Inform e-commerce Introduction...3 Setup...4 Preliminary Website...4 Setup inform Setup Checklist...5 Product...6 Setup...8 Assigning Images to Products...11 Attaching MSDS, Spec Sheets and Web Documents...13 Creating Web Categories...14 Assigning Products to Web Categories...15 Choosing Products to Publish...16 Marking Sale Type Products...17 Restricting Online Order Quantities Hiding a Unit...18 of Measure Customer...19 Setup...19 Creating a Default Customer Category...20 Setting Product Availability View Permissions...21 Creating Usernames and Passwords for Users Company...22 Setup...22 Entering Text for your Homepage Banner...22 Setting Order Defaults Designating...23 an Order Writer...23 Notifying Users...24 Showing Product Availability...24 Setting a Master Username and Password...25 Entering Contact Us Information...26 Restricting Ship Via's Adding Meta...26 Tags Pending...27 Sales Order Logic Design...28 Options Using J&M...29 Catalog Product Information Frequently...30 Asked Questions
Inform e-commerce
3 Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of Inform e-commerce, a fully integrated, real-time e-commerce website for your distribution business. Your customers will have the ability to place orders, browse your online catalog, and review their invoices and past purchases all from an easy-to-navigate website. Before you begin setting up your system to use Inform e-commerce, here are some general points about how the integration works with inform. Real-Time Changes No more uploading or exporting data - changes made to e-commerce settings in inform are immediately sent out to your website. Most changes require a simple refresh of the web browser to display, including those made to products and Web Categories. Some Company settings are cached and may require the user to close and reopen their browser window. Increased Customer Independence Allow your customers to place and review orders online, without necessitating a service call. Inform ecommerce displays customer-specific pricing for all products, will optional access to the customer's Order Pad and Order History. Optionally, allow users to review existing invoices, and even receive email copies directly from your site.
4 Setup Inform e-commerce requires adjustments to your website, as well as to your products and customers in inform. Setup is divided into two sections: Preliminary Website Setup - includes all considerations outside of inform and may require assistance from your IT or website manager to complete. Inform Setup Checklist - includes setup tasks to be completed in inform. These tasks can be assigned to multiple users and completed before your website is live. Note: Inform e-commerce requires that.net Framework 3.5 be installed. Preliminary Website Setup Preliminary Website Setup These tasks involve website and file settings and may require assistance from your IT or website manager. If you have any questions involving the following settings, please call DDI Customer Care at (203) 3641200 or email at support@ddisys.com. Installing IIS 6.0 or Higher Microsoft's IIS 6.0 or higher should be downloaded and installed on your server. Download links and more information can be found at www.iis.net. We strongly encourage the use of a Secure Socket Layer (SSL), which can be configured through IIS. This will provide added security for your e-commerce transactions, and is especially recommended if you plan to allow customers to submit credit card payments online when the feature becomes available. Creating a Main or Sub-domain Inform e-commerce can be setup as a main or sub-domain, depending on your preferences and existing website. To link to your e-commerce site from an existing site, create a sub-domain called FASTWEB."CLIENTDOMAIN".COM. This sub-domain must point to the server's WAN IP address. Then, create a link on the website to point to the new sub-domain. To set up e-commerce as a main domain site, create a domain name called FASTWEB."YOURCOMPANY".COM. This domain should point to the server's WAN IP address. Once the domain is set, there are several CONFIG file settings that DDI will adjust to establish a functional connection. Setting your Logo Your logo will appear in the top left corner of your e-commerce site, and may be different from the logo on your inform paperwork. First, be sure your image meets the following requirements: Size: Width: 371 pixels (5.153 inches) Height: 59 pixels (0.891 inches) Resolution: 72 DPI Background: Transparent When you have an image prepared, name it logo.png and save it in the "Images" folder on your ecommerce website.
5 inform Setup Checklist The inform Setup Checklist below will guide you through the process of setting up your Company, Products and Customers for inform e-commerce. The order of the tasks is recommended, but multiple tasks may be worked on at the same time, such as attaching images to products and assigning customers to categories. However, all tasks should be completed by the time your website goes live. Setup Task Inform Location 1 Assign images to products that will be published on inform e-commerce. Product Master 2 Create Web Categories and Sub Categories. Web Categories 3 Choose products to publish to the web and assign each Product Mass Change published product to a Web Category. 4 Create a default Customer Category and set default pricing. Customer Category/ Price Matrix 5 Set order defaults and enter text for your homepage banner. Inform e-commerce 6 Mark specialty products (Sale, Clearance, Best Seller, Inform e-commerce/ Featured). Product Master 7 Set Product Availability view permissions. 8 Create usernames and passwords, and set permissions for users. Setup can be broken down into Product, Customer, and Company sections. Inform e-commerce Customer Master X
6 Product Setup A few things to keep in mind when setting products to display on FastWeb: Product Descriptions - While inform displays a single product description (from the Product Description field in the Product Master), inform e-commerce allows you to split the description between the Product Description or Catalog Description field and the Web Description field found under the Web Options tab in the Product Master. The Web Description field (under the Web Options tab) allows for a more detailed description of the product and will display below the Catalog or Product Description. Product Images - Currently, we recommend formatting your images as JPG's with a size of approximately 3inches x 3inches. However, you may use any web-supported image format and size when assigning images to products. Re-sizing and clarifying the images before assigning them may improve their display quality on your website. M. S. D. Sheets/Specification Documents - When these documents are attached to products, you customers can view, download, and print them directly from your website. The instructions for assigning images to products also apply to these documents, using the Documents/Specs and M. S. D. Sheet PDF fields in place of the Images field.
