There are 3 levels of Users:
- Account Owner: Account Owner status is reserved the account owner. This user level has full access to all the features of Store Manager; can add, remove or edit all other users and can see the Store Manager Dashboard.
- Store Administrator: Store Admins have all the same privileges of an Account Owner, but cannot edit, add or remove Account Owners.
- Store User: Store Users have access to areas of Store Manager that are pre-selected for them by either a Store Admin or Owner. They do not see the dashboard either.
User statuses and accessibility can be changed at any time by either an Account Owner or Store Administrator. Additionally, all user levels can have the ability to see and edit credit cards enabled or disabled at any time.
What’s the dashboard?
The dashboard is the main page you see when you log into Store Manager. It will show you current statistics for your online business, support requests and other information. Across the top is a menu that gives you access to the various functions of Store Manager. When you select an area of Store Manager from the tabs across the top the full menu for that section of Store Manager loads on the left side of the page.
The full menu loads on the left side of the screen when a top navigation tab is selected.
What’s the difference between sections, departments and categories?
Sections are tied to the site’s design and govern the site's navigation for many clients. If a site is using sections, products must first be assigned to a section. Once a section is chosen, the appropriate departments and categories will load for selection. Products maybe assigned to multiple sections as needed.
Each product must have at least one department and may be placed in several departments. However, a product does not have to be associated with a category. You cannot delete a category or department if there are products in it. To add a category, go to Products > Categories > Add. If you are using sections, be sure to assign your new category/brand to a section. After associating a product to a category, the category/brand will “automatically” be added to your site's shop by brand navigation.
How do I add products?
Go to Product Catalog > Add Product. The next screen will display all the editable product fields.
How do I name a product?
Product names should be kept short and to the point. Remember, the name is not the description! Product names can be a sentence, but it’s not necessary. Keep the product names consistent throughout your catalog. For example, if you name your product like this:
- Short Sleeve Shirt - Navy
The product’s name should be unique from the names of other products in your catalog. You do not need to include the designer's name in the product name. The designer name will automatically be pulled into the product information when you check the appropriate category.
Product names cannot be in all capital letters. Using all caps in the product names will prevent your product catalog feed from being accepted by Google Products.
How do I handle a product that comes in multiple colors?
If you have a product that comes in several colors, we suggest that you enter each color as its own product. Our research has shown that customers will not select a black top to see if it comes in other colors. Having all the color options as separate products will display all the colors available on the department page, making it easier for customers to make their selections.
If you choose to send your product catalog to the marketplaces, listing each product as a separate product will also help your marketplace listings.
Do I have to enter/provide a SKU number?
Entering a SKU is optional. Often integrations will populate this field with some information. You can absolutely change the information to whatever makes sense to you. The SKU does not show on the site, but does appear for your eyes only during order fulfillment. Shoppers only see this information on their packing slip. (If they notice it at all!) We recommend you use a SKU only if it helps you and your business.
What is the weight field for? How does it work? Does the weight have to be exact?
A product's weight is one of the factors which helps determine shipping costs. The weight field only takes whole numbers. We recommend that clients round UP to the next nearest whole pound. When weighing products, weigh the largest size in the size run and weigh the item in the shipping material.
Shoppers never see the weight of a product or their order, only the shipping costs at checkout. The price the customer sees at checkout is the final “agreed on” price that they pay; it can’t be increased without a shopper's permission after their purchase. You can adjust the weights of any product during order fulfillment to help control shipping costs on multiple item orders.
Even if you offer free ground shipping on all orders, product weights are needed for expedited shipping and should be entered when a product is being created.
How do I mark something on sale?
Sale prices must come from your Point of Sale system. Sale prices will come over to Store Manager and your website when the integration runs. Products are automatically added to the sale department when a sale price has been added to the product.
What are alerts? How are they used?
Alerts are used to highlight or provide additional information about a product on the department/category list page. For example if a product you carry is shown on Ellen, you can have an alert created called "as seen on Ellen", as way to draw the consumer’s eye to something special in your catalog.
Alerts are date driven. They will automatically appear on your site on the start date you set and disappear on the end date selected. Alerts can be configured to hide the add to bag button and/or the price of a product. "Call to Order" alerts are a great way to include items in your catalog that you cannot sell online.
What is the Available box for?
All products are marked available by default and will allow a product to be available on your site iforder checked and a live image. Unchecking the available box is an easy way to remove a product from your site, even if it has inventory.
All product descriptions are read by the search engines. As a result, they should be well written content. Each field has a purpose, noted below.
Short Description
Short descriptions should be 2 to 3 well written sentences. The text should be unique to your STORE; don’t copy and paste directly from another source! Short description fields are sent to the marketplaces. They also appear with a shopper's search results when using search engines like Google.
NOTE: Google Products will not accept products without short descriptions.
