Difference between revisions of "X-Cart:Sales Advisor"

Latest revision as of 17:06, 11 March 2014

X-Cart 4.5.0+

Overview

X-Cart's Sales Advisor add-on is a bundle of two independent modules (not available separately): Cart Upselling and Promotional Messages.

The Cart Upselling module provides a way to grow your sales volume by adding a special You may also like carousel section on the cart page from which shoppers reviewing their cart contents can add complementary products to their purchase:

The products to be displayed in this section are selected automatically based on the current contents of the customer's cart, and you can choose which types of products may be used for this section. For instance, you may choose to include:

products that are related to a product in the cart,
products that were "also bought" by someone who bought a product contained in the cart (based on last month's sales statistics),
randomly selected products,
a combination of any of the above.

Do you have advertising campaigns like special offers, free shipping, discounts or wholesale pricing? Let your customers know about them: the Promotional Messages module allows you to configure an unlimited number of messages for your customers that will remind them about the benefits they can get:

Give your buyers a hint that they're a footstep away from a beneficial bargain and encourage them to spend more! Done at the right time and in the right place, it's a powerful tool in your hands.

System requirements and installation

See X-Cart:Sales Advisor installation

Activating and deactivating the Cart Upselling and Promotional Messages modules

After the Sales Advisor add-on module installation has been completed, the modules Cart Upselling and Promotional Messages are installed, but not active. To start using these modules, you need to enable (activate) them.

To enable the Cart Upselling or Promotional Messages module:

In your store's Admin area, go to the Modules section (Settings menu->Modules). This opens the list of your store's installed modules.
Locate the entry for the module you wish to enable (Cart Upselling or Promotional Messages) and select the respective check box on the left.
Depending on the version of X-Cart you are using, you may need to apply the change by clicking the Apply changes button. The module will be enabled.

It is possible to disable (deactivate) any or both of the modules. Deactivation stops the module from operation, but it does not remove any settings you made to the module configuration nor clear any data that was generated during the period that the module was in operation. If you wish to completely remove all the data related to using any of the modules, the only way to do it would be to uninstall the Sales Advisor add-on completely (See Sales Advisor: Uninstallation for instructions).

To disable the Cart Upselling or Promotional Messages module:

In your store's Admin area, go to the Modules section (Settings menu->Modules).
Locate the entry for the module you wish to disable and unselect the respective check box on the left.
Depending on the version of X-Cart you are using, you may need to apply the change by clicking the Apply changes button. The module will be disabled.

Configuring the Cart Upselling module

To configure the module:

In the Modules section of your store's Admin area (Settings menu->Modules), locate the entry for the Cart Upselling module and click on the Configure link opposite it. The module configuration page (titled by the name of the module) opens.
Adjust the module configuration settings:
- Use the setting Total number of products for section to specify the maximum number of products that you wish to be displayed in the You may also like carousel slider section of the cart page. As a result, the You may also like section will display no more products than is specified here.
- Choose the types of products that you would like to be included into the You may also like section. The following options are available:
- Show products related to products in cart: Enabling this option allows the module to include products that were marked as related to any of the products contained in the shopping cart (via the Upselling products section of the product editing page).
- Show products that were also bought with the products in cart: Enabling this option allows the module to include products that were purchased by other customers with any of the products contained in the shopping cart (based on last month's sales statistics).
- Show random products: Enabling this option allows the module to include randomly selected products.
How it works:
Selection of products for the You may also like section is done in the following order of priority: first, the module selects all related products, then - if there are empty product slots left in the carousel slider after adding the related products - it selects 'also bought' products, and finally - if after adding both the related and 'also bought' products there's still room left in the slider - it adds random products.
Consider the following example: We have set the total number of product slots in the carousel slider (the setting Total number of products for section) to "5" and chosen to use all the three product types (related, 'also bought' and random) for the You may also like section. The module has found, say, four related and two 'also bought' products for a customer's cart. In this case, the You may also like section will only show four related products and one 'also bought' product; no random products will be included.
Click Apply changes to save the changes.

By default, the number of product slots visible in the You may also like section without scrolling is set to 4. This number can be changed in the file <root_dir>modules/XCart_Upselling/config.php.

