shopping cart software

In order to allow Volusion users to extend their online store's functionality beyond Volusion itself and take advantage of the vast potential of online marketing through popular social networking services, Volusion provides users the ability to integrate their online stores with MySpace.

Getting Started:

Volusion's MySpace integration allows Volusion users the ability to broadcast their products to a wide variety of users directly from one of the most popular social networking systems on the Web using Volusion's easy-to-configure Social Store Builder app.

Note that in order to gain access to this powerful tool, Volusion users require access to the Volusion API - provided with any Volusion Gold plan store or above. Merchants will also require access to either a MySpace account to publish their store information to.

The following will detail how Volusion-based merchants can publish their store products to their social network accounts using the Social Store Builder:

Part I - The Volusion Featured Products Export:

Exporting product information to MySpace is simple. The first step requires users to activate a special setting within the Volusion API to have Volusion send product data to their Volusion Social Store Builder.

• Log into the Volusion store's Administration Page.
• Click on the Inventory tab.
• Click on the Import / Export link in the menu bar. (Version 5 )
• On the next page, click the Volusion API link. (Version 5 )
• In the main API page, check the "Enable public XML for Features Products" option and click the Save button. (Version 5 )

Note that if this is your first time visiting the Volusion API page, you must check the Enable option under the Generic Exports section before the "Enable public XML for Features Products" option will appear.

Once this is done, Volusion will now be ready to export featured product information to MySpace.

Note on this Article:

MySpace's user interface is subject to change without notice. The following installation instructions are based on the MySpace interface as of March, 2009.

Part II - Installing the Social Store Builder App in MySpace:

Once the steps in Part I are complete, the Social Store Builder app must be installed within merchants' MySpace account of choice.

• Log into the MySpace, click on the More link in the menu bar at the top of the page then select Apps Gallery.
• To quickly find the application, simply search for "Social Store Builder" or "Volusion" on the MySpace Apps page (if results do not appear, click the Alphabetical link on the search results page).
• Click on the Volusion Social Store Builder App link in the app search results page to select the application.
• On the following page, click "Add this App" to install the application to the MySpace account.
• A pop up will appear where you will click on the Add button.
• Once the application is installed in MySpace, click the Home link in the MySpace menu bar to go to the profile page.
• Find the Social Store Builder app within the profile page. Users must enter the domain name of their Volusion store into the text box provided by the app and click the save button to complete the installation.

Once these steps are complete, Volusion's Social Store Builder app will be ready for use with merchants' MySpace account.

Part III - Using Volusion with MySpace:

Once these steps are complete, the Volusion application will automatically retrieve a list of products within the Volusion store that are members of the Home_Featured group. Each product retrieved from the export will be displayed within the MySpace account's homepage and will include details such as the product image, price, sale price and an "add to cart" link for each and every product displayed here. Clicking on this link will redirect visitors to merchants' Volusion store shopping cart page with the product, automatically loaded into the shopping cart. Visitors can then continue shopping within the Volusion store or proceed to check out.

Tips and Special Settings:

Note that only products that are members of the Home_Featured group within the Volusion store will be exported to the Volusion application.

Merchants can define a product as a member of this group by editing the product from within their Volusion store's Administration Page. Simply edit the "Home Page Section" drop-down menu in the product's Advanced Options and set it to Home_Featured.

Click Save Changes in the product's settings page and the product will now be a member of the Home Featured group.

Note that merchants can have an unlimited number of products set to be members of the Home Featured group and this application will display every product within the Volusion store that is a member of this group.

Users are recommended to only grant a specific number of products membership in the Home Featured group (15-20 products) and regularly update this group to best market their products. This will prevent social network profiles from being "overloaded" with product data as well as keep Volusion store bandwidth usage in regards to the Social Store Builder to a minimum.

Also, please note that due to display constraints enforced by MySpace profiles, The Social Store Builder app can only display a certain number of featured products within a user's profile. Again, be sure to set the number of featured products in the Volusion store to a manageable number (15-20 at most) to mitigate any display problems users might encounter within their MySpace profiles.

Summary:

With Volusion's added integration with services like MySpace, merchants can now easily wield the power of social networking to better market their products and potentially reach a wider customer base. With these tools and more, merchants have even more reason to sell online with Volusion.

Please note that as MySpace continues to update its user interface, the steps required to install the Volusion Social Store Builder app for this service may change at any time.