Ecommerce

Allow users to setup their own store or customize the checkout process specific for your application.

Overview

The ecommerce feature allows users to setup a marketplace using the CNXION platform. It provides an ability for users to sell their products to other users and buy products from other users. These 2 groups of users are called sellers and customers respectively.

Topics

Topic	Description
For Sellers	Manage your seller account.
For Customers	Manage your customer account.

Related documentation

Depending on what you are trying to do documentation for the feature is split into the following roles.

• As a developer (restricted)
• As a superuser (restricted)
• As a site administrator
• As an end user (this page)

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For sellers

Setup a seller account

Before you start selling, you'll need a seller account. If you don't already have one, you'll need to register. You can choose between a seller account or a service provider account.

To create an seller account:

1. Go to the Register form
2. Select I'm a seller or I'm a service provider
3. Enter the required details and select Register.

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Seller Profile Dashboard

You can manage your seller profile including your online store details, orders, inventory, reviews, payments and settings from your seller profile dashboard.

To access your seller profile dashboard:

1. Select My Profile from the logged in user dropdown menu.

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Online Store Details

Seller Profile Details

Profile Details contains information about store name, store location and description about your store. You can also set up avatar and banner images for your store.

To setup all your Profile Details:

1. Access your Seller Profile Dashboard
2. Go to Online Store Details > Profile Details
3. Enter Store name
4. Enter Store location
5. Enter description for your store
6. You can select Store Visibility between Published or Unpublished
7. Click on Save button

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Seller Policies

This page allows you to fill in Shipping Policy, Payment Policy, Returns Policy, Privacy Policy.

After setting up the profile details, you should set up policies for your store by:

1. Access your Seller Profile Dashboard
2. Go to Online Store Details > Policies
3. Edit your store policy details and click Save button.

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Seller FAQ

In order to set up FAQ for your seller profile:

1. Access your Seller Profile Dashboard
2. Go to Online Store Details > FAQ
3. Edit your store faq and click Save button.

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Orders

Note

Documentation to be updated

Taxes

Tax Nexus

Sales tax nexus occurs when your business has some kind of connection to a state. All states have a slightly different definition of nexus, but most of the time states consider that a “physical presence” or “economic connection” creates nexus.

Physical presence can mean a number of things, including:

• Having an office
• Having an employee
• Having a warehouse
• Having an affiliate
• Storing inventory

If you have sales tax nexus in a state, then you must collect sales tax from buyers in that state.

In order to add a tax nexus to you have to navigate to the Online Store Details > Profile Details section of your profile, then go to Tax Nexus Locations part of the form and press + Add Tax Nexus Locations label to open the Add Nexus form.

This form allows you to enter the address of a nexus. Please, make sure that all required fields are filled with relevant information. After you finish filling in the nexus address press Save. You can add as many nexuses as needed. Note that the changes in nexuses are not saved until you press Save button in the bottom of the profile form.

After you save the profile the new nexus will appear under Tax Nexus Locations label.

In order to edit an existing nexus press on the Pencil button in the nexus header to open the form. You can change multiple nexuses. To save the changes press Save button in the bottom of the profile form.

To delete a nexus press the Trashcan button in the nexus header. Note that the nexus will not be actually deleted from the profile until you save the profile by pressing Save button in the bottom of the profile form.

After a customer completes the purchase is complete the order should appear in Transactions section of your TaxJar account.

To display your tax ID to the customer you should navigate to the Online Store Details > Tax Settings section of your profile and enter it in Government Business Tax ID Number field.

Select tax categories when adding products

Please select the appropriate tax category for your product when adding a product to your shop in order for sales tax calculations to be carried out.

If your product doesn't fit into any of the tax categories available, you can select the Other category in the Tax category dropdown list, the Other tax category is not exempt from sales tax.

Discounts

Seller is able to set or withdraw discount for its products. Discount is only applied for customers, who passed verification and established as eligible for discount. Verification process is described in Customer section. Discount is set as percentage value of item subtotal(i.e. before tax) for such seller goods. Percentage value is ranging from 0 to 100. When 0 percentage is used - discount considered as withdrawn and will be emptied when form is saved.

