Do you experience an occasional order having the wrong shipping method applied? Maybe a few orders came in with a shipping quote for "Standard" that should have been quoted with "UPS Ground"? There are quite few things that can cause this - shipping algorithms are complicated after all.

To start troubleshooting, begin with the ship to address on the order. At least half of all shipping quotes gone slaunchways are due to the State and/or Provence being borked. Does the ship to state on the order show the states' two letter code (CA) or is it typed out full (California)? If it's typed out, that is a problem. The ProStores system requires the two letter code for a state or Provence in any address — seems logical, since that's what all other systems require.

The frustrating part is the default checkout templates in your store use an input box for state. In this input box, your shopper can type up to 10 characters. Well, that's just silly — it's a problem waiting to happen. Here is how you can change that silly input box into a select box that will force the correct two letter code.

In your "New Customer Checkout" template, find this code snippet in the source code:

<ss:edit source="$customer.state" size=10/>

Replace it with this:

<ss:select name="$customer.state" source="$system.states('*')"> 
	<option value="Select">Select</option> 
</ss:select>

Almost done. Now, you will need to edit all the other checkout templates too — and the select name you must use changes depending on the template. The rest of the select code stays the same — you just need to change the $customer.state value in the name to something else on a few other templates.

For Ship To and Ship To Gift templates use:

name="$address.state"

For Anonymous checkout templates use:

name="$invoice.billToState"

Problem solved. Now, your shopper can easily select the appropriate State or Provence from an easy select menu without having to type anything. Thus, removing the opportunity for typing error. You're welcome.

Problem: site stalls at some point while waiting on a script to load.

Reason: The script is referencing a different domain than your own, and if that domain is taking a while to load, your page cannot proceed until it's loaded. This is a problem.

Solution: If the location of the code itself is not important (i.e. code doesn't add any visible elements to the page), place it as far down on the page as possible. That simple change will allow most of the page to load immediately for use - even though the offending slow script isn't done yet.

Alternatively: If the code generates some sort of html and needs to be put in a specific place (i.e. live chat module or site seal) the following tip is very handy indeed. It relies on the "domready" function of MooTools (a supertastic Javascript library) that will only start the slow script after the whole page has loaded. We are using this on our contact us page for the live chat and skype scripts.

1. Download and install MooTools (it's awesome)

2. Replace your module code with something like:

<div id="whereTheCodeEndsUp"></div>

3. Place the "module" code near the bottom of the page inside of something like:

<div id="whereTheCodeStarts" style="display: none;">
	<!-- Module Code here -->
</div>

4. Place the following code directly following the call for mootools.js:

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
	window.addEvent('domready', function() {
	$('whereTheCodeEndsUp').innerHTML = $('whereTheCodeStarts').innerHTML;
	$('whereTheCodeStarts').innerHTML = "";
});
</script>

There are many different ways to accomplish this type of thing, but this is pretty quick — especially if you already have MooTools installed.

You guys have been great. The integration of Ingram Micro into our webstore was huge. That alone saved us days of work — not to mention the support and know-how from your team along the way... what a difference compared to our previous provider.

We just wanted to say, THANK YOU for all your help. We tell all our friends about your service.

— Harvey & Rolondia, TopSales Too HP Laser Jet and Lexmark parts

Build a Smart Catalog

One of the most important jobs you have as an online entrepreneur is to create a store where people can easily shop for goods in an online environment. Just like Mail Order, a well structured catalog is easy to use. If they are going to enjoy shopping your store, the catalog has to be easy to browse. The larger your product offering, the more of a challenge this will become.

Remember, your catalog is the way you present your products to the consumer. It should not necessarily follow the same model in which you purchase these products or store them in your warehouse. Basically always look at the catalog from your consumers point of view rather than your own.

Example: you buy all your stuff wholesale and have all the SKU's memorized. Obviously, the easy was is to make customers search by SKU... wrong. They want to browse by category or price range or brand name — maybe even season or type. Keep this in mind as you create your online catalog and refine it as you go.

Write Just Enough, But Not Too Much

Spend extra time naming and describing both your products and categories. For example: Instead of having a category called "Shirts" filled with 117 shirts, consider breaking it up a bit. How about 4 or 5 categories like "Mens Short Sleeve Tee's", "Ladies Tank Tops", "Kids Long Sleeve Shirts", etc... this makes your store easier for the user and better for search engines at the same time.

Don't Forget About the Shipping

Shipping can make or break a sale and/or your wallet. Many new online store owners are taken by surprise when they have to setup, plan or even execute a shipment. The more planning upfront you do with shipping, the better.

Try to mirror your real world warehouse experience. The closer you can get your online store setup to match your real-world shipping methods, the happier you and your shoppers will be in the end. Setting up a quality shipping table or ensuring an accurate shipping quote from an integrated shipper should be right up there with your catalog when it comes to planning and setup.

ProStores has a built in mail processor that it uses to send messages - like the Email a Friend feature for example. The cool part is, you can use the form mail processing that is built in to send your own forms - perhaps a "Contact Us" form or an "Ask a Question" form.

You can use the code below on any ProStores template to create a form that sends a message.

<form name="emailfriend" method="POST" action="Send.bok">

	<p>FROM</p>
	<p>Name <input type="text" name="$$email.senderName" value=" "></p>
	<p>E-Mail <input type="text" name="$$email.senderEmail" value=" "></p>

	<p>TO</p>
	<p>Name <input type="text" name="$$email.recipientName" value=" "></p>
	<p>E-Mail <input type="text" name="$$email.recipientEmail" value=" "></p>

	<hr size="1"/>
	<p>MESSAGE<br><textarea name="$$email.message" cols="40" rows="3" wrap="virtual"></textarea></p>
	<p><input type="submit" value="Send"></p>

</form>

The ".bok" on the action may not be needed - it depends on the type of ProStores installation in which your store lives.

Key ingredients for Tribal Hollywood project:

• Brand image - creating a graphical theme that connects with their target market
• Recreating the successful in-store sales experience online
• Up sell and add-on opportunities
• Search Engine Optimization

Our image is Tribal and Urban. It's tribal symbols combined with the style and coolness of a hot Hollywood nightclub. It's tattoo imagery... but not rocker.

The guys over at Tribal Hollywood were able to describe what they wanted with a refreshing clarity. By using lots of texture and style we were able to create the shopping environment Tribal wanted. This was going to be an important part of connecting with their audience.

Category pages needed different ways to present products - similar to the physical location. The ProStores template language (SSML) allowed us to create certain page styles for certain categories. For example, the Pendants page should have a different layout than the Ed Hardy Watches.

The biggest challenge was the add-on options for the Pendants. To be able to add many different necklace styles to all the different pendants was a tall order for sure. Our programmers worked some black magic and created an easy, insightful way for the shopper to get just what they want.