Before your customers can start shopping for products on your company's eCommerce website, you will have to decide which eCommerce solution is most suitable for you.
Crimsonwing helps with making the right selection. We can consult you and help you with assessing your specific needs. We also specialise in implementing eCommerce solutions.
There are many IT specialists out there, but what makes Crimsonwing unique? With more than 14 years of industry experience and besides our combined knowledge of ERP, eCommerce and custom development, our approach to projects is one of a kind. Our offices in London, the Netherlands and Malta are close to our customers and always allow for immediate reaction. In all of our offices we have support available and the majority of our development and support team is based in the Competence Centre in Malta, so that we can offer you the best of both worlds.
Crimsonwing is a growing and profitable company. For our Competence Centre in Malta and our headquarters in London, we are always looking for new talents to help our customers develop and maintain the best IT solutions.
If you are looking for a career in IT and want to develop your skills in ERP, eCommerce and other complex projects, then we would like to receive your CV. Please refer to the careers section to find out more about individual jobs.
Sometimes, when delivering eCommerce projects for clients, instead of reinventing the wheel, it’s often easier (and cheaper) to buy an extension instead of creating one. A good example of such a situation is Unirgy’s ‘uDropship’. The recreation of such an extension would take a substantial amount of time in development and testing. Purchasing extensions can sometimes save our customers time and money depending on the quality of the extension purchased.
When we purchase extensions, we always carry out thorough testing on it to ensure there are no bugs in the extension and to ensure it does what our customers require.
The extension by Unirgy is very powerful and is a necessity for clients who want to have an eCommerce store based on one of the most used eCommerce platform – Magento, but lack the ability to manage products from many suppliers.
uDropship allows our clients to manage products from different suppliers and much more. It also has some additional features which are add-ons that make it even more powerful. The most useful functions are:
Managing lists of suppliers (adding new, editing etc.)
Local supplier – treating your own warehouse like a supplier
Each product can be connected to one supplier or to many suppliers that have this product in their stock
It is possible to set the priority for choosing suppliers for products when an order is created by – priority, price, or by lowest number of packages
For each order that contains items managed by suppliers – a Purchase Order is created - Purchase orders are a new entity managed in Magento like invoices and shipments.
Each supplier can have their own shipping method set up and each one is mapped to Magento standard shipping methods to make it as simple and invisible as possible for customers
Each supplier is informed by email about each part of order that they have to manage. Packing slips and shipping labels can also be attached to emails
Each supplier has their own panel where they can see list of their orders, change their statuses, mark them as shipped and exchange comments with administrator of the shop
Payouts for suppliers
Imports exports for suppliers of orders/shipments and products
Unirgy's uDropship Supplier Panel
All the above features provide powerful management options and should meet all the necessary requirements for clients who want to use Magento but sell products from their own warehouse and suppliers. Adding functionality such as dropshipping to your eCommerce store could be great for growing your business and increasing your base of products without huge investments.
Magento and uDropship make dropshipping very simple to deal with. One of the big pros of uDropship is it’s large number of features and configurations. It is possible to configure each vendor separately, define which emails should be sent, when, how and add attachments etc. uDropship also allows you to define the whole workflow of your cooperation.
If you have some requirements that are not fulfilled by uDropship, the team at Unirgy will be eager to add them for you.
One of Crimsonwing’s top priorities is to produce eCommerce stores that fulfil our clients’ needs and business requirements. One of our most recent customers required all their orders to be displayed at line level in the Magento Admin Console, displaying every item ordered in a separate line on the order grid. This was due to the clients business process of dealing with various suppliers.
Each order item/line has its own status and in addition to this, each row has a different colour depending on its status and supplier.
What does the ColourCoding extension do?
The client also required additional functionality to manage suppliers, so we had to use a module which would provide this functionality. To manage the suppliers we used the extension created by Unirgy – ‘uDropship’ (Which will be described more in a future post). To fulfil the rest of clients’ needs we created a module called colourcoding. The colourcoding displays on the Magento order grid in the admin console and represents suppliers and order statuses.