How to set discount

• Go to seller's profile dashboard.
• Set Discount percent value to any number in range 0-100, where 0 considered as no discount and will be emptied.
• Select Save action.

Products

How to add a new product

In order to add a new product to the site you have to navigate to the Inventory > Add Product section of your profile.

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This page allows you to enter information about your product. Please, make sure that all required fields are filled with relevant information. The more complete description you provide the easier it'll be for a customer to make a decision.

After entering the information, you can click the Save button. As a result, a new product will be posted to the site and you'll be redirected to the product details page.

Adding image to a product

On the Add Product page, you are able to add image(s) for a product.

1. Select the Inventory > Add Product tab from the left hand sidebar menu.
2. Scroll down to the Images section of the Add Product form and click Browse. A file browser popup will open allowing you to select the image you wish to upload. You may select multiple images from the file browser popup to upload at the same time.
3. The images you have uploaded will appear in a grid under the upload image field. You are able to Remove images you have uploaded from the link under the image tiles in this grid.
4. The save button on the Add Product form will be disabled until all image(s) have finished uploading. When images have finished uploading you will be able to save the form and the product images will be added/updated.

Note

Accepted file types for images are: jpeg, png, gif, jpg, pjpeg, x-png. Maximum uploadable file size is 5MB. Multiple files may be uploaded. Recommended image resolution is 1100px x 1100px for retina displays, 550px x 550px for non-retina displays. Please resize, crop and optimize your images to specified recommendations.

Made to order products

For products that are made to order it is recommended to follow the following steps when adding the product to your shop:

1. Add a high stock level quantity for the item so it will not go out of stock.
2. Add a description regarding the made to order details of the item.
3. Add the Made to order keyword to the item so it will display as appropriate in search results.

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List of products

In order to view your products, go to Inventory > Products section.

The list contains valuable information about both your products and their variations, including:

• image
• product name
• list of variations with direct links to manage them
• unit price range
• stock level range
• status - if any of the variation is out of stock it becomes out of stock too

How to edit a product

Sometimes it may be necessary to update a description of some product. In order to do so, navigate to the Inventory > Products section of your profile.

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In this section you will see a complete list of products you've created earlier. Find the product you need to edit and click a button with the Gear icon. You'll see a menu with all actions available for this product. Click the edit action. As a result, you'll be redirected to a page similar to the one you saw in the How to add a new product section of this document, but all fields will be populated with the data you entered earlier. Now you can make the needed changes and click the Save button to apply them.

Sorting products

It is possible to sort products using drag and drop mechanism on the products list page. Order of products is auto-saved and stored in the context of a seller.

Order of products is preserved when viewing seller detail page as a Customer. See example:

Seller orders products like this:

Order of products on seller detail page is preserved:

Product variations

The ecommerce feature has a concept of product variations. Each product can have some options, which may be different among items of the same product. For example, a smartphone can have a white, black or yellow covering; a t-shirt may have M, L and XL sizes; a picture frame may be made out of wood, stone or plastic; etc.

When you create a new product CNXION platform automatically generates a default product variation for it. But you can add as many variations as needed.

In order to add new product variations you need to enter a list of product options first. To do that navigate to the Inventory > Product Options page and click the Add Product Option Group button.

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As a result you will be redirected to a page that allows to create a new product options group. A product options groups contains a number of options which you can later set for product variations. For example, you may have a group called Color which will contain options Red, Green, Blue and Silver.

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After entering a name for a new group, you can click the Save button and this group will be created. When the group is created you'll be able to fill it with options. In order to do that find your group at the Inventory > Product Options page, click a button with the Gear icon and select the edit menu option.

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Click the Add Option button to add a new option to this group. Please, note that it is possible to add only one option at a time for now. So, you may need to repeat this procedure several times.