7 Anatomy of an e-commerce Product The diagram below shows an example e-commerce product and explains where you can find each displayed section in inform.
8 Assigning Images to Products All images that will be used for products must be saved to the location specified as the Default Image Storage Network Path, under the Images/Signatures/eDocs/Connections tab in your Company Master.This typically points to a folder on your server called "Images" or "Products". If this field is blank, you can create a folder in a shared directory on your server, and enter the network path in the Company Master once the file is created. The network path typically includes your server's IP address, followed by the folder name. For example: \ \192.168.1.120\IMAGES would point to a folder called IMAGES on your server. Once the folder has been set, you can download or copy your product images into the folder and begin attaching them to products. Image Recommendations: Images must be saved in either the JPEG (.jpg) or GIF (.gif) format. Size: 288 pixels x 288 pixels (4" x 4") Resolution: 72 DPI Background: Transparent Image file names cannot contain symbols (ex. #, &, +, *) or quotation marks. Once you have saved the images to the correct folder, there are three options for attaching images to products: Import file names from a spreadsheet Assign images to groups of products at a time using Product Mass Change Use the Product Master to assign an image to a product one by one Importing File Names from a Spreadsheet In order to import image file names from a spreadsheet, the data must include: complete Product Numbers, UPC Codes, Vendor Part Numbers, or Manufacturer's Part Numbers that can be matched to information already entered in inform the full file name of the image file that the product should be linked to, including the file extension (ex. tissue987.jpg) as it is saved in the folder on your server All other fields can be removed from the spreadsheet. Once the spreadsheet is prepared, it should be saved as a CSV (*.csv) file on your server. 1. Select File > Product > Product Import. 2. Enter the full file path name in the File Name field and press Tab. You can also use the for the correct file. to browse Note: If you are having trouble finding the file, be sure that you have saved it as a.csv file. The system will only recognize and import files saved in this format. Also, be sure that you have fully exited the spreadsheet file before trying to import or you will receive a message that the file is already in use by another application. If this occurs, quit the spreadsheet and try to import the file again. 3. Tab through the Template field. Next, match the column heading letter to the data field that the imported data will be entered in. The window on the left will display the spreadsheet column, inform field name, and sample import data. Click the Clear Columns button in the bottom toolbar to clear the column letters for each field. Then, enter the appropriate spreadsheet column letter for each field, leaving any fields not included on the spreadsheet blank.
9 For this import, you should only have two columns matched; once for the Product Number, UPC Code, Vendor Part Number or Manufacturer's Part Number, and one for the Image File. The example to the right shows the import for a spreadsheet that has the Product Number in Column A, and the Image File in Column B. Any spreadsheet columns not referenced in the window will not be imported, and all blank fields will retain their current information. 4. In the Match On field to the right, select the spreadsheet field that will be used to match the image file to the correct product. 5. Click the OK button to import the spreadsheet. Open one of the linked products in the Product Analysis screen to verify that the images have linked correctly.
10 Assigning Images to Products Using Product Mass Change Mass Change allows you to select a group of products and enter image file names for each product. You can also use it to apply the same image to a group of products. 1. Select File > Product > Mass Change. 2. Use the Selection Criteria window to select the group of products that you want to include in this change. 3. In the Mass Change Fields window, scroll down to the Image File field and select it. 4. The Mass Change screen will display all of the products included in the selected group with the current Image File value. Click in the New Value field and enter the full image file name, including the file extension, then press Tab. If you want to apply the same image to all of the products in the group, click the Repeat All button to the right. 5. When you have entered all of the image file names for the products, click the Save button in the bottom toolbar to update the products. Any products with a blank New Value field will retain their Current Value. Assigning Images to Products Using Product Master Product Master allows you to assign an image to a product one at a time. 1. Select File > Product > Master. 2. Enter the product number in the Product Number field and press Tab. 3. Click General tab, then click the Edit button. 4. Enter the name of the image file, including the file extension (ex. mop.jpg) in the Images field and press Tab. You can also use the to search for the correct image.
11 Attaching MSDS, Spec Sheets and Web Documents M.S.D. and Spec sheets can also be attached to products to be viewed or printed from your e-commerce site. You can also attach documents that are hosted online under the Web Documents section of the Web Options tab. M.S.D. and Spec sheets need to be stored in specific folders on your server. These folders are specified under the Images/Signatures/eDocs/Connections tab in your Company Master. The "Default PDF Storage Network Path" is the folder for Spec sheets and the "Default MSDS Storage Network Path" is the folder for M.S.D. Sheets. If these fields are blank, you can create folders in a shared directory on your server, and enter the network paths in the Company Master once the folder is created. Attaching M.S.D. and Spec Sheets to Products Using Product Mass Change Mass Change allows you to select a group of products and enter M.S.D. or Spec Sheet file names for each product. 1. Select File > Product > Mass Change. 2. Use the Selection Criteria window to select the group of products that you want to include in this change. 3. In the Mass Change Fields window, scroll down to the Docs/Spec File or M.S.D Sheet pdf File field and select it. 4. The Mass Change screen will display all of the products included in the selected group with the current value. Click in the New Value field and enter the full file name, including the file extension (for example - LAG097758.pdf), then press Tab. If you want to apply the same M.S.D or Spec Sheet to all of the products in the group, click the Repeat All button to the right. 5. When you have entered all of the file names for the products, click the Save button in the bottom toolbar to update the products. Any products with a blank New Value field will retain their Current Value. Attaching Images to Products Using Product Master Product Master allows you to assign M.S.D. and Spec Sheets to products one at a time. 1. Select File > Product > Master. 2. Enter the product number in the Product Number field and press Tab. 3. Click General tab, then click the Edit button. 4. Enter the name of the M.S.D or Spec Sheet file, including the file extension (ex. mop.jpg) in the appropriate field in the bottom left corner and press Tab. You can also use the correct document. to search for the 5. Click the Save button in the bottom toolbar to save your changes. Attaching Web Documents to Products The Web Documents option allows you to attach documents that are located on your server, or are hosted on a website. You will need the full web address or file path to attach the document. 1. Select File > Product > Master. 2. Enter the product number in the Product Number field and press Tab. 3. Click on the Web Options tab, then click the Edit button. 4. In the bottom right corner, you will see a Web Documents section (shown to the right). Enter the text that you want to appear on your site as the link in the Document field. 5. Enter the full document path (if it is saved on your computer) or the full URL (if it is located on the web) in the Path/URL field and press Tab. Check off the URL box if the address is a URL. A blank row will appear under your original entry.
