternal news from Twitter on the Login screen of the Order Management System
3/12/2012		.NET Internal Orders - Utilize the Nexternal.NET Online Store technology for orders placed and edited within the Order Management System
2/28/2012		ATC Advanced Validation Option - Reduce the client-side code generated for your store by turning off advanced validation for the Add to Cart Button
2/27/2012		DocType Declaration - Specify a Custom DocType for use with your Nexternal.NET Online Store
2/16/2012		XML Tools: OrderQuery By OrderLineItem - Query Orders by Order Line Item.
2/15/2012		Product Sharing Alignment - Control the alignment the Tweet Button, the +1 Button, and the Pin It Button in the Online Store
2/6/2012		Pinterest Product Sharing - Allow customers to "pin" products to their Pinterest pinboards via the Pin It Button
1/30/2012		MailChimp Integration - Synchronize your customers and affiliates lists to separate MailChimp lists, or export a subset of customers to a list
1/30/2012		Mail Wizard Enhancements - Schedule e-mails, e-mail affiliates, and receive completion notifications via the Mail Wizard
11/22/2011		Country of Origin - Specify a product's Country of Origin for use with international shipping labels and the Amazon Product Ads feed
11/22/2011		Prevent Duplicate E-Mail - Prevent customers from creating multiple accounts with the same e-mail address
11/22/2011		Amazon Product Ads and TheFind Marketplace Feeds - Automatically send your products to Amazon Product Ads and TheFind on a daily basis to drive additional traffic to your Online Store
11/17/2011		Coupons: Maximum Discount - Cap a Coupon Discount as a specified maximum value
11/10/2011		Gift Message Report - Create a printable report of Gift Messages, one per page, custom-styled via HTML
11/8/2011		FedEx 2Day A.M. - Utilize real time rates, and create shipping labels, for FedEx 2Day A.M. via FedEx Web Services
10/17/2011		Authorize Flat Amount - Perform a credit card authorization of a fixed amount for every order, regardless of the Order Total
10/5/2011		Coupons: Discount To - Create a coupon offering a dynamic discount to make the final price after the Coupon Discount equal to a specified amount
9/30/2011		Coupon Overrides: Customer Discounts, Customer-Based Pricing, and Override Application Only - Override Customer Discounts and Customer-Based Pricing when a coupon is activated; allow a coupon to override discounts only for products to which the Coupon Discount applies
9/28/2011		Marketplace Options: Condition; SKU Level UPC and MPN - Specify product Condition as New, Used, or Refurbished; specify UPC and MPN at the SKU level.
9/15/2011		Google Product Search Marketplace Options - Specify Age Group, Gender, Size, and Color on the product level to accommodate changes to Google Product Search
9/14/2011		Primary Category CSS Option - Ensure that primary category CSS classes are always included on Product Detail screens in the Online Store
7/19/2011		Modal Popup Background Close - Close a modal popup by clicking on any other darkened part of the page.

5/16/2012 -- E-Mail Layout

The new E-Mail Layout (Layout/E-Mail Layout in the Order Management System) allows you to select layout elements (font, colors, background, etc.) that apply specifically to HTML-format e-mails generated by the Online Store and Order Management System. The Order Confirmation E-Mail (Settings/Boolean Options), Shipped E-Mail (Settings/Boolean Options), Drop Ship E-Mail (Settings/Site Options/Drop Shipping), and many others use the layout parameters specified in this new section.

If there is at least one preexisting, non-Canceled product order, you may use the Send Test E-Mail button to send a test e-mail to yourself, using the selected settings. The test e-mail simulates an Order Confirmation E-Mail of the most recent non-Canceled product order.

Note: To enforce consistency, the E-Mail Layout of the Live Layout always applies.

5/16/2012 -- Mobile Store

The new Mobile Store makes it possible for customers viewing your Online Store with a smart phone to be redirected to a mobile-friendly version. This will enable the customer to view your Online Store without the need to zoom-in to certain elements of the page, and generally results in a more pleasant shopping experience. When this option is disabled, the customer's smart phone will continue to use the standard Online Store, which is normally seen on a standard desktop or laptop computer.