When product options are defined you are ready to add new variations to your products. In order to do it navigate to the edit page of a product and click the Add variation button.

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This page allows you to specify details for a new product variation. In order to create a new product variation you have to enter relevant data to all required fields and click the Save button.

Please, note that prices, quantity and SKU are set for product variations. It means that you can set different prices for different variations of your products if needed.

Sorting variations

It is possible to sort variations using drag and drop mechanism on the product edit page. Order of variations is auto-saved and stored in the context of a related product.

Order of variations is preserved when viewing product detail page as a Customer. See example:

Seller orders variations like this:

Order of variations on product detail page is preserved:

Duplicate a variation

Seller can duplicate a variation in the context of a product. During that operation not only the variation data itself is cloned, but all relations as well: shipping locations, shipping package sizes, shipping rates, shipping packages, images and options. New (copied) variation is marked as not default and its SKU is prefixed with Copy of:

1. Open Inventory -> Product
2. Click to edit a Product
3. At Product Variation section, Click Setting -> Duplicate at variation which you want to copy

1. Click on Save button

-> Your variation will be copied with prefix :'Copy of '

Duplicate a Product

Seller can duplicate a product. During that operation not only the product data itself is cloned, but all relations as well: shipping locations, shipping package sizes, shipping rates, shipping packages, images and variations. New (copied) product is marked as not published and its name is prefixed with Copy of.

1. Open Inventory -> Product
2. Click on Duplicate product

1. Click on Save button -> New dupicated product will have prefix :"Copy of"

Removing a product

For now, we have no option to hard delete a product directly from a store as it may be linked with past orders, stock levels and financial inforamtion. If you would like to archive a specific Product or Variation so that it is no longer puchasable, you can mark the Product or Variation as out of stock by setting the quantity equal to 0.

1. Click to edit a Product
2. Click to edit Variation
3. Set the Quantity to 0 then save the Product

This product has been marked as "Out of stock" in the products list.

Featured Product on Homepage

If this feature is enabled for your platform, you can set a product as featured to be displayed on the home page:

1. Open Admin page
2. Open Ecommerce › Ecommerce Products
3. Open the product you wish to set as featured

4. Select the checkbox Is featured

   

5. Click the Save button

6. The product will now be displayed in the Featured section of your home page

   

7. You can also filter the products to display those that have been set to featured using the By is featured section

   

Note

It may take some time for the changes to appear on the homepage due to caching policies.

Shipping

Each product and product variation page has a section related to shipping. Using this section you can enter shipping information for your products. By default shipping variations use shipping information entered for the relevant products. However, if you specify this information only for a product variation or for both product and product variation, then information from a product variation will be used. So, you can specify different shipping options for different product variations if needed.

For each product and product variation you can specify several shipping options. While setting up a shipping option you have to define a destination, a shipping provider, shipping services you are going to use and shipping rates for your customers.

While setting up a shipping option you have to define a destination, you can set Destination is "Everywhere", it means the product can be shipped to everywhere in the world. You also can set a specify country or multiple countries.

After setting up Destination, you need to select a shipping provider, shipping services you are going to use and shipping rates for your customers, then click on Submit button to finish. Make sure the shipping rate you just created will be displayed in the page.

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A shipping provider is a carrier company which provides services you may use to ship your products. For example, FedEx is a shipping provider. You may select them out of a list of providers supported by the platform.

Shipping services are services provided by carrier companies to ship items. For example, they may provide services to ship regular items, heavy items, alcohol, etc. You may select them out of a list of services provided by the selected provider.

Shipping rates define a way your customers will be charged for shipping. The CNXION platform has 3 types of shipping rates: free, fixed and calculated.

When you choose the free rate option for a product your customers won't be charged for shipping. So, in this case you are going to handle all shipping related expenses on your own.

When you choose the fixed rate option for a product your customers will be charged a set amount of money for shipping. You are free to set whatever price you want. This option allows you to set a shipping price for the first item being shipped and for all other items separately. So, you can provide discounts, ship additional items free of charge (just set this price to $0), etc.

