User Guide
Helcim Virtual Store Support
This page was designed as a quick merchant guide on getting started with the Helcim Virtual Store. For further assistance, please contact us directly.
Table of Contents
Store Overview
The overview page gives you a quick breakdown of what is happening in your online store. New orders are displayed in the top left corner and can be view by clicking on the order ID. A quick breakdown of your month's sale totals can be seen on the graph as well.
Orders
All of your store's orders and transactions can be listed on this page. By default, only new and pending orders are listed. To display other types of orders, including refunded and declined transactions, select the order types in the top left drop down and click on "List Orders". You can also display all transactions that occured during a certain time period.
Statistics
Collected statistics of your store's sales and shopping cart usage are displayed above.
Virtual Terminal
The virtual terminal allows you to manually create and process orders. It can also be used to issue refunds to customers.
Creating a New Order
To create a new order, first select "Purchase" as the transaction type. You can then start adding items to the new order by selecting an item in the drop down box and entering a quantity. A discount amount which will be applied to the sub-total can also be entered.
Shipping and Taxes
For shipping, you must manually select the shipping method which will be pre-calculated based on the items added. For taxes, select the customer's region for the appropriate taxes.
Customer Information
You must enter the customer's complete billing information. This shipping information and order comments are optional and can be left out. Once ready, click the "Process Transaction" to complete the purchase.
Refunding a customer - Existing Order
If you are refunding a customer from an existing order, the customer's credit card number will appear and can be used to issue to refund. The maximum refund amount for the stored credit card is the total on the original order.
Refunding a Customer - Stand-Alone
To refund a customer, first select "Refund" as the transaction type. You must than enter a reason for the refund as well as the refund amount. The customer's complete billing information must be entered as well as the credit card information.
Account Settings
This page allows you to make changes to your general account settings. You can also change your account password by entering the required information above.
Email Notification
By enabling this feature, you can choose to send a copy of each new order to the email address associated with your merchant account.
Product Catalogue
The store's complete items inventory is display here. By default, products are ordered by the categories they belong to. You can also choose to display specific groups by selecting a brand or category in the drop down menu and clicking "List Products".
Adding a New Product
When adding a new product catalogue, keep in mind that you can always go back at a later time and make changes to any aspect of the product that was created.
Product Name:
This is the product's name, such as "32 inch Widescreen Television".
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit):
The SKU is this product's identification number. It is usually composed of both letters and numbers (example "DXV-32W-TV"). If this product is manufactured by a third party, it is recommended that you use that manufacturer's SKU number as customers could be familiar with it.
Category:
This is the category that will "hold" your new product, helping you organize your store and your customers find the products that they need. To create a new category, visit the Categories and Parents section.
Manufacturer / Brand:
If your store carries multiple product brands, assigning a specific product to each product will once again help customers sort through your catalogue.
Price:
The product's price should not include taxes or shipping, as these will be calculated and added at the time of checkout.
Sale Price:
If present, the sale price will overtake the standard price and will be the one used at the time of checkout.
Description:
Your product's description will help customers understand exactly what they are purchase. It is recommended that you provide as many details as possible to ensure customer satisfaction.
Tags:
Tags are keywords that are used to help search engines map your store's catalogue. It is recommended that you do not use vague terms and stick to keywords that are directly relevant to the specific product.
Status:
When products are no longer available, their status should be changed to "offline". This will stop the product from being displayed to customers, while allowing you to keep the product in your catalogue in case of future use.
Stock Level:
The stock level represents how many units of each product you have in inventory. Every time a unit is purchased, your stock level will be reduced (up to a minimum of zero). Visit the Shipping Allowance page to set whether or not out-of-stock products can still be purchased.
Featured Listing:
Featured products will receive priority when displayed on your store's product lists.
Weight:
Enter this product's weight (in kilograms).
Dimensions:
The product's dimensions (width x height x length) must be entered in centimeters.
Shipping Units:
The number of shipping units required for this product to be shipped.
Categories & Parent Categories
The purpose of creating categories is to help you organize your store and help your customers navigate through it. When creating a new category, you will be asked for the category's name (such as "Cell Phones"). You may also enter a description to the category. A drop-down box will appear asking you if you would like to assign this category to a parent group.