How it works with Magento
Combining the colourcoding module with Magento and uDropship's mechanisms gives the client control of the order at line level and much more:
For each order item it is possible to change the individual status. One item can be with a supplier and another shipped
The status can be changed for order items on mass
The supplier can be changed for each order item
The default supplier for an individual product can be changed
List of statuses and suppliers are dynamic and totally manageable using standard Magento and uDropship management mechanisms
For each combination of status/supplier it is possible to change the colour from a colour picker or inserting a HEX value directly, this colour will be used for the whole line in the grid to make it clearly visible to administrators
The colour of the font will adjust to the darkness of the colour, to gain the optimal contrast
Using a simple trick we even allow admin to limit access to column “cost” so it can be seen by some administrators, but not others
This feature is really useful, especially when you have a cross-country eCommerce strategy where different size measurements may exist.
Tips for creating a size guide
1) Include different size options with American, Australian, British and European sizes.
Size guide with different size options, source: Boohoo store
2) Make sure that the size guide opens in a new tab or in a new browser and not in the same product view page. 3) Choose the right colour schemes and colour contrast. Also make sure you use screen friendly font, depending on your customer segments. 4) Include user-friendly images which clearly explain each measurement, and provide detailed instructions.
Measuring tips provided with the size guide. Source: GAP
5) Besides the sizes, provide as much information as possible. Include details related to the type of material, colours and styles. Do not forget that lack of information is one of the main barriers to actually making an online purchase decision.
Detailed size guide including materials, colours and styles, source: Lightinabox
5) Provide a link to live chat or contact details in case the customer still needs to ask questions.
Size Guide Magento Extension
At Crimsonwing we have developed a size guide Magento extension that allows the administrator to upload multiple size guides in JPG image formats. These images will be stored in Magento’s file system and will be accessible by the client via the media folder. The administrator panel will also have the ability to specify which size guide (if any) will be displayed for each item in the Magento administration panel.
Size Guide set up at product level in Magento administration Panel
The administrator user will also be able to specify the size guide options to be displayed in the Manage Attributes, menu options area.
Size guide product attribute in Magento Administration panel
The ‘Size Charts’ or ‘Size Guide’ button will appear in the product details page. When the button is clicked the system will validate which size guide is tied with that product and display a pop up with the size guide image for the active item.
Size Chart in the product details page
In case you require any information on this feature or are interested in purchasing this extension please do not hesitate to
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Author:
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Business Analyst
About Crimsonwing Crimsonwing has been implementing ecommerce solutions for over 10 years. Since 2009, we have grown to be one of the largest Magento Gold Partners in Europe. Crimsonwing also provides content websites (CMS), SEO consultancy and ERP software. If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions for future articles please do not hesitate to contact me on
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One of the many additional feature available in Magento Enterprise Edition that is not in the Community Edition, are the gift options. There are several different gift options in Magento Enterprise, which I have outlined below:
Gift Wrap
Gift Messaging
Gift Receipts
Gift Card
Printed Card
Gift Registry
Magento Enterprise Gift Options:
Each of these options (with the exception of the gift card) can be found in the shipping options in the checkout path. The gift card is a product type and can therefore have its own product detail page and is not in the checkout path.
Gift Wrap
Gift wrap can be configured in the Magento Admin Console in two areas – at product level and as a global setting. Images can be uploaded which represent the gift wrap, there can also be more than one gift wrap for the customer to choose from.
Gift Message
In addition to gift wrap, it is possible to add a gift message to the product in the checkout. A user can only add a gift message if purchasing gift wrap. The user will be presented with a form which will have the ‘From’ field pre populated with the user’s details.
Gift Receipts
A gift receipt is an optional item given to a user when an item is purchased as a gift. It does not display the price of the item(s) purchased and will allow the receiver of the gift to return the item if necessary.
Printed Card
The final gift option a user can choose in the checkout is a printed card. The printed card is configurable from the Magento Admin Console and can be an additional chargeable item.
Gift Card
A gift card is a product in Magento and can be configured to be a set price or so that the customer can choose the amount to put on the card. Gift cards can be virtual or physical. Physical cards will be loaded with the amount of money entered or chosen by the customer. Gift cards can then be redeemed on the site in the checkout.
