At Hara Partners, we have a boatload of solutions to offer—I mean, we wouldn’t be a real company if we didn’t.
Primarily, we are known for our NetSuite-Magento Connector, which integrates Magento with the NetSuite payment system.
Some of our other solutions include the Sales Tax Magento Module, the Magento BlueCherry Connector, Bill Me Later for Magento, and Magento Health Check.
You can also read our posts on Paypal. As part of its ongoing commitment to furthering merchant interests by improving the customer experience, Paypal has recently announced its plans to offer two new Magento apps to the e-Commerce platform’s users, “in-Aisle Ordering” and “Order Ahead”, each of which promises to alleviate a common consumer “pain point” (as PayPal has termed those event that lessen the customer experience).
The first Magento app offered by the online payments giant, “In-Aisle Selling”, allows store owners to connect their Magento sites to “Here”, PayPal’s mobile POS application, and is intended to combat the hassle of checking-out by allowing sales associates to accept payments anywhere via any smart phone or web-enabled device. The second Magento app, “Order Ahead” is, as the name suggests, a gateway for customers to place, and pay for, orders directly from the app via any smart phone or tablet thus bypassing any lines.
The In-Aisle Selling offering promises to connect your Magento store with PayPal’s mobile point-of-sale app “Here” so that any mobile device can be turned into what PayPal has termed a “concierge” sales tool. Now, sales associates can smoothly close sales right in the aisle, including accepting payments and the full array of shipping options, just like using a regular POS terminal.
With that said, check out our Solutions page whenever you have the free time.
Google Analytics is used by 6,620 of the 10,000 most popular websites, as ranked by BuiltWith (August 2013). Another figure puts it at around 5,000. That’s over five thousand sites using Google Analytics to report a spike or drop in site traffic, and adjusting their tactics as required. If you need or want to drive more traffic to your site – because who would want a drop in numbers? – Google Analytics will show you cleanly and clearly where you’re going wrong, and what your visitors want.
It breaks down the daily traffic in a handy graph, and a pie chart displaying where traffic comes from (email, Google+, or a direct hit – and no, you can’t eat it), and where it’s located (India, Canada, the States), along with the average length of time each IP spends on the site, along with how many active visitors there are on the site at any given time – at a glance, you can see what works, what doesn’t, and what might need to be adjusted.
Running Google Analytics on your website will enable you to take advantage of how long your visitors are on your site and where they are from, plus what they’re looking at. For example, you may wish to implement a Mandarin/Cantonese language translation for your Chinese visitors to enable easier navigation, and as a result they may spend a little more time there, thus perhaps recommending your site via word of mouth.
And with all the different ways in today’s world of connecting with people, old-fashioned recommendation can be the most powerful. Be those guys.
Good customer service plays a vital role to any business. According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, a dissatisfied customer will tell 9 out of 15 people about their bad experience. On the contrary, an effort to reduce the customer defection rate can increase profits by 95%. This is where Magento Extension ‘Help Desk Ultimate 3.0’ comes in.
No one knows what the future has in store for us. Several news sources in the past have predicted that all jobs will be redundant by 2025. The rise of technology, while making all of our lives more convenient, could see significant reductions in the labor force. Thankfully, we still need humans for one very important thing, and that’s customer service. In the field of customer service, there is a tool known as the Self-Service Portal.
A Self-Service Portal is a tool which enables online customers to discover answers to their problems and questions instantaneously, without having to request help from a customer service center or representative. It is an interactive and automated knowledge base that allows its customers to independently resolve problems.
What Are the Benefits of a Self-Service Portal?
1) Your Customers Will Want One
A recent survey conducted by Nuance Enterprise revealed that 75% of respondents thought that self-service was a convenient way to address customer service issues. 91% of consumers also claimed that they would use an online support center if it was available and tailored to their needs.
2) It’s Cost-Efficient
What’s cheaper, having customers help themselves or having someone else do it for them? A Forrester study showed that the approximate cost to operate a call center technical support per customer is $12 and higher while the approximate cost for web self-service is $0.10 or less.
3) The Self-Service Portal Improves Online Customer Experience
One thing that customers want the most is quick and efficient service. A self-service portal is exactly that: a fast and reliable source for solutions and relevant information.