Configuring the Promotional Messages module

To configure the module:

In the Modules section of Admin area (Settings menu->Modules), locate the entry for the Promotional Messages module and click on the Configure link opposite it. The module configuration page (titled by the name of the module) opens.
Adjust the module configuration settings:
- Show promo message if remaining amount less than N%: Sorry, a known bug here... This should be read "Show promo message if current cart subtotal amount is at least N% of the goal value" (We're going to correct the wording in future versions of the module). Use this setting to specify the subtotal threshold value starting with which promotional messages for campaigns aiming to increase the customer's order subtotal should be displayed. The subtotal threshold value here must be expressed as percentage of the subtotal amount required for the customer to be deemed eligible for the offer advertised by the promotional message.
  Example:
  You have a free shipping option for customers checking out with an order subtotal amount of $100 or more, and you want to advertise this option using a promotional message that says "Spend another $$$ to get free shipping". Would you want this promo message to be shown to a customer who is about to order $10 worth of goods? $100 is probably much more than this type of customer is ready to spend, so the message is unlikely to be effective, but may be considered annoying by the customer, so better not display it in this case. On the other hand, a customer checking out with $90 worth of goods is likely to be more open to the idea of spending a few dollars more to get free shipping, so displaying the message to them will be a good thing. So, basically, you need to determine, at which point displaying the message becomes a good thing. For instance, you decided to set this value to 60%. Then the message advertising the free shipping option for orders of $100 or more will only be displayed to customers after their cart subtotal amount becomes at least $60 (That is exactly 60% of the $100 subtotal required to get free shipping).
- How many promo messages must be shown for a customer cart: Use this to set the maximum number of messages that may be shown at the same time for a certain shopping cart. This setting, again, helps you to avoid annoying buyers with too many messages.
- How many promo messages must be shown per session for each customer: Use this to set the maximum number of messages that may be shown to customer per session. If your customer sees a new promo message every time they add an item to the shopping cart, they may feel the store is trying to get more money out of them and become frustrated. So, it is strongly recommended to keep the number of messages shown to customer per session within reasonable limits.
Click Apply changes to save the changes.

Using the Promotional Messages module

Understanding promotional message templates

Promotional messages that are shown to customers are formed automatically based on the message templates which can be configured on the Promotional messages page in your store's Administration back end (Catalog -> Promotional messages):

On this page you can review the templates for promotional messages that are currently enabled at your store, add more templates, edit existing templates and - if your store supports multiple languages - translate your message templates into each of the languages used by your store.

The Promotional Messages module supports four types of messages (Depending on the current configuration of your store, you may be able to see templates for some or all of them in your Promotional messages list):

Messages based on discounts
Messages of this type are displayed for carts whose subtotal is about to qualify for any global discount configured via the Catalog -> Discounts section (Important: Customer must be eligibile for the discount, i.e. 1) the discount must be available to the customer's membership level; 2) at least some of the products in the shopping cart must be eligible for global discounts (the Apply global discounts check box in their product details must be enabled); 3) the subtotal based on the products eligible for global discounts in the customer's cart must qualify for the discount).
By default, the template for this type of messages appears in the Promotional messages list as follows:

The template is available out of the box and cannot be deleted from the Promotional messages list manually. The template can be edited and translated into other languages; however, the Goal value (the subtotal amount that must be reached for the customer to get a discount) is not editable for this message type as it is taken from the specific global discount settings.

Messages based on shipping rates
Messages of this type inform your customers about the free shipping they can get if their order subtotal reaches a certain amount.
By default, templates for this type of messages look like the following:

Templates for messages based on shipping rates are added to your Promotional messages list automatically if the module finds any free shipping rates. A separate message template is created for each shipping method with a free shipping rate. The templates cannot be deleted from the Promotional messages list manually, but they will be disabled automatically as soon as you remove the respective free shipping rates. The template can be edited and translated into other languages; however, the Goal value (the subtotal amount that must be reached for the customer to get free shipping) is not editable for this message type as it is taken from the Order subtotal range field of the specific shipping rate settings.