12 6. Once you have attached all of the necessary documents, click the Save button to save your changes.
13 Creating Web Categories Web Categories allow you to group products that are published on your e-commerce website. Categories are displayed in alphabetical order by description in the left column navigation, and allow customers to drill down to view products. As they select a Web Category, Sub Category, and Sub Category 2, the area to the right of the list displays the products in the selected category. Typically, Web Categories mirror Product Lines that you may already have setup in your system, and describe the type of product, brand name, size, or purpose. This makes it easy to assign groups of products to the appropriate category or sub category through Product Mass Change. Keep in mind that you don't need to create a "Sale" or "Clearance" category, as these are considered Sale Types. Products can be designated as sale or clearance items without removing them from their Web Category, making them easy to find. For more information on marking items, see the Marking Sale Type Products section. Once you have created categories and sub categories, you can assign products to them through the Web Options tab in the Product Master, or through Product Mass Change. Products can be assigned to the general category, a sub category, or the second level subcategory. Products can only belong to a single Web Category, Sub Category, or Level 2 Sub Category. See the Assigning Products to Web Categories page for more information. Creating a New Web Category 1. Select File > Product > Web Category. 2. Click the New button in the bottom toolbar. 3. Enter a reference code in the Web Category field and press Tab. This code is used to identify the category in inform, but will not appear on your website. 4. Enter a description for the category in the Description field. This description will display on your ecommerce site, so be sure that your spelling and capitalization are exactly as you want your customers to see them. 5. Now you can create any Sub Categories that you need in the Sub Category section; click in the Sub Category field and enter a brief code for the sub category (do not duplicate, even across different Web Categories). Press Tab to bring you to the description field, then enter a description for the sub category and press Tab. This will create another blank sub category entry below the first. We recommend using a prefix or suffix for all sub categories under the same Web Category to avoid duplication. No two subcategory or sub category 2 codes can be identical, even if they belong to different web categories. To clear a sub category, click the red button to the right of its description. This will remove the row. 6. To create level 2 sub categories for your sub categories, first click on the sub category. In the Sub Category 2 section to the right you will see a blank row. Enter a reference code in the Sub Category 2 field (do not duplicate) and a description in the Description field, then press Tab. To enter level 2 sub categories for a different sub category, click on the name of the sub category in the Sub Category section. You can switch between categories before saving and they will retain the level 2 sub categories that you create. 7. The Sort Sequence field allows you to enter a number to control where the category will display on the list in the left margin of the screen. By default, web categories are displayed in alphabetical order by description. Entering Sort Sequence numbers allows you to sort categories in numerical order. Categories with blank Sort Sequence fields will appear after those with numbers entered. 8. When you have entered all of the necessary information, click the Save button in the bottom toolbar. Sub Categories and level 2 Sub Categories can be added or modified at any time. Once you have created the Web Category, you can assign products to it through the Product Master or Product Mass Change.
14 Assigning Products to Web Categories The Web Category of a product can be changed at any time and has no effect on pricing for the customer. A product may only belong to a single Web Category, Sub Category, or level 2 Sub Category. Changing the Web Category for a product will not affect its Specialty Status (Sale, Clearance, etc.). When assigning a product to a Web Category, you must assign it to the lowest level of category available. For example, if there is a category called "Towels" and a subcategory called "White Towels", products cannot be assigned to the "Towels" Web Category without being assigned to a subcategory as well. There are two options for assigning products to your Web Categories: assign products individually through the Product Master use Product Mass Change to assign products in batches Assigning Products to Web Categories through Product Master This method is typically used for assigning one or two newly available products. 1. Select File > Product > Product Master. 2. Enter the product number in the Product Number field and press Tab. 3. Click the Edit button in the bottom toolbar, then click the Web Options tab. 4. Enter the reference code or description in the Web Category field and press Tab. You can then choose a sub category from the Sub Category drop down field, and a level 2 sub category from the Sub Category 2 drop down. 5. Click the Save button in the bottom toolbar to save your changes. The product will now appear under your selected category on your e-commerce site. Using Product Mass Change to Assign Products to Web Categories This method is typically used to assign products to Web Categories in batches. All products in the selected group do not need to be assigned to the same Web Category. 1. Select File > Product > Mass Change. 2. Use the Selection Criteria window to choose the group of products that you want to assign to Web Categories, then click the OK button. For help using this window, press the F1 key to open the inform Help Manual. 3. In the Mass Change Field window, scroll down to select Web Category from the list. 4. The Product Mass Change screen will display a list of all the products included in your selection. In the upper-right corner, you will see a place to select a Web Category and Sub Categories. Click in the New Value field for the first product listed, then select the appropriate Web Category from the area in the upper-right corner of the screen. You can choose an appropriate Sub Category and level 2 Sub Category once you have select the category. If all of the products should be assigned to the same category, you can click the Repeat All button to enter the value for all of the products selected. 5. Once you have chosen a Web Category for all of the necessary products, click the Save button to save your changes.
