The IBIS E-commerce website allows you to sell retail online. This article explains how to set up items to sell online.


You must be using the IBIS Stock module in order to sell retail items online.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Set up retail items to sell online

You will need to configure the items as described below:

  1. Open the Retail items screen under the Point of Sale menu and find the item you would like to sell online.
  2. Under the Online properties section, enable the Sell online property (tick).
  3. Add an Online name (if you don't want the Item description to display on your website).
  4. Add an Online description to explain more about the item (maximum 2000 characters).
  5. Specify a list order to determine the display order on the E-Commerce page.
  6. Save your changes. Your item must belong to at least one retail group to sell on the E-Commerce page.


Note: Build Retail items are not able to be sold online.


Set up retail items with multiple options to sell online

If you have retail items that come in different sizes, colours or designs then they can be set up within IBIS E-Commerce Retail as one item with a drop-down listing the different option.  Each option can have a unique image loaded which is displayed when selected.

Your E-Commerce version must be running version 24.0.9.33 or higher to access these features (for custom designed E-Commerce sites, please discuss your options with IBIS).


Before you begin:

To set up retail items with multiple variations like size, colour, design etc:

  1. Create each variation as an individual retail item, ensuring the item name is descriptive for easy re-ordering. Include details such as colour, size, and design (maximum 40 characters, including spaces). 
  2. If the sale price differs for each variation, this will be reflected on your e-commerce site accordingly. 
  3. Enter an online name for each variation. The format should be the item name followed by a bar "|" and then the specific variants. E.g. ItemName|Colour Size. This naming convention is essential for grouping items on the E-Commerce site.

    Example for 3 T-shirts with different colour and size options:

    • T-Shirt |Red Small
    • T-Shirt |Blue Large
    • T-Shirt |Yellow Medium
  4. The order of appearance is based on the item list order (lowest to highest number). If no list order is set, they will appear alphabetically by the online name. The item with the lowest list order will also be the default image shown on the E-Commerce selection screen. 
  5. You may optionally enter an online description for each variation. This description is specific to the individual item and will display when customers click on it. 
  6. Click Save.
  7. Navigate to the Retail Item Group screen and add your items to a retail item group. 
  8. Add images for each item in the Image manager screen.
  9. Finally, ensure your items have been purchased into the stock system so that accurate inventory is available for online sales.

    A retail item with an online option setup example below for a 'Blue T-shirt size Large'


Online example of a retail item with multiple options e.g. t-shirts with different colours and sizes

Once the option is selected the item name, image, description and price are updated.  



Set up retail item groups

Item groups improve the navigation of your website for your customers. The E-commerce website will automatically group your retail items under Retail, however, you may need to streamline these further if you have lots of items in any particular category. E.g. if you are selling clothing online, you may wish to have your retail groups organised by clothing categories such as Men's Apparel, Women's Apparel, Children and Accessories.


Items can belong to more than one group. You may have a group called 'Bestsellers' that contains t-shirts also found under an "Apparel" group. 


To create Item groups follow these steps:

  1. Open IBIS Online and browse to Setup, then System> Item groups
  2. Click Create new
  3. Enter a group code - this must not contain any spaces and must not be more than 10 characters long. It can be included in a URL to link through from your main web page. An example might be ‘BodyBath’
  4. Enter a group name. This is the name your customers see and can be up to 50 characters long and can be changed after you have set it up. E.g. Body and bath.
  5. The Description explains what is in the group to your customers. It can be up to 2000 characters, but we recommend keeping it brief and to the point.
  6. Click Save – this returns you to the list page.
  7. Click Edit – below the header information, you’ll see the item groups currently configured in your items screen. This helps you find products to include in the online retail groups.
  8. Expand the item group by clicking on the arrow – then tick the Include box for any items you want to include in your current online retail group.
  9. Once you have selected the items, click Save Changes at the bottom of the grid (once saved, the green colour on edited lines will disappear).
  10. Repeat for any other groups you need to configure.


Specifying your shipping countries

By default, IBIS offers worldwide shipping. If you wish to restrict shipping to only certain countries, you can define them by entering the country code into the Postage Country Restrictions field in your System settings found in IBIS online. 