Messages based on wholesale prices
Messages of this type are displayed not on the cart page itself, but in the 'Add to cart' popup (X-Cart's built-in module Add To Cart Popup must be enabled). Such messages inform the customer that volume discounts are available for the product they have just added to their shopping cart, and they can get the product at a cheaper, wholesale price - if they add some more units of the product to their shopping cart (Important: The wholesale price must be available to the customer's membership level). Messages based on wholesale prices are shown with the 'Call-to-action' button allowing your customer to easily add the required number of product units to the shopping cart with one click:

A template for messages of this type is added to your Promotional messages list automatically if your store has the Wholesale Trading module enabled.
By default, the template for this type of messages appears in the Promotional messages list as follows:

The template cannot be deleted from the Promotional messages list manually, but it will be disabled automatically if you disable the Wholesale Trading module. The template can be edited and translated into other languages; however, the Goal value is not editable for this message type as the number of units qualifying for a wholesale price is taken from the specific wholesale price settings.

Custom messages.
These are messages you create manually. Templates for this type of messages can be added using the Add new custom message section of the Promotional messages page (See Adding a custom promotional message template for more info). Unlike the templates for the three previously named message types, custom message templates can be deleted. They also have an editable Goal field. Here's an example of a custom message template:

Adding a custom promotional message template

If the promotional messages supported by the module out of the box do not cover all of your advertising needs, you can set up your own custom promotional messages. For this purpose you will need to add a template for each custom message you require via the Promotional messages page of your store's Admin back end.

To add a custom message template:

Go to the Promotional messages page (Catalog -> Promotional messages) and scroll down to the 'Add new custom message' section.
In this section, enter the text of the message (the text area in the first column) and, if necessary, add a comment (the text area in the second column).
In the text of the message, use to replace values calculated based on the customer's cart.
The comment can be used to provide any useful information like restrictions, advice, links, etc. It will be shown in a help popup when a customer hovers the mouse over the help icon next to the message text.
If necessary, use the 'goal' field (the box in the third column with the currency symbol next to it) to set the subtotal amount required for the customer to get the offer advertised by the message:

Multiple languages: If your store supports more than one language, 'message' and 'comment' text areas will be provided for each of the languages, so you will be able to enter message translations:
Click Apply changes. The custom message will be added to the Promotional mesages list.

Editing an existing promotional message template

It is possible to edit existing message templates, both custom and created automatically.

To edit a message template:

On the Promotional messages page (Catalog -> Promotional messages), locate the template that needs to be edited and hover your mouse over the 'message' or 'comment' text pertaining to this template. As a result, 'Edit' links will be displayed next to the 'message' and 'comment' fields:
Click on any of the 'Edit' links. A template editing section will be expanded displaying the message text, comment and, if applicable, goal, in editable fields.
Make any changes you require.
Click Apply changes. The template will be updated.

Deleting an existing promotional message template

To stop a certain custom message from appearing on the storefront, you need to delete its template.

To delete a custom message template:

On the Promotional messages page (Catalog -> Promotional messages), locate the template that needs to be deleted and mark it for deletion by selecting the respective check box on the left.
Click Delete selected:

The template will be deleted.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 ==Overview==
-X-Cart's <u>Sales Advisor</u> add-on is a bundle of two independent modules (not available separately): <u>Cart Upselling</u> and <u>Promotional Messages</u>.
+X-Cart's '''Sales Advisor''' add-on is a bundle of two independent modules (not available separately): '''Cart Upselling''' and '''Promotional Messages'''.
-The <u>Cart Upselling</u> module provides a way to grow your sales volume by adding a special ‘You may also like’ carousel section on the cart page from which shoppers reviewing their cart contents can add complementary products to their purchase.
+The '''Cart Upselling''' module provides a way to grow your sales volume by adding a special <u>You may also like</u> carousel section on the cart page from which shoppers reviewing their cart contents can add complementary products to their purchase:
 :[[File:cart_upselling_cart_customer.png|border]]<br />
-The products to be displayed in this section are selected automatically based on the current contents of the customer's cart, and you can choose which types of products may be used for this section. For instance, you may choose:
+The products to be displayed in this section are selected automatically based on the current contents of the customer's cart, and you can choose which types of products may be used for this section. For instance, you may choose to include:
 :* products that are related to a product in the cart,
 :* products that were "also bought" by someone who bought a product contained in the cart (based on last month's sales statistics),
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 :* a combination of any of the above.
-Do you have advertising campaigns like special offers, free shipping, discounts or wholesale pricing? Let your customers know about them: the <u>Promotional Messages</u> module allows you to create an unlimited number of messages for your customers that will remind them about the benefits they can get. Give your buyers a hint that they're a footstep away from a beneficial bargain and encourage them to spend more! Done at the right time and in the right place, it's a powerful tool in your hands.
+Do you have advertising campaigns like special offers, free shipping, discounts or wholesale pricing? Let your customers know about them: the '''Promotional Messages''' module allows you to configure an unlimited number of messages for your customers that will remind them about the benefits they can get:
 :[[File:promotional_messages_customer.png|border]]<br />
+Give your buyers a hint that they're a footstep away from a beneficial bargain and encourage them to spend more! Done at the right time and in the right place, it's a powerful tool in your hands.<br />
-==System requirements==
+==System requirements and installation==
+See [[X-Cart:Sales_Advisor_installation|X-Cart:Sales Advisor installation]]
-To be able to successfully install and use the <u>Sales Advisor</u> module, you must have a working copy of X-Cart version 4.5.0 or later installed on your server. Make sure that the version of the module is the same as the version of the installed copy of X-Cart.
-{{Note1|'''Note:''' If you do not remember the version of installed X-Cart, find it in the Environment info section of the Summary page in X-Cart Admin area.}}
-==Installation==
-To install the module for X-Cart 4.5.0 or higher:
-# Obtain a distribution package for the Sales Advisor add-on module by downloading it from the File Area section of your {{QA}}. Look for an archive file named like <u>x-sales-advisor-x.y.z.tgz</u>, where <u>x</u>, <u>y</u> and <u>z</u> are numbers matching the version of your installed copy of X-Cart.
-# Copy the distribution package to the X-Cart root directory on your server or hosting account.
-#* If you are using a Windows-based server, or a UNIX-based server without terminal access:
-#: a) Decompress the archive with the Sales Advisor distribution package to a directory on your system using your favorite compression program (WinZIP or any other archiver with support for TAR files).
-#: b) Use an FTP client to upload all the files contained in the archive (retaining the directory structure) to the X-Cart root directory on your server or your hosting account.
-#* If you are using a UNIX-based server with terminal access:
-#: a) Use an FTP client to upload the archive with the distribution package to the X-Cart root directory on your server or your hosting account.
-#: b) Decompress the package using the following command:
-#: <pre>tar -xzvf sales-advisor-x.y.z.tgz</pre>
-#: (Replace <u>x</u>, <u>y</u> and <u>z</u> with the actual version numbers).
-#: {{Note1|'''Important:''' Make sure you keep the directory structure while unpacking and uploading the distribution package, otherwise some necessary files may be overwritten!}}
-# In a web browser, run the installation script <u>httр://<YOUR_XCART_DOMAIN>/install-sales-advisor.php</u> replacing <u><YOUR_XCART_DOMAIN></u> with the actual domain name of your X-Cart store. This will start the installation wizard.
-# Carefully read the License agreement, enter the [[X-Cart:FAQs#What_is_Auth_code_and_where_can_I_find_it.3F|Auth code]] for your X-Cart installation into the Auth code field and select the "I accept the License Agreement" check box.
-# Click '''Next''' to continue. The installation process will start. The installer will make the necessary changes to your X-Cart installation, and the module will be activated.<br />{{Note1|'''Note:''' If you are using a custom skin, you will need to patch it manually. Otherwise, the module will not work in this skin.}}
-# Once the process is completed, click '''Next'''. This will open the next screen where you will be asked whether you wish a new system fingerprint to be generated.