If you choose to use the Mobile Store, please enable the feature at Layout/Mobile Layout in the Order Management System, and carefully review the layout parameters provided to create the best possible experience for your customers.

5/1/2012 -- USPS and Endicia Enhancements

The USPS and Endicia Online Shipping Tools have been enhanced to take advantage of new features offered by USPS and supported by Endicia. Default values are available at Settings/Compatible Software/Online Shipping Tools/Preferences in the Order Management System, subject to override when creating a label from the Order Detail screen.

Signature Options

USPS now offers 3 Signature Options for use with the USPS Rates and Endicia Shipping Tools. If you choose to specify a Signature Option, the choices are:

Signature Waiver: Applicable only to USPS Express Mail, Signature Waiver allows the USPS driver to forgo collecting a signature if no one is available to sign at the time of delivery.
Adult Signature Required: Applicable to USPS Express Mail, USPS Priority Mail, USPS Critical Mail, and USPS Parcel Select, Adult Signature Required requires the signature of an adult at the recipient's address who is 21 years of age or older. Additional charges apply, please refer to USPS documentation for more information.
Adult Signature Restricted Delivery: Applicable to USPS Express Mail, USPS Priority Mail, USPS Critical Mail, and USPS Parcel Select, Adult Signature Restricted Delivery provides the same service as Adult Signature Required with the additional restriction of limiting delivery to a specific addressee or authorized agent who is 21 years of age or older. Additional charges apply, please refer to USPS documentation for more information.

Notes:

Because the Signature Option is often important only for Restricted Products, you may specify separate Signature Option values for shipments with Restricted products and shipments without.
Adult Signature Required and Adult Signature Restricted Delivery are not available to U.S. Armed Forces addresses.

C.O.D.

For orders for which the customer has chosen to be billed C.O.D. (Settings/Billing Options), you may now choose whether or not to have the C.O.D. amount collected by USPS when creating labels via Endicia Shipping. Additional charges apply, please refer to USPS documentation for more information.

Notes:

C.O.D. packages require an affixed C.O.D. Form 3816, and must be taken to a USPS retail counter.
For all orders for which C.O.D. is not the method of payment, this option does not apply.
Endicia C.O.D. is not available with International or U.S. Armed Forces shipments.
When Endicia C.O.D. is used on an order with multiple ship from and/or multiple ship to addresses, all discounts are distributed in proportion to product total to each address for the purpose of determining the C.O.D. amount.
When Endicia C.O.D. is used on multi-package shipments, the entire C.O.D. amount is allocated to the first package.

Label Type

The Label Type (Delivery Confirmation or Signature Confirmation) now applies to the USPS Rates Tool, in addition to USPS Shipping and Endicia Shipping.

Regional Rate Box C

Regional Rate Box C is now available as a USPS Packaging Type option. For products that use the Individual Shipping Package option, this value may also be specified in the Product Overrides section when creating or editing a product; via the Product Import (Products/Import); or via the ProductUpdate XML Tools (Settings/XML Tools).

Integrated Customs Forms

If you choose to include a USPS Customs Form (either Form 2976 or Form 2976A) with U.S. Armed Forces shipments, the Customs Form and label are now integrated (i.e. no longer printed separately).

Note: Customs Forms are not available with USPS Express Mail.

4/13/2012 -- Marketplace Options: Exclude from Marketplace

The Marketplace Options, available when creating or editing a product in the Order Management System, or via the Product Import (Products/Import), now include an Exclude from Marketplace field. This field allows you to exclude the product from all Marketplace Exports (Products/Export) and all Automated Marketplace Feeds (Products/Export/Preferences for Marketplace Exports).

4/13/2012 -- Bulk Order: Use Customer Search Results

When creating a Bulk Order (Orders/Bulk Order or Orders/Wine Club Order in the Order Management System), if you have executed a customer search, you may use the results of that search as the list of customers eligible for the Bulk Order, in lieu of selecting a Customer Type. When doing so, the highest Customer Rank (Customers/Types) included in the search results is used for display purposes (pricing, visibility, discounts, allocation, sales tax eligibility, etc.); but when the order is placed, the values relevant to each customer's Customer Type are respected.