List of codes and countries available:

AFG, Afghanistan
ALB, Albania
DZA, Algeria
ASM, American Samoa
AND, Andorra
AGO, Angola
AIA, Anguilla
ATG, Antigua and Barbuda
ARG, Argentina
ARM, Armenia
AUS, Australia
AUT, Austria
AZE, Azerbaijan
BHS, Bahamas
BHR, Bahrain
BGD, Bangladesh
BRB, Barbados
BLR, Belarus
BEL, Belgium
BTN, Bhutan
BOL, Bolivia, Plurinational State of
BWA, Botswana
BRA, Brazil
BGR, Bulgaria
KHM, Cambodia
CMR, Cameroon
CAN, Canada
CHL, Chile
CHN, China
COL, Colombia
COK, Cook Islands
CRI, Costa Rica
HRV, Croatia
CUB, Cuba
CYP, Cyprus
CZE, Czech Republic
DNK, Denmark
DOM, Dominican Republic
ECU, Ecuador
EGY, Egypt
EST, Estonia
FJI, Fiji
FIN, Finland
FRA, France
PYF, French Polynesia
GEO, Georgia
DEU, Germany
GHA, Ghana
GRC, Greece
GRL, Greenland
HTI, Haiti
HKG, Hong Kong
HUN, Hungary
ISL, Iceland
IND, India
IDN, Indonesia
IRN, Iran, the Islamic Republic of
IRQ, Iraq
IRL, Ireland
ISR, Israel
ITA, Italy
JAM, Jamaica
JPN, Japan
JOR, Jordan
KAZ, Kazakhstan
KEN, Kenya
KOR, Korea, Republic of
KWT, Kuwait
KGZ, Kyrgyzstan
LAO, Lao People's Democratic Republic
LVA, Latvia
LBN, Lebanon
LSO, Lesotho
LBR, Liberia
LBY, Libya
LTU, Lithuania
LUX, Luxembourg
MAC, Macao
MKD, Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of
MDG, Madagascar
MYS, Malaysia
MDV, Maldives
MUS, Mauritius
MEX, Mexico
MCO, Monaco
MNG, Mongolia
MNE, Montenegro
MSR, Montserrat
MAR, Morocco
MOZ, Mozambique
MMR, Myanmar
NAM, Namibia
NPL, Nepal
NLD, Netherlands
NCL, New Caledonia
NZL, New Zealand
NIC, Nicaragua
NGA, Nigeria
NIU, Niue
NOR, Norway
OMN, Oman
PAK, Pakistan
PNG, Papua New Guinea
PRY, Paraguay
PER, Peru
PHL, Philippines
POL, Poland
PRT, Portugal
PRI, Puerto Rico
QAT, Qatar
ROU, Romania
RUS, Russian Federation
RWA, Rwanda
WSM, Samoa
SAU, Saudi Arabia
SEN, Senegal
SRB, Serbia
SLE, Sierra Leone
SGP, Singapore
SVK, Slovakia
SVN, Slovenia
ZAF, South Africa
ESP, Spain
LKA, Sri Lanka
SWZ, Swaziland
SWE, Sweden
CHE, Switzerland
TWN, Taiwan
TZA, Tanzania, the United Republic of
THA, Thailand
TON, Tonga
TUN, Tunisia
TUR, Turkey
TKM, Turkmenistan
UGA, Uganda
UKR, Ukraine
ARE, United Arab Emirates
GBR, United Kingdom
USA, United States
URY, Uruguay
UZB, Uzbekistan
VUT, Vanuatu
VEN, Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
VNM, Viet Nam
YEM, Yemen
ZMB, Zambia
ZWE, Zimbabwe


Postage/freight charges for shipping

Postage/freight is calculated using a base rate, with a percentage added for sales over a specified value. The rates and values can be different for NZ, Australian and International postage. E.g. the NZ base rate might be set at $15, with a 40% margin on sales over $100. The international base rate is $10 with a 5% margin calculated on amounts over $100.


To add the shipping to your online retail sales:

  1. In the Retail items screen under the Point of Sale menu, add a new non-stock item for Postage/freight.
  2. Tick the Sell online property.
  3. Via IBIS Online, select Setup, Settings, System settings and then click on E-Commerce Shipping.
    1. Specify the PLU code for your postage item against the website postage PLU setting under the Default PLU codes grouping.
    2. Under each Postage Region section, specify your freight rate and margin in the following format:

      Example formatsCalculation Rule
      $15, 40% > $100Shipping is charged at a base rate up to a specified amount, then a surcharge applies to anything over the minimum value. E.g.: 
      Sale Value = $110
      Base Rate = $15 (flat rate on the first $100)
      40% Surcharge over $100 = $4 (40% of $10)
      Total Freight = $104
      $10, $0 > $100Free shipping if the spend is greater than a specified value. E.g. If you spend $100, shipping is $0, else $10.


    3. Save your changes.


Image setup

Images are the most important part of selling retail online. Ensure you have professional-looking, well-lit images that make your products stand out. Do some research online for tips and tricks on how to take dazzling photos. Once you have your images, you can learn how to set up your images for selling retail online.


Stock dispatch notification emails

Each time a purchase is completed via your E-Commerce site that contains stock items, a stock dispatch notification email is sent to the stock notification email address specified in your System settings. It is important that users look out for these notification emails as they contain all the shipping details for the purchaser including items to