4) It Engages Customers and Creates a Community
A self-service portal has built-in community forums where customers can offer their opinions and thoughts on your products and services.
With the help of these forums, customers can provide each other with support, and establish customer engagement with your brand.
5) It Provides Valuable Data and Information
A self-service portal will tell you exactly what your customers want and need. With that information, you can paint a better picture and understand your customer’s journey. You can use that information to personalize your service and provide extra value to your website, product, and customer experience.
6) It Increases Agent Efficiency
A self-service portal immediately reduces loads on other customer service channels, therefore enabling your agent to pay full attention to every inquiry that arrives.
What You’ll Need for a Self Service Portal
So you know what a self-service portal service is. You know how useful it is. Now the next question is, how can you make full use of this technology?
1) Self-Learning Knowledgebase
Your knowledgebase is the essence of your self-service portal. The content in your knowledgebase will be divided into two sections:
50% of your knowledgebase is the content you get started with. To get the best content for your site’s knowledgebase, use resources such as customer reviews and FAQ.
Ask your salespeople what problems they notice the most.
You can also send out surveys to your customers asking them what difficulties and inquiries they’re encountering, what they were missing when browsing your site, and what would improve the experience.
B. The other 50% is the content you keep updating. Your knowledgebase will be useless unless you keep it relevant and useful for your customer needs.
2) Offer Your Customers Various Ways to Use the Knowledgebase and Portal
Aside from a search bar and a FAQ section, you can offer channels such as community forum, chat, phone, and email.
3) Powerful Semantic Search Engine
Semantic search seeks to improve search accuracy by understanding searcher intent and the contextual meaning of terms as they appear in the searchable dataspace, whether on the Web or within a closed system.
4) Make Your Search Bar Easy to Find and Visible
63% of customers are frustrated with the search bar within a support center. You can definitely improve on the customer experience by improving the visibility of the search bar.
5) Make Your Portal Easy to Use
Provide easy navigation and make sure your content is clear, readable and to the point. As you probably know, people don’t actually read most of the content on a website. They just scan. So you should probably make it easier for your customers to find the relevant content.
6) Empower Your Customers
Make your portal engaging for customers. Don’t hide it with a different design—set it apart from your general design and website. That way you will make your customers feel more comfortable and secure.
7) Content Rating
Let your customers help you by giving them an option to rate the importance of the content.
8) Ask For Feedback
Optimize your knowledgebase according to the information your customers and salespeople provide.
Conclusion
Advanced as they may be, machines and technology lack two things: creativity and empathy.
When facing a problem that cannot be solved by the self-service portal, customers need to talk to someone that can understand them and their frustrations.
As advanced as machines may be, they can’t think creatively, and can only do what they’re told. And sometimes warm emotion — a smile and a thank you — can be all that a customer needs to feel better.
Live support provides your customers with immediate human help. With live support, agents can help customers solve problems that the web interface cannot, and also walk them through their last minute hesitations.
There’s no knowing what’s going to happen in the next fifteen years, but we can certainly use the research today to make the most of what we have for whatever will happen in the future. While machines can do all of the grunt work, you can save all of the customer service and pre sale to humans.
Yoel Feldman is the co-founder and COO of Proonto, a global marketplace that connects eCommerce websites with expert shop assistants to engage visitors with live representative video chat, enabling merchants to sell and service their customers in a more promptly manner.
Store Manager for Magento is a convenient solution for managing your online store. Our e-commerce experts are ready to set you up with a decent package at any point where you feel like you need more value for your business. With a plethora of awesome features that come installed in the software, you’ll find that Store Manager for Magento is unbeatable its capacity to work well with your software, while allowing you to run a lot of cool tools that are simple to install and easy-to-use, even for beginners. Call us with any questions you may have at 212-225-8883.
Learn More About Our World-Class Support
Some companies can install your software, and then leave you dead in the water, scrambling around and scratching your head in terms of what you do. We understand. Not everyone is a tech-savvy software guru like some of our programmers. You don’t need to worry because we’ll have your back. Our IT guys are on 24/7 to help you install your package, as well as respond to any queries that you have once everything is up and running. Just because the software is easy-to-use, it doesn’t mean that you won’t have any questions. Ask us… We’re the experts.