When using the Results of Current Customer Search option, the following Boolean Options (Settings/Boolean Options) apply:

If OMS Enforce Visibility is on, orders containing a product that is not visible to a given customer are not created.
If OMS Enforce Usability is on, orders containing a coupon that is not usable by a given customer are not created.
If OMS Enforce Allocation is on, orders containing a product that uses Product Allocations but is not allocated to a given customer are not created.

3/12/2012 -- Nexternal Twitter Feed

Nexternal's Twitter feed has now been added to the Login screen of the Order Management System. This allows your to always remain up-to-date with Nexternal news and notes merely by visiting your Order Management System.

3/12/2012 -- .NET Internal Orders

The Online Store Version (Layout/General Layout in the Order Management System) now applies to orders placed and edited within the Order Management System, including Bulk Orders (Orders/Bulk Order). This allows you to utilize the same technology and the same features for internal orders as for your Online Store.

Note: If you are currently using the Nexternal.NET Online Store Version, a copy of your Live Layout has automatically been created for you with the Online Store Version set to Nexternal Classic. This copy has been added to the Layout Archive as "Live Layout Copy", and set to be the Internal Order Layout (Layout/Advanced) to ensure continuity for your business. To use Nexternal.NET for internal orders, set the Internal Order Layout to "This Layout", or delete "Live Layout Copy" from the Layout Archive.

Additionally, the Order Management System itself now uses ASP.NET technology. Frames have been removed, and URLs are now more intuitive and user-friendly.

2/28/2012 -- ATC Advanced Validation Option

The new ATC Advanced Validation (Settings/Boolean Options in the Order Management System) option controls the degree of validation on the Quantity field (adjacent to the Add To Cart Button) in the Online Store. If this option is on (the default), advanced validation is used to ignore any non-digits typed into the Quantity field, and to employ Validator Callouts. This enhances the user experience at the expense of additional lines of client-side code that must be downloaded. If this option is off, simple validation employing alert boxes is used.

Note: This option applies to the Nexternal.NET Online Store Version (Layout/General Layout) only.

Tip: Nexternal recommends keeping this option on unless you have a compelling reason to turn it off.

2/27/2012 -- DocType Declaration

If you are using the Nexternal.NET Online Store Version (Layout/General Layout in the Order Management System), the new DocType Declaration field (Layout/Advanced Layout) allows you to specify the DocType Declaration used in your Online Store. You may choose either to use the Standard DocType (currently the XHTML 1.0 Transitional DocType, but subject to change), or to specify a Custom Doctype.

Tip: Nexternal recommends using the Standard DocType unless you have a compelling reason to use a Custom Doctype. A Custom Doctype should only be specified by an experienced programmer with a deep understanding of DocTypes and their impact. If you choose to do so, it is strongly recommended that you thoroughly test your Online Store for any adverse impact.

2/16/2012 -- XML Tools: OrderQuery By OrderLineItem

If you are using the XML Tools (Settings/XML Tools in the Order Management System) you may now retrieve order information based on specific Product details from the Order Line Item. Orders can be queried using the Product Name, Product SKU, Product Number, Line Item Status, Vendor, or Tracking Number. For orders that contain products defined at the SKU level you may include a SKU-level SKU value, or you may include a list of one or more Attributes and Options that define your SKU-level item.

For further details on the XML Tools and their features, please refer to the XML Tools Documentation.

2/15/2012 -- Product Sharing Alignment

The new Product Sharing Alignment field (Layout/Main Layout/Product Section Options/Products in the Order Management System) controls the alignment (horizontal or vertical) of the Product Sharing buttons (Settings/Compatible Software/Social Media), if in use. Because some buttons require more space than others, this field only applies to the more compact buttons: the Tweet Button, the +1 Button, and the Pin It Button.

