Product Management

HostedStore can be used to handle many kinds of products ranging from basic widget type products to complex products that combine other products of varied prices. Some of the highlights of product definitions are provided below. The list is by no means exhaustive and more features are being planned as this is typed.

Basic Product Information

Multiple categorization parameters provide support for complex store catalogs that may have multiple categories, departments, and manufacturers.

Page title, keywords, and description HTML meta tags can be defined for the product to aid in search engine positioning. If none are specified, then the product detail page uses the store default HTML meta tags.

Pricing

Multiple pricing parameters specify the suggested retail price, the current store price, the sale price, and, if memberships are used, the member price. Other parameters set whether or not the product is to be published in the store catalog, whether or not the product is to be featured on the home page, and whether or not the product is being offered at the sale price. Pricing logic will always offer the lowest price between the member price and the sale price if the customer has a membership and the product is currently on sale.

Volume pricing is supported through definable quantity ranges and corresponding price. As the quantity ordered is changed for any product, the item price is recalculated.

Inventory

Current inventory and a minimum number of units to have onhand determine if the product is published in the store catalog. Or, additional settings can be used to dictate if the product will still be displayed and/or sold to customers if it is out of stock.

Restrictions

Quantity limits can be assigned to products that require a minimum quanity to be ordered, specify the maximum quantity that can be ordered, and/or the maximum number that can be ordered by a customer across all orders. Products can also be assigned to a class. Products can be restricted by a class so that if another product is not in the cart that belongs to the class, then the product cannot be purchased.

Configurable Products

Products may have multiple attributes. The name of the attribute, the possible values, and price adjustments, if any, can all be defined. Attributes can be set to adjust the inventory of other products even if the products are not offered for individual sale. Optional and required text box type attributes allow the customer to enter information. This feature can be used for monogramming, greeting card messages for a gift wrapping service, etc.

Simultaneous Adjustments

An interface is provided to allow the pricing for all products to be adjusted simultaneously. This is a tremendous aid for large product catalogs when pricing from vendors changes. A similar interface allows for the inventory of all products to be adjusted at the same time. Handy for quickly entering received product and for periodic inventory reconciliation.

File Upload

Product images and description files can be uploaded to the Web server through the browser. The file upload capability is a great convenience when just a couple of new products are added to the catalog.

Static Product Detail Pages

Rumor has it that some search engines still cannot handle dynamically created Web pages. HostedStore can generate static copies of the product detail pages to address that limitation. Simply generate the pages and then submit the index page or each individual page to the search engines. Each static page has dynamic links so once the customer gets to your store via the search engine results the store functions just as if the customer had entered the store directly.