Gift Registry
A gift registry allows users to create a gift list and share with friends and family. Once an item is purchased from the list, the item requested will either be fulfilled or the number requested will decrease. It is possible for users to search for other gift registries on the store front and place an order for the items on the list using the Gift registry search feature. Customers can set up their own gift registries based on pre-defined registries which have been configured in Magento Admin Console.
Imagine is an event hosted for the "Magento Ecosystem", i.e. those who make eCommerce happen around the globe: developers, merchants, technology partners, industry partners, solution partners and consultants. We had such an amazing time meeting the Magento team, and networking with all the other Magento partners and fans, that missing the 2012 event was simply not an option. Only this time, things get even better: as this year’s Imagine Conference is hosted in Las Vegas – the entertainment capital of the world!
Last year was such a great success that Magento had to come up with a location capable of hosting all the Magento enthusiasts of the world: the M Resort… and it was still sold out months in advance.
This year again there’s a great line-up of high-profile speakers, with keynotes such as Bob Schwartz (of course!), President of Magento Inc. and Tim Kring, the Emmy Award nominated screenwriter and producer best known for his creation of the television series Heroes and Crossing Jordan. All of them are leaders within their industry and focused on bringing their audience a fresh perspective to building business, brands and success, in our fast changing technology world,.
Being one of the leading Magento Gold Partners in Europe, we very much look forward to finding out what Magento has planned for us next year and can’t wait to meet again with the Magento team and our fellow partners.
If you’re lucky enough to have secured a ticket, see you in Vegas!
When browsing the forums online, I often come across the same question relating to Google Analytics and Magento: "what are Goals and Funnels in Google Analytics and how do they work with my Magento eCommerce store"? So I thought it would be useful to explain what these are and what Google Analytics can be used for on eCommerce websites.
As you may already know, adding the basic tracking code to Magento is straight forward task, but customers always want to add more tracking codes to specific areas of their site such as on buttons, in the checkout path and so on. Before getting into how Google Analytics works, I always find it is a good idea to take a step back and plan of what it is that you want to track.
Figure 1 - Google API in Magento
Tracking specific to eCommerce in Google Analytics
Google Analytics provides many features for website managers and eCommerce store owners to use to find out more about their customers and their interactions whilst on their website. To use Google Analytics to track and measure on eCommerce websites can become more complex than just tracking visits and bounce rates.
The following is a list of just some of the areas you may want to consider when planning what you want to track in Google Analytics:
How do customers get to your online store? – Search engine, directly typing the url, bookmark etc.?
Which marketing channels are performing / not performing?
Which marketing messages are most popular on and off site?
How do visitors navigate around your eCommerce store
Conversions from adverts on the store
What are Goals and Goal Funnels?
In addition to tracking visits, geographical locations, clicks on content etc, Google Analytics also provides Goals and Goal Funnels, these are used specifically for eCommerce tracking. Goals and Funnels inform you as to how well your site meets the objectives & targets you set for your site and the set of pages you expect the visitor to visit to reach the goal. For example, you may have a "goal" which states the site should have 50% of visitor’s click on a particular marketing message. The funnel (which you have to configure "expected" visited pages in Google Analytics) will inform you of the pages the visitor went to before clicking the marketing message.
Goals
Goals are “Key actions you want to track, conversion rates for adverts, marketing initiatives, eCommerce”. (Google Analytics, 2012) The goals measure the effectiveness of the campaigns your business has set up.
Google has 4 types of goals, each of which has a different conversion:
URL destination
Visit Duration
Pages / Visit
Event
Click here for more information about each of these on the Google Analytics help pages.
Funnels
Funnels in Google Analytics are used to “Track a goal along with a series of pages you expect the visit to see en route to the goal”. (Google Analytics Support Website, April 2012)It is only used when a URL destination goal has been defined. A good example of where funnels are used is in checkout process. A funnel in the checkout process will track each of the steps a visitor takes in the checkout.
Click here for more information about funnels on the Google Analytics help pages.
Summary
To summarise, before you begin have a plan and decide the areas of your eCommerce site that you want to track and what is the purpose of tracking those areas. Follow the tutorials and read the guides on the Google Analytics website. If you have a Magento partner such as Crimsonwing, ensure you provide your partner the tracking codes for each section of the site being tracked.
