Icentral Merchant software details.

Built with Merchants and Site Designers in Mind

ShopSite Manager is for the small- to- medium sized business manager who wants to begin marketing and selling products on the Internet, or who currently has a Web site, but wants to take the next step of selling products online.

For Web site designers, it reduces the many tedious tasks involved in maintaining a Web site, allowing them to concentrate on pure design. It empowers merchants, not only allowing them to make small changes without a designer's help, but even allowing them to build an entire site without knowing HTML.

ShopSite Manager has a simple, intuitive interface and provides features comparable to high-end commerce packages at a fraction of the price. Rather than spending several hours each day keeping the site's content fresh, a user can spend a few minutes with ShopSite Manager. New users can familiarize themselves with the software in the course of an afternoon. A site can be significantly customized using ShopSite Manager, so advanced users can display information in creative ways by typing their own HTML into the appropriate text fields.

More than a Web page editor, ShopSite Manager keeps product and sales information in databases. Change the price of a product in the database and ShopSite Manager will automatically regenerate HTML. ShopSite Manager also integrates cgi scripts into the site, such as a shopping basket and visitor statistics, so you can take advantage of them without being a techno-geek.

*Store Creation and Management Tools*
	Easy Data Entry Screens
	The ShopSite interface is simple to use -- no harder than normal browsing on the Internet.
	Internationalization, Phase I
	Everything the shopper sees can be in their native language (symbols as well as text).
	Easy Embed
	Apply the ShopSite order button to existing HTML pages and automatically tap the power of ShopSite's secure shopping cart capabilities.
	Cross-platform
	Client only needs a standard Web browser. No extra software or plug-ins are necessary.
	Remote Management
	Storefronts and catalogs can be maintained from anywhere on the Internet.
	No HTML necessary
	Creating the right layout is easy with our forms-based interface. Makes site creation and maintenance quick and easy.
	Templates
	Balancing ease-of-use with flexibility in design, site designers can choose from several page and product layout templates.
	Virtually Unlimited pages/products/graphics
	Storefronts or catalogs may contain a theoretical limit of 2 gigabytes of data, which does not include images or external files. A practical limit, based on manageability of the site, is up to 2000 items in the product database.
	Unlimited Shoppers
	ShopSite does not limit the number of customers who may access, use, or purchase from an online store. For all practical purposes, there may be an unlimited number of concurrent users in any shopping activity.
	Immediate media upload
	Add graphics, sounds, movies, or other media materials easily using the immediate upload features in Netscape Navigator. No FTP is necessary.
	Media Library Manager
	View, name, and set up media (including graphics, sounds, or movies) in the Media Manager.
	Online help
	Software usability questions are answered quickly and easily via context-sensitive links from within the software with ICentral's online help system.
	Database uploader
	Build a store in one step. Create a database of products and page information offline, import to ShopSite via a tab-delimited file uploaded through the browser or FTP.
	Global Settings
	Enables designers and mall operators to customize their ShopSite environment. Special settings include the ability to add your own company logo and phone number at the bottom of each page and to add a special icon on the final "Thank You" page that links the shopper back to your mall or a Web page of your choice.
*Shopper Security*
	Secure Credit Card Handling
	The system takes advantage of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security, protecting both shoppers and merchants while sensitive information is in transit over the Internet. Credit card numbers are then encrypted when stored on the server.
	Secure Back Office
	All changes are done in a password protected back office.
*Sales and Marketing Tools*
	Statistics
	Monitor daily visitor counts and sales.
	Email notification of orders
	Placing an order immediately triggers an email receipt to the customer confirming the order, and an email to the merchant, so he is instantly notified when sales are made.
	Online Order tracking
	Orders are stored online for merchant reference as long as necessary. Viewing and deleting orders takes place within the back office.
	Register your store for free
	Registered stores are listed for free at ShopSite Marketplace, a showcase of stores using ShopSite software. Visit the ShopSite Marketplace
*Order Fulfillment Tools*
	Shopping Basket
	Allows customers to place orders online, in a secure, easy, and fast environment. ShopSite Managers basket uses a unique cookies/IP combination tracking system.
	Automated Credit Card Clearing
	Support for First Virtual, an affordable, automated credit card clearing system for price-sensitive merchants.
	Customizable Payment, Shipping, and Tax Options
	Merchants can set their own prices for shipping and tax, and decide which credit cards (or other forms of payment) they want. Currently 25 different tax rates can be set by the user.
*Server Features*
	Optimized Application
	ShopSite Manager uses only about 4MB of hard disk space. The code has been highly optimized for maximum efficiency and minimum bandwidth usage. Including graphics and other files, the average store typically takes up less than 10MB.
*System Requirements*

	Server Hardware (These requirements are for an average functional store.)
	16MB RAM 10MB free hard drive space
	Operating system/platform:
	Intel: BSDI 2.0, Linux 2.0.1, OpenLinux, Free BSD Sparc: Solaris 2.5 Coming soon: Windows NT, SGI/Irix, Solaris-Intel
	Other Server Requirements:
	Server software: Netscape FastTrack or Enterprise, Stronghold, Apache (or any other http 1.1 compliant web server). PERL 5.003 Sendmail
	Client
	Any computer running a standard web browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer (versions 3.0 or later preferred).