Shop Launch round-up!
It's been a busy few weeks here at Moonfruit HQ. Our new ShopBuilder product is now live and doing well, and has clocked up over 16,000 shop builds in the first week and a half, so we're pretty pleased. Here are just a few examples, selling everything from spices to handbags, headphones to concert tickets!
We launched the product with PayPal at their UK offices on Weds 19th Oct with a great audience made up of customers from Moonfruit, PayPal and StartUp Britain. The theme was Guerrilla ShopBuilding. We had PayPal's Cameron McClean and Beverley Bergin setting up the event and talking payment solutions. We then had StartUp Britain's Emma Jones and our very own CEO Wendy Tan taking about small business strategy and how to grow and get customers in these tough times, and me with a nerve wracking live multi-device demo (watched by the even more nervous development team from the back row!).
Wendy tells it how it is
It all went (came) off without a hitch and was very well received. We had a great time too and it was fantastic to meet so many of our customers and potential customers in one place to share ideas. We had some nice press too:
http://www.three-sixty.co.uk/om4biz/?p=521
For those of you that haven't seen it yet, our new ShopBuilder allows you to publish once, sell everywhere, with your shop working immediately on web, mobile and Facebook. You update your products in one place and we publish the updates everywhere. All products added have their own page, URL and SEO data and are effortlessly connected to your main shop page.
Using PayPal's accelerated onboarding we can get you trading immediately with only an email address (no credit checking) and with their Express Checkout you can start collecting payments from your customers using web and mobile optimised payment gateways without any configuration required by you. We do the hard stuff, you get on with selling your stuff.
Web, mobile, social
Total design control
So what's next…?
…you may ask. Well the e-commerce road is long and littered with complexity, and we're not done yet. We see it as our job to make trading effortless and remove the barriers to setting up your own shop. We want to keep things simple, but also give you the features you need to run an effective store. So the challenge is to add features without cluttering the interface.
Next up is product categories, which will allow you to organise and group your products to create category specific lists and landing pages. Of course these will work across web, mobile and Facebook straight away, and here's what they will look like when you get them in a couple of weeks.
New category admin view
We hope to continue releasing new shop features every month or so (e.g. variable shipping, product variations, product quantities, coupons, etc.) so keep your eyes peeled!
Comments
This is brilliant! Just what I have been waiting for! So when is this going to be released as I know a lot of us are waiting for the categories option and I am waiting on this to make my site live!
Please can you advise how this categories option is going to look in the actual shop, are we able to split the categories over different pages? As on my website I would like to be able to split tops, skirts, jumpers etc over entirely different pages from my main menu?
Thanks!
Hi there, I have just finished building my lovely new shop but I notice that the other shops that you showcase in this blog have a little trolley icon and a line that says 'click image for more detail'.
My shop lacks this part, how come?
Here's a link to my shop http://starkhechara.co.uk/#/service...
Many thanks,
Star
Hi I have set up a shop using the streetmate template.
My brand name is Phresh Produce - i have a problem in that on my home page it states the name of my brand but as you navigate through the site it has streetmate at the top of each page!! How do i remove this and replace it with Phresh Produce etc?
@Courtney - there'll be a category list widget that you can place on your page what will filter the results of the shop page so that it displays only products in that category. They'll also be a new 'category' link type that will allow you to create links directly to certain category views. So this link type will mean you could have a category link in your normal menu, e.g. menswear, or you could create an image that links to a category from your homepage, etc.
Each category will have a unique URL, and category lists will be displayed on the mobile HTML view and Facebook shop view.
It should be supercool, and out in a few weeks. I don't have a firm date yet, but in November.
Joe
will it be possible to have 1 product in multiple categories?
Thanks,
Julian
Hi,
Star: I think I've spoken to you on Facebook - if you have any more questions, just reply to me there.
Phresh: I can't see your site, but I'd suggest checking what you have under Admin -> Site information. You can change the title there.
Julian: Yes, this will be possible.
HTH,
Gary
so i dont get it. you opened up a e commerce portion to your site but you dont offer size difference options or color differences. So if i have a t shirt for sale i have to only sale a size xl in the color blue? Talk about limiting. Whats the point? Am I missing something here?
Frank
Shop is fab, but I agree with frank above. I need to be able to offer colour options or my customers will have to scroll through hundreds of products to find their size/colour combination! I also think a quantity button should be added as soon as possible!