Ultimately, setting up goals and goal funnels correctly will help you monitor the effectiveness of your eCommerce store which will enable you to make the correct choices when improving the user experience.
In the past 10 years, the concept of eCommerce amongst Maltese has changed from a vague myth to a thriving reality. In Malta, online activity by both consumers and businesses is growing. A survey conducted by NS0 in 2010 revealed that 94% of Maltese businesses use the Internet and 70% of these Maltese businesses own a website or a home page. Maltese businesses generated over €1.3 billion in eCommerce sales in 2010, this accounts to 21% of the total turnover for businesses that own an eCommerce site (NS0, 2011). In addition, 25% of the businesses surveyed had placed orders via computer networks in 2010. In monetary terms, this accounted for more than €1.1 billion (NSO, 2010). When comparing these statistics with those of previous years, we can undoubtedly say that in Malta online activity by businesses is on the increase.
Online Activity by Maltese consumers A survey carried out by NSO in 2010 revealed that 70% of the Maltese respondents accessed the Internet. According to Alexa.com, in 2012 the most popular websites in Malta were Google, Facebook, YouTube and timsofmalta.com. Other popular sites amongst Maltese are Wikipedia, Yahoo, LinkedIn, and eCommerce sites such as eBay and Amazon (Alexa.com 2012).
The NSO survey also found that 61% of Maltese Internet users stated that they have purchased goods and services over the internet (NSO, 2011). However, the usage of eCommerce seems to be related to the level of education of the respondents.The higher the educational level, the higher the rate of eCommerce usage, in fact 78% of university graduates respondents in 2010 stated that they have used eCommerce. Furthermore, the usage of eCommerce is also related to the employment situation of respondents, if individuals are gainfully occupied then there is a higher probability that they make use of eCommerce sites (NSO, 2011).
It is also interesting to note that the percentage of Maltese Internet users for respondents aged 16- 34 is 68%, this is significantly higher than the 61% average. Moreover from 2009 to 2010, there was a significant 10% increase in the usage of online trade amongst 45- 74 year olds. These statistics indicate that eCommerce usage amongst Maltese is there to stay and might increase substantially in the coming years.
The usage of the Internet and online purchases are very likely to be related to changes in culture, education and lifestyle. Currently, in Malta there is a campaign to improve family-friendly measures aimed at increasing the women’s employment rate. A rise in the number of working women could also increase the amount of shoppers that might opt to purchase online and also carry out other errands over the internet such as Internet banking or eGovernment services. This might be an interesting opportunity for Maltese businesses.
Industries most likely to benefit from ecommerce in Malta According to the research carried out by the NSO in 2010, 50% of Internet users in Malta purchased items of clothing. Around 37% purchased books, magazines and newspapers, 29% purchased holiday and accommodation services, around 27% purchased transport arrangements and 26% purchased telecommunication services over the web.
Other types of goods and services are also frequently bought over the Internet by Maltese, including films and music (22.5 %) and tickets for events (20% of respondents). NSO’s statistics also reveal that 92% of goods purchased via eCommerce in Malta originated from other EU member states.
What is certain is that for some businesses in Malta, eCommerce provides the potential that can be used to reach new business opportunities. eCommerce might be an option for businesses that would want to reach new market segments or target international customers.
In today’s highly competitive business environment, successful companies are proactive and are able to reap the advantage of new technologies. Such companies are able to stand out and provide a superior customer experience.
Author: Theresia Azzopardi, Business Analyst
About Crimsonwing Crimsonwing has been implementing ecommerce solutions for over 10 years. Since 2009, we have grown to be one of the largest Magento Gold Partners in Europe. Crimsonwing also provides content websites (CMS), SEO consultancy and ERP software. If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions for future articles please do not hesitate to contact me on
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Sources: ICT usage by Entrepreneurs and Households 2010, NSO 2011 ALEXA.COM, 2012
Magento Enterprise is the foundation for online stores of businesses worldwide. As an open-source software platform Magento Enterprise makes migrating from an existing online store to the Magento platform manageable, if not down-right easy. Magento provides open APIs for integration with your current business systems and other valuable third party applications. It’s also a completely customizable platform so that your site is as unique as your business. Over time, the platform can scale with your business needs and perform to support increases in orders, catalog size and the introduction of new websites, storefronts, specific localization configurations as well as integrating custom modules as needed.
