An e-commerce store building checklist:

Here are the things you will want to be aware of when working on your business plan for your e-business. This is not intended to be done alone by someone with no e-experience, so fill it out to the best of your ability, and then give us call so that we may help.

Store Name:

Platform:

Type of Sale:
___Retail (sale to end user)
___Wholesale, business-to-business (to resellers or manufacturers)
___ Desire to do both

Products
Type of Products:

How many products (separate SKU numbers) do you plan for your store? _____.

Do these SKU numbers represent different colors or sizes for the same product? Yes___ No___

Options (color, size, etc. in a drop-down menu).
This number of products ______ has an average of ___ options each.
Did you count each of the options as a different product above?___Yes ___No

Product Photos
A substantial part of the cost of developing a store is in preparing the product photos. But, of course, they are often what motivate people to purchase.

Number of product photos ________

Format: ___Prints ___Transparencies ___Digitized (scanned)
___Web Ready (digitized, sized, optional border, JPEG or GIF format)

Product Information Format
Typical product information needed (depending upon the complexity of your site): SKU, Product Name, Product Description, Weight, Price, Picture File Name, Category, Subcategory, Related product SKUs for cross-selling, color/size option of SKU, other descriptive fields (such as ISBN for books), etc. These will usually be fields in a spreadsheet or database.

Database Format
__Not currently in database or spreadsheet __Excel __FileMaker Pro __Access __Foxpro __Sybase __Oracle __Other_________________

Categories of Products
The larger the store, the more categories you'll need. Site menus and search engines use these categories to group products so shoppers can find them quickly. We'll need a list of these from you. You'll also need to put the category and subcategory(ies) in fields in your database.

Number of Main Categories or "Departments" ______

Total number of Subcategories in all "departments _____

Sketch Your Preferred Product Page Layout(s)
on the other side of this form. Show preferred placement of: (1) product photo, (2) product name, (3) product SKU, (4) product description, (5) price, and (6) order button.

Shipping
Shipping Options Offered
___Ground ___2nd Day ___Overnight

Carrier:
___UPS ___FedEx ___Airborne ___Postal Service __Other

Shipping Calculation Method __________________
___Disable shipping calculation

Sales Tax
States or Counties where collection is required

Percent Sales Tax

Payment Transaction
Payment Methods Allowed
___Visa ___MasterCard ___American Express ___Discover___
COD ___Purchase Order ___Reseller Account No. ___
Other:___________________________________

Credit Card Authorization
___Real-time on-line credit card authorization
___Desktop credit card processing after order is received (begin here if you have an existing Merchant Credit Card Account)

Secure Order Reception
Digital Certificate of Site Security
SSL Secure Servers use a Digital Certificate signed by a recognized authority (which tells the shopper's Web browser that the store is what it purports to be. The configuration of a dedictated server requires each store to have its own Digital Certificate (at a cost of several hundred dollars per year). Our shared environment allows users to use the server's digital certificate. If you need a separate Digital Certificate, for an additional fee, we will interface with VeriSign for you, saving you a considerable hassle.

Accounting and Inventory
Accounting Program Used
___QuickBooks ___Peachtree ___Mail Order Manager ___Other

Do you want to integrate Web orders with accounting program? (special programming probably required) ___Yes ___Maybe Later ___No

Do you want to integrate Web orders with an inventory program? ___Yes ___No

Special Order Form Instructions
___Gift wrapping
___Gift card inscription
___Shipping instructions
___Other


if yu have any other questions, please call Chris at 860-647-7725 x 202.

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