-# Make your selection (Yes/No) and click '''Next'''. If you have chosen to generate a new system fingerprint, it will be generated. The process of generating a system fingerprint may take up as long as a few minutes. Once the generation process is completed, click '''Next'''. If you have chosen to skip the generation of a system fingerprint, you will be taken to the next step.
-# After clicking '''Next''' you should see the "Installation complete" screen.<br />This is the final step. It informs you that the module has been installed successfully. It also reminds you to remove the module archive file in case you put it in a web accessible directory; this is needed to protect the module from unauthorized copying.<br />'''Important:''' At the final step of the installation process, the installation script <u>install-sales-advisor.php</u> is automatically renamed as an additional measure to protect the module installation. Please take note of the filename to which the installation script was renamed. If you decide to re-install or uninstall the module later on, you will need to rename the installation script back to <u>install-sales-advisor.php</u> before launching the installation process in your web browser.
-Now if you choose to view the list of your store's installed modules (this can be done using the Administrator area link provided on the "Installation complete" screen), the modules Cart Upselling and Promotional Messages will be on the list:
-:[[File:Cart_upsell_modules.png|border]]<br />
-:[[File:Promo_msg_modules.png|border]]<br />
 ==Activating and deactivating the Cart Upselling and Promotional Messages modules==
@@ Line 54: / Line 27: @@
 # Depending on the version of X-Cart you are using, you may need to apply the change by clicking the '''Apply changes''' button. The module will be enabled.
-It is possible to disable (deactivate) any or both of the modules. Deactivation stops the module from operation, but it does not remove any settings you made to the module configuration nor clear any data that was generated during the period that the module was in operation. If you wish to completely remove all the data related to using any of the modules, the only way to do it would be to uninstall the Sales Advisor add-on completely (See [[X-Cart:Sales_Advisor#Uninstallation|Sales Advisor: Uninstallation]]).
+It is possible to disable (deactivate) any or both of the modules. Deactivation stops the module from operation, but it does not remove any settings you made to the module configuration nor clear any data that was generated during the period that the module was in operation. If you wish to completely remove all the data related to using any of the modules, the only way to do it would be to uninstall the Sales Advisor add-on completely (See [[X-Cart:Sales_Advisor_installation#Uninstallation|Sales Advisor: Uninstallation]] for instructions).
 '''To disable the Cart Upselling or Promotional Messages module:'''
@@ Line 61: / Line 34: @@
 # Depending on the version of X-Cart you are using, you may need to apply the change by clicking the '''Apply changes''' button. The module will be disabled.
-==Configuring Cart Upselling module==
+==Configuring the Cart Upselling module==
-'''To adjust the module configuration:'''
+'''To configure the module:'''
-# In the <u>Modules</u> section of Admin area (<u>Settings menu->Modules</u>), locate the 'Cart Upselling' item and click on the <u>Configure</u> link opposite it. The module configuration page (titled by the name of the module) opens.
+# In the Modules section of your store's Admin area ('''Settings menu'''->'''Modules'''), locate the entry for the '''Cart Upselling''' module and click on the <u>Configure</u> link opposite it. The module configuration page (titled by the name of the module) opens.
 #: [[Image:cart_upselling_module_settings_admin.png|border]]<br />
-# Define number of products that should be displayed in the <u>You may also like</u> section of the cart page.
+# Adjust the module configuration settings:
-# Choose the type of products that should be displayed in the <u>You may also like</u> section of the cart page. The following options are available:
+#* Use the setting '''Total number of products for section''' to specify the maximum number of products that you wish to be displayed in the <u>You may also like</u> carousel slider section of the cart page. As a result, the <u>You may also like</u> section will display no more products than is specified here.
-#:* ''Show products related to products in cart'' - This shows related products that are assigned via ‘Upselling products’ section on the product modify page.
+#* Choose the types of products that you would like to be included into the <u>You may also like</u> section. The following options are available:
-#:* ''Show products that were also bought with the products in cart'' - This shows products that were purchased by other customers together with the product that are already in the shopping cart (based on last month's sales statistics).
+#:* '''Show products related to products in cart''': Enabling this option allows the module to include products that were marked as related to any of the products contained in the shopping cart (via the Upselling products section of the product editing page).
-#:* ''Show random products'' - this shows random products.
+#:* '''Show products that were also bought with the products in cart''': Enabling this option allows the module to include products that were purchased by other customers with any of the products contained in the shopping cart (based on last month's sales statistics).
-# Click the '''Apply changes''' button to save the changes.