The Elements of a Successful Migration
When migrating your online store from one eCommerce platform to another there are a number areas to be concerned with – some obvious and some not. You have to create a fantastic user experience that showcases your products and your brand. You have to migrate all of your product and customer data and order history. You’ll want to maintain or improve your search engine rankings and chances are you’re looking for increased site performance.
An upgrade process from an existing platform to a new platform requires careful planning but by following a few best practices your site will be deployed and fully operational in no time.
While not a comprehensive migration plan, some basic elements of migrating your online store to a new platform include these six areas:
Definition/Discovery
Design
Development/Data Migration
Deployment
Security
Miscellaneous
Definition/Discovery
During definition/discovery, the customer and/or solution integrator will gather all of the requirements for launching a new site. Specifically they will go through a discovery phase where an extensive review of current business processes will be considerations for future goals. Typically, the main focus will be around catalog structure, scope of data migration and order fulfilment.
During discovery, define and capture the features you desire as well as the additional capabilities that you foresee needing beyond initial deployment. Planning for the future at the time of migration will save time and money in the future. The resulting system design specification serves as the roadmap and blueprint for developers on the project and ensures a strategic, efficient and comprehensive plan that addresses business goals and customer needs.
Design
Magento is completely flexible and customized so that your store reflects your brand and the needs of your customers. Your store can be as unique as your business. Browsing the wide variety of Magento Enterprise sites exemplify the level of customization possible for your store.
Data migration
This is a critical step and often requires integration between new and existing systems. This is the time to “clean out” your data and identify the data that should be migrated to the new site. A Magento implementation will include the import of products, customers and orders. Prior to launch, a second database dump is typically required to incorporate the latest records for the production servers.
The product catalogue will need to be enriched, ensuring the products are assigned to attribute sets to best utilise the faceted navigation in Magento. A periodic update is enabled via an XML file. The file contains product attribute information for new and existing products and upon import Magento will update and create products.
The catalog update process should be tailored based in specific business requirements. Several criteria are used to determine which updates can be fully automated and which updates require further review and manual approval. For manual review, it is important to ensure a side-by-side comparison of new and existing product data. The outcome of this process is a definition of the catalog architecture.
Magento offers several features that make it possible to manage your products in ways that are specific to your business and your customers. You are able to establish multiple product types and flexible product attributes allow merchants to match products to different product segments and to present products in the way that customers want to purchase. For example merchants can create simple, grouped, configurable, virtual, and bundled products. It’s also possible to create downloadable products and issue gift cards.
QA
At deployment, a complete cycle of Quality Assurance testing is required. Typical areas of testing include functional testing, compatibility and conformance. During the testing phase, the solution integrator will be checking compatibility with operating systems, web browsers and configurations according to the scope of the migration defined during the initial discovery phase. Magento helps keep your stress lower with the ability to roll back changes to a previous state in case there are issues with a new update. When ready to go live with a site migration or update, merchants can rely on the technical support experts at Magento to help with any final issues.
Security
Magento is a PA-DSS compliant platform which makes it much easier for a merchant to achieve PCI compliance. Magento isolates a Payment Bridge, which is PA-DSS compliant, from the general eCommerce platform functionality. This separation of the payment processing from the platform makes it possible to make updates to the platform without effecting PCI compliance. The merchant will need to implement a security policy in the organization for day-to-day operations. Magento allows the merchant to define and restrict privileges for product, price and promotion updates.
Misc Items
Merchants have multiple payment methods to choose from with Magento. There are a number of options that come standard with Magento Enterprise and even more third party options. The same is true of shipping methods.
During development and integration phase, specific modules or dedicated components are being reviewed by the business needs and the solution implementers to allow early feedback and real time adjustments. If needed, specific coding may take place during that time.
Magento provides tools for search engine marketing and search engine optimization including 301 and 302 redirects that will help you maintain any SEO momentum that you had with your original site after the migration.
