e-Business Express Weblog
January 2010 USPS has changed the names of several of its shipping methods
January 6th, 2010
If your Miva store is using USPS Advanced we need to update your module for the new shipping names to take effect.
Please fill out a Support Ticket for one of our Miva Technicians to update this for you.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at 877-907-3277.
How To Edit the Hosts File using Vista
December 2nd, 2009
During the development stage if your site is not pointed to our servers you will need to setup your hosts file on your local computer to bypass DNS settings.
Edit the Hosts File
Non-frequent Edit
- Open Notepad with Administrative privileges by clicking Start, All Programs, Accessories, and then right-click Notepad and select to open as Administrator.
- Now that Notepad is open with Administrative privileges browse to (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc) in Notepad and open the hosts file.
- On a new line under 127.0.0.1 localhost add:
67.225.123.12 yourdomain.com
4. Use your site IP and your domain name.
5. Save and restart your web broswer.
Frequent Editing
If you are frequently editing your hosts file create a shortcut on your desktop for easy editing. Here’s how to create a shortcut on your desktop and lets you quickly and easily open your hosts file with Notepad and edit it.
- Send a shortcut to Notepad to your desktop by right-clicking Notepad in the start menu and selecting send to desktop.
- Right-click the shortcut to Notepad on your desktop and select properties.
- Click the advanced button near the bottom of the shortcut tab and check off run as administrator. Click OK in the advanced properties window.
- Replace %SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe with %SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts in the target box. Click OK in the properties window to save the changes.
Now all you have to do is open that shortcut to open your hosts file with Notepad with administrative privileges.
If you need any assitance we can be reached 1-877-907-3277
New PayPal Survey Reveals Why Online Shoppers Abandon Purchases
December 1st, 2009
High Shipping Costs Top the List; PayPal Introduces New Feature to Help Merchants Show Total Cost of Purchases Early on in Checkout Process
SAN JOSE, Calif. - June 23, 2009 - A PayPal survey released today revealed that nearly half (45 percent) of online shoppers have abandoned their carts multiple times in the past three weeks due to high shipping costs, security concerns and lack of convenience. The average cost of abandoned goods in U.S. shopping carts is $109.
High shipping costs was cited as the largest single reason for cart abandonment. While nothing could have prevented one-third of shoppers from abandoning purchases, the survey found that providing shipping costs upfront might have caused 40 percent to complete the purchase. To help merchants encourage shoppers to purchase, PayPal today announced a new Express Checkout feature - the PayPal Instant Update API. By integrating the new API, merchants can show order details earlier in the process including shipping options, insurance choices and tax totals.
“To get shoppers to buy, it’s critical merchants make the checkout experience easy and costs transparent,” said Eddie Davis, senior director of SMB merchant services, PayPal. “Our new PayPal Instant Update API will help merchants get customers the information they need upfront to drive sales.”
The survey also uncovered signs that the economy still has shoppers wary about clicking the “purchase” button. More than one-third of respondents abandoned checkout because they didn’t plan for all of the expenses; while more than 25 percent left the site to search for a coupon. However, one-third of shoppers later returned to the same site to buy. An additional 20 percent purchased the items at a brick and mortar store or competitor’s Web site.
“Merchants who don’t welcome back abandoners with open arms are leaving hundreds of dollars per shopper on the table,” added Davis. “Merchants need to remember the items that customers abandon and make it easy for them to buy when they return. Sweetening the deal with free shipping, coupons and special discounts is also a great way to encourage online shoppers to complete their purchases.”
Breakdown on Why Shoppers Abandon
At least a fifth of all U.S. survey respondents cited the following as very important reasons for cart abandonment:
- High shipping charges: 46 percent
- Wanted to comparison shop: 37 percent
- Lack of money: 36 percent
- Wanted to look for a coupon: 27 percent
- Wanted to shop offline: 26 percent
- Couldn’t find preferred pay option: 24 percent
- Item was unavailable at checkout: 23 percent
- Couldn’t find customer support: 22 percent
- Concerned about security of credit card data: 21 percent
About the survey
The PayPal Checkout Abandonment Study was conducted by comScore among active shoppers who had recently abandoned a shopping cart. In the United States 553 people participated between May 12-15, 2009. All respondents were asked about their most recent abandoned session, regardless of the site involved.
About PayPal PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send money without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. With more than 73 million active accounts in 190 markets and 19 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce. PayPal is an eBay company and is made up of three leading online payment services: the PayPal global payments platform, the Payflow Gateway, and Bill Me Later. More information about the company can be found at https://www.paypal.com.
Media Contacts:
Anuj Nayar
PayPal
anayar@paypal.com
408-967-5730
Lindsay Scalisi
Access Communications for PayPal
lscalisi@accesspr.com
415-844-6217