Lesson 1 – Online Store Site Organization
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In this first lesson of our
Build an Online Store Using Shopp we focus on
the site organization of an online store . We begin by discussing why good site organization matters and how to achieve it for stores of varying sizes. Then we cover the WordPress and Shopp tools that we’ll be using to organize the site. After which we discuss a couple of approaches to organizing an ecommerce site and then specifically how we will organize the site we’re creating for Mental Management Products. We finish the lesson by showing you how to install Shopp.
6 week course
Inspiration
Course syllabus
Questions on facebook, forum
Questions format – text and screenr
Webinar format – 90 minutes of presentation with 30 minutes of Q&A
What we’re learning – we are creating an online store that sells books, CDs, DVDs and downloadable files
The products need to be able to be shipped worldwide and shipping needs to be calculated automatically
The products have various formats
We need to charge sales tax in some jurisdictions
With a specific set of tools
WordPress
Thesis
Shopp
Authorize.net
Amazon S3
Why these tools?
Because Shopp meets all of the business requirements
Because I’ve tested them together and they work
Because both Shopp and Thesis are highly customizable in a similar fashion
Because Shopp has a business model that is likely to survive for the long haul.
Who is this class for?
Anyone who wants to learn the nuts and bolts of setting up an online store using WordPress
Beginning to advanced students
If you’re advanced – you’ll have to endure some basic instruction
If you’re a beginner – hang in there, ask questions, call me on the phone, skype me, email me.
Why am I teaching this?
Because I love it!
We’re at the beginning of the democratization of instruction
Inexpensive, high speed broadband
Inexpensive video creation tools
WordPress
The current paradigm has education centered in institutions.
This limits access for participants
This limits access to teachers
The new paradigm allows for the development of knowledge communities like this one where anyone can teach and anyone can learn.
What can you do for ME?
Ask questions during the Q&A sessions about your site, Shopp, or WordPress
Tell us what you’re doing with your site
Ask questions about the materials on Facebook
If you are getting value out of this then pass it on
VIDEO
Why Good Site Organization Matters
Make it easy for customers to find your site
Make it easy for customers to find the right product on your site
Small Store – 1 to 10 products
For example – LadyLuckDiary.com
The store doesn’t control the organization of the site
Medium Simple Store – 10 to 100 products
Simple set of categories
each category is a single level
each product fits into one category
For example – PersonalBabyProducts.com
A category for Onsies, Tshirts & Romper
These could be subcategories of “personalized clothing”
Customers browse by category
Main catalog page should be a product category page
The store should have a fast and simple drill down
Medium Complex Store – 50 to 100+ products
Hierarchical product categories
each category can have multiple sub-categories
each product can fit into multiple categories
For example JackieJacobson.com
she has 3 main categories
each category with multiple subcategories
Main page is a department directory
Each department has a category directory
Each category displays the products
Large Store – 100+ products
Hierarchical product categories
Lots of product categories and sub-categories
Multiple department levels
WordPress Default Tools
Content types
Pages
Posts
Archive Pages
Organizational Elements
WordPress Custom Tools
Custom post types
Custom taxonomies
Shopp’s Tools
Content Types
Products – a custom type
The next version creates a custom post type called product
Organizational Elements
Product Categories – hierarchical
Product tags – non hierarchical
Two Scenarios
Shopp Centric
Use Shopp for Catalog, Organization and Transaction processing
Use all of the Shopp features
WordPress Centric
Use WordPress for catalog & organization
Use Shopp for Transaction processing
The Shopp Centric Approach
The benefits of a Shopp centric approach
Easy
Use of Shopp specific widgets
Simple product navigation
A single point of data entry
The disadvantages
Proprietary – all data is saved in the database in a way that is only accessible via the plugin
No control over SEO – it happens automatically
No control over product display order
Difficult to integrate social networking
The WordPress Centric Approach
The benefits of a WordPress centric approach
Not proprietary – you can switch plugins without losing data
More control over SEO – especially if you are using the Thesis theme
More ways to organize
Control over product display order
Easily integrate social networking
The disadvantages
It’s more work
Can’t use most Shopp widgets
Need to install and configure additional plugins to replace Shopp widgets
Additional product navigation required
Multiple data entry points
We will be using the WordPress Centric Approach
Our products – Primarily education materials
Products specific to a single sport
Products applicable to all sports
Products with multiple formats
Hard cover
Paperback
Audio CD
Video DVD
Downloadable audio
Downloadable eBook
Products as bundles
The principle organization will be by Activity
Product categories will be by activity
Product categories will not be hierarchical
We’ll only use one organizing element – product category
The various formats will be product variations rather than individual products
The Home Page – a landing page
Featured products
Specials
Testimonials
Social networking
Individual Product Pages
Custom post type called mms-products
Custom taxonomy called mms-product-category
Catalog Pages
Department page will be a page that shows the various activities
Each product category will be a taxonomy archive page
Transaction Pages
shopping cart
checkout
my account
Promotional Pages
Administrative Pages
help/support
about
contact
policies
The Blog
Traditional blog – with success stories, product announcements, etc
Categories will be by topic
May or may not use tags
Purchase and download from shopplugin.net
Install the plugin
Introductory Screen
Activate the product
Shopp Resources
Support site
Support documents
Support forum
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