Next Generation Shopping » Shopping Comparison

ASP.NET E-Commerce Software – Guest Commentary on AbleCommerce

admin — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:28:25 +0000

This is a follow up to my previous post “Open Source E-Commerce Storefront Solutions Comparison for ASP.NET and PHP” in which I had compared two open source E-Commerce solutions (one for ASP.NET and one for PHP) as well as a full-source paid solution (Znode Storefront).

First off, a couple updates with regards to Znode…

Znode Storefronts has recently changed their pricing structure. They have dropped their Standard edition since my original blog post. Now they have Professional, Advanced, and Server editions. The reason I mention this is because the Professional price is labeled at $995, a $500 jump from the now extinct Standard version. This puts the software in the same category as other popular ASP.NET E-Commerce solutions, and so more must be expected.
Znode has launched a Developer portal and Knowledgebase at kb.znode.com. They seem to be off to a good start with that, and hopefully it will continue to grow. A strong developer community and responsive customer support is really what makes a product shine!

As I previously mentioned, Znode has hiked its price up. Two other solutions that are currently set in the same price range of a thousand bucks are ASPDotNet Storefront (ML Edition / DotNetNuke) and AbleCommerce 7.0. In this post we’ve got some great guest commentary from one of our readers, Jim Swanson. He recently had to make a decision in which he looked at Znode, AbleCommerce and ASPDotNetStorefront. In his research he found AbleCommerce to be the most promising for ventures.

Here is what he had to say:

“It is a fantastic thing that these two vendors have competing products. They are really pushing each other to satisfy their customers. If one vendor implements a hot feature the other is forced to follow up. At this point you really can’t go wrong by choosing either.

The 3 things I really like about AbleCommerce are:

Admin design. They really put a lot of time and design effort into making their new 7.0 Admin interface usable and nice to look at. I’m a developer-type so I’m used to engineering interfaces. But the clients I’ve demoed in front of seem to prefer the AC interface. And since they are the ones that will be handling the day-to-day interactions that is important.

Community support. The AC support and community forums are an awesome source of information. People seem very helpful and there is tons of information for many common types of customizations. The AC generated documentation is also top quality.

Standard ASP.NET customization support. In version 7.0 AC switched over to using standard ASP.NET themes and nVelocity for customization.

I’ve worked extensively with both in the past so it is a great fit for me. I tend to steer away from the custom scripting and xml customizations (like there was in AC 4 and 5.5). The new nVelocity gives complete control over almost every facet of the generated UI. I can feel the power surging through my veins

It’s been really interesting to gather information about all these products. You have to shift through lots of bogus reviews and partial information to get to the real content.

Jim”

Thanks for the information Jim! If anyone is looking into ASPDotNetStorefront or has experience with it, we’d love to hear from you as well! Any other comments or discussion points are welcome too.

NOTE: One drawback I must address here is that to get the full AbleCommerce C# source code, you’ve got to shell out an extra $495. I’d also like to point to AbleCommerce’s active developer forums, and the CEO’s blog.

Technorati tags: e-commerce, asp.net, developers, storefront, ablecommerce, znode storefront, aspdontnetstorefront

Half.com API Launch – eBay Announces Half.com Products within eBay Shopping Web Services

admin — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:55:26 +0000

Finally a Half.com API? I just got word that the Half.com product inventory will now be available through the eBay Shopping Web Services. It seems that it is actually just an additional API call (FindHalfProducts) rather than a full API itself. I (and other developers) have been wondering for some time now why eBay hasn’t made this feature available to its web publisher and developer network.

This API feature had been slated for release during July ’07 according to the eBay Road Map.

More news coming next week. Right from the e-mail:

How does this help me?

Half.com product and pricing information will now be available via a Shopping API returning data in near real time. This will allow you to provide your shoppers with accurate and up-to-date information.

Where can I get more information?

Information will be available at developer.ebay.com. The API name is “FindHalfProducts” and it is available as a Shopping Services API.

How do I sign up and begin ramping up using the API?

Signing up is simple and free: You must have a developer account at developer.ebay.com. Documentation for the new FindHalfProducts API will be available at:
developer.ebay.com/DevZone/shopping/docs/CallRef/index.html

When will this be available?

We are shooting for the API to be available next week! Watch for a follow-up notice to announce availability!

Web Publishers: Half.com has a separate affiliate program running on CJ.

Technorati tags: ebay, web services, shopping, half.com, half.com api, ebay api

The Nintendo Wii Story – A Circuit City and FedEx SmartPost Shipping Tragedy

admin — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:11:50 +0000

I often post from the point of view of eithier a developer or an industry analyst. This post is not one of them.

Lately, I’ve run into trouble as an online consumer. Specifically getting shipments. Here is a real-life post from being an everyday consumer:

I ordered a Nintendo Wii from CircuitCity.com on August 30th. I got it right before they sold out. Everyone here was really excited about it. Well, it still hasn’t been delivered yet. Here is my FedEx SmartPost tracking log:

Today is only one day after the estimated delivery date, but it hasn’t moved from the Edison NJ warehouse in 4 business days. I’m starting to think something is wrong so I decided I’d try to find out.

