bC

Basket

• Cart Summary

  The cart summary page shows an itemised list of products in the customer's cart as well as delivery costs, discounts applicable, and tax/VAT. Customers are able to enter coupon codes on the cart summary page, redeem loyalty points they may have earned (requires the customer to be logged in), enter in gift card codes, and also view a range of upsell products relevant to the items they already have in their cart and their current browsing history.

• Multiple shipping methods

  Shipping methods may be specified by country or by country and region, and various brackets are available to specify shipping methods such as weight, price, order %, number of packages, and other generic criteria (e.g. all purple products have a 11% surcharge when shipped to Italy on a Thursday).

• Mini cart

  The mini cart gives customers a snapshot view of items in their shopping cart at all times. Each time an item is added to the customer's cart, the mini cart is updated immediately and even allows 'on-the-fly' editing of their basket contents in any location on the website. The mini cart can also be set to display real-time shipping rates and even accommodate up- selling.

• Order Splitting

  In order to fulfil the need for order fulfillment via multiple physical warehouses, or a single warehouse with multiple packages for a single order (e.g. two items refrigerated, one item non), we have the facility to automatically split orders into multiple sub-orders according to your business process requirements.

Checkout

• Single-page checkout

  The mini checkout is a true single-page checkout, allowing rapid entry of all order data from a single screen.

• Normal checkout

  The normal checkout is a 5 or 6 (dependent upon whether shipping is required) step process, although is presented in an easy-to use single-page layout. Both checkouts automatically populate with stored customer details, including credit card (stored in a fully PCI DSS compliant fashion (heavy encryption)), and allow rapid checkout for returning customers.

• Guest checkout

  Customers can opt to checkout as a guest if they wish. Upon completing their order, they are provided with the opportunity to create a full account, simply by adding a password. We have found that this increases both sales conversions and account creation conversions.

• Repeat orders

  On the final step of the checkout process, customers can choose to their order automatically repeated in x number of days. An email reminder is sent to the customer and with one click, they can complete the order again or add further items to it.

• Multi delivery destinations

  Customers can opt to have their order sent to separate delivery addresses and even choose different delivery methods for each address.

Customer account area

• Order history

  All orders are tracked in a central location. Customers are able to view the full details of their order (e.g. which billing/delivery address it is being sent to, which items are in the order), and see up to the minute order tracking details. Any action taken in the site order admin area can be relayed through to the customers account area so they are kept fully informed of their order status.

• Re-orders

  A popular feature for sites that sell perishable goods is the 're-order' feature. The re-order page lists all products the customer has ever purchased, and the customer can manually specify which items they would like to order again. With a couple of clicks, their shopping cart is populated and they can begin the checkout process.

• Address book

  Customers can create as many billing and delivery addresses as they wish and at any point can edit or delete them. Each address created can be specified as the 'default' address to save time when checking out.

• Wish list

  Customers can save products on your site to a either a public wishlist, or a private wishlist both of which are managed through the customers' account area. The former creates a unique URL that the customer can email or otherwise send to their friends, guests or family (e.g. www.storename.com/wishlist/blubolt/xyz) to show their current favourite products. Personalised descriptions can also be added along with ratings and the option to add the item to the shopping cart. Private wishlists work in a similar way but can only be viewed by the user who created it.

• Recommendations

  Recommendations currently work on an analysis of a number of factors related to the customers' activity on your site: past products purchased, browsing history, and products customers with similarly activity have purchased or added to their wishlist. Recommendations can be further customised depending on the market-sector. For example, for footwear stores, shoe size and favourite colour can be saved as a preference.

• Saved card details

  Customers can opt to save their credit/debit card details when they first place an order on the site. All details are encrypted in a fully PCI DSS compliant fashion using modern cryptographic algorithms.

• Support tickets

  The support ticket system is designed as a central location for all customer communications. Whether it be a general question about an aspect of your site, or a specific query about a recent order they have placed. With a simple ticket creation 'wizard', the customer can get in touch and have it automatically routed to the most suitable member of your customer service team.

• RMA system

  From the support ticket system, customers can request RMAs (Return of Material / Merchandise Authorisation) on any item they have purchased from you. Your customer service team can then confirm the request, and the system will automatically create new orders for items that require re-dispatching to the customer.

Category & landing pages

• Flexible designs

  bluCommerce gives a great deal of freedom in how you present your main catalogue category pages. From displaying rotating promotional banners, featured products, to multiple 'mini' banners, how you present these pages is up to you.

• PPC campaigns

  Similarly, promotional landing pages (e.g. for a PPC campaign or magazine promotion) can easily be created and customised to suit your requirements.

Product pages

• Promotions & bundles

  Grouping products together is a great way to increase customer basket spend. With the bluCommerce discount system, you can create product 'bundles' easily and even offer discounts if all items are purchased together. Product sets operate by creating a single "Virtual SKU" of which other SKUs are members, which can then have its own price, description and other information defined. Bundles and promotions typically work by simply applying promotional prices to groups of defined SKUs.