15 Choosing Products to Publish Certain items in your system should be excluded from your e-commerce catalog. Service products like Labor or Repair items should be excluded, as well as consumable items that you do not offer for customers to purchase or items that you have discontinued. Do NOT publish any Inactive items, as they will not be added to the Sales Order correctly and may cause errors. Additionally, after logging in, customers may have access to their Order Pad history. Any items that you do not want to display under the Order Pad should be hidden. These items will still display on the web as long as their Web Publish box is checked. Items that are not web published will not display in the customer's Order Pad on your site. The only way that an item that is not web published will display on a customer's Order Pad is if it appears on a quote for that customer. Publishing Products to the web using Mass Change This method is typically used for groups of products. 1. Select File > Product > Mass Change. 2. Use the Selection Criteria window to choose the group of products that you want to publish, then click the OK button. For help using this window, press the F1 key to open the inform Help Manual. 3. In the Mass Change Field window, scroll down to select Publish? from the list. 4. The Product Mass Change screen will display a list of all the products included in your selection. Under the New Value field, check the box to publish the product. If you want to publish all of the products in the group, click the Repeat All button to check the box for all of the products. 5. Click the Save button in the bottom toolbar to save your changes. *Any published products that are not assigned to a Web Category will be available through search or through the Order Pad only. They will not display when browsing categories* Publishing Products to the web using the Product Master This method is typically used for single products. 1. Select File > Product > Product Master. 2. Enter the product number in the Product Number field and press Tab. 3. Click the Edit button in the bottom toolbar, then click the Web Options tab. 4. Check off the Web Publish box. You can also assign the product to a Web Category at this time. 5. Then click the Save button in the bottom toolbar to save your changes.
16 Marking Sale Type Products Sale Types allow you to mark a product as a sale, clearance, or other special item without removing it from its Web Category. This does NOT have any effect on the actual price of the item. Discounts should be handled through the Price Matrix or Price Change screens. Customers can choose to view items by Sale Type from the menu below your Web Categories in the left column navigation (shown below). The Sale Type also displays above the product's description when the product is viewed. Sale Types are system defaults and cannot be changed. To Mark a Product as a Sale Type: 1. Select File > Product > Product Master. 2. Enter the product number in the Product Number field and press Tab. 3. Click the Edit button in the bottom toolbar, then click the Web Options tab. 4. Check off the Sale Types that you want to apply to the product. You can select as many as necessary. 5. Click the Save button in the bottom toolbar. To Mark Multiple Products as a Sale Type: 1. Select File > Company > FastWeb. 2. Click on the Sale Type tab. New and Special Offer products cannot be set from this screen; this can only be done through the Product Master. 3. Enter the product number or description in the Product field and press Tab. 4. Press Tab again to insert a blank row below the first product, then enter the next product for the selected Sale Type. 5. When you have entered all of the products for the Sale Type, click the Save button to save the products.
17 Restricting Online Order Quantities Restrict the quantity of a product that a customer can order online. Once you set the quantity in the Product Master, if the user attempts to exceed the quantity on a web order, the system will display a message, which you can customize, indicating the maximum quantity that they can order online. This field can be left blank if there is no ordering restriction. To set a Maximum Online Order Quantity for Products The Maximum Online Order Quantity can be set through the Product Master or for a group of products through Product Mass Change. Product Master 1. In inform select File > Product > Master. 2. Enter the product number in the Product Number field and press Tab. 3. Click the Edit button in the bottom toolbar, then click the Web Options tab. 4. Enter the quantity in the Max Web Order Qnty field at the top of the tab (shown below). 5. Click the Save button in the bottom toolbar. Product Mass Change 1. In inform select File > Product > Mass Change. 2. Use the Selection Criteria window to choose the group of products that you want to assign to Web Categories, then click the OK button. For help using this window, press the F1 key to open the inform Help Manual. 3. In the Mass Change Field window, scroll down to select Max Web Order Qnty from the list. 4. The Product Mass Change screen will display a list of all the products included in your selection, along with the current value in that field. Click in the New Value field for the first product listed, then enter the quantity. Do this for each of the products on the list. Leave blank any products that should not have a maximum order quantity. If all of the products should have the same quantity set, you can click the Repeat All button to enter the value of the selected product for all of the other products selected. 5. Once you have entered a quantity for all of the necessary products, click the Save button to save your changes. To set the Exceeded Order Quantity Message 1. In inform select File > Company > Inform e-commerce. 2. Enter the message that you would like to appear in the Max Web Order Qnty Message box. 3. Click the Save button to save your changes. The message will display as shown below.
18 Hiding a Unit of Measure Some Units of Measure may only be for purchasing purposes, and not intended for customer orders. You can hide a Unit of Measure on an item-by-item basis to prevent it from displaying online. This will also prevent your customer service and sales team from entering any Sales Orders using this Unit of Measure. To Hide a Unit of Measure 1. In inform select File > Product > Master. 2. Enter the product number in the Product Number field and press Tab. 3. Click the Edit button in the bottom toolbar, then click on the Setup button in the center of the window. 4. This will open the Unit of Measure Setup window shown below. To hide a Unit of Measure, check off the Disable Sales checkbox. You cannot hide the Unit of Measure if it is set as the default Price UOM. 5. Click the Save button in this window, then click the Save button in the Product Master to save the changes.