Long Description
- This is a great place to list out things like fit, fabric content and care information. Essentially all the info on the tag the shopper can’t see.
- Style numbers are a great item for this area too.
- If you list this info, use the bullets, it makes the information super easy to read and the text will follow the site's styling.
- Remember, copying and pasting directly from another source is evil, especially in this field! :-)
- There’s no need to pick a font or size, the code on the site will convert the text so that it will match the look and feel of the site.
What are the Special Instructions for?
This is an optional field. For example, you might keep a hot seller “available” online, but note in the special instructions that it is “Sold Out”. We recommend you use positive language in this field, (i.e., Sold Out versus Out of Stock).
This field is also a great place to note any special shipping scenarios, if an item is available for pre-order only etc.
What is the Edit Options for on the product page?
Scroll to the top of the screen and click "Edit Options". The Edit Options screen allows you to create options for your shopper to choose from. These options are generally size and color but can be any choice a shopper needs to make for a particular product.
Products that are one of a kind do not need an option created. If the item represented in the product image is the only one skip creating an option! For example, if a handbag only comes in one color there is no need to create an option for that lone color.
What are the types of product images my site may have?
There are 4 types of images a product may have:
- Thumbnail Image: This is the small image shown on the department or brand list pages.
- Default Image: This image is larger than the thumbnail and is displayed on the product page.
- Large Image: This image is the first image shown in the product page lightbox.
- Alternate Images: A product may have up to 12 alternate images. This images are shown as small thumbnails below the default image on the product page and will show as large images in the lightbox when a shopper clicks on a thumbnail.
How Do I Upload Product Images?
Product Images maybe uploaded 2 ways:
- Images may be uploaded from within the product on the image upload screen.
- Images may also be bulk uploaded.
For either method, images must be cropped and saved as jpeg images before being uploaded into Store Manager. Follow these steps to upload a product image:
- Go to your Product and click on the "Upload Image" button.
- On the next screen, click Upload in the Default Image area.
- At this point, uploading an image is exactly like attaching a file to an email or uploading an image to Facebook; find the file on your computer and "open" it.
- Store Manager will make the default image, the thumbnail image and the large image all from the uploaded default image. You only need to upload the thumbnail and large image as separate files if you want those images to be different than the main product (Default) image.
- After uploading your images, click "Save" at the top of the page.
How do I upload alternate or detailed Images of my products?
- Store Manager allows for up to 12 alternate images of any product. Like the default product images, these images must be cropped and saved as jpegs before they are uploaded into Store Manager.
- The process for uploading alternate images is the same as uploading the default image.
How do I process my images?
Images have 3 statuses:
- Needed
- Uploaded
- Live
Products will not display on your site unless the image status is LIVE. To change an image's status to live images must be processed. Follow these steps to process an image:
- Log into Store Manager > Products > Process Images
- You will see a listing of all your uploaded images on this screen. Note how the file name changed! When you upload images, the file name changes to the product ID. This name change is how Store Manager associates an image with a product.
- You do NOT need to check box in front of each image to process them.
- Click "process".
How quickly images process will depend on how many images you've uploaded. Typically processing takes 1 to 2 minutes. After images are processed their status will change to "LIVE" and if they have inventory or back order has been allowed, your new item will be on the site.
How do I cross-sell my products?
Cross-selling items can be a powerful merchandising tool. You may want to show products from the same brand or use the "you may also like" area of the product page as a way to create outfits or show "add-on" items. Products will automatically have cross-sell items displayed using products from the same brand or department. You can over-ride this process and control what is displayed. Follow these steps:
- Log into Store Manager > Products > Cross-Sell/Up-Sell
- Select the department or brand you'd like to work in from the drop down at the top of the page.
- Now pick the product you'd like to work with.
- From the available products drop down, select the brand or department that has the products you want to add or cross-sell on your main product.
- Select the items to be cross-sold by checking the box in the list.
- Click Add.
- On the next step you'll see the items you've added and may remove them if these items are not quite right. Simply check the box under the image and click "remove".
- When "reverse cross-sell" is checked all the items that are associated will appear on the other items' product pages. Leaving "reverse cross-sell" checked can lighten your work load!
How do I edit the display order of products within a category or department?
When newly created products are added to a department or brand they appear on the top of the list page; however you can edit, or control the display order. Here's how:
- Log into Store Manager > Products > Edit Display Order
- Select the department OR brand you'd like to edit.
- When you've made your department or category selection, you'll see all the products within that department/brand load on the screen, including their thumbnail images. (Products that don't have images yet will show an "image not available" icon.)
- Simply drag and drop the images into the order you'd like them in!
- Click "update" on the top of the page to save your work.
Note: The display in Store Manager is 6 items across, the number of images displayed in a row on your site maybe different; take how many items in a row will be displayed on your site when editing the display order of a department or brand.