• Quantity discounts

  Setting up pricing structures where 'the more you buy, the more you save' applies is simple and is yet another tried-and- tested method of improving average basket spend. You can either set up global pricing levels (e.g. on every item in the catalogue, the price decrements 5% for each item added), or product-specific price breaks.

• Images & effects

  bluCommerce offers a variety of ways in which to present your product images and product image close-ups. From 'mouseover loupe' zooms, a click to zoom in, or the classic image zoom pop-up. bluCommerce also offers a great benefit in how you upload images to the system. Only one high-resolution image is required and all resizing can be done dynamically and effortlessly to whatever dimensions you require. The table below represents how flexible the system can be.

• Customer reviews

  As well as integrating with a number of 3rd party review systems such as Feefo and Power Reviews, bluCommerce has its own built-in system. Customers can leave reviews on any product in your catalogue and it can even be tailored to capture more extensive information pertinent to your product range. All reviews are fully moderated in the admin before being set live.

• Customer questions

  Displaying customer questions and expert answers is an excellent way to encourage customer confidence about the product they are looking at. If a customer can't find the answer they are looking for, they can simply create a new question and this will be routed through the admin to your team to answer. Customers are notified via email of any replies to their question and you can choose whether or not to make it a permanent fixture of the specific product page

• Up-selling & cross-selling

  Up-selling and cross-selling should never be overlooked on an eCommerce site. bluCommerce offers a number of alternate upsell and cross-sell methods to ensure you show the best match of products as customers browse your site, from intelligently showing products based on their browsing history and what other customers have purchased, showing related products from the same category the customer is viewing, to giving you the flexibility in the admin to overwrite this and show your own choice of products.

• Pick up in-store

  The logistics of a customer placing an order in this way is similar to how an online order is normally placed - the only difference is the customer can choose which of the retail premises to collect their order from. This system does rely on regularly updated stock feeds from the retail premises, but it's a standard feature of bluCommerce.

Integrations

• ERP/CRM/Warehouse

  bluCommerce currently features integrations with the following back-office systems, and can support anything which can be exposed over the internet or VPN.
  
  ● Microsoft Dynamics RMS
  ● Microsoft Dynamics Navison
  ● Futura
  ● Opera 2
  ● MOM
  ● ESellerPro
  ● Navision (Legacy)
  ● PFS
  ● RetailIT
  ● Sage 50
  ● Sage 200
  ● StoneEdge
  ● Tradebox
  ● And many others

• Ebay

  Full support for automatically listing items within Ebay platform an/or custom eBay store. Support for multiple categories, auction types, listing templates, domestic and international shipping, and both product push and order pull.

• Amazon

  Full support for automatically listing items within Amazon platform an/or custom store. Supports both product push and order pull.

• Payment service providers

  bluCommerce integrates with virtually any PSP, allowing you complete flexibility in your choice of payment partner. Current integrations include
  
  ● Authorize.net
  ● BACS
  ● Commidea
  ● Card Capture
  ● GE Finance
  ● GlobalCollect
  ● Google Checkout
  ● HSBC
  ● PayFlowPro
  ● Paypal Direct
  ● Paypal Express
  ● Paypoint.net
  ● SagePay

• Email marketing

  Please see Marketing tools » Email marketing

• Affiliate feeds

  Multiple feeds for meta-shopping platforms, including Google Base, Channel Advisor, Affiliate Future, Affiliate Window, LinkShare, Shopzilla, Webgains, Shopping.com, Shop.com and others.

• Review systems

  Current available integrations include Feefo, RatePoint, and Power Reviews.

• Live Chat

  Current available integrations include WhosOn, BoldChat, and Live Person.

Marketing tools

• Discounts

  Available discounts include, but are not limited to:
  
  ● Site wide Discount
  ● Category Specific Discount
  ● 2 for the price of 1
  ● Buy 1 get 1 free
  ● Buy 1 get 1 half price
  ● Fixed Price Bundles
  ● Fixed Price Off
  ● Gift with purchase
  ● One off gift with Purchase
  ● Gift Vouchers
  ● Member Discounts
  ● Quantity Price Break
  ● Quantity Discount

• Email marketing

  bluCommerce features integrations with a growing number of volume email mailing providers, including but not limited to Constant Contact, Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, AWeber and Pure 360. In all cases where the MSP's platform allows it, we offer both subscribe and unsubscribe integrations, and multiple list support.

• Re-marketing emails

  This simple but effective feature helps capture the ones that got away, by sending a short email of your choosing to abandoned carts (where the email address is known), allowing them to return and rapidly check out, with a pre-populated basket, and optional follow-up emails with discounts to further entice buyers.