19 Customer Setup Inform e-commerce users are broken down into two groups: those with a User Name and Password and those without. Users who log into the site can view their own, customer-specific pricing for all products displayed, and may have permission to place orders, view sales and invoice history, use their Order Pad, and run reports. User Names, Passwords, and Permissions are set on a contact basis for customers. Users without log-in information may still access the site to browse products, and will see default pricing (set by you) for all products displayed. They will be required to create a log-in and password to place an order online. Creating a Default Customer Category The default Customer Category allows you to set pricing for customers who browse your website but do not log in. Users who log into your website will see their own, customer-specific pricing. This category must be set in the E-commerce Master screen before your website will display. Once the category is created, use the Price Matrix to set the default price or price formula that you would like to use. Creating a Default Customer Category Once you create the category, set it as the default in the E-commerce Master screen (File > Company > Inform e-commerce). 1. Select File > Customer > Category. 2. Click the New button in the bottom toolbar. 3. Enter a reference code for the category (ex. WEB) in the Customer Category field and press Tab. 4. Enter a description for the category in the Description field, then click the Save button in the bottom toolbar to save the category. Creating Default Pricing for the Customer Category 1. Select Sales > Pricing > Price Matrix. 2. Enter the Customer Category in the Customer Category field and press Tab. Then, click the Search button. 3. You can set different default price formulas for each Product Line or Price Group, or scroll down to the bottom to set a default for the entire category. To set a formula, double-click on the option listed in the window. 4. This will open the Price Matrix Entry window. Click the Edit button in this window, then enter a price formula in the blank field. The example shown below dictates that all products will display the L1 price with the formula "L1 + 0%". 5. Once you have entered the formula, click the Save button to save it. The option will appear in green in the Price Matrix screen when a formula exists for it. Enter as many formulas as necessary, following steps 3 and 4. Setting the Category as the Default for e-commerce 1. Select File > Company > Inform e-commerce. 2. Enter the customer category in the Customer Category field and press Tab. Click the Save button below the "Show Product Availability" section to save this setting. Your site will display the pricing for this category as the default pricing when a customer is browsing products, but is not logged in as a user. You may change the pricing for this category at any time through the Price Matrix.
20 Setting Product Availability View Permissions The Product Availability section of the E-commerce Master screen allows you to control the information that your customers can view regarding the availability of the products that they are ordering. Theses settings will apply to all customers ordering through your inform e-commerce site, and can be changed at any time. Setting Product Availability View Permissions 1. Select File > Company > Inform e-commerce. 2. The following options are available in the "Show Product Availability" section: Option Never Show Available Qty Customers Can View No information regarding availability. The quantity that is available and the quantity backordered. Status Only Only the overall status of the product; In Stock or Backordered. Not In Stock Message A set message when an item is not in stock. No quantity information. 3. Finally, click the Save button to save your settings.
21 Creating Usernames and Passwords for Users Inform e-commerce Usernames and Passwords are contact-specific, which allows you to setup multiple users for each company. Each user must have a valid email address entered so that they can receive order confirmations and email reports. If you are setting a Username and Password that the customer's entire company will use, you may want to create a separate contact with a separate email address for this purpose. Creating a Username and Password 1. Select File > Customer > Master. 2. Enter the customer number or name in the Customer Number field and press Tab. 3. Click on the Contacts tab, then click on the name of the contact that will have access to your ecommerce site. 4. Click the Edit button at the bottom of the Customer Contact window, then click the Web Permissions tab. 5. Enter a user name in the User Name field, then enter a password in the Password field. We recommend using the contact's email address as the User Name; this helps to avoid duplication. You cannot use the same User Name twice. Keep in mind that the Password field is case-sensitive and do not use quotation marks in either field. 6. Click the Save button in the bottom toolbar to save the information. When the user logs on to your ecommerce site, they will be able to view their own customer-specific pricing for your items. To give them permissions for other functions in e-commerce, see the next section. Setting User Permissions The following user permissions can be granted via the Customer Contact window in the Customer Master. Check the box to grant the user permission, uncheck the box to deny the user permission. Option User Can Read Sales Order View details of existing Sales Orders under the Order Status and Order History tabs. Create Sales Order Place an order online. The Read Sales Order permission must also be checked. Read Invoice View details of existing Invoices under the Invoice History and Invoice Summary tabs. Read Reports Access and run report options under the Reporting tab. The report will only be available if you are using the latest version of Business Intelligence. Read Order Pad Access the Order Pad. To place an order from the Order Pad, the Create Sales Order option must also be checked. Permissions can be changed at any time. Be sure to click the Save button to save your changes.
22 Company Setup The following Company Setup options can all be accessed from the Inform e-commerce screen (File > Company > Inform e-commerce), and can be changed at any time. Entering Text for your Homepage Banner The text of the ba nner di s pl a ys a bove the products l i s ted on the ma i n pa ge of your e-commerce s i te (s hown bel ow), exa ctl y a s i t i s entered i nto the fi el d. The text of your ba nner s houl d not exceed the s pa ce gi ven. Setting Order Defaults Depending on your overall system settings, certain order defaults are required. For example, if your Company Master is set to require an Order Type, you must enter a default Order Type for your e-commerce orders. Any fields that are required will display a blinking exclamation point (shown below). A default Customer Category must be entered to set the default pricing that site visitors will see if they do not log in. A Writer must be set to indicate the user initials that will appear on every Sales Order placed online. See the Designating an Order Writer instructions for more details. The default Ship Via will only be used if there is no default set on the Customer Master for the customer. This Ship Via will be set as the default for the order, although the customer can choose to change this during the Checkout process. Once you have entered the defaults, click the Save button to save your changes.
