FAQ

Q. What exactly is Secure Shop?
A. Secure Shop is a dynamic, database driven, search-engine-friendly catalog builder and shopping cart system that turns your web site into a web store with full, secure e-commerce capability.

Q. What sort of shipping cost calculators are available?
A. Secure Shop has a variety of customizable shipping calculators.

1. Weight Based tables
2. Cost based tables
3. Individual item shipping costs
4. UPS Shipping real time calculation

And any combination of the above, even several variations of the same calculator, can be implemented to provide your company's unique shipping options to customers. Alternatively, you may add items to the inventory for the extra cost shipping. So, for example, you might create a category called "Shipping Options" that contained an item called "2nd Day UPS" which costs $5, and another item called "Overnight FedEx" which costs $11. Shoppers can then add these items to their carts to have the extra shipping charge added automatically.

Q. Can a retailer deny an order that they think is an invalid order?
A. Yes. There are several options available to each retailer, each with its own methods. Secure Shop supports real-time credit card transactions if the retailer has a gateway subscription, and each gateway has its own methods of dealing with order and transaction corrections. For most of the available services, the order is passed through the gateway for authorization and the capture and transfer of funds to your merchant account. There is extensive fraud protection built in to the transaction server and gateway. Secure Shop also supports an encrypted system for retailers without a transaction gateway subscription. In this case, the retailer views the order and makes a decision whether to process or delete the order.

Q. How do I get started with the Secure Shop E-commerce Solution?
A. First you will have to get an CityStar web hosting account which gives you access to Secure Shop, and have CityStar install Secure Shop into your account. Optionally, you may desire a merchant account, and the transaction server and gateway. A CityStar technician would be happy to consult with you on setting up a merchant account, and a subscription to a transaction gateway service.

Q. If I have my own merchant account, will it work with CityStar's Secure Shop?
A. CityStar has partnered with a variety of transaction gateway services, which will work with any internet compliant merchant account.

Q. If I have my own merchant account and already have a preferred transaction gateway subscription, will it work with CityStar's Secure Shop?
A. CityStar's Secure Shop system has already been configured to work with most of the popular transaction gateway services. If your preferred service is not in our list, however, we can easily extend our software to support it.

Q. How will I be able to process my incoming orders?
A. When your customers go through the checkout process, you will be notified of their order by e-mail. In addition to the details in the e-mail, you will be able to look up and/or modify their order using the secure shop administration interface. Secure Shop supports real-time credit card transactions if the you have a gateway subscription, and each gateway has its own methods of dealing with order and transaction corrections. For most of the available services, the order is passed through the gateway for authorization and the capture and transfer of funds to your merchant account. There is extensive fraud protection built in to the transaction server and gateway. Secure Shop also supports an encrypted system for retailers without a transaction gateway subscription. In this case, the you decrypt and process the payment information when you receive the order. The customers also receive email verification of their orders, if they provide e-mail addresses during the checkout process.

Q. What happens to the order after it is submitted?
A. The order is stored in the system's database for later reference, and the checkout program emails full details of the order to the retailer and another e-mail to the customer as a confirmation that the order was received, if the customer provides an e-mail address for the system to use.

Q. Does Secure Shop allow for sales tax?
A. Yes. Your shop can be configured to automatically add sales tax to orders placed from any of the fifty states, and each state can have its own tax value. You may also specify individual items in your inventory that are not subject to sales tax, and you may choose whether to charge tax on shipping for any state (according to your local tax laws).

Q. Is there a way I can configure the new online store to use my secure server as a default server?
A. If you purchase a full-use license of Secure Shop, you may configure the online store to use your secure server for checkout security. Or, if your domain is hosted on one of CityStar's many e-commerce capable hosting plans and a current encryption certificate for your domain name, we will gladly configure your shop to perform its checkout process under your domain.

Q. What if I want to feature an item in my store?
A. There are a variety of methods available to feature items in your Secure Shop. You can create a category specifically for "Featured Products" and assign your products to it as well as their standard category or categories. You can also use the root category of your store as a good place to put featured products, since it is the first page your visitors will likely visit when entering your online catalog. If you wish to feature a product within a category, you can simply designate it as one of the first items in the product list for that category.

Q. What if I have problems with my e-mail program and encrypted messages?
A. Go to http://search.nai.com/mediasearch/, do a search for plugins and download the plugin for your e-mail program.

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