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Create and Manage Your Store with ShopSite
By Wayne Kawamoto
April 7, 2004

Continued from Page Two.

Pricing
While ShopSite is server-based software, it is typically resold in a hosted solution through partners that bundle it with Web hosting and other options. Monthly rates through resellers range between $29-$49 (Starter) and $120-$139 (Pro), which often include hosting fees, free upgrades to new releases and other services.

In addition, hosted ShopSite access may be purchased for a one-time charge, usually ranging between $495 (Starter) and $1,295 (Pro).

If merchants don't want to rely on a hosted solution, they may purchase only Manager (for $495) or Pro (for $1,295) directly from ShopSite -- Starter is not available in a software edition. An additional $695 provides users with phone and e-mail support, free upgrades and installation assistance. Businesses may evaluate ShopSite for free through a 24-hour demo version that is available on ShopSite's Web site.

In all, ShopSite continues to make a name for itself as a powerful e-commerce solution offering flexibility and real room to grow. Once you decide that it's time to begin making sales via the Web, it's definitely worth consideration -- as a slew of online merchants have already discovered.

ShopSite Helps Company Post "Big" Sales
One of those, specialty e-tailer 2BigFeet.com, has long relied on ShopSite to fill big shoes and even bigger customer expectations.

The company, which specializes in extra large shoes and hard-to-find shoes sizes, uses the software to market and manage the 95 percent of its sales that come through the Web. 2BigFeet said it initially gravitated to ShopSite because of the system's relatively low up-front cost.

"When we chose ShopSite, many shopping carts charged high monthly fees, usually a percentage of sales," said Brandon Eley, the site's vice president. "We did not want to pay a high percentage of our profits to a company for doing relatively nothing."

Another reason that 2BigFeet.com chose ShopSite stemmed from its ability to be tailored to suit e-tailers' design requirements.

"The difference between ShopSite and other carts is that it's very customizable," Eley said. "If you grow, you can leave the themes and templates behind and develop a custom look, which is what we did."

Inventory controls proved another critical selling point for 2BigFeet.

"We sell shoes and stock thousands of pairs in our warehouse," Eley said. "ShopSite allows us to track our inventory, including specific colors and sizes, and display it to our customers on our Web site."

Still, he did point out some future enhancements that he hoped to see in ShopSite. For example, Eley said 2BigFeet.com could be helped by the addition of more information on abandoned shopping carts, and by detailed data on the paths that visitors take while shopping.

Nevertheless, Eley said he remains satisfied with the investment -- and ShopSite's dedication to improve.

"For such a small investment we have had a product that has, over almost 5 years, done just about everything we needed it to," Eley said. "And when we find there's a feature we desperately need, most of the time they're already working on incorporating it into the next version."

Wayne N. Kawamoto is a contributor of eCommerce-Guide.com.

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