Im curious to know if you would be able to offer the ability to sell digital products rather than physical ones? My website sells eBook downloads that im having to use a 3rd party source. It would be great if the shop would cater to the massive market of eBook downloads and software. DO you have any plans to incorporate this or is it even possible with the current set up?
Frank and Lauren, Joe did highlight in his article above that "we hope to continue releasing new shop features every month or so (e.g. variable shipping, product variations, product quantities, coupons, etc.)...". So these features are planned.
As we've said in other posts and replies it was better to get out what we could, allow customers to use the Beta Shop and then give us feedback. The feedback has been important in prioritising what comes next, which is why Categories should be out within the next few weeks. And then we'll focus on product variation, quantity etc.
Rex, that's probably something that will come a little later down the line. We need to get the shop features right for those selling tangible products (like Frank and Lauren) first before looking at digital products.
HTH
Walt
I am just starting to look at setting up a jewellery shop site.
Does your design tool support customers ordering quantities - 2 of product X?
Also can I group products by type/category so the customer can home in on a particular interest eg Pendants?
Hi, any news on the categories release date? I know you said first half of November can you give us an exact date when this will be? Thanks!
I am super ready for you guys to release the other features....until now I have been using the HTML snippet to plug in the codes from the Paypal shopping carts.....that is fine and it works BUT I really really love being able to handle everything right there on my sitemaker.
For those who are eager for drop down options then you can do the Paypal carts and cut and paste your codes into a HTML snippet.
@galvinpeter, as per replies above quantities and categories are coming.
@Courtney, no concrete date as yet but still looking at November. Looking more like 2nd half as getting categories right has taken a little longer than expected.
@Xochitl Designs, we're working as quickly as we can.
Thanks
Walt
Hey, great to hear the shop-builder will be ever expanding. Looking forward to future updates.
I am a relatively new, free user, having the same problem as Phresh concerning the site name (still says streetmate shop). I have gone to admin - site information - and changed the name to Free To Be, but still no change.
Any other tips for this? Is it because it's a free site?
Thanks, Jim
Update on previous post -
I have just noticed that when you make a new page, it shows whatever page name you input in the browser-tab bar.
You need to delete and create a new 'shop' page for the 'streetmate shop' to change to the desired name.
This could be done if you could edit the page as you can when creating a new page. Could this feature be implemented?
If you go to page - organise pages - it only allows you to change the name of the page and its position, not any more intimate page details.
Cheers, Jim.
Hi Jim,
Can you let me know the URL of your site? You shouldn't need to delete and re-add a page to rename it; changing it under Pages -> Organise pages should suffice.
Thanks,
Gary
Hi,
Just wanting to get a more accurate date of when the product quantities/size/colour will be added to Shop and if these will be all done at the same time, this is all I'm waiting on to be able to advertise/launch my site to the public and it's imperitive to get it up and going ASAP so I can sell my products to Christmas shoppers!
Thanks,
Cat
Hi Cat,
I'm afraid we don't have an accurate date for product options just yet, but we are hoping to have it out before the end of the year. Categories should be coming within the next two weeks, and we will be working on other features after that.
HTH,
Gary
does the shop have a product data feed that i can submit to google? currently we use EKM powershop for the payment processing part of our site, it would be great to get this all into one website.
Hi Michael,
I'm afraid that neither of these features are available just yet, but we will look into the possibility of adding them to a future release.
HTH,
Gary
when clicking add to cart i get this error page
The webpage cannot be displayed
Most likely cause:
•Some content or files on this webpage require a program that you don't have installed.
What you can try:
Search online for a program you can use to view this web content.
Retype the address.
Go back to the previous page.
sometimes i can add items, but i really dont expect orders if people have to click 5 times to place an order.
also i cant find any option to select quantity, im offering a photo touch up service, which would mean clicking "add" 20x for 20 pictures.
Is there any way to put links directly to the basket? rather than going on to product page, finding a product that has already been ordered and going in from there.
is the limit 9 items per page? at the moment i have 10 different items that would easily fit on one page, is this possible
thanks
Is there a way to change the color of the "items in cart" and "add to cart buttons?" The ones in the template I used are red but that doesn't match the color scheme of my site now and I'd like to change them to something neutral or matching my color scheme and can't seem to find any option to do this. Thanks for your help!
Hi,
arran: Have you sent a ticket through to Support about your problem? It's probably a bit too in-depth to discuss here, as we'll need some more information to have a look at it.
Karen: I believe you've also posted on the forum - if that was you, I've replied to you there.
HTH,
Gary
I realise this is not the place to get into detail but it is the only way to contact you.