2/6/2012 -- Pinterest Product Sharing

The new Pinterest Product Sharing feature (Settings/Compatible Software/Social Networking in the Order Management System) places a button (the Pin It Button) on your Product Detail screens in the Online Store, with which your customers may instantly pin any of your products to their online pinboard, saving the product for future reference and sharing it with friends and family. If the Count Box is on (via the Count Box Style option on the Preferences screen), the button also displays the total number of people who have "pinned" the product.

Note: The Pin It Button is supported only in the Nexternal.NET Online Store Version (Layout/General Layout).

1/30/2012 -- MailChimp Integration

This update announces a new MailChimp Integration (Settings/Compatible Software in the Order Managment System)

MailChimp is an e-mail service provider which can be used for e-mail styling as well as many other advanced e-mail related features like the following:

A/B Split Testing
Social Sharing
Template Design
E-mail Reporting
Autoresponders
Geolocation based delivery timing

MailChimp offers many features for free accounts, which can send a maximum of 12,000 e-mails/month to as many as 2000 subscribers. More subscribers, unlimited sending, and other advanced features such as inbox inspection are available for paid Mailchimp accounts.

From the Customers screen, the export option now includes MailChimp as an export option. If a synchronized list which reports MailChimp user status to Nexternal, and reports Nexternal customer mailing list status to MailChimp, then use the "Sync Mailing Lists" option. The "Sync Mailing Lists" option can be found in the Order Management System from the Settings tab -> Compatible Software: MailChimp E-mail Marketing.

To see a 5 minute video detailing this integration, please click here.

1/30/2012 -- Mail Wizard Enhancements

The Mail Wizard (Customers/Mail Wizard in the Order Management System) has been enhanced and now includes the following features:

Scheduling - Users may now schedule a date and time to send the bulk e-mail.

Completion Notification � The Primary Company Contact, the User, and the e-mail listed in the �From� address will now receive confirmation when the e-mail script has completed.

E-Mail Affiliates - The Affiliates Screen now also offers its own Mail Wizard.

11/22/2011 -- Country of Origin

The new Country of Origin field, available on the product level in the Product Overrides section in the Order Management System, or via the Product Import (Products/Import) is used for alcoholic products included in the Amazon Product Ads feed (Products/Export), and with some Online Shipping Tools (Settings/Compatible Software) when international shipping labels are created. The default Country of Origin is the country of the products's Ship From Address (Settings/Ship From Addresses).

11/22/2011 -- Prevent Duplicate E-Mail

The new Prevent Duplicate E-Mail option (Settings/Boolean Options in the Order Management System) prohibits the use of an e-mail address in a customer account when that e-mail address is already in use by another active customer account. If this option is on, the restriction applies on the Register screen in the Online Store and in Direct Checkout; and on the New/Edit Customer screen in the Order Management System. If a customer or OMS user attempts to duplicate an e-mail address, he/she is presented with a warning and must either use a different e-mail address or cancel the form.

Tip: If this option is on, Nexternal highly recommends also turning on the Require Password option (Settings/Boolean Options).

Note: This option does not apply to other means to create or edit a customer account, including the Customer Import (Customers/Import), Customer Integration (Customers/Integration), the XML Tools (Settings/XML Tools), and VinNOW (Settings/Compatible Software/Alcoholic Beverage Tools); nor does it remove any preexisting duplicates.

11/22/2011 -- Amazon Product Ads and TheFind Marketplace Feeds

Amazon Product Ads and TheFind feeds have been added to the Marketplace Exports (Products/Export in the Order Management System). These feeds may be created manually, or you may participate in their respective Automated Feeds (Products/Export/Marketplace Exports Preferences) to automatically send a fresh feed to the appropriate service every weekday.

Amazon Product Ads: Amazon Product Ads provides targeted pay-per-click advertising on amazon.com. Signup is required, please refer the Amazon Product Ads Home Page for more information and to create an account. Once listed, your products are promoted in relevant category and product pages at Amazon.com, an effective way to reach targeted buyers.