+#:* '''Show random products''': Enabling this option allows the module to include randomly selected products.
+#: ''How it works:''<br />Selection of products for the <u>You may also like</u> section is done in the following order of priority: first, the module selects all related products, then - if there are empty product slots left in the carousel slider after adding the related products - it selects 'also bought' products, and finally - if after adding both the related and 'also bought' products there's still room left in the slider - it adds random products.<br />Consider the following example: We have set the total number of product slots in the carousel slider (the setting '''Total number of products for section''') to "5" and chosen to use all the three product types (related, 'also bought' and random) for the <u>You may also like</u> section. The module has found, say, four related and two 'also bought' products for a customer's cart. In this case, the <u>You may also like</u> section will only show four related products and one 'also bought' product; no random products will be included.
+# Click '''Apply changes''' to save the changes.
-By default number of products visible in the <u>You may also like</u> section of the cart page is defined as 4. It can be changed in the ‘<root_dir>modules/XCart_Upselling/config.php’ file.
-==Configuring Promotional Messages module==
-'''To adjust the module configuration:'''
-# In the <u>Modules</u> section of Admin area (<u>Settings menu->Modules</u>), locate the 'Promotional Messages' item and click on the <u>Configure</u> link opposite it. The module configuration page (titled by the name of the module) opens.
+By default, the number of product slots visible in the <u>You may also like</u> section without scrolling is set to 4. This number can be changed in the file <u><root_dir>modules/XCart_Upselling/config.php</u>.
+==Configuring the Promotional Messages module==
+'''To configure the module:'''
+# In the Modules section of Admin area ('''Settings menu'''->'''Modules'''), locate the entry for the '''Promotional Messages''' module and click on the <u>Configure</u> link opposite it. The module configuration page (titled by the name of the module) opens.
 #: [[Image:promotional_messages_module_settings_admin.png|border]]<br />
-# Show promo message if remaining amount less than defined value in percents from required amount. This setting is usefull to prevent displaying of messages that require to spend much more money than customer are going to spend.
+# Adjust the module configuration settings:
-# Define the count of messages that can be shown at once for certain shopping cart.
+#* '''Show promo message if remaining amount less than N%''': Sorry, a known bug here... This should be read "'''Show promo message if current cart subtotal amount is at least N% of the goal value'''" (We're going to correct the wording in future versions of the module). Use this setting to specify the subtotal threshold value starting with which promotional messages for campaigns aiming to increase the customer's order subtotal should be displayed. The subtotal threshold value here must be expressed as percentage of the subtotal amount required for the customer to be deemed eligible for the offer advertised by the promotional message.<br />''Example:''<br />You have a free shipping option for customers checking out with an order subtotal amount of $100 or more, and you want to advertise this option using a promotional message that says "Spend another $$$ to get free shipping". Would you want this promo message to be shown to a customer who is about to order $10 worth of goods? $100 is probably much more than this type of customer is ready to spend, so the message is unlikely to be effective, but may be considered annoying by the customer, so better not display it in this case. On the other hand, a customer checking out with $90 worth of goods is likely to be more open to the idea of spending a few dollars more to get free shipping, so displaying the message to them will be a good thing. So, basically, you need to determine, at which point displaying the message becomes a good thing. For instance, you decided to set this value to 60%. Then the message advertising the free shipping option for orders of $100 or more will only be displayed to customers after their cart subtotal amount becomes at least $60 (That is exactly 60% of the $100 subtotal required to get free shipping).
-# Define the maximum count of messages that can be shown to the certain customer. This setting is usefull if you have more than 2 promo messages If customer will see new promo message each time when he adds new item to the cart he can be frustrated because he will feel like store trying just to get more money from him. That is why limiting count of messages must be done for some stores.
+#* '''How many promo messages must be shown for a customer cart''': Use this to set the maximum number of messages that may be shown at the same time for a certain shopping cart. This setting, again, helps you to avoid annoying buyers with too many messages.
-==Managing Promotional Messages module==
+#* '''How many promo messages must be shown per session for each customer''': Use this to set the maximum number of messages that may be shown to customer per session. If your customer sees a new promo message every time they add an item to the shopping cart, they may feel the store is trying to get more money out of them and become frustrated. So, it is strongly recommended to keep the number of messages shown to customer per session within reasonable limits.
+# Click '''Apply changes''' to save the changes.
+==Using the Promotional Messages module==
+===Understanding promotional message templates===