Although not technically categories themselves, parents are used to group and organize categories together. Products cannot be assigned to parent groups directly but instead must be assigned to a specific category within those parents. An example of parent could be "Electronics", which could contain a number of categories such as "Televisions", "Stereo Systems", and so on.
Brands
This section allows you to create a list of brands. Brands are especially useful if your store's catalogue contains products from a number of various manufacturers. A description and logo can also be added to help your customer's associate with the specific brand.
Specifications
Dependent on already created categories, specifications allow you to provide extended details for each of your products. For each category, create a number of "specs" that are associated with this specific category. For example, if your store's catalogue contained a category for digital cameras, you could create a series of specs for this category including "battery life", "memory size", "megapixels", "zoom distance" and so on. You would then enter the specifications for each of your digital camera products, and customers would be able to compare and select the one that best fits their needs.
Adding specifications to products in your store:
When viewing a product's details, select "Options & Specs" to manage this product's particular specifications. Specs available for this product's category will be displayed on the page.
Product Options Groups
The purpose of product options is to give customers choices on certain product variations that do not affect the product's price. Creating an option group named "Size" and adding options such as "small", "medium", and "large" would be affective for clothing items. Customers would then be able to choose the available option that best fits their needs.
Adding options to specific products in your store:
Each individual product can be assigned the specific options that are available for it. When viewing a product, select "Options & Specs" to manage this product's particular options. All available option groups created will be displayed, allowing you to select only the options applicable to this product.
Store Coupons
For promotions and marketing campaigns. Unlike auto-coupons, store coupons are generated manually and can be used multiple times by customers.
Coupon Code
Enter the coupon code, such as "SAVE10PLUS". The coupon can only contain alphanumeric characters.
Coupon Name
Enter a brief description for the generated coupon, such as "Receive 20% of your next order!".
Minimum Purchase Amount
This is the minimum purchase amount that must be present in the shopping cart in order for the customer to use the coupon.
Discount Amount
This is the coupon's discount amount, which can be either a fixed amount of a percentage of the sub-total.
Discount Shipping
If enabled, the customer will receive free shipping on their order if the coupon is used.
Status
Select whether this coupon is currently available (Active) or not currently available (Disabled).
Expires
Select the expiry date of this coupon.
One Time Use
If checked, the coupon will only be valid for a one-time use.
Times Used
Displays the number of times this coupon was used.(cannot be edited)
After Checkout Coupons
After checkout coupons are automatically generated by the shopping cart once a customer has successfully made an order and meets the after checkout coupon criteria.
Coupon Name
Enter a brief description for the generated coupon, such as "Receive 20% of your next order!".
Minimum Purchase Amount
This is the minimum purchase amount that must be present in the shopping cart in order for the customer to use the coupon. Do not mistaken this for "Minimum Invoice Total to be Eligible for a Coupon".
Minimum Invoice Total to be Eligible for a Coupon
This is the minimum that must have been purchased in order to the customer to receive a coupon for his next purchase.
Discount Amount
This is the coupon's discount amount, which can be either a fixed amount of a percentage of the sub-total.
Discount Shipping
If enabled, the customer will receive free shipping on their order if the coupon is used.
Status
Select whether this coupon is currently available (Active) or not currently available (Disabled).
Expires
Once the coupon is automatically generated by the shopping cart, select how long the coupon will remain valid until it expires.
Times Used
Displays the number of times this coupon was used.(cannot be edited)
Outstanding Coupons
Displays the number of outstanding coupons still waiting to be used. (cannot be edited)
Expired Coupons
Displays the number of coupons that were generated but never used and have now expired. (cannot be edited)
Product Details
Detailed information for a specific product is display on this page. You may also make quick changes to some of the more commonly adjusted information by editing the fields and clicking on the "Save Changes" button.
Price:
The product's price should not include taxes or shipping, as these will be calculated and added at the time of checkout.
Sale Price:
If present, the sale price will overtake the standard price and will be the one used at the time of checkout.
Status:
When products are no longer available, their status should be changed to "offline". This will stop the product from being displayed to customers, while allowing you to keep the product in your catalogue in case of future use.
Featured Listing:
Featured products will receive priority when displayed on your store's product lists.
