Update Shosite to 2010 Standards

[hotlobstah]

1. Update Themes. Great looking web store solutions are available everywhere for very little money. I have 5 Shopsite stores and they look like they're from 1995. I admit my web development skills are limited but c'mon-even basic things like Add To Cart buttons are pixelated and hack looking(e.g. Awesome theme).

2. More integrated features are necessary. Purchasing add on modules that are often available free(and easily implemented) with other eCommerce solutions should at least be available to Shopsite Pro customers. Shopsite doesn't even have a basic shipping calculator on the shopping cart page(I could give about 20 more examples but all you need to do is go to just about any online store and see the features they have)

3. Shopsite needs to become more user friendly. Again-there are many inexpensive E-commerce solutions that are also incredible easy to use-and still have a great looking full feature store. Shopsite needs to get on-board here.


I've been with Shopsite for years but currently there are far easier to use, better looking, full feature e-commerce solutions to choose from. Switching to another e-commerce vendor is a pain-and the last thing I want to do but it Shopsite doesn't improve-I'll have no choice.

[loren_d_c]

1) What version of ShopSite do you have (the current version is 10 sp1)?

New themes are added in each new version. The Awesome theme is one of the older ones. Obviously the older themes have to be left in new versions of ShopSite to support people who upgrade from older versions, but that shouldn't prevent you from using one of the newer ones if you don't like the old look.

2) New features are also added in each new ShopSite version (see the various New Features links at http://www.shopsite.com/help/). There is a new version approximately every 8 months or so. Obviously any software company's development resources are not unlimited, thus not all features requested by all merchants can be added at once (thus 3rd-party developers who see a specific need or who provide less common features as modules provide a valuable resource for merchants). ShopSite is used by tens of thousands of merchants, and if there is enough demand for a particular feature, then it makes sense that it will be added eventually.

Regarding shipping calculators, current versions of ShopSite Manager and Pro are integrated with UPS, USPS, and FedEx, all of which will show real-time shipping rates on the initial cart screen if the shopper enters their zip.

3) If you don't have 10 sp1 yet, I would advise you to upgrade. Several features have been added to make the merchant user interface look nicer as well as have better navigability (such as JavaScript pull-downs when mousing over icons on the top navbar so you can get to virtually any menu in the backoffice from any other backoffice menu). It's probable that this isn't everything you are looking for, but see above comments about resources and also maintaining compatibility for users upgrading from older versions.

-Loren

[hotlobstah]

1. I'm using v. 10-they should also update the older themes as switching themes if often problematic-and why should the older customers have outdated stores?

2. I don't buy your argument-it may have held up 10 years ago but no longer. At some point, Shopsite is going to need to let go of a few 3rd party apps and integrate these features.

The "shopping cart calculator" is a good case and point-it's just another out of date feature(do you guys even check out your competition-or shop online?) The "shipping calculator" on Shopsite Pro is a message at the bottom of the page asking the customer to enter their zip code, select shipping option then hit the recalculate button. Again, this was a great feature 10 years ago. In these modern times, most online stores have a little box(do you really not know what I'm talking about?) that clearly states "Calculate Shipping Cost" where the customer clearly determines shipping/tax before moving on. I can give examples if necessary.