What Else Do I Need to Know?
Once you’ve run the software and asked all the right questions, the next question on your mind will be: what else does Hara Partners have to offer me to improve my Magento experience? Well, you’ve stumbled upon the right guys… We have loads of solutions to offer for you, ready to be installed at any point that you decide to purchase them. With solutions ranging from the NetSuite-Magento Connector to Managed Magento Support, our e-commerce solutions are virtually limitless, which is why we’re the best at what we do. You were probably looking for unique solutions in the first place, which is why you clicked on the contact form for our Store Manager… If you’re ever ready to expand, please call us directly at
212-225-8883, and we’ll be more than happy to hook you up.
What The Google Trusted Stores Program Can Do For Your Business
Want your business to assure customers that it is a great place to shop? Then, you should seriously consider signing up to the Google Trusted Stores program.
What is the Google Trusted Stores Program?
If your business registers to the Google Trusted Stores Program, then your eCommerce store will be awarded with a Google Trusted Store badge. This badge shows that your business is Google Certified. This highlights your business’s fantastic customer service and the reliable delivery times of its shipping service. A Google Trusted Store badge will also place stress on positive customer reviews.
What can a Google Trusted Store badge do for you?
A Google Trusted Store badge highlights the good features of your company which will increase the confidence of new customers to shop at your site. This trust will increase sales and profit. Google Trusted Stores can also help you qualify for seller ratings in AdWords and Google Shopping. Seller ratings let your customers know that you provide an excellent shopping experience which is a huge advantage for attracting new customers and increasing sales. To qualify for this, Google Stores will collect customer reviews of your business. If successful, seller ratings will appear in a chart rating the experience your eCommerce business provides from 1 to 5 stars. 1 star being poor, and 5 stars being fantastic.
Google Trusted Stores can also increase the amount of visitors to your site using review extensions. Review extensions are displayed the line below your AdWords ads. They contain snappy, positive information about your service.
The badge can increase the conversion rate on your website. Conversion rate is simply transforming the number of site visitors into paying customers. Plus, more customer attention will increase average order size and create higher profit.
Many businesses with Google Trusted Stores badges have been successful. For example, Lancaster pet supply store ‘That Pet Place” was awarded a Google Trusted Stores badge for their commitment to provide fantastic customer service and impressively quick delivery times. The Google Trusted Store badge helps ‘That Pet Place’ attract new customers and gain their trust to buy at its online store. Find out how the Google Trusted Store badge has helped them at: http://www.thatpetplace.com/google-trusted-store
Bare Necessities is a women’s lingerie site which has also benefited from its Google Trusted Store badge. It promotes a hassle-free returns policy and expert fit advice in their product information section. A Google Trusted Stores badge can help both small and large businesses increase sales.
No matter what your business specializes in, the Google Trusted Stores Program can really help you increase sales and public attention. The best part? It is completely free. All you have to do is sign up at: http://www.google.com/trustedstores/for-businesses/
For more information about the process involved in signing up to the program, visit: https://support.google.com/trustedstores/answer/1669761?hl=en
The number of Magento extension providers out there on the Interwebs are limitless, and each one has its own version that focuses on improving the SEO of a Magento store. Sometimes it can be very hard for a store owner to figure out which one to choose since they often list a lot of similar features, and it’s not entirely clear which feature you really need. Before installing any Magento SEO, please follow our quick guide below.
3. Strategically think about your site’s main navigation.
4. Implement schema.org microdata markup into your theme to display breadcrumbs, price, reviews and more in SERP.
5. Implement rel prev and next on your pagination.
6. If you have multiple languages, implement rel alternate hreflang x.
As long as you checked all of the above and you don’t have layered navigation on your store, your on-site SEO will be just fine without any extension. If you have layered navigation however, this will complicate things a little bit.
Magento SEO extensions and layered navigation
Handling issues with layered navigation SEO will in most cases require an extension. In case you don’t want to use any combination of attributes in your layered navigation as long tail keyword landing pages, you don’t need an extension, you just need to add meta noindex, follow to the URLs in layered navigation and / or not allow search engines to get to those layered URLs at all. That being said, if you really need to rank for long tail combinations of some category name and some attribute names, you’ll need a Magento extension that handles layered navigation URL rewrites, enables you to set different titles, and in some cases enables you to chose meta noindex, follow for some combinations.
