By Paul Lang, Editor, Sell It!
October 10, 1998

See Also   How to Choose a Shopping Cart   StoreSense Pro   Click and Build   eCongo Free Commerce   EasyCart   FreeMerchant   Merchant Planet   Merchant Manager   Yahoo! Store   MerchandiZer

Overall
If you're in the market for a Web commerce package, MerchandiZer is a first-rate product worthy of inclusion in any short list.

Less experienced store builders will appreciate the intuitive wizard interface that simplifies the store set up process. The more savvy user can however, choose to build their store via a forms interface which provides a high degree of flexibility.

The product is priced attractively and includes a number of very useful tools, for example HipHip's Mail Shot software for managing promotional e-mails and go IIS's comprehensive server statistics package, Statistics Server 4.0.

Set Up
The MerchandiZer store is built using a dedicated Manager program that is run in a Web browser. Unlike many of its competitors, MerchandiZer provides two different ways of building a store. Less savvy users can employ the very simple MZ wizard whilst more experienced users can use a series of HTML forms to define their store.

The first step in the set up process is to define basic configuration options such as colours, background images, and store contact information. Once this is done, the structure has to be defined for the store and for the goods that are to be sold in it.

MerchandiZer uses a concept of folders, sub-folders, and drop down items. These are best explained by way of an example: in a clothing store one of the folders would be "Shoes", a sub-folder would be "Sports Shoes" and the drop down items would be "Size 2", "Size 3" etc.

A template controls the layout of each page, and there are fifteen to choose from. A template style is not fixed for the whole store, but can be varied by sub-folder. This allows a different look to be applied to different sections of the store. Returning to our example, one template could be chosen for "sports shoes" and a completely different one for "ladies shoes". This illustrates nicely the high degree of flexibility that MerchandiZer provides.

The next step is to add the items in to the store. Descriptions, prices, custom images etc. are entered in to a form and then assigned to one or more sub-folders. Images can be uploaded to the server using a transfer function built in to the Manager program.

Alternatively, item data can be imported from an existing database. On request, MerchandiZer will provide the merchant with an off-line Access database. Data from existing catalogues is then transferred in to the Access database using its extensive data import capabilities. Once the product catalogue has been loaded into Access, MerchandiZer's batch transfer program converts it in to an on-line SQL Server catalogue.

All product descriptions and references to images are stored in a SQL Server database, which enables extremely fast searches. A Search Catalogue Spider searches the online catalogue and places all words into a search engine. This allows customers to search by category, item, product number, or any other way that the merchant chooses to define.

Merchants have the option to set up a members area. As part of the sign-up process, customers are invited to select from a number of keywords that describe their interests. These keywords, which are defined by the merchant during store set up, can be used later for targeted e-mail marketing. MerchandiZer includes HipHip's Mail Shots program for this purpose.

There is also an associate-tracking capability that allows merchants to set up and manage affiliate programs.

The level of support provided is good. A store tour and a working demonstration serve as an excellent introduction. And every field in the set up forms has one or two lines beside it that describes what data is required to complete it. Unlimited, free e-mail support is also provided whilst telephone support is charged for.

There are two pricing options for MerchandiZer, a monthly rental scheme or outright purchase.

The pricing for the monthly rental scheme or charter plan, which includes hosting and free upgrade to future versions of the software, is dependent on the number of items the store carries. The monthly cost for up to 100 items is $80, up to 500 items is $100, up to 1000 items is $150 and up to 3000 items is $200. Pricing for stores with more than 3000 items are available on request. There is a $150 set up fee, with an additional $150 being payable by those who choose to use the optional ICVERIFY program for credit card authorisation and processing.

Order processing
Order processing options are also set up using the Manager program.

Orders can be placed on-line, or customers can complete and print out an order form for mailing along with a cheque. Credit cards are currently the only on-line payment method available, although eCHARGE will be added in the near future. An option is available to use ICVERIFY for real-time credit card authorisation and debiting. On line transactions are secured using SSL.

Shipping costs are set up manually, with a simple HTML form needing to be completed for each shipping option that is to be offered. This provides a high degree of flexibility that allows world-wide shipping costs to adequately catered for.

UPS Shipping is a new addition to the latest release of MerchandiZer. The shopper can select UPS delivery methods and the UPS online calculator automatically calculates shipping charges. Choosing this ship method also allows both the customer and the merchant to track an order from the storefront using the UPS tracking number.

Also new to this latest release is the automatic calculation of sales tax based on the billing address of the customer.

Every order is acknowledged by e-mail to the customer, with a copy also being sent to the merchant. Customers can track their orders on-line using their membership number which is included with their order acknowledgement.

On the downside, there is no tie in to any existing inventory management systems that a merchant may have. The merchant has to manually update his order book each time a shipment is made.

Administration
Once again, the Manager program is used for all store administration tasks. Any property of the store or its merchandise can be quickly edited by going to the relevant form, selecting the item for editing and then changing the required field.

MerchandiZer provides a number of ways for handling promotions. Any item can be assigned a "sale" price and the items then appear in their own special promotions section. And new items added to the store can be assigned an entry and an exit date between which dates the items will appear in a section dedicated to new items.

The software also supports the creation and management of discount clubs. The merchant can set the system to show "club" discounted prices next to the regular prices. Members of the club are automatically recognised at the checkout and the discounted price is applied to their order automatically.

An extensive list of reports is available to assist with day-to-day store management. These include:

• New Customers This Month
• Items to be Shipped
• Orders Received - Summary
• Orders Received - Details
• Orders Received by Item
• Sales Analysis by Day

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Links
MerchandiZer		http://www.merchandizer.com