+Promotional messages that are shown to customers are formed automatically based on the message templates which can be configured on the Promotional messages page in your store's Administration back end ('''Catalog''' -> '''Promotional messages'''):
+:[[File:promo_msg_page.png|border]]<br />
+On this page you can review the templates for promotional messages that are currently enabled at your store, add more templates, edit existing templates and - if your store supports multiple languages - translate your message templates into each of the languages used by your store.
-All promotional messages can be configured on the ‘Promotional Messages’ page in your store's administration back end. This page can be accessed by clicking the <u>Promotional Messages</u> link in the <u>Content</u> menu.
+The Promotional Messages module supports four types of messages (Depending on the current configuration of your store, you may be able to see templates for some or all of them in your Promotional messages list):
-Once you open this page you will see the messages list:
+:* '''Messages based on discounts'''<br />Messages of this type are displayed for carts whose subtotal is about to qualify for any global discount configured via the '''Catalog''' -> '''Discounts''' section (Important: Customer must be eligibile for the discount, i.e. 1) the discount must be available to the customer's membership level; 2) at least some of the products in the shopping cart must be eligible for global discounts (the '''Apply global discounts''' check box in their product details must be enabled); 3) the subtotal based on the products eligible for global discounts in the customer's cart must qualify for the discount).<br />By default, the template for this type of messages appears in the Promotional messages list as follows:<br />[[File:Promo_msg_discounts.png|border]]<br />The template is available out of the box and cannot be deleted from the Promotional messages list manually. The template can be edited and translated into other languages; however, the Goal value (the subtotal amount that must be reached for the customer to get a discount) is not editable for this message type as it is taken from the specific global discount settings.
+<br />
+:* '''Messages based on shipping rates'''<br />Messages of this type inform your customers about the free shipping they can get if their order subtotal reaches a certain amount.<br />By default, templates for this type of messages look like the following:<br />[[File:Promo_msg_shipping_rate.png|border]]<br />Templates for messages based on shipping rates are added to your Promotional messages list automatically if the module finds any free shipping rates. A separate message template is created for each shipping method with a free shipping rate. The templates cannot be deleted from the Promotional messages list manually, but they will be disabled automatically as soon as you remove the respective free shipping rates. The template can be edited and translated into other languages; however, the Goal value (the subtotal amount that must be reached for the customer to get free shipping) is not editable for this message type as it is taken from the Order subtotal range field of the specific shipping rate settings.
+<br />
+:* '''Messages based on wholesale prices'''<br />Messages of this type are displayed not on the cart page itself, but in the 'Add to cart' popup  (X-Cart's built-in module '''[[X-Cart:Add_To_Cart_Popup|Add To Cart Popup]]''' must be enabled). Such messages inform the customer that volume discounts are available for the product they have just added to their shopping cart, and they can get the product at a cheaper, wholesale price - if they add some more units of the product to their shopping cart (Important: The wholesale price must be available to the customer's membership level). Messages based on wholesale prices are shown with the 'Call-to-action' button allowing your customer to easily add the required number of product units to the shopping cart with one click:<br />[[File:promotional_messages_wholesale_customer.png|border]]<br />A template for messages of this type is added to your Promotional messages list automatically if your store has the '''[[X-Cart:Wholesale_Trading|Wholesale Trading]]''' module enabled.<br />By default, the template for this type of messages appears in the Promotional messages list as follows:<br />[[File:Promo_msg_wholesale.png|border]]<br />The template cannot be deleted from the Promotional messages list manually, but it will be disabled automatically if you disable the Wholesale Trading module. The template can be edited and translated into other languages; however, the Goal value is not editable for this message type as the number of units qualifying for a wholesale price is taken from the specific wholesale price settings.
+<br />
+:* '''Custom messages'''.<br />These are messages you create manually. Templates for this type of messages can be added using the Add new custom message section of the Promotional messages page (See [[X-Cart:Sales_Advisor#Adding a custom promotional message template|Adding a custom promotional message template]] for more info). Unlike the templates for the three previously named message types, custom message templates can be deleted. They also have an editable Goal field. Here's an example of a custom message template:<br />[[File:Promo_msg_custom.png|border]]
+<br />
-: [[Image:promotional_messages_admin_list.png|border]]<br />
+===Adding a custom promotional message template===
+If the promotional messages supported by the module out of the box do not cover all of your advertising needs, you can set up your own custom promotional messages. For this purpose you will need to add a template for each custom message you require via the Promotional messages page of your store's Admin back end.