I started out by calling FedEx.

FedEx Rep 1:
Rep 1: Thanks for calling FedEx…
Me: Hi, I’m trying to track a SmartPost package…
Rep 1: We don’t track FedEx SmartPost, you have to call your local post office.

Ok, calling the post office

Local Post Office Rep (Pat):
…
Pat: Do you have a tracking ID?
Me: I believe so. (Read the number).
Pat: That looks to be a FedEx number. We probably haven’t received any information from FedEx yet.

Back to square 1. I call FedEx again.

FedEx Rep 2:
Rep 1: Thanks for calling FedEx…
Me: Hi, I’m trying to track a SmartPost package…
Rep 2: Let me transfer you to SmartPost department.
Me: (Thinking why the hell couldn’t you do that the first time?)

Wait to be transferred…

SmartPost Rep (Mary):
Mary: Hi, how can I help you?
Me: (Explains the whole situation)
Mary: We are a 3rd party organization that hands off packages from FedEx to the Post office for finally delivery. We usually have a 1-3 business day turn around once it enters the Sortation (that can’t be a real word) facility. Since it hasn’t moved since September 7th, I would say there is something wrong with your package. Perhaps the package, packaging or label was damaged. I would call Circuit City and tell them you talked to us, and we feel that the package has been damaged or lost.

Great, now to call Circuit City…

Circuit City Rep (Michelle):
Michelle: You can only report lost after 15 business days from shipment.
Me: So I can’t do anything until September 20th?
Michelle: I’m sorry sir, but we can’t report it lost until 15 business days from the shipment.

End of Story

I’m still hopeful that I might get my package, but this whole thing has turned into a nightmare. I thought I’d save a couple bucks for free shipping. I should know better. Now some kid who works at the Edison FedEx sortation facility is probably playing my stolen Nintendo Wii right now; or maybe its on the back off an unmarked truck to be sold on the black market… who knows, but at least I’m optimistic.

Lessons learned

Never use free shipping from Circuit City again.

Never receive or ship using FedEx SmartPost (I’m not the only one that has problems).

Stop shopping online its not worth it =)

HackerSafe – Add a Trustmark and Boost Your Comparison Shopping Revenues

admin — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:42:53 +0000

ScanAlert’s HackerSafe has been making some big headlines recently with the announcements of partnerships with both Yahoo! Shopping and PriceGrabber. These engines have integrated the HackerSafe trustmark feed into their comparison shopping portals. For specifics on the trustmark feed, check out the intro on the HackerSafe site here.

Why would comparison shopping engines be interested in HackerSafe? For starters, the service boasts that: “Tests confirm 15% average conversion increase when your HackerSafe image is displayed directly in comparison shopping search result pages.”

Joe Lazarus, director of marketing at Yahoo Shopping, states: “Combining enhanced security information with price, user ratings and merchant reviews helps online shoppers make more informed and trusted buying decisions.”

Despite such claims, many in the industry are still unsure what the true benefits of these partnerships will be. There are some interesting user comments on a recent GrokDotCom blog entry about whether or not the trust seal brings real value to consumers. Only time (and good solid analysis) will tell.

As a seasoned online shopper with over a decade of experience, I can say that I personally don’t take the time to check for “HackerSafe” or other trustmarks on a merchant product page. However, taking out the price and the brandname factors, I’d be likely to pick a “HackerSafe” trustmarked merchant site over unmarked sites, especially if they were placed right in front of my face on a comparison shopping product page.

Two large-scale integrations is a great start for HackerSafe, and I anticipate more partnerships and continued innovation in this field. I’m not sure how their “feed” currently operates, but I’d love to see a standardized web service (like BuySafe has) be on their roadmap. This would allow developers widespread access to their product, and increase the value of their product for their merchant customers. For now, interested parties can find out more information about HackerSafe and its trustmark feed here.

Resources and More on this topic:

ScanAlert HackerSafe is Good and .. Yahoo! and PriceGrabber agree

E-Commerce Optimization – Yahoo Shopping & ScanAlert Announce Partnership

InternetRetailer – Yahoo Shopping adds trust marks as another comparison element

PriceGrabber Press Release

Technorati tags: yahoo shopping, pricegrabber, hackersafe, scanalert, web services, trustmark, datafeed, consumer, ecommerce

PayPal Ready to Buy Into the Facebook App Market

admin — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:50:07 +0000

PayPal is ready to give away $25,000 to seven Facebook developers who create innovative applications that utilize the Facebook platform and the PayPal API. The following is a break down of the awards:

Grand Prize (1) - $10,000

Second Prizes (2) – $5,000

Third Prizes (4) – $2,500

Check out the comments on this Mashable post as their has been some controversy over the rules of the contest, which have just recently been updated (better for the developers). More about the new terms on AuctionBytes.

Technorati tags: facebook, shopping, ecommerce, ebay, paypal