ShopSite’s latest and greatest, Version 11 Service Pack 2 (11 SP2), is on the street. It’s a great release chock full of new features and improved usability.

Here’s what I’ve found to be of interest to merchants…

For a full list of all new features, check out the ShopSite 11 SP2 New Features page.

“Processing” overlay on cart page

Commerce Setup -> Order System -> Layout Info -> “Display “Processing…” splash screen”

Such a simple little feature – Have a “Processing” graphic appear and dim the screen while ShopSite is recalculating shipping options or updating the cart. And yet, it’s a great usability enhancement! No more confusion to customers who type quickly and try to change other items in the cart while ShopSite is re-loading the page for a zip code change.

A “must enable” feature in my mind.

Merchant alerts – Turn ’em on!

Commerce Setup -> Merchant Alerts -> Configure

Now you can be instantly notified when a shipper like FedEx or USPS is having an issue, or if your payment gateway is having a problem.

It’s a great way to be able to stay on top of problems in your store.

Combine Same Products

Commerce Setup -> Order System -> Shopping Cart -> “Combine Same Products”

Another small change that can have a big impact for some merchants. This feature will combine products that are the same (that do not have ordering options enabled) onto the same line item. No more having 5 line items of all the same product.

Checkout error highlighting

Another simple yet important feature – If a client forgets to fill in a field on checkout or fills it in incorrectly, the field and text will be highlighted red to make it easier for the customer to see what they missed / have to correct.

Tax exempt support in customer registration

You can now set a tax exempt status for a registered customer. You can include their ID and expiration as well.

Wholesale module improvement

With SP2, it is no longer required that a customer go to the cart first once logged in for the wholesale module to work correctly. Once logged in, the tracking cookie is set automatically, so the customer can go right back to the site and be recognized as a logged in user.

UPS account rates now possible

Commerce Setup -> Shipping -> Configure UPS

If you ship via UPS, you can now elect to have your account rates displayed as opposed to the retail rates.

WordPress plugin

Merchandising -> Social Media -> WordPress

Ever wanted to embed your products automatically in your blog? Now you can with the WordPress plugin! Easy to use, and adds an instant upsell to your blog.

Products reviews built-in

Merchandising -> Product Reviews

ShopSite has added a built-in product review system. Similar to our review module, it allows you to add reviews to your pages that customers can submit/read.

Our add-on module will continue to work, be supported, and integrates with our order status module.

Re-order functionality

Registered customers who log into their account can easily re-order with a click of a button. Our order status module with re-order functionality will continue to work as well.

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As you can see, lots of new features and services to help make your store better! If you host with us, simply request the upgrade, and we’ll get you to the latest version. It is a seamless upgrade that does not involve any downtime.