Notes:

To complete the Amazon Product Ads signup process, you must set up a budget in Amazon Seller Central.
Amazon does not allow Product Ads in some product categories (currently Apparel, Automotive Parts and Accessories, Books, CD and Vinyl, Cell Phones and Accessories, DVD, Kindle Accessories, Motorcycles/ATV and Protective Gear, Music, Software and Computer Games, Video Game Consoles, Video Games, and Videos VHS). Other categories require preapproval by Amazon (currently Wine, Grocery, Jewelry, Shoes, and Watches). If you wish to list products in a preapproval category, first create your Amazon Seller Account, then contact Justin Sluyter (206-266-6196 or sluyter@amazon.com) providing your Merchant Token (from Amazon), Company Name, Website URL, and Amazon Product Ads Export File.
If you wish list alcoholic products in Amazon Products Ads, take care to carefully specify the appropriate Alcohol Options fields within the Marketplace Options section on the product level.

TheFind: TheFind is a rapidly growing online shopping search engine and traffic generator. TheFind also offers a popular, free location aware mobile app. Signup is required, but submission is currently free; please visit TheFind Merchant Center for more information, and to create an account.

11/17/2011 -- Coupons: Maximum Discount

The new Maximum Discount field, available when creating or editing a coupon in the Order Management System, or via the Coupon Import (Coupons/Import), allows you to cap the allowed discount from a coupon at a maximum value. This field is best used in scenarios where the Coupon Discount is unpredictable, and you wish to prevent an overly large discount. If this field is blank, no maximum is enforced.

Note: This field does not apply to shipping coupons.

11/10/2011 -- Gift Message Report

If you offer free Gift Messages (Settings/Site Options in the Order Management System), you may now use the new Gift Message Report field (Settings/Policies, Addenda, and Disclaimers) to allow the creation of a Gift Message Report (Orders/Report) with which you may print all of your Gift Messages, one per page, based on the selected report criteria.

If you choose to populate this field, you may use HTML tags to enhance the formatting and presentation of your customers' Gift Messages. You may also use the following (case sensitive) Replacement Keywords:

GIFT_MESSAGE: the text of the Gift Message. This keyword is required and must appear if you wish to use the Gift Message Report.
ORDER_NO: the Order Number.
FIRST_NAME: the customer's First Name.
LAST_NAME: the customer's Last Name.
SHIP_FIRST_NAME: the recipient's First Name.
SHIP_LAST_NAME: the recipient's Last Name.
LINE_ITEM_TABLE: a table showing the Line Items (quantities, SKUs, and Product Names) associated with the Gift Message.

Tips:

Users unfamiliar with HTML are encouraged to use the WYSIWYG Editor (Settings/Boolean Options), as improper HTML may produce unintended results.
You may also choose to include Gift Messages on Invoices and Packing Slips via the Include Gift Message field at Settings/Site Options/Invoices and Packing Slips.

11/8/2011 -- FedEx 2Day A.M.

Nexternal's integration of FedEx Web Services (Settings/Compatible Software/Online Shipping Tools) now supports FedEx 2Day A.M., a 2 day service that guarantees delivery by 10:30 A.M. to most addresses in the United States. You may select this service as a available shipping method at Settings/Shipping.

10/17/2011 -- Authorize Flat Amount

The new Flat Amount option for the Authorization Amount field (Settings/Site Options/Compatible Software/Payment Gateways/Authorization/Preferences in the Order Management System) allows you to authorize a fixed amount for every credit card order, regardless of the Order Total. This option is appropriate if you are using authorizations only to test the validity of credit cards, and not as a basis for future fund capture.

10/5/2011 -- Coupons: Discount To

The new Discount To option for Coupon Type allows you to create a coupon that offers a dynamic discount amount such that the price after the discount equals a specified amount. For example, you might create a coupon that offers a Discount To $10.00 on a particular product, meaning that the final price of the product after the Coupon Discount is $10.00. This enhancement would also allow you to run a promotion that sets a fixed price on a shipping method ($1 UPS Ground Shipping - Today Only). This option is available when creating or editing a coupon in the Order Management System, or via the Coupon Import (Coupons/Import).