Stock Level:
The stock level represents how many units of each product you have in inventory. Every time a unit is purchased, your stock level will be reduced (up to a minimum of zero). Visit the Shipping Allowance page to set whether or not out-of-stock products can still be purchased.
Shipping Units:
The number of shipping units required for this product to be shipped.
Uploading Pictures for your Products
To upload a new picture, begin by clicking on the "browse" button. You must then select a picture on your computer that upload. Pictures must be in JPG or GIF format and cannot be larger than 1600x1200 in resolution (2 megapixels). Once you have selected the image file, click on the "Upload Picture" button. The picture will automatically be converted and resized to the specified sizes entered on the Customer Image Presets in your store's options.
To view the original image, click on the "view" button below the thumbnail.
Maximum Pictures:
You currently have a maximum of 8 picture slots available for each of your store's products.
Notice for already uploaded pictures:
If your products already have uploaded images and you would like to create a new image preset, you will have to go back to your current product's pictures and click to "resize" button to generate the new preset sizes.
Accessories
Accessories are products that are similar or function with the current product. This allows you to display a list of other products your customer may be interested in.
Store Options
This section serves as a quick link to your store's settings. To begin, simply select one of the categories you which to modify.
How the Shipping Unit System Works
The shipping unit system in the Helcim Virtual Store can be customized for each country region. To modify your list of allowed shipping destinations, visit the Shipping Allowance section.
For each region, you must determine the shipping methods available and their base price. Examples of these could include "Basic ground 7-day" and "Express-air overnight". Each shipping method must also be assigned a shipping unit multiplier. This allows you to increase the shipping fee based on which products your customer has selected to purchase. Using the examples above, the basic ground shipping could have a base price of $5 and a multiplier of $0.25 while the express overnight shipping could have a base price of $15 and a multiplier of $0.75.
For this to work effectively, you must assign a number of shipping units to each new product that is added to your store. For example, a small product such as a music CD could simply be assigned 1 shipping unit, while a heavier pair of shoes could be assigned 8 units.
Assuming that the customer has selected the "Basic ground 7-day" shipping method, his shipping fee would be calculated as such:
Shipping method base price ( $5 ) + Music CD ( 1 shipping unit x $0.25 ) + Pair of Shoes ( 8 shipping units x $0.25 )
=
$7.25
If the customer had selected the "Express-air overnight" method, his final shipping fee would have been as follows:
Shipping method base price ( $15 ) + Music CD ( 1 shipping unit x $0.75 ) + Pair of Shoes ( 8 shipping units x $0.75 )
=
$21.75
If the customer had decided to purchase 5 CDs instead of the shoes, his final shipping fee would be affected by his quantity changes:
Shipping method base price ( $15 ) + 5 Music CD ( 1 shipping units x $0.75 x 5 CDs)
=
$18.75
Shipping Allowances
This section allows you to limit where your customers can ship orders to. Your first option is whether you want to allow your customers shipping addresses to differ from their billing addresses. For fraud-prevention purposes, some merchants do not allow customers to enter a different shipping address.
You can also select whether customers can buy out-of-stock items. You can also allow them to purchase out-of-stock item but to receive a warning at the time of checkout that delivery times for out-of-stock items cannot be determined.
Shipping Regions
As a merchant, you can choose what countries are eligible for delivery and which are not. Once you have select what region to allow (Canada, United States, International), a break-down of that region will appear bellow. You can then go through each province, state and country list and select your shipping allowance specifically. Once selected, remember to press the save button at the bottom of the page.
Taxes
Having a flexible and customizable taxes structure is important to many merchants doing business across multiple provinces (and even countries).
Simple tax structure
If you want your store to have a simple tax structure, simply enter your business' federal tax and provincial tax rate (if application). By deselecting the "Use individual provincial sales tax rates" checkbox, your customers will be charged your default tax rates regardless of which province they are purchasing from.
Complex tax structure (individual provincial rates) You can also choose to charge an individual sales tax rate based on the location of your customers (businesses have to be registered to collect sales taxes in each province before doing so). Provinces with a harmonized sales tax should enter it the full percentage in the federal tax field and leave the province tax blank. "Applied on top of federal tax" should be checked for provinces that have an applied rate.