-There are several types of messages depending on how they were created or on what they are based:
+'''To add a custom message template:'''
+# Go to the Promotional messages page ('''Catalog''' -> '''Promotional messages''') and scroll down to the 'Add new custom message' section.
+# In this section, enter the text of the message (the text area in the first column) and, if necessary, add a comment (the text area in the second column).<br />In the text of the message, use [[File:Calc_values.png]]to replace values calculated based on the customer's cart.<br />The comment can be used to provide any useful information like restrictions, advice, links, etc. It will be shown in a help popup when a customer hovers the mouse over the help icon next to the message text.<br />If necessary, use the 'goal' field (the box in the third column with the currency symbol next to it) to set the subtotal amount required for the customer to get the offer advertised by the message:<br />[[File:Add_custom_msg.png|border]]<br /><br />''Multiple languages:'' If your store supports more than one language, 'message' and 'comment' text areas will be provided for each of the languages, so you will be able to enter message translations:<br />[[File:Add_custom_msg_multi.png|border]]
+# Click '''Apply changes'''. The custom message will be added to the Promotional mesages list.
+<br /><br />
-# '''Message is based on discounts''' - this message is based on discounts that are added by administrator. Please note your products must be available for global discounts.
+===Editing an existing promotional message template===
-# '''Message is based on shipping rate''' - these messages usually inform your customer about free shipping he can get if reach certain order subtotal.
+It is possible to edit existing message templates, both custom and created automatically.
-# '''Message is based on wholesale prices''' - this message is shown in the ‘Add to cart’ popup if product has any wholesale prices (user membership is also taken into account). Message is shown with ‘Call-to-action’ button so your customer can quickly add more items and save some money.
-#: [[Image:promotional_messages_wholesale_customer.png|border]]<br />
-# '''Messages created manually'''
-Messages are shown to the customer if his order subtotal closed to the goal and difference between goal and current order subtotal is not more than defined number of percents. For example:
-* customer has order subtotal $51.40
-* promotional message for getting free shipping is based on shipping rate which offers $0.00 rate if order subtotal greater than $100.00
-* ‘Show promo message if remaining amount less than N%’ is defined as 50%
-* customer will see promotional message ‘Spent $48.60 more and get Free shipping!’ on the cart page.
-* if the customer order subtotal less than $50 then he will not see any promotional message because there is a little chance that he will spend twice more to get discount.
-First three types of messages are created automatically when you open ‘Promotional Messages’ page. They cannot be deleted by administrator from the list. They will automatically deleted as soon as connected record is deleted. For example, if promo message is based on shipping rate and admin decides to delete this shipping rate then such message will be deleted and will not be shown to the customers. Goal for such messages are not editable.
-Fourth type of messages - custom messages or ‘messages created manually’ - are added by administrator and can be deleted also manually. Goal for such messages are editable.
+'''To edit a message template:'''
+# On the Promotional messages page ('''Catalog''' -> '''Promotional messages'''), locate the template that needs to be edited and hover your mouse over the 'message' or 'comment' text pertaining to this template. As a result, '<u>Edit</u>' links will be displayed next to the 'message' and 'comment' fields:<br />[[File:Promo_msg_edit.png|border]]<br />
+# Click on any of the '<u>Edit</u>' links. A template editing section will be expanded displaying the message text, comment and, if applicable,  goal, in editable fields.
+# Make any changes you require.
+# Click '''Apply changes'''. The template will be updated.<br /><br />
-All messages support multilanguges for both fields: ‘message’ and ‘comment’. ‘Comment’ field is shown in the popup with the ‘help’ icon. You can specify any usefull information in this field: some restrictions, advices, links.
+===Deleting an existing promotional message template===
+To stop a certain custom message from appearing on the storefront, you need to delete its template.
-[[Image:promotional_messages_admin_editing.png|border]]<br />
+'''To delete a custom message template:'''
+# On the Promotional messages page ('''Catalog''' -> '''Promotional messages'''), locate the template that needs to be deleted and mark it for deletion by selecting the respective check box on the left.
+# Click '''Delete selected''':<br />[[File:Promo_msg_delete.png|border]]<br />The template will be deleted.
 [[Category:X-Cart modules]]
-[[Category:X-Cart user manual]]

Difference between revisions of "X-Cart:Sales Advisor"

Latest revision as of 17:06, 11 March 2014

Contents

Overview

System requirements and installation

Activating and deactivating the Cart Upselling and Promotional Messages modules

Configuring the Cart Upselling module

Configuring the Promotional Messages module

Using the Promotional Messages module

Understanding promotional message templates

Adding a custom promotional message template

Editing an existing promotional message template

Deleting an existing promotional message template

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