Miesięczne archiwum: grudzień 2015

Release i-systems – version 3.46

Another software upgrade has been released. The changelog lists as many as 59 items and is one of the biggest upgrades in the history of i-systems software. Every changelog consist of new features, bug fixes and refactoring. The most interesting changes in release 3.46 include:

Adding a content preview of the order status change notification for the customer

Sales service is related to sending the target customer information about the current status. Now it is enough to click the magnifying glass icon next to the order information to see the content of all messages directly in the panel. This change allows for a quick check of the correspondence with the customer and control of message correctness.

Adding a class for multivariant distribution to separate filters in the advanced product browser

Some products have many variables by which they can be browsed. Shoes from the newbalance.pl shop are an example here: the footwear from individual collections has two variants – standard size and shoe width (a rarer parameter). Thus, the browsed products previously had to fulfill both conditions to be displayed on the list of browsing results. The new class in the PAS (Product Advanced Search) browser allows for distributing both variants to two independent filters. As in the newbalance.pl shop, the customer can now find the New Balance ML574POG shoe model no matter if he/she uses a “size 42.5” or a “D width” filter.

Product-page-view

Adding a task module in the background

Customer teams operating an online shop wish to send information packages comfortably via API to the shipment manager. With several hundred or more orders, such information takes up a lot of space, but API usually requires sending all information via one request. This activity may last longer and thus hinder the work. The task module in the background allows for performing time-consuming operations in the background of the system. No more rotating loaders or white pages while waiting for the target page to open – the operations are now delegated. At the same time, the customer service staff can see the task progress status.

Adding a box module

Personalization of online shopping is currently implemented in many ways. One of them may be offering the target customer the possibility of choosing the packaging. The customer can select a box for the goods in the order basket.
The boxes have a virtual warehouse status, which serves solely informative purposes useful to the shop administrator. The box in the basket is only available for the products which have an appropriate box size ascribed. It has a name, color, size, warehouse status and photo.
The shop staff can see the information about the selected boxes in order details and on generated shipment lists. Box selection is displayed next to every ordered item for which the box has been chosen. There is also a summary at the bottom of the generated document, which includes the number of boxes for the selected configurations of size and color. This minimizes the risk of making a mistake when packing the products.

Adding a shipment plug-in for InPost service

Release 3.46 has also widened the range of courier companies available. InPost courier services are provided in Poland and 18 European countries. Recipients expecting a quick delivery may also choose an option of guaranteed delivery till the noon of the next working day (though one must remember that this service is only available in selected places in Poland). At the beginning, the integration uses the option of payment on collection, but it will be possible to configure other forms of delivery in the future.

Adding the handling of cookies in the affiliate partner module

The affiliate module is aimed at tracking the visits of target customers from the partners with which the shop signed a partnership agreement. Such partners may include blogs, news websites, advertizing networks and other online shops. Each partner is identified individually using a GET parameter. The identification allows for settlement between the partners: if the target customer visits the shop by clicking the partner’s link and makes a purchase, a suitable piece of information will be displayed in the order view in the administrative panel. The added cookie handling function replaces the session-based solution and will measure affiliations better.

Improvement of UX of the purchase process

The release also includes changes immediately visible to the customers. The 3.46 version has improved minor design elements in the order summary. Thus, the content is now displayed better on mobile devices and the phenomenon of abandoning the baskets should decrease.

Adding new authentication methods via REST

The safety of connections is one of the most important issues in eCommerce and the entire IT. The applications are now protected against unauthorized access by REST-handled authentication methods such as SessionCookie, OAuth1 and HTTPAuthBasic.

This is the last series 3 release – the next software upgrade will already be numbered as 4.0. Beside standard updates, it will also refresh the whole administrative panel layout. Stay tuned for the details.

The new eCommerce system in 5.10.15.

A new shop for Komex is already online. Komex, the owner of a stationary shop chain 5.10.15., is one of Poland’s biggest retail sales chains. It currently owns over 230 stationary shops, where it sells children’s clothing and accessories. The cooperation with i-systems is aimed at enhancing the use of online sale potential.

Changes in the shop

The new online shop means not only a new image and a wider offer, but also many new options for customers: they can now preview the available sizes on product lists as well as use enriched search and filtering options. Moreover, a full mechanism of promotion combined with a refreshed loyalty program was created. More efficient system integration allows for faster delivery of orders to customers. Thus, the majority of packages is sent on the day of placing the order and delivered the next day.

Mobile consumers set the standards

The entire eCommerce system was prepared according to the best standards of Responsive Web Design. The new online shop of 5.10.15. automatically adjusts to the resolution of the screen on which it is viewed. All the development works concerning the full mobility of the online shop were carried out according to the Mobile First rule, which means that the shop layout on the smallest devices was prepared first and then the workspace was widened. Shop implementation also followed that rule. Thus, shopping on mobile devices is now much simpler.

eCommerce is the fastest developing sales channel. The reasons are obvious: it is comfortable and saves time as well as, oftentimes, money. Young generations, which grew up with computers, tablets and smartphones, are becoming parents today and eagerly choose that kind of shopping. Thus, we treat eCommerce as a promising sales channel and mobile shopping as its strong basis. The entire eCommerce will soon be very mobile; it will intermingle with traditional shopping, the ROPO effect will increase and… the market will become crowded. That is why we are preparing for it as early as today” said Tomasz Sulejewski, eCommerce Manager in Komex.

51015

Dedicated eCommerce integrations

Large stationary sales chains such as Komex act on the basis of precisely defined business processes. Their skillful transfer to eCommerce and subsequent optimization is very important. One of the key implementation elements was the creation of dedicated integrations affecting the sales system. The 5.10.15. brand has several affiliate partners within the sales network. Thus, we prepared a module allowing for launching the integration with affiliate networks and flexible management of parameters for each network” highlighted Marek Pawlak, Project Manager in i-systems.

The system also offers advanced integration with ERP. The integration is responsible for product and promotion management plus sales reporting. Its detailed functions include communication with the ERP system and updating the products and their prices; it also regularly sends to the ERP system the information about completed orders and trade documents issued in connection with them.

SAP logistic outsourcing solutions were also implemented, via integration with a Partner, in the new online shop at http://www.51015kids.eu/. This allows one to control the handling of the whole order.

Omnichannel retailing challenges

The scale of the undertaking presented by the new eCommerce system for the 5.10.15. brand made it necessary to divide the works into several stages. The first step in combining online and stationary sales was the possibility of checking the locations of all stationary shops belonging to the brand in Poland. Then, the loyalty program was unified in all channels: now it is coherent both online and offline. The next functions taking advantage of the multichannel idea will be implemented systematically as part of an adopted action plan.

“The platform constructed by i-systems based on modern standards is a prelude to further cooperation and the beginning of implementing the omnichannel strategy in full, since we are currently working on the latter,” claims Sebastian Moleda, Operations Director in Komex.

The implemented platform can be viewed online at http://www.51015kids.eu/.