Migrate to Online Success
If you are interested in exploring an upgrade to Magento Enterprise visit magento.com. Contact Magento or a Magento Solution Partner (expert Magento system integrator/web design firms) to discuss the specific details of migrating your store. With Magento Enterprise and the right experts, you can have the online store of your dreams.
Crimsonwing, one of UK's largest Magento Solution Partner can also help you capture the extend of the opportunities offered by Magento with a Free Magento Demo.
This blog entry has been drafted in cooperation with Magento and we would like to thank them for their contribution.
Engaging customers through blogs and news articles on an ecommerce store can have its benefits, but before setting up a blog there are several areas that need careful consideration:
What blog platform will you use?
Have you got the resources to write the blog entries?
Is there an appropriate plugin for your eCommerce platform?
Does the plugin do everything you require?
Is it going to be a separate blog or integrated with your sites design?
There are several plugins available for Magento which make the integration to platforms such as Wordpress quite straight forward. But it is important to research each one carefully and decide which is the best plugin for your business needs.
It is important to find out what the extension actually supports in terms of Wordpress. Will it support a separate search, share facilities or recent posts for example. Some of the extensions require separate databases. It is important to find one that uses the same database as Magento, otherwise it simply will not work.
Below is a list of areas to consider when planning integrating a blog into your Magento store:
Design
Full seamless integration or a separate blog
Categories
Archives
Share links
Search
Comments
Tag clouds and Avatars
URL of the blog
If you have more than one store, such as several multilingual stores, it is important to consider the translations and how the other sites will access their blog
A lot of companies like to have a separate news section in addition to a blog to provide their customers with industry news, not just blog entries. There are many different ways that this can be set up, either with categories, a new Wordpress instance, or news feeds. It all depends on how your organisation is set up and how you want to manage news and blog articles.
Another area for consideration is how having a blog might affect the design of your overall store.
Where will the customers access the blog from?
How will it be advertised on your site?
How will you communicate the new feature to your customers?
A blog can act as another way of getting customer reviews and feedback onto your ecommerce store, as well as utilizing the review and tag features in Magento. You can also create buzz around a new product.
The added value comes from the knowledge you present in your blog posts, if you demonstrate you are knowledgeable in your field, customers will keep returning and these returns could turn into sales and loyal customers.
When the Crimsonwing team attended the eCommerce Expo 2011 back in October, we had a short video clip taken at our stand. Have a look what our sales manager has to say about eCommerce with Magento. Barry Thorn presents a short overview of Magento Enterprise and its value to merchants across the world. Crimsonwing is a leading Magento Gold Partner and delivers functional and attractive web shops in the UK and the rest of Europe.
One of our prime Magento Enterprise example stores is the Watco Case Study, where we have created a number of online stores that span the globe - and all webshops are in different languages, with different currencies, tax rules and all using the same instance of Magento, which means it keeps the license costs right down and provides you with an incredibly fast ROI as well as streamlined business processes. The video of the full presentation is available below, which is a must-see!
Ultimo aggiornamento Giovedì 08 Dicembre 2011 17:20
Theresia Azzopardi, Business Analyst, Crimsonwing Malta
If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions for future articles please do not hesitate to contact me on
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If you already have an eCommerce or CMS(Content) website then probably you are constantly seeking to identify effective ways to attract visitors to your website. What you should not forget is that attracting visitors to your site is only the first step towards making a sale. The next step is even more important and involves mastering the skills and identifying the tools that will help you to maintain your visitors’ attention on your site. This can be achieved by providing value to your customers and a superior online experience.
In today’s online environment our potential customers are continuously bombarded with information. This can vary from promotional material to online interactions with friends and families through emails and social networking sites and also automatic alerts, messages and e-mails from different systems.
In this series of articles I am going to provide some suggestions that can help you improve the online user experience on any e-commerce site (such as Magento). The general concept is that of improving the customer experience on your website by focusing on providing added value in the service that you offer to your customers.
Unirgy's uDropship Supplier Panel
ors’ attention on your site. This can be achieved by providing value to your customers and a superior online experience. 