Catalogue Management

• Introduction

  All aspects of your product catalogue can be managed from within the admin, from creating and editing products, to setting up new category hierarchies and category-specific landing pages. Product management takes into account product tax types, varying pricing structures, image management, category assignment, descriptions, as well as full stock control.
  
  2011 sees the launch of our brand new desktop-based admin system that will make managing your catalogue even easier. Features include a drag-and-drop interface, easy bulk editing, multiple tab views, an offline mode, and much more.

Order management

• Introduction

  Although orders are typically routed directly into your ERP/CRM/Warehousing system, it is still possible to view all incoming and historic orders and perform a host of actions such as updating order statuses (in bulk), relay comments to the customer on a specific order, batch print orders, print order labels, add 3rd party delivery/courier tracking codes, edit the contents of an order, as well as check the payment transaction history.
  
  Where customers haven't completed an order, i.e. an abandoned cart, these are visible in the order management area and emails can easily be sent out to try and convert the sale (this feature can also be set up automatically if so desired).

Call-centre ordering

• Introduction

  bluCommerce accommodates fully for call-centre phone orders and 'manual orders'. Combining a streamlined and tailored admin-view of the frontend of your site, together with some special admin functionality, you can easily have multiple call-centre staff managing incoming orders.
  
  Call-centre staff typically place the customer's order by using the in-built search system to quickly find products and add them to the shopping cart, or by using an admin-only quickbuy interface (see above for more information). In the checkout, they are then able to sign in with a specially designated username and password which cuts out a number of the common steps regular customers have to make, and streamlines the checkout process.
  
  The order admin allows you to filter orders by channel-type and also gives you the ability to still provide the customer will full order tracking abilities should they provide you with an email address.

Customer management

• Introduction

  With a centralised customer management area, you can fully manage the customers that have registered on your site.
  
  ● Overview that allows filtering by date, name, keyword, number of orders
  ● View full customer order history
  ● View all support tickets the customer has opened and their current status
  ● Update the customers' billing and delivery details
  ● Grant special discounts, free shipping rules, VAT-exempt status, or modify the account to allow full trade access.

Technology

• PHP 5.3

  The latest stable version of PHP, 5.3 allows us to take advantage of a variety of speed and development features, allowing growth in bluCommerce, and uncompromising performance.

• Apache Solr

  Apache Solr is an offshoot of the Apache Lucene project, which allows for rapid contextual search and faceted navigation. Solr was selected due to its extreme scaling potential and the incredible speed with which it returns data. blubolt have contributed to the open source Solr project, including the Solr PHP library.

• MySQL

  MySQL is a tried and tested RDBMS, offering high performance at a low cost. MySQL is currently used as the persistent data-store for the majority of client data, although we are anticipating moving less volatile data to a new, non-relational platform in 2011 in order to further enhance performance and scalability. Order and customer data will remain in MySQL.

• Memcached

  Memcached is a high-speed memory-resident cache, used within bluCommerce to provide high performance and scalability of data over multiple redundant servers. On average, bluCommerce makes 0.2 database queries per page-view, resulting in high speed service.

• DRBD

  DRBD (Distributed Replicated Block Device) is a technology which allows us to have multiple servers operating in an utterly identical configuration. We currently employ this in order to ensure 100% uptime on the master database, and 100% uptime and doubled capacity on our NFS (Networked File System) servers, which hold client assets (images, etc.).

• HA-NFS

  HA-NFS (High Availability Networked File System) is employed to ensure high data throughput and reliability for client assets stored on the storage cluster.

• Nagios

  Nagios is an industry-standard networked device monitoring system, allowing us to have 24/7 overwatch of the status of all services and servers configured within the bluCommerce infrastructure. We operate two nagios nodes, one in the UK and one in the US, which jointly monitor both of our server clusters, ensuring complete coverage.

• Munin

  Munin operates in tandem with nagios, allowing us to view graphed data of key performance metrics over time, allowing us to identify potential infrastructure issues or heavy load points prior to them becoming problematic, thus enabling us to proactively grow our infrastructure to suit future client needs, today.

• nginx

  nginx, pronounced "engine X", is our fast caching asset/proxy server utilised for delivery of client assets to the consumer at unprecedented speed.

• Varnish

  Varnish is our load balancing and content caching layer, in which requests from non-logged in customers and customers without anything in their cart (90% of traffic, including search engine traffic) are handled, rather than passing them on to the web servers. Again, this results in vastly improved performance.

• Linux

  Linux is a core part of our technology stack, and is the fundament upon which our entire infrastructure operates. We currently employ Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long Term Support), which gives us excellent future growth and update potential with minimal security risk (security risk always exists, unless your webserver is turned off, in a concrete bunker, 3000 feet underground in an undisclosed location and preferably ground into dust).

• Apache

  Apache is the web server which handles requests which aren't handled by nginx or varnish. It's a venerable work-horse which just doesn't quit, although we are evaluating other, more modern web server technologies currently, as Apache is now over-engineered for the purposes for which we use it.