As of August 2008, Canada's federal and provincial sales tax structure was as follows:
Province Federal Tax Provincial Tax Applied on Top Alberta 5% 0% no British Columbia * 5% 7% no Manitoba 5% 7% no New Brunswick (HST) 13% 0% no Newfoundland (HST) 13% 0% no Northwest Territories 5% 0% no Nova Scotia (HST) 13% 0% no Nunavut 5% 0% no Ontario * 5% 8% no Prince Edward Island 5% 10% yes Quebec 5% 7.5% yes Saskatchewann * 5% 5% no Yukon 5% 0% no * Rate changes for alcohol, entertainment and/or restaurants.
US and International
You can also select whether you want to apply taxes to US and International customers. If you select to tax these customers with both federal and province rates, your store's default rates will be used.
Shopping Cart Analytics
To add analytics tools to your shopping cart, simply select your Analytics Provider from the drop-down menu and enter the corresponding account number.
Custom Image Presets
When you upload a product picture, default images sizes are created automatically, including a thumbnail. If you are using the XML remote access features, you may want to add new image size presents that match your website's layout. Simply enter a present name (4 characters), a picture maximum width and height, and whether the image's ratio should remain the same, or be fixed to the entered width and height.
Notice for already uploaded pictures:
If your products already have uploaded images and you would like to create a new image preset, you will have to go back to your current product's pictures and click to "resize" button to generate the new preset sizes.
Store Policies
It is very important that you create (or generate) both privacy and e-commerce policies that reflect your business and that address important questions about your operations. Policies will help protect your business and build confidence in your customers. To meet Visa and MasterCard requirements, your delivery, return and refund policy should include the following information:
- Customer service contact information
- Delivery methods
- Duty fees responsibility
- Estimated time of arrival
- Return and exchange eligibility
- Return time window
To automatically generate policies based on samples, click the policy generator links above. You will be taken to a policy generator section in the general Helcim public website. Once you have generated your policy, copy and paste it in your Virtual Store and save you changes.
Link Generator
The buy button link generator lets you generate HTML links that can be copied and pasted on your website. Once clicked, these links will automatically add a specific product to your customer's shopping cart. First you must select the product that you wish to generate a buy button for. If this product as options enabled, a list of options will appear below. Preselecting the product's options is optional but recommended. A button image will be set by default, but a new one can be chosen by clicking on "Show Buttons" and selecting a new one. The generated HTML code is automatically re-generated with every new select, and can now simply be copy to your website.
Custom Button Images
Merchants with basic HTML skills will be able to extract the link from the generated code and use their own button image instead.
Shopping Cart Colors
The Helcim Virtual Store lets you to customize the look of your shopping cart by changing its various colors as well as allowing you to upload background images. You can also choose from a selection of templates by clicking on the "Shopping Cart Templates" link on top of the page.
Image backgrounds
Instead of selecting plain colors as your page, table and cell backgrounds, you can choose to upload an image to be displayed instead. Begin by selecting the "browse" button and select an image on your computer. You will then be asked to select the image's alignment and repetition. The alignment determines the position where the image will appear By selecting "Top Right" for example, the image will align itself in the top right of the assigned space. You can select if and how the image is repeated in the space. Your choices are vertical repetition only, horizontal repetition only, both, or no repetition. If no repetition is selecting, the background color selected will begin once the image ends.
Page Background: The background color of the space surrounding the shopping cart.
Table Border: The line color of the shopping cart's borders.
Table Background: The background color of the space within the shopping cart's borders.
Cell One Background: The background color of certain areas found within the shopping cart.
Cell Two Background: The background color of certain areas found within the shopping cart.
Main Text: The font color of the main text found within the shopping cart.
Sub Text: The font color of the subsequent text found within the shopping cart.
Link: The color of hyperlinks located in the header and footer of the shopping cart.
Active Link: The color of hyperlinks when the mouse course moves over them.
Shopping Cart Templates
Instead of creating a custom shopping cart look, you can choose from a selection of already made templates. Simply select a template from the drop-down menu to preview it. Once you have selected the one you desire, select the on the "Install Template" button.
XML API (Remote Access)
You can access your store's database remotely using the XML remote access tools. This feature is intended for advanced users and web developers. To use this feature, you must enable it and generate a token. To learn more about the XML API, click here.