This extension will work with both community and enterprise edition. It will give you impresive control over URL rewrites in layered navigation, page titles in layered navigation and meta noindex options for combinations you don’t want in index. It’s extremely powerful extension but with so many configuration options it’s easy to miss-configure it. If you go with this extension, it’s crucial to set aside a lot of time and really explore all of the options it gives you and think strategically about the best ways you can utilize it on your specific niche. Pro tip: Try not to put too many things in page titles, especially in prefixes.
This extension is part of larger set of Amasty’s Improved Layered Navigation extensions. By spliting it into separate extension, it reduces the amount of configuration options and allows easier set-up. It gives you unlimited powers for manually setting page titles, meta tags, and even headings and content (CMS blocks) for each combination of navigation’s attributes individually.
If you have an extension that fulfills all of the requirements, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.
SalesTax.com, by CCH, is the world class, cloud-based Sales Tax & Rules Engine which makes all your sales tax calculations in real time. SalesTax.com integrates into your existing accounting software or ERP using the available Software Development Kit, or can be added directly into your Microsoft Dynamics AX or GP ERP system for even more complete synchrony.
SalesTax.com by CCH is your ticket to worry-free financials, the plus and pro versions even come with automatic form generation, and since it’s based off of the same cutting edge tax technology CCH, the largest tax research and solution firm in the world, supplies to the IRS and all BIG-4 accounting firms, compliance is guaranteed.
Advanced Features:
Taxability Mapping
This uniquely straightforward solution permits drag-and-drop mapping by product, automatically correlating to a comprehensive list of nationwide product codes for every industry. This free service automatically invokes the proper rules at point of sale, minimizing compliance management resources.
Nexus Management
Precisely define states and local jurisdictions, adding and deleting regions at your convenience. Advanced functionality allows you to schedule discrete periods ahead of time with designated beginning and ending dates.
Jurisdiction Mapping
Make invalid addresses a thing of the past. State-of-the-art rooftop mapping targets even specific street addresses–there is no more precise or detailed mapping service available.
SalesTax.com Services
Benefit from enhanced Magento sales tax functionality in a cost-effective, cloud-based solution.
Sales Tax CORE
ERP and Magento Shopping Cart Integration
Real-time Jurisdiction Mapping
Comprehensive Taxability Mapping
Flexible Nexus Management
Management Reporting: Reports are accessible in real-time to assist with supervision, tracking, treasury management, and audit defense
Sales Tax PLUS
SalesTax.com SaaS PLUS provides powerful enhancements to your management of your Magento tax return(s) filing process.
Automated Forms Generation
Automated Filing
Calendar Alert System
Completely Accessible History of Filed Returns
Stand-Alone Filing Option: Sales Tax SaaS PLUS can be used as a stand-alone filing service. You provide the data and Sales Tax SaaS PLUS auto-generates returns and handles filing and remittance.
To read more about our Sales Tax and and Tax Use module, check out our solutions page on it, and then give us a callif you don’t mind.
EDI, or electronic data interchange, is an electronic communication system that provides standards for exchanging data via any electronic means. It allows two different companies across the globe to electronically exchange documents such as purchase orders, invoices, shipping notices, and many others.
EDI for Microsoft Dynamics
EDI for Microsoft Dynamics allows companies to have it all when dealing with trading partners. Whether it’s the flexibility to adapt to trading partner requirements or simply the ability to quickly and efficiently implement new trading partners, Dynamics EDI and BMIwill allow you to make the most of your partnerships.
Our EDI solution is unique in that it includes a logical mapping tool, built inside Microsoft Dynamics NAV, to allow the seamless mapping of EDI transactions within the business system. Perhaps the most important part of an EDI solution is the integration with your internal business processes, yet many companies use a number of software packages, often not integrated, to try to accomplish this task.
Historically, EDI translation has been handled outside the business system, leaving the final linkage into the business system database to programmers, hard-coded programs, or even manual entry.