23 Designating an Order Writer When a customer places an order on your e-commerce site, the order is automatically imported to inform in real-time. Setting a default order Writer allows you to track these orders, and is required for the order to be saved. Typically, a "Web" user is set up in the User Master for this purpose, although you may also use an existing system user. Creating a "Web" User 1. Select File > Company > User Master. 2. Click the New button in the bottom toolbar. 3. In the User Configuration window, enter a Name, Initials, Password, and Access Level. 4. Click the OK button, then click the Save button at the bottom of the User Master screen. Designating an Order Writer 1. Select File > Company > Inform e-commerce. 2. Enter the initials or name of the user you want to appear as the writer in the Writer field and press Tab. You can also use the to search for the correct user. 3. Click the Save button below the "Show Product Availability" section to save your changes. Notifying Users Setting users to be notified when an e-commerce order is placed allows you to monitor incoming orders as they are received. Users will also receive notification when a contact requests a username and password, using the form under the My Account tab. Users that are set to be notified must have a valid email address entered in their User Master. They will receive an email each time an order is received via your ecommerce site. Setting Users to be Notified 1. Select File > Company > Inform e-commerce. 2. Enter the system initials for the user in the Initials field and press Tab, or use the to search for the correct user. Verify that the user(s) you select have a valid email address entered in the User Master. 3. Press Tab again to add another user to be notified. Continue to add users until your list is complete. 4. Finally, click the Save button below the "Show Product Availability" section to save the users.
24 Showing Product Availability Control the information that your customers can view about the stock levels of your products. All stock amounts are total quantities for all warehouses. Option Never Show Available Qty Status Only Not in Stock Message Customers can see... No information regarding availability. The quantity that is available and the quantity that is backordered. Only the overall status of the product; In Stock or Backordered. A set message when an item is not in stock. No quantity information. This setting applies to all customers who order from your site. Setting a Master Username and Password The master username and password allows you to log into your site and view it as a customer would see it when they log in. Once you enter the username and password, you will be prompted to select the customer account and then the customer contact that you would like to log in as. This allows you to view their order and invoice information, as well as their order pad; you see the site exactly as the selected user would. Enter a Username and Password in the area of the E-commerce Master screen shown below. Then, click the Save button to save your entry. Your log in information will become effective immediately.
25 Entering Contact Us Information The Contact Us tab on your e-commerce homepage includes your general company contact information from your Company Master, as well as space for you to add your own message for your customers. An example is shown below. The About Us text can be entered in the Inform e-commerce screen (File > Company > Inform e-commerce), under the Contact Us tab. To enter information, type in the box up to 1,000 characters then click the Save button below the window. The Contact Information section comes from your Company Master Information tab. This information can be changed at any time by clicking on the Edit button in the bottom toolbar, making your changes, and then clicking the Save button in the bottom toolbar.
26 Restricting Ship Via's By default, your customers have the option to choose any of your Ship Via shipping methods during the checkout process. The Display Cust Default Ship Via Only option automatically sets all online orders to the default Ship Via method specified under the General tab in the Customer Master, or under the Ship To that the customer has selected. This prevents the customer from selecting any other shipping method. Before enabling this option, please ensure that each customer has a default Ship Via entered. You can use the Report button in the bottom right corner of the Customer Master screen to review the Ship Via set for each customer. After verifying that each customer has a default Ship Via entered, go to File > Company > Inform ecommerce and check the box to the right of Display Cust Default Ship To Only. Click the Save button in the bottom right corner to save your changes. Only the customer's default Ship Via will display as an option when they checkout online. If the customer would like to choose an alternative shipping method, they can specify their choice in the Special Instructions. If the customer does not have a default Ship Via set in either their Customer Master or their Ship To, the default Ship Via set in the Inform e-commerce master screen will be used. Adding Meta Tags Meta tags help internet search engines to categorize your webpage, making it easier for existing and prospective customers to find your site. First, you need to submit your site to Google in order for the search engine to find it. If your site is relatively new, Google probably hasn't cataloged it yet. This can be done manually, and the links to accomplish this on Google, Yahoo and Bing are below: http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/submit http://www.bing.com/webmaster/submitsitepage.aspx Additionally, search engine results will take some time to reflect the use of these metatags. From our own experience, it takes anywhere from 6 months to a year for ranking and results to improve. This is not something that you need to have completed before you begin using your site and it can be updated periodically to reflect the products that you offer. To Add Meta Tags to your Site 1. Select File > Company > Inform e-commerce. 2. Click on the Meta Tags tab. 3. The Title field should be a short sentence that can be used as a title for your site. For example, "ABC Company Janitorial, Paper and Packaging Supplies". This is often displayed as the first line of the site in search engines. The Description field should be used to provide a brief description of your site's content. This description is often displayed on search engine results pages below the title. Most search engines recommend that this description be 200 characters or less. For example: "ABC Janitorial Supply distributes packaging products, janitorial and safety supplies, 3M products, and paper products to contractors and supply houses" The Keyword/Phrase field can help search engines determine the type of products that you carry. For example, if you enter "cleaning supplies" as a keyword, search engines may pick up your site when users search for cleaning supplies. If you want to enter multiple keywords or phrases, separate them with commas. Aim for 350 characters. Also, try to find ways to repeat your most important words or phrases and even include common misspellings and typos of products that you carry. This will help boost your results when customers make mistakes searching. 4. Once you have completed your entry, click the Save button in the bottom right corner to save your changes.