I tried for 3 days to submit my problem and contact moonfruit, but every time I got a message saying theres been an problem and to try again later.
Any chance you could get in touch via email?
Thanks
Will there be an alert/email out to us when the categories etc are added for the shop or do we need to just keep re-visiting here to find out when its been launched?
Cat
Hello,
As per Cat's comment above, we're just looking to find out if there's anything more firm on the category launch?
Thanks!
Hi,
arran - Can you let me know your username or site address? I can open a ticket from this end and mail you.
Cat: I'm pleased to inform you that categories were released yesterday. We post about upcoming updates on our Forum, our Facebook page, and Twitter, so you can find out through any of these methods.
Chessie: In addition to the above, we normally post a summary of what has been released within 24 hours of the update.
HTH,
Gary
fotoshoot.moonfruit.com
agreig243
Many thanks Gary
arran: I've just set up a support ticket for you, you should now be able to access the support pages.
I wondered if you are going to add a 'rate this' button so customers can rate the product with a 5 star rating......be great to get feedback direct from ustomers in one easy step
Hi fe,
A "Rate this product" has already been discussed by the team, along with a number of others features. We'll keep everyone posted on what new ShopBuilder features we've planned for development over the coming months.
Thanks,
Walt
Hi Gary,
Great to see 'Categories' is now up and running, since it's going to be a while off still till we get Quantity and Size, is there a quick way for you guys to add in 'Duplicate' in the Shop when you edit products, as I need to make a heap of the same thing with just different sizings and colours, so instead of me having to create a heap of new products and copy and paste description etc, if I had an option to make a duplicate and just rename the Product Title that would be ideal... understand if its not a quick and simple task though, thought it would be worth the ask as I'm sure I'm not alone.
Thanks,
Cat
Thanks Walt - good to see Moonfruit coming on leaps and bounds. So far the easiest shop set up EVER! looking forward to new features. My wish list would be a 'rate this product' button, dedicated customer sign in so they could check their purchase history, delivery status and rated feedback, integrated newsletter facility in the form of a customer database ( similar to Magento Go), some sort of customer loyalty programme.
When i go onto the Shop and settings, when i click onto the Facebook Shop and then sign in to customise nothing seems to happen. How can I get my site linked into facebook?
Hi- I just saw that the categories is up in the shop editor. Is there a way to make the categories show up on the Shop page that my customers will see? Like for instance if I sell shirts and I make a category called "Shirts" and in that I add red shirt, blue shirt, green shirt...can I get it so when the customer goes to my shop they see my categories, click the one they want, ie: Shirts and then that pulls up another page with the products in that category? Right now I placed everything in their categories but every product is still showing up mixed together on the shop page.
Thanks!
Mel
I have been using EKM Powershop for the past 5yrs, but long for the design ability of Moonfruit with all the features of EKM. Catagories, qties, variations (size, colour, finish etc), duplicate pages (for many items that are similar), global price increase/changes, stock control, discount codes, analytics etc (I'm sure you get the message by now) and a very broad range of fully compatable payment merchants all sorted but it does not have the great design ability of Moonfruit. Once Moonfruit get the same features as EKM, I'd consider building a new shop here. But why has it taken so long, I had mailed Moonfruit regarding the woefully inadequate 'Paypal' buttons many years back. Please do get it sorted.
Hi Cat, there is no 'quick way' to add any functionality in. We have a plan for what features will come out next and the most important ones will hit the sites first. Categories was obviously a big one, customer quantities next up, then product variations etc. But the team are aware of the duplicate request.
Fe, yep that's on the drawing board but I can promise when. Most likely later in the New Year.
Hi Paul, sounds like you may need to set up Facebook Connect. Go to People (toolbar) > Settings and enable Facebook Connect. We do have FAQ on this in the ShopBuilder section.
Hi Melissa, if you've set up categories correctly then your customers will see them. However, your description of red shirts, blue shirts etc won't be easily possible until we release 'product variants' which is due in the New Year. Unless you wish to create each variant as a product.
Ian, We are working as quickly as we can to add and improve the features in the ShopBuilder.
Thanks
Walt
hi
am i doing something wrong maybe but when a start my second product all data from the first product are there and if i delete something from the second product the first one is also affected! That means that no matter how many products i create they would have the same description (price and name cam change) Help!!!!!!!!! very important!!(for me :)
Hi,
If you haven't done so already, I'd recommend sending a ticket through to Support so that they can look into this.
HTH,
Gary