Our EDI solution takes a more efficient approach by incorporating the mapping and cross-reference process inside NAV. This provides a single mapping process between the EDI documents and the business system database, a consistent user interface, NAV native drill down from either a business document or an EDI document to the related transaction detail, and a logical place for EDI archives.
Cross-Reference Engine
Often the most difficult part of the EDI translation process is the cross-referencing of incoming data to the business system data. For example, a trading partner typically orders an inventory item using one of several numbers, none of which may be the number you use to identify that item in your system.
Because the EDI product is built inside Dynamics NAV, it handles the cross-referencing and mapping in a single step inside your business system. Standard Cross References Include:
—Items
—Units of Measure
—Sell-To
—Ship-To
—Ship-For
—Distribution Centers
—Shipping Agent
—Payment Terms
—Shipping Payment Type
—Shipment Method Code
—Tax Area Code
—And Others
If EDI is something that interests you, do not hesitate, and pleasegive us a call.
Dear Magento aficionados: a new extension has arrived that could save you all the time-costly hassle of having to manally view product details on a webpage for days on end. QuickView allows you to remove unnecessary page reloads and simplify the catalog browsing. You can allow your customers to preview the product details directly from the Category page. A neat and handy pop-up window containing crucial product info will allow the visitor to swiftly make their decision, and get back to shopping with no delays.
I know what you’re thinking: “Why didn’t anyone make this sooner? Aren’t we supposed to be in the twenty-first century over here?” Correct, but developers’ minds can only move so fast. Just be glad that QuickView is here, to take all that previous hassle away (as all good extensions should).
QuickView is a Magento module, not a template hack, so you can install into your current Magento website, and use QuickView immediately. The module is powered by AJAX technology, and offers extensive options for configuring the pop-up window. You can set it up to include:
—short/full description
—rating and reviews summary
—additional information
—stock availability info
—add to cart/wishlist button
QuickView’s Additional Features:
—Instant Product Details preview from a Category page
—AJAX-based pop-up
Fully Customizable Pop-Up:
—size
—layout
—border color
—progress indicator image
Multiple Pop-Up Actions:
—Add Product to Cart / Wishlist
—Submit Review
—Proceed to Product Page
—View previous/next product
—Zoom images
Here is also some information on QuickView’s back-end:
The information that is displayed on the Product popup such as product reviews, short description, Add to cart and Wishlist links, and previous next buttons are completely configurable from the backend.
You can adjust the width and height of Quickview window
You can turn on / off review, add to cart button, footer links, detail product description
You can upload another loading icon to replace the default loading icon.
You can change the background color, Quickview border color, background opacity and the position of Quickview window
Change the size of product main images and size of product screenshot
Elated? We knew you would be. Give us a call and we’ll hook you up with the goods as soon as you feel like you need it.
Enterprise Resource Planning—or ERP—is a business management software that a company can use to collect, store, manage and interpret data from many business activities, including shopping and payment, inventory management, and marketing and sales.
The role of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Implementation in managing business processes has expanded significantly over the past decade from a focus on specific business areas such as manufacturing, procurement, or human resources, to broader use throughout the company. Although IT has traditionally been responsible for specifying and implementing technology within an organization, successful ERP implementations require involvement from stakeholders at all levels, from executives to end users. For many companies, the transition from existing traditional systems to a new ERP one can consume significant corporate resources, including time, expense, and risk to business operations. However, as we’ll explore below, this need not be the case.
But which EPR Implementation is right for your business? When choosing an approach, be sure to consider the cost of taking on a huge project. You have the option of purchasing on-premise ERP software and installing it on your own company’s computers and servers.
Given the range of functions that enterprise resource planning encompasses, it should come as no surprise that there are multiple types of ERP implementations. You can choose to build your own custom ERP and program it from the bottom up, though the cost and complexity of taking on such a huge project can make a do-it-yourself approach a poor one.
A great alternative is a cloud-based ERP solution like NetSuite. The system is cloud-based and managed entirely off site by the ERP provider. This allows for customizations to automatically update with each system upgrade.
Keeping these best practices in mind will help you launch your deployment on the right track. Make sure you research the best ERP Implementation option for your business, and set realistic expectations while giving your staff the support they need. These steps will lead to a more effective ERP experience and a better-run business for the long-term.