27 Pending Sales Order Logic What is Pending Sales Order Logic? Pending Sales Order logic is an optional feature of inform e-commerce that allows your customers to review and approve Sales Orders placed online by their inform e-commerce users. Customer contacts are divided into two types: those with permission to submit Sales Orders, and those with permission to approve Sales Orders. Orders entered by users with permission to submit do not flow directly to inform; they are placed in a "Pending Sales Orders" screen, where they are held until a contact with permission to approve Sales Orders has the opportunity to review and approve the order. When the order is placed, a confirmation email is sent to the user who place the order, as well as every contact at the company who is able to approve Sales Orders. The notification sent to the approvers includes a link to the pending order as well as the products, quantities and prices on the order and the billing and shipping information. Once the order is approved, it becomes a Sales Order in inform, notifying the appropriate inform users and the customer contact who originally submitted the order for approval. How do I set it up? Company Setup In your Inform e-commerce screen, check the Use Pending Orders Processing checkbox. This box needs to be checked before you can set up the user permissions. Also set the number of days that you would like the system to wait before purging pending orders. For example, setting the Days to Purge field to 30 will removed pending orders from the list after they have been there for 30 days. If you do not want pending orders to be purged, leave this field blank. User Setup In your Customer Master, under the Contacts tab, select the contact who should have permission to approve pending sales orders. Under the Web Permissions tab in the Contact window, check the box to Approve Pending Sales Orders. Each customer should have at least one user with the authority to approve pending Sales Orders, although you may have as many as necessary. Contacts who do not have the Approve Pending Sales Orders box checked can only submit orders for approval. When they place an order online, they will receive a message notifying them that their order has been submitted and is awaiting approval. Contacts can track their pending orders through the Order Info tab, and are able to change or delete orders that are pending. How do my customers approve orders? Pending orders can be viewed by clicking on the Order Info tab and selecting the Pending Orders option. Users who do not have permission to approve orders will only see the pending orders that they have entered; they can edit or delete these orders. Users with permission to approve orders will see all pending orders under this tab. To approve an order, click on the order and then click the Approve Order button. The user will be prompted to confirm the order and it will be placed once the confirmation process is completed. What happens once an order is approved? Once the order is approved, it appears in inform as an open Sales Order. The Order Date will be the date that the order was approved and any pricing will be updated automatically to reflect the pricing on that date. The user who approved the order and the user who submitted the order will receive an emailed order confirmation.
28 Design Options There are two display options for the Web Categories on your e-commerce site: Standard Design - Clicking on a Web Category on the left side of the screen will list all of the Sub Categories below it. Clicking on a Sub Category will either display a list of the Sub Category 2 options below it, or display the products listed in that Sub Category. An example of this display is shown below. Web Category Image Design - Clicking on a Web Category on the left side of the screen will display all of the Sub Categories in the area to the right, with an image assigned to each Sub Category. Clicking on a Sub Category will either display the Sub Category 2 options in the same format, or display the products listed in that Sub Category. An example is shown below. This design option does require images to be set up for each Sub Category and Sub Category 2. Images that you want to use should be saved in the same folder as the images used for your products. Image file names should not include any special characters (&%$^#). You can find this folder in your Company Master, in the Default Image Storage Network Path field under the Images / Signatures / edocs / Connections tab. We recommend that Sub Category images be no larger than 220 x 220 pixels. The Napkin example shown above is sized 100 x 100 pixels. Assign an image to a Sub Category in the Web Category screen (File > Product > Web Category). Pull up the Web Category and click the Edit button in the bottom toolbar. Double-click in the Image field for the Sub Category and type in the file name of the image, including the file extension or use the magnified glass button to browse the images file for the correct image. An example is shown below. Enter an image for each of the Sub Categories and for any Sub Category 2 options as well. Any Sub Categories or Sub Category 2's that do not have an image assigned to them will display "No Image Available" above the category name. When you have entered all of the necessary images, click the Save button in the bottom toolbar to save your changes. Once you have entered images for your Sub Category and Sub Category 2 entries, go to File > Company > Inform e-commerce. Check off the Use Web Category Images checkbox and click the Save button in the bottom right corner. This will change your display to use the images.
29 Using J&M Catalog Product Information What does using J&M Catalog product information include? The J&M Catalog integration allows you to use images and document spec sheets from the catalog on your inform e-commerce site. Instead of saving images on your own server and attaching them to the appropriate products, the images remain hosted online by J&M Catalog and are linked to your products in inform. These links are also visible in inform screens, such as Product Analysis. How do I sign up for and enable this feature? Using the product information does require a monthly subscription from DDI. This $30 monthly charge is billed with your Customer Care fee. Please contact Sohni at 203-364-1200 or sohni@ddisys.com to sign up for this integration. If you have not used J&M Catalog you will need to set up your products before you proceed. There are two fields in the Product Master that J&M Catalog uses to match your products to their images: the Catalog Description field (Product Master > Information tab) should contain the J&M Manufacturer's Product Number and the Catalog Section field (Product Master > General tab) should contain the J&M Manufacturer's Code. Both fields can be imported from a spreadsheet using the Product Import feature, or changed in Product Mass Change. Once you have set up your products, you can proceed with the setup instructions below. If you have used J&M Catalog your products should already be set up to match to their J&M images. Under the Utilities menu, choose the Export JM Catalog Files option. (If you do not see this option available, please call DDI Customer Care at 203-364-1200 so that the control file can be configured). This will export a file called JMCATG.txt to a folder on your server. This file may be in the C or D drive, depending on your system set up, and can be found in the IBM\Accounts\DDI\JMCatalog folder. This file should be emailed to update@jmcatalog.com to allow J&M to match your products to the images in their database. Finally, enable the integration with inform e-commerce by checking the "Use JM Catalog Product Info" checkbox in the inform e-commerce Master screen (File > Company > Inform e-commerce). Why do some of my products still show the "No Image Available" box? If J&M Catalog does not have an image to correspond with the product, it will display this box. You can add your own image for the product using the instructions in the "Assigning Images to Products" section of this manual. How do I update my images if I add new products? Any new products added to your system that will be displayed on the web need to have their Catalog Description and Catalog Section entered for the J&M integration. You can then run the Export JM Catalog Files option and email the file to update@jmcatalog.com to find the corresponding image file in J&M's online database.