9/30/2011 -- Coupon Overrides: Customer Discounts, Customer-Based Pricing, and Override Application Only

You may now choose to have a coupon override Customer Discounts and Customer-Based Pricing. These options are available when creating or editing a coupon in the Order Management System, or via the Coupon Import (Coupons/Import). Customer Discounts are percentage discounts defined at either the customer or customer type (Customers/Types) level. Customer-Based Pricing refers to special pricing defined by Customer Type when creating or editing a product. If Customer-Based Pricing is overridden, the customer receives the default (i.e. non-customer-based) price.

Additionally, the new Override Application Only option applies the override only to products to which the Coupon Discount applies (i.e. the Coupon Application). If this option is on, the customer may still receive the type of discount(s) being overridden, but not on products discounted by the coupon. Thus, this option preserves all discounts for products to which the coupon does not apply, and prevents double discounting for products to which it does apply. If this option is off, all selected discount types are overridden, even if the customer receives no discount from the coupon.

Notes:

The Override Application Only option does not apply if no type of discount or special pricing is overridden, or if the Coupon Application is a shipping method.
If Override Application Only option is on, the new Coupon Hide Discounts option (Settings/Boolean Options) determines whether or not overridden discount types are hidden in the Online Store's product catalog.

9/28/2011 -- Marketplace Options: Condition; SKU Level UPC and MPN

The Marketplace Options, available when creating or editing a product in the Order Management System, or via the Product Import (Products/Import), now include a Condition field. The Condition options are New, Used, and Refurbished, defaulting to New.

Note: Shopping.com's current documentation states that they will only index new items.

At the SKU level, you may now specify UPC (Universal Product Code) and MPN (Manufacturer Part Number). These fields can be set from the SKU table on when creating or editing a product in the Order Management System, or via the Attribute Import (Products/Import). When a UPC or MPN are set at the SKU level, this information is used in Google Product Search (Products/Export) for products with Size and/or Color variants, overriding the product level UPC or MPN.

9/15/2011 -- Google Product Search Marketplace Options

The new Age Group, Gender, Size, and Color fields on the product level -- available in the Product Overrides section when creating or editing a product in the Order Management System, via the Product Import (Products/Import), or via the XML Tools (Settings/XML Tools) -- are used only by Google Product Search. They are newly required fields for any products categorized as apparel in Google's taxonomy, and are optional for all other products.

You may leave the Size and Color fields blank if the product has Attributes, Specifications, or Custom Fields (Products/Custom Fields) containing the word 'Size' or 'Color', case insensitive. When Attributes with multiple options are used, every possible size/color combination is included in the Google Product Search feed. Thus, you should only use the fields in the Product Overrides section if a single size and/or color applies, and they cannot be specified using Attributes, Specifications, or Custom Fields.

9/14/2011 -- Primary Category CSS Option

For the Nexternal.NET Online Store Version (Layout/General Layout) only, the new Primary Category CSS option (Layout/Main Layout/Product Section Options/Products) controls whether or not CSS classes corresponding to the product's primary category are always included in the tag on Product Detail screens in the Online Store. If this option is on, the primary category classes appear in addition to those of the active category, if different. If this option is off, only those of the active category appear. Category CSS classes take the form nextCategoryCN, where CN represents the Category Number, and are primarily used for custom styling via the CSS Addendum and Advanced Layout Class Associations (Layout/Advanced Layout).

Note: Primary category CSS classes appear before those of the active category, when applicable.

7/19/2011 -- Modal Popup Background Close

A modal popup is a popup that darkens the rest of the screen and overlays itself on the main window (e.g. the Enter Coupon window), such that the modal popup is illuminated. Normally, a modal popup can only be dismissed by clicking the close button in the upper right. The new Modal Popup Background Close option (Settings/Boolean Options in the Order Management System) controls whether a web user can dismiss a modal popup by clicking on the darkened background surrounding the popup.

Note: This option applies to the Nexternal.NET Online Store Version (Layout/General Layout) only.