Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

This is from another thread ... but I felt it important enough to start a discussion of this solution solely

[quote=TJG]

From Miva web site ... "Notification emails can also be copied to a third party for drop-shipping, among other uses".

Does it allow you to set individual e-mail addresses for each vendor for each product?

In other words, I order 3 products, from 3 seperate vendors, on one order (you have 10 vendors total). Does Miva automatically split the order ... sending each vendor (of the 3 items ordered) an individual email ... with just their products order information?

Or does each vendor (all 3 or all 10 vendors) get a copy of the order ... even if they have nothing to do with the order ... or other items in the order?

 (A different way to ask this question) When I set up a vendor ... do I set up a vendor profile ... with an email address ... then when I input a new item into the data base ... is the email address automatically created for each product entered? And does the system split the order based on vendor codes and sends that vendor only their part of the order?

David wrote :

TJG: I`d like to answer both your questions if you don`t mind.

1) You need to be online.  While you can certainly compose and fix the database offline, the changes can only be applied when they`re uploaded and being connected means you can make immediate changes to any errors.  When you`re first working with an ecommerce platform, there will be a high rate of human error as you get used to the automation.

2) Unfortunately, I don`t think I`ve ever heard of any ecommerce platform that allows the drop-shipping options you`re describing.  The problem is that most major distributors will simply NOT allow you such unfettered access to their systems.   Most will also not have a company-wide policy for how their sales reps handle e-mail orders.  And the minor ones typically don`t have the capital or people to set up a complicated system.   You`ll have to manage multiple-vendor drop-shipping with some manual intervention.

However, if you do develop a very significant relationship with your distributor, you can develop a custom software package that does let you do what you want done.   In the meantime, the best answer is to  pre-order items that tend to be shipping together a lot and create split orders (giving you a chance to create product bundles to boost revenue).  To tell you the truth, even large resellers such as Office Max, Dell, or Circuit City aren`t able to coordinate with distributors well even if they did spend the money.  You can either pre-order or make custom software that tells whoever`s doing the shipping that there is a distributor conflict.

The biggest advantages of these e-commerce software programs over a plain .html site is the one-button-fixes-all uniformity.  It can automate things that are prone to human error but it can`t prevent it and a distributor that refuses to play nice is one of those problems.[/quote]

Ok folks ... now that we`ve got what this Miva 5 system CAN`T do ... now lets describe a system that will allow you to DO do what I`ve described.

I`ll call it "ALACARTS" ... (for conversation sake).

This shopping cart/data base WILL ALLOW a number of things that I`ve asked about.

1. ALACARTS will allow you to set up multiple drop shippers, in fact there is no limit to the number of drop shippers you can have.
2. ALACARTS allows you to have an unlimited number of products, user defined product categories,  user defined departments, and user defined search criteria ... for easy product maintainace and merchandising. Any product`s "profile" can be change with the click of a button.
3. ALACARTS will allow you to split the order, based on vendor code. As an order comes in, with multiple products with multiple drop shippers, ALACARTS will automatically split the order and send individual emails to each of the drop shippers, with only their part of the order.
4. ALACARTS will allow you to work off-line, inputting multiple items into the store, doing multiple price changes, changing the order in which items are displayed in the store (dynamic change - which the search engines LOVE), allows you to edit the text and description of multiple products, allows you to delete a product from the store (without eliminating it from the data base) ... and much, much more!!
5. ALACARTS allows you to maintain multiple templates for easy product creation. Add-on pricing, multiple colors, multiple sizes ect ... can all be set-up, maintained and edited by the user ... off-line.
6. With a click, ALACARTS will upload the new revised data base, with ALL  the changes you`ve made to 1 or all of the products, through an easy to use Admin Console.
7. ALACARTS allows the shopper to ship multiple products to multiple locations.
8. ALACARTS integrates the check out process with multiple credit card authorization gateways, including Authorize.net, as well as integrating a seamless gateway to PayPal. No need to batch your transactions manually. Your gateway will automatically batch the credit card transactions at the end of the day.
9. ALACARTS allows for the issuance, maintenance, control and printing of your very own Gift Certificate program. The Gift Certificate program integrates directly into your check out module, including maintaining a balance on the un-used portion of a shopper`s Gift Certificate, just like a gift card from Applebee`s or other large chain operation.
10. ALACARTS allows you to create, maintain, and/or print multiple catalogs, for both wholesale and/or retail presentations, in .PDF format, for easy reading, presentation and distribution.
11. ... And many more features too!

Now, does this sound like a shopping cart/database that is too good to be true? Its not. And its very affordable. My understanding is that , you can have many of these features, including the off-line data base capabilities ... and have the web site designed ... for less than $4500 !!

In the next few weeks, you`ll hear from several of our members here at SuN that have realized the benefits of ALACARTS (development name).

To see ALACARTS in action, simply visit GoTruckStop.com at http://GoTruckStop.com

GoTruckStop.com carries no inventory. All our products are drop-shipped, and the ordering process is automatically maintained by ALACARTS !!

(*ALACART is a developmental name.)

It certainly sounds like an interesting e-commerce solution.  Too many online store owners have been held back in the past by ineffectual or costly software.  Would you mind answering a few questions about GTS?

1) What language is GTS coded in and is this language proprietary?  A client`s ability to modify source code to produce their own add-ons is critical.  What is the extent of the license if someone decides to design their own business site with GTS?

2) How will GTS work with drop shippers that will not integrate with an automated e-mail system?  And does it plan to enable support for the RFID technology that Walmart and other businesses are starting to use?

3) The second feature you listed leads me to believe that you have stackable permissions for this software.   Does this take effect on the admin end as well where a manager can give limited access to team members or lower-level employees to easily track information?