30 Frequently Asked Questions What happens when a customer places an order online? The order is immediately entered in inform, with the Writer specified in your Inform e-commerce screen. Users that are set to be notified receive a mail message notification that an order has been placed. The customer who placed the order receives an email confirmation of the order for their records. With the proper permissions, the customer can review the order under the Order Info > Order Status tab. Can my customer enter a manual Ship To? How will I know? Customers can create manual Ship To entries for online orders. When the order is entered, users will receive notification as that an order has been placed. When they access the order in the Sales Order screen, an Internal Note will pop up indicating the the Ship To was created by the customer. What if I choose to publish a product, but don't assign it to a Web Category? These products will still display in the Order Pad and are accessible if the user searches, but they will not display when the user browses by category. What if an item in a customer's Order Pad is not published? Items that are not published will not display on the web, regardless of their inclusion in a customer's Order Pad. You do not need to hide unpublished items from the Order Pad. What does a customer see when they view their Order Pad? Customers can view all of the products included on the Order Pad (with the exception of hidden and unpublished items), and see the Unit of Measure, Current Price, Web Category, Last Purchase Date, and Last Purchase Quantity for each product. Quoted items will display in green on the Order Pad. Where do I store my product images? Product images should be stored in the folder specified in your Company Master, under the Images/ Signatures/eDocs/Connections tab, as the Default Image Network Storage Path. This typically points to a folder on your server called "Images" or "Products". If this field is blank, you can create a folder in a shared directory on your server, and enter the network path in the Company Master once the file is created. The network path typically includes your server's IP address, followed by the folder name. For example: \\192.168.1.120\IMAGES would point to a folder called IMAGES on your server. Once the folder has been set, you can download or copy your product images into the folder and begin attaching them to products. Can I preview my website before I publish it? All inform e-commerce updates occur in real-time, including your initial site setup. To prevent your customers from stumbling upon your site as a work in progress, don't create a public button or link to your site until it is complete. You will still be able to view it using your public IP address, but customers will not have access. Why are my products showing up under the wrong subcategory on my site? This can occur when two or more sub categories have the same code. Even if they belong to separate Web Categories, no two sub category or sub category 2 codes may be the same. When creating sub categories, we recommend using a prefix or suffix on the Sub Category code to ensure that you do not duplicate reference numbers across categories. When I try to view my website I get an error message telling me that the system has encountered an error - how can I fix this? Your website will not display until you enter a default Customer Category in your Inform e-commerce screen in inform. This information is required. For more information on the default Customer Category, see page 14. If your website was displaying correctly and is now down, reboot your server to refresh the connection.
31 My customers get an error message saying that our system is experiencing technical difficulties when they try to place an order. How can I fix this? If your system is set to require an Order Type or Ship Via for Sales Orders (in the Company Master), you will need to set a default in your Inform e-commerce screen. If necessary, the Order Type for individual orders can be changed after they are entered. Also, if your customer is set to require a P/O number when ordering and they do not fill out the P/O number field, they will receive an error message. Notify them that they need to enter a number in this field, or change the requirement by unchecking the "Cust P/O # Req" box in the Customer Master, under the General tab. Why didn't I receive the Contact Us form that my customer filled out? While order confirmations and notifications are sent through your ActiveFax server, the Contact Us form under the My Account tab is sent using your SMTP email server settings. Check to verify that you have your SMTP server information entered in the Company Master under the SMTP Server Information tab. My customers receive an error message when accessing the Customer Purchase Analysis - how can I fix this? The Customer Purchase Analysis is an additional module that requires the use of the Business Intelligence database, as well as a subscription fee. If you are interested in learning more about installing this database on your server or the Customer Purchase Analysis, please call DDI at (203) 364-1200. If you currently have the database installed and are subscribed to the Customer Purchase Analysis module, please call DDI Customer Care to have your BI Connection String configured. If you do not want to subscribe to the Customer Purchase Analysis and would like to hide the Reporting tab from your site, uncheck the "Read Reports" web permission on all of your online ordering contacts. I set users to be notified, but they are not receiving any notification - how can I fix this? Each user that is set to be notified in your Inform e-commerce screen should also have a valid email address entered in their User Master. Check to verify that these users have valid email addresses entered, and that their initials are correct in the Inform e-commerce screen. Also verify that the notification emails are not being filtered into their Spam folder. Can I restrict customers from using a specific Unit of Measure when placing an order? Hiding a Unit of Measure will prevent it from being used on any Sales Orders placed online or in inform. This can be done on an item-by-item basis through the Product Master. For full instructions, see Hiding a Unit of Measure on page 18. Customers are having trouble accessing my site - what browsers should they be using? We recommend using Internet Explorer 8 or the latest version of Firefox or Google Chrome to access the site. Keep in mind that security settings on these browsers may cause issues if they are set too high. **Inform e-commerce is NOT compatible with Internet Explorer 6**