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ICentral
ShopSiteTM Manager 3.1 |
Mercantec SoftCartTM 3.0 |
| WindsorNETWebTM
Guidelines for Use |
ShopSite is very convenient for the small
merchant with 5 to 200 products, with limited but powerful backoffice capabilities. Beyond
200 products it is more unwieldy though functional (unless the storeowner uses database
upload to manage the store). |
SoftCart a well-established, flexible, and
scalable shopping cart program. While it can accommodate any size store, store owners with
products in the 100s to 10,000s will be most interested. |
| Retail Price (software only) |
$495 single store license |
$1,500 single store license |
| Web Page Generation |
Static Web pages are generated on the server
to reflect changes made by Web browser from drop-down menus. |
Static Web pages may be "hard-coded"
HTML or generated by Mercantec Page Generator from database (one Web page for each
product) and then uploaded to server. Allows optional dynamic price look-up from
tab-delimited database. |
| Customer Tracking |
"Cookies" is the default method. If
browser or customer will not accept "cookies," uses IP number. |
Sophisticated StateTrackTM system
which generates a unique 4-alpha 4-numeric cart number for each customer. |
| Store Set-up |
May be entirely set up with a Web browser. As
products and pages are created using forms, these are referenced by drop-down menus and
check-boxes. Placement is limited to pre-set templates. HTML tags may be used within
specific areas of each page. Product and page data may also be
updated on the shopowners' desktop computer and then uploaded to a flat-file database.
Product ordering code may be placed on existing standard Web pages when
product is included in ShopSite's on-line product database. |
Can use standard HTML Web pages for extreme
flexibility. Products may be placed anyplace in any configuration. Multiple single-product Web pages can easily be updated from an ODBC-compliant
database such as Access or FoxPro, or even an Excel database. A user-defined HTML template
defines the precise location of product name, description, price, options, etc. |
| Platforms Supported |
Operating systems supported: BSDI 2.0 or Linux
2.0.1. Support for Windows NT and Solaris 2.5 on Sparc is in the works. Requires Apache or
Netscape Web server software. Requires Perl 5.003 and Sendmail |
Operating systems supported: Sun Solaris, SGI,
BSDI, Windows NT, Windows 95, Linux, and several others. Any Web server software. |
| Options and SKUs |
Each product and subproduct has its own SKU.
In addition, each can have options of color, size, etc. determined by selection from a
drop-down menu or fill-in text box. |
Each product has its own SKU. Any HTML tags
can be used to indicate options. |
| Order Delivery |
Shopowner is notified by e-mail that an order
is waiting. Shopowner view orders via a password-protected area viewable by their secure
Web browser. Orders are printed out and deleted. |
Order can be sent via regular or encrypted
e-mail. Order can be placed in a password protected directory for
viewing and pick-up using secure Web browser.
Order can be sent via ASCII format to any program specified by the
shopowner. |
| Integration of Orders with Accounting System |
Not Available |
Can generate a transaction log (*.iif) which
can be imported directly into Intuit's QuickBooks. Others accounting interfaces can be
custom written. |
| EDI |
Not Available |
X.12 850 Purchase Order Format is available.
Other templates can be custom designed. |
| Real-time credit card authorization |
Supports First Virtual (requires customer to
have a pre-issued First Virtual PIN number before they can use this service). |
Yes. ICVerify add-on ($299), CyberCash |
| Shipping and Tax Option Customization |
Yes. Extremely flexible. Single rates, price
threshold, weight threshold. In addition, a "base" rate for all items can be
set, and specific items can have a set amount over the base rate added on (e.g. for large
or hard-to-ship items). |
Yes, extremely flexible. Available for Single
rates, Price Threshold, Weight Threshold, and designated shipping costs for each item. |
| Price Customization for Customer Classes |
No. |
Not as shipped. Would require custom
programming. |
| Presentation based on previous orders and preferences |
No. |
No. Would require custom programming. |
| Ordering System Customization |
Fixed portions of some screens, and some field
names can be customized. |
All screens and fields in the ordering system
can be customized. |
| Language Customization |
Full customization possible |
HTML pages and money symbol customizable. |
| On-site Search Engine |
Web pages can be searched, and may be easily
indexed by Web search engine spiders. |
Web pages can be searched. Search engine
supplied. Web pages, except "front door" page, are not indexed by Web search
engines. |
| Dynamic database lookup |
Not available. |
User-designated fields may be supplied
dynamically to existing Web pages from an on-line database allowing quick price updates,
quantity price discounting, etc. |
| Ordering Options |
On-line ordering, including purchase orders. |
On-line ordering. If the customer is
uncomfortable with on-line ordering, an order form with the products he has designated
will be e-mailed to him or displayed on a Web page for printing, and then either faxing or
mailing to place the order. |
| E-Mail Order Acknowledgment to Customer |
Yes |
Yes |
| Updating Skill Level Required |
Basic updates can be made using only a Web
browser. Basic HTML knowledge is useful but not necessary. |
Updates require basic knowledge of HTML, FTP,
and/or database uploading. |
| Acceptance in Marketplace |
Small but growing penetration. Operating
stores numbering several hundred. |
Thousands of products sold. Relationships with
large organizations such as Hewlett-Packard, Lockheed Martin Corp., Retail Technology
Buying Consortium (RETEX), Tandem Computers Inc., Silicon Graphics |
| Pros and Cons |
Sufficient but limited flexibility and
functionality. But storeowner can do most routine maintenance without much skill. Practical limitation to number of products without becoming cumbersome to work
with, unless combined with database upload. |
Extreme flexibility, scalability, and
functionality available. But storeowner must learn HTML in order to maintain Web pages,
though updates via database page generation and uploading require less skill. Will accommodate number of products in the tens of thousands using page generator
or third-party database. |
| |
ICentral
ShopSiteTM Manager 3.1 |
Mercantec SoftCartTM 3.0 |
New products are being developed all the time, many good ones.
However, no developer can be familiar with all programs. We build stores with three
products, depending upon the merchant's need and budget, and feel confident recommending
them to our clients. ICentral's ShopSiteTM Manager 3.0 is a cost-effective
solution for the small shop owner. The Mercantec SoftCartTM is an extremely
flexible and scalable shopping cart system. Intershop Online/Mall provides many advanced
features and its built-in database makes it scalable to the largest applications. Each
program has its place. This comparision is to help you see the similarities and
differences.