When you choose the calculated rate option for a product your customers will be charged for shipping based on rates we retrieve automatically from the shipping provider you have chosen. Each item being shipped will be charged individually.

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Orders

You can manage all your orders by clicking on Orders in the left hand sidebar menu of your user profile. The list of orders will be displayed in the Orders table with the following information: OrderID, Customer, Order Date, Items, Total amount, Paid.

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Order Details

You can open the order details page by clicking on the order id.

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Order Shipping Status

As a seller, you are able to change the shipping status of orders. If you mark an order as Cancelled or Returned, the stock levels of items in the order need to be manually updated.

Adjust Stock Levels for Cancelled or Returned Orders

From the Inventory > Products tab, select the products that were included in the cancelled or returned order and and adjust the stock level to account for the cancellation or returned item.

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Adding custom search terms

Product Categories and Keywords

Product categories and keywords defined when adding an inventory item to your profile will be indexed as search terms for buyers to search for.

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Shop/Profile

Name

Users can also search for products in your shop by searching for your shop name.

For example, when your shop name is My Awesome Shop, when users search for My Awesome Shop, your shop profile will appear in search results as well as all products of the shop.

Note

If your shop name is written in Camel Case whithout any spaces between the words (eg. MyAwesomeShop) please also make sure to enter your shop name separated out into individual search keywords (eg. My Awesome Shop) so users will be able to find your store if entering the words separately.

Search Keywords

The Online Store Details > Profile Details section of your shop profile contains a Search field where you can add your own search keywords (aka meta tags). When users search for the terms entered in this field your shop profile will be returned in search results.

After that users searching for that keyword were able to found the shop.

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For customers

Note

Documentation to be updated

Setup a customer account

Note

Documentation to be updated

Product page details

Note

Documentation to be updated

Buy a product

As a buyer, you are able to buy products from the online store quickly and easily. From the homepage, you can find and buy handmade products for you and your pets.

To buy a product from the online store:

1. Visit search page by clicking search icon in navigation bar and search products from search bar.

2. Visit the product detail page for an item you wish to buy.

3. Click Add to Cart.

4. When you've finished adding items to your cart, click the Shopping Cart icon.

5. Enter your Personal details.

6. Enter your Shipping Address and also Billing Address.

7. Enter your Shipping Options.

8. Add a credit card or select a previously entered Credit Card.

9. Click the Pay Now button. You'll see an order confirmation screen when your purchase has been completed.

Update product quantity in cart

As a customer/buyer, you can update the quantity of products in your cart.

Steps:

1. Go to Cart Items.
2. Change quantity values of items in cart as desired.
3. Click on Update Cart button to save your changes.

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Remove Cart Item

As a customer/buyer, you can remove an item from your cart.

1. Go to Cart Items.
2. Click remove link next to item you wish to remove.
3. Click on Update Cart button to save your changes.

Apply discount for cart

Platform owner can provide discount system by setting eligible groups of customers for discount and enabling sellers to set discount for those groups. Customer can apply for discount by passing eligibility verification during checkout process. This is made possible via third party service called SheerID.com. That service maintains its database of students, military and other preferred categories of people. Customer can fill in its information in special form, so SheerID can check it against that database. In result customer should see confirmation screen with action button to apply discount code. Later during checkout process discount information will be shown to customer.

How to apply for discount

• Go to product details page.
• Add product to cart.
• On cart page you should see button "Confirm Eligibility as {program_name}"

• Start eligibility verification process

  • Select "Confirm Eligibility as {program_name}" action.
  • Modal with a form appears. You need to fill in details and pass through the verification process.
  • After verification process succeeded - you should see screen with "use code now" action.
  • Select "use code now" action.
  • Page is reloaded with updated information.

• You should see "Eligible as {program_name}" showed instead of "Confirm Eligibility as {program_name}" action.

• Select "Go To Checkout" action.
• During checkout process you should see positive amount in discount value that is reflected to total value in checkout price breakdown.