Setting Up a Basic eCommerce Web Site

Step 1. Set Keys in web.config File

WARNING! Do not change the settings for the default currency or measurement system once the site is live.

In the Web site’s web.config file, set the following keys:

• <add key=”ek_ecom_DefaultCurrencyId” value=”840” />

  This key determines the base currency for your Web site. The default is 840 (the US Dollar). If needed, change this to the Numeric ISO code for the default currency. A list of currencies and their Numeric ISO codes can be found in the Workarea > Settings > Commerce > Configuration > Currencies section. The ID is the Numeric ISO code.See Also: The Default Currency

• <add key=”ek_MeasurementSystem” value=“English” />

  For each item sold on your Web site, you define a height, length, depth, and weight. If English, the units are inches and pounds. If Metric, the units are centimeters and kilograms. This information is used to calculate shipping costs. By default, this is set to English. Change to Metric to use the Metric system. See Also: Packages

• <add key=”ek_ecom_ComplianceMode” value=”false” />

  Set this key to “true” when you want your site to be Security Compliant. This means the Workarea will be encrypted in an SSL session and Logging is started.

Step 2. Select Inventory System

Decide whether you want to use Ektron’s inventory system or another system.

If you are not using Ektron’s inventory system, create a custom inventory provider and add it to the web.config file’s InventoryProvider. Ektron’s Inventory Provider feature lets you work with an existing inventory system.

Add the custom provider between the InventoryProvider’s <providers> tags and change the default provider to the name of your custom inventory provider. For example:

<inventoryProvider defaultProvider=”MyCustomInventoryProvider”>

See Also: Customizing the Inventory Provider

Step 3. Select a Default Payment Gateway

To use one of the payment gateways shipped with Ektron, you can set it in the Workarea.

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Configuration > Payment Gateway.
2. Click a payment gateway’s name.
3. Click Edit.
4. Add your User ID, Password and any needed Custom Values.
5. Click the Default check box to make that selection the default.
6. Click Save.

If you are not using one of these gateways, create a custom payment provider and add it to the web.config file’s EktronPaymentGateway. Add the custom provider between the EktronPaymentGateway’s <providers> tags. When added, the option should appear in the Workarea’s Payment Gateway screen.

If you want to override the Workarea settings, change the default provider in the web.config file from “Automatic” to the name of the desired payment gateway. For example:

<EktronPaymentGateway defaultProvider=”AuthorizeNet”>

See Also: Payment Options.

Step 3a. Set up PayPal Support (Optional)

If you decide to use PayPal instead of one of the default payment options, see Using PayPal with Ektron eCommerce.

Step 4. Set up a Shipping Provider

If you are not using the default flat rate shipping provider, open the shipment.config file and set the default provider in formation in: <shipmentProvider defaultProvider=”FlatRateShipmentProvider”> to either “FedExShipmentProvider” or “UPSShipmentProvider”. If you are using either of these shipping methods, make sure you fill in the following information in the <providers> tags. This information is provided by FedEx and UPS.

• key=””
• password=””
• accountNumber=””
• meterNumber=””

In addition to using these providers, you can add additional providers.

See Also: eCommerce Shipping Screens

Step 5. Enable Countries

Enabling a country where your Web site will sell its products:

• makes it available for customers to use as part of an address for shipping and billing purposes
• makes it available when you add a warehouse
• automatically enables its corresponding tax table in the Country Tax Table section of the Workarea

NOTE: The United States is enabled by default.

To enable countries:

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Configuration > Countries.
2. Click a country’s name.
3. Click Edit.
4. Click the Enabled check box.
5. Click Save.

See Also: Countries

Step 6. Add and Enable Regions

Add and enable regions for each country your eCommerce site will service.

NOTE: All states in the US are enabled by default.

Regions can represent states, provinces, territories, and so on and further define areas of a country. Adding and enabling regions:

• makes it available for customers to use as part of an address for shipping and billing purposes
• makes it available when you add a warehouse
• automatically enables its corresponding tax table in the Regions Tax Table section of the Workarea

To add and enable regions:

Prerequisite: The region’s country is defined in the Countries screen.

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Configuration > Regions.
2. Click New > Region.
3. Enter a name.
4. Click the Enabled check box.
5. In the Code box, enter an abbreviation for this region.
6. Select this region’s country from the pull down list.
7. Click Save.

See Also: Regions

Step 7. Enable Currencies

If your Web site is selling products in another country and you want to display prices in its currency, enable it in the Workarea:

NOTE: By default, U.S. dollar, Euro, and Australian dollar are enabled.

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Configuration > Currencies.
2. Click a currency.
3. Click Enable.
4. Set the Exchange Rate. The default currency (set in the web.config file) is the base reference currency when setting an exchange rate.
5. Click Save.

See Also: Currencies

Step 8. Select Credit Cards

Decide which credit cards your eCommerce site will accept.

Credit cards are used during the checkout process, by the Checkout server control, during the submit phase. During this phase, all enabled credit cards appear in a drop-down, which customers use to select their choice.

Add credit card types in the Workarea.

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Configuration > Credit Card.
2. Choose New > Credit Card Type.
3. Enter the credit card’s name; for example, Visa.
4. Check the Accepted check box.
5. Add an image.
6. Add a Regex Expression to validate the credit card number.
7. Click Save.

See Also: Credit Card Types

Step 9. Add or Edit Notification Messages

Email notifications are sent to your customers after their order has been received, canceled, shipped or completed. Ektron provides 4 predefined messages, 1 for each event. For messages to be sent, content notifications must be enabled and the customer must enter a valid email address.

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Configuration > Messages.
2. Click the title of the message.
3. Click Edit.
4. Change the properties and fields as necessary.
5. Change the text as needed.

See Also: eCommerce Messages

Step 10. Create Tax Classes (Optional)

If you are collecting taxes for transactions on your eCommerce site, create a Tax Class for each taxable category of products. For example, if your eCommerce site sells alcohol and tobacco, set up a tax class for each type. Ektron provides 4 default tax classes:

• Alcohol
• Goods
• Services
• Tobacco

Tax classes are applied to Postal, Regional and Country Tax Tables. In those tables, you define a separate rate for each Tax Class.

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Tax > Tax Classes.
2. Choose New > Tax Class.
3. Enter a name; for example, Food.
4. Click Save .

See Also: The Tax Class Screens

Step 11. Set Tax Rates

When your Tax Classes are set up, set a tax rate for each class in the Postal, Regional, or Country Tax Tables.

• Postal Tax Tables—use when there is a city or county tax. If there are postal, regional and country taxes applied to a given area, roll them all into this table.
• Regional Tax Tables—Use when there is a state, provincial or territorial tax. If only regional and country taxes are applied to a given area, roll them into this table.
• Country Tax Tables—Use when there is country-wide tax. If only country level taxes are applied to a given area, use this table.

Ektron checks these tables in the following order: Postal, Regional, then Country. When it finds a tax, it stops. Therefore, if a postal zone has several taxes (for example, a local tax and a regional tax), build the combined percentage into the postal code tax. So, if New York City has a 4% tax, and New York state has a 3% tax, enter 7% into all Postal Tax Tables within New York City.

While you need to create each Postal Tax Table, Regional and Country Tax Tables are automatically generated when a country or region is added to Ektron. However, no tax rates are defined in these tables.

To create a new Postal Tax Table:

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Tax > Postal Tax Tables.
2. Choose New > Postal Code.
3. Enter a Postal Code.
4. Select the Country and Region.
5. Enter a tax rate for each Tax Class as needed.
6. Click Save.

To edit a Region’s or Country’s Tax Table:

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Tax > Regional Tax Tables or Country Tax Tables.
2. Click the Id or Code of the Region or Country.
3. Click Edit.
4. Change the information as needed.
5. Click Save.

See Also: Postal Tax Tables, Regional Tax Tables, Country Tax Tables

Step 12. Select Shipping Methods

When you set up a shipping provider, define your customers' shipping options. For example, if you use UPS, define whether to allow Next Day, 2nd Day, 3rd Day, Ground, World Wide Standard, and so on. When enabled, a Shipping Method appears in the Shipping Method phase of the Checkout server control.

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Shipping > Methods.
2. Choose New > Shipping Method.
3. Enter a Name. This name represents the option in the Shipping Method phase of the checkout server control.
4. Click the Active check box to enable this method.
5. Click View Options.
6. From the Provider Service drop-down, select a shipping method.
7. Click Save.
8. Repeat these steps for all shipping methods.

See Also: Shipping Methods

Step 13. Add a Warehouse

Add a warehouse from which your products will be shipped. This does not have to be the actual shipping address for the products. Ektron uses this information to determine the “from” address when calculating shipping cost.

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Shipping > Warehouses.
2. Choose New > Warehouse.
3. Complete the address information fields. Only countries and regions that have been enabled for eCommerce appear in the drop-down lists.
4. Click the Default Warehouse check box if you want this to be the default warehouse. Only the default warehouse is used in the checkout process.
5. Click Save.

See Also: Warehouse

Step 14. Define Package Sizes

Define each package size your shipping department uses to ship your products. Tangible products have size and weight dimensions. Ektron’s shipping calculator uses this information to fit the order into the smallest-sized and fewest packages. It then passes packaging information (number, sizes and weight) to the shipping provider, which returns the order’s shipping costs.

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Shipping > Packages.
2. Choose New > Package.
3. Enter a Name, Length, Height, Width and Maximum Weight a package can handle.
4. Click Save.
5. Repeat these steps for all package sizes your company uses.

See Also: Packages

Step 15a. Create Product Type Definitions

NOTE: The remaining steps in this example are based on selecting a Product for the Product Type Class.

Product types are applied to catalog folders and let you control the way product information is added to a catalog. This is similar to how Smart Form configurations, once applied to content folders, affect the way Smart Forms are created. You can apply multiple product types to a catalog.

1. Navigate to Settings > Commerce > Catalog > Product Types.
2. Choose New > Product Type.
3. Define the Product Type.
4. Click Save and move to the next step.

More Information: Creating Product Types

Step 15b. Create Content Page

After clicking Save from the previous step, a content editor appears and lets you enter XML Smart Form information. A user completes this Smart Form when creating a Catalog Entry (Product).

The information appears on a product’s details page on your Web site.

You might want to create these fields on your smart form.

• Title
• Description
• Image

After you complete the Smart Form, click Save.

See Also: eCommerce Products, Working with Smart Forms

Step 16. Create a Catalog

A catalog folder is an Ektron folder designed to hold eCommerce catalog entries (products). This is similar to the way content folders hold HTML or Smart Form content. By assigning a product type to the folder, you can control the way products are added to the catalog.

1. Click the Content folder bar to display the list of content folders.
2. Choose New > Catalog.
3. Set the catalog’s Properties, Metadata, Web Alerts and Breadcrumb information. (Similar to creating a Content Folder.)
4. On the Product Types Tab, select a Product Type from the drop-down list.
5. Click Add.
6. Click Save.

See Also: Creating a Catalog Folder, Assigning a Catalog Folder’s Product Type

Step 17. Add Catalog Entries

Catalog Entries are products you offer on your eCommerce Web site. For example, a catalog entry could be a CD, a subscription-based service, or a computer that a customer can customize and the price adjusts accordingly.

1. Navigate to a catalog folder.
2. Click New and select a product type.
3. In the Title field, enter a name for the catalog entry.
4. Fill out the fields in the Smart Form as necessary.
5. Select the Summary tab and add a summary. (Optional)
6. Select the Properties tab and enter an SKU and the number of units that equal one purchase.
7. Select a Tax Class.
8. If the product is a tangible product, click Expand next to Dimensions, click the Tangible check box and enter the product’s physical dimensions. If you are using Ektron as your inventory system, click Expand next to Inventory and enter the information.
9. Select the Pricing tab and enter the product’s list and sales price. If you offer a quantity discount, click Add Pricing Tier and add a quantity and a tier price. If you enabled multiple currencies, select a currency from the drop-down and add pricing information as needed.
10. Select the Attributes tab and fill out or change attributes as needed. (If you did not define attributes in Step 15a. Create Product Type Definitions, the Attributes tab does not appear.)
11. Select the Media tab and click Add Images to associate images with the catalog entry.
12. The Items tab is used to create a complex product. This lets you offer variants of a product at different price points. For this example, we will skip this tab. See Also: Creating a Complex Product.
13. Enter information as needed on these tabs: Metadata, taxonomy and Schedule.
14. Choose Action > Publish.

To add Cross Sell or Up Sell items associated with this catalog entry, click its Title and then click View > Cross Sell or Up Sell. These items appear in the Recommendation server control when it is associated with this catalog entry.

See Also: Creating a Catalog Entry

Overview of Required Templates

To create a basic eCommerce site, you need the following templates.

• Master page—recommended, but not absolutely necessary. This template could contain any of the following:
  • CurrencySelect server control—allow customers to choose a currency.
  • View Cart link—links to the template containing the Cart server control.
  • View My Account / Orders link—links to the template containing the MyAccount and OrderList server control.
  • Login server control—allows customers and users to log in from any page.
• Landing page—this page should enable customers to start shopping and could contain a ProductList and ProductSearch server control.
• Product Display page—use the Product server control on a template to display the details of a catalog entry (product). If you are using the Cross Sell or Up Sell functionality, add a recommendation server control to this template.
• Product Search page—use the ProductSearch server control on a template to allow customers to search for product.
• Cart page—use the Cart server control on a template to allow a customer to work with the items they have selected to purchase.
• Checkout page—use the Checkout server control on a template to facilitate the check out process.
• My Account / Order History page—use a MyAccount server control and an OrderList server control to display a customer’s account information and a list their order history.

Step 18. Create a Master Page

Create a master page and add the following items to a header area or left side column.

• CurrencySelect server control—Lets customers select from available monetary types. This control displays currencies that have been enabled in Step 7. Enable Currencies. A My Cart link that leads to a template containing the Cart server control. See Also: CurrencySelect Server Control
• My Account / Order History link—Leads to a template containing the MyAccount and OrderList server controls. See Also: OrderList Server Control
• Product Search link—(Optional) Adds a link that leads to a template containing a ProductSearch server control. See Also: MyAccount Server Control
• Product Search server control—(Optional) Allows user to search for a product from anywhere on the site. Note: Adding this option is involves more than just dragging and dropping a server control to the header or the left side column. It includes advanced customizations and coding to pass a search term from one form to another. Ektron’s Developer Sample site shows an example of doing this with the WebSearch server control.See Also: Product Search Server Controls
• Login server control—(Optional) Allows existing customers to log in upon arrival at your site. If you only want customers logging in through this control, set the OnlyAllowMemberLogin property to True. See Also: Login Server Control.

Step 19. Create a Landing Page

This template should be the first page a customer sees when arriving at your site. It should have a mechanism that lets customers start shopping. Make sure this page has one of the following:

• ProductList server control—Use this control to display products by taxonomy, Catalog or ID. See Also: ProductList Server Control
  • To display a single taxonomy, set the SourceType property to Taxonomy and enter a single Taxonomy ID in the SourceId property.
  • To display multiple taxonomies, set the SourceType property to TaxonomyList and enter a comma-separated list of Taxonomy IDs in the IdList property.
  • To display a single catalog, set the SourceType property to Catalog and enter a single catalog ID in the SourceId property. If you want to display sub catalogs for a given ID, set the Recursive property to True.
  • To display multiple catalogs, set the SourceType property to CatalogList and enter a comma separated list of catalog IDs in the IdList property.
  • To display products by their ID, set the SourceType property to IdList and enter a comma-separated list of product IDs in the IdList property.
  • Set the TemplateProduct property to the template containing the Product server control.
• ProductSearch server control—This control provides the means for customers to search your Web site for products. If this control is not on your landing page or part of your master page, you should create a separate template containing this control.
  • Set the CatalogId property to the ID of the catalog to search.
  • Set the TemplateCart property to the template containing the Cart server control.
  • Set the TemplateProduct property to the template containing the Product server control.

    See Also: Product Search Server Controls

Step 20. Create a Product Page

This page allows a customer views a product’s details. It contains a Product server control and optionally a Recommendation server control.

• Product server control—This control displays a product’s details. See Also: Product Server Control
  • Make sure the DynamicParameter property is set to the parameter name used to pass product IDs to the QueryString.
  • If you want a default product to display when no ID is passed, set the DefaultProductID property to the ID of a product.
  • Set the TemplateCart property to the template containing the Cart server control.
• Recommendation server control—This control displays Cross Sell and Up Sell opportunities associated with a product. These are set in Workarea, under the View menu’s Cross Sell and Up Sell selections for a catalog entry. See Also: Recommendation Server Control
  • Set the RecommendationType property to CrossSell or UpSell.
  • Make sure the DynamicProductParameter property is set to the parameter name used to pass product IDs to the QueryString.
  • If you want a product’s default Cross Sell or Up Sell items to display when no ID is passed, set the DefaultProductID property to the ID of a product.
  • Set the TemplateCart property to the template containing the Cart server control.
  • Set the TemplateProduct property to the template containing the Product server control.

Step 21. Create a Product Search Page

This page lets customers search for products on your Web site.

• ProductSearch server control—This control provides the means for customers to search your Web site for products. If this control is not on your landing page or part of your master page, you should create a separate template containing this control.
  • Set the CatalogId property to the ID of the catalog to search.
  • Set the TemplateCart property to the template containing the Cart server control.
  • Set the TemplateProduct property to the template containing the Product server control.
  Product Search Server Controls

Step 22. Create a Cart Page

This template contains a Cart server control.

• Cart server control—This control allows a customer to work with products they have selected to purchase. As a customer navigates around your site selecting products to purchase, they are added to a cart. See Also: Cart Server Control
  • Set the TemplateCheckout property to the template containing the Checkout server control.
  • Set the TemplateProduct property to the template containing the Product server control.
  • Set the TemplateShopping property to the Landing page template or a template containing a ProductList or ProductSearch server control.
  • If you are using coupons, make sure the EnableCoupons property is set to True.

Step 23. Create a Checkout Page

This template contains a Checkout server control.

• Checkout server control—This control allows a customer to navigate through the checkout process.See Also: Checkout Server Control
  • Set the DefaultCountryID property to the country you want to be the default selection in the Billing and Shipping address sections.
  • Set the TemplateCart property to the template containing the Cart server control.
  • Set the TemplateOrderHistory property to the template containing the OrderList server control.
  • Set the TemplateShopping property to the landing page template or a template containing a ProductList or ProductSearch server control.
  • If you are using SSL Encryption, set the IsSSLRequired property to True.

WARNING! Because Credit Card information is entered into the Checkout server control, Ektron strongly recommends using SSL Encryption for this page.

Step 24. Create a My Account Page

This template contains a MyAccount and an OrderList server control. See Also: MyAccount Server Control

• MyAccount server control—This server control lets customers view billing, shipping and alternative shipping information associated with their account.
  • Set the DefaultCountryID property to the country you want to be the default selection in the Billing and Shipping address sections.
  • (Optional) Set the CustomPropertyID property to the ID or list of comma separated IDs that represent custom properties associated with users. Custom Properties are set up in Ektron’s Workarea > Settings > Configuration > Custom Properties.
• OrderList server control—This server control lets customers view a list of their processed orders.
  • Make sure the DynamicOrderParameter is set to the parameter name used to pass order IDs to the QueryString.
  • Make sure the DynamicProductParameter is set to the parameter name used to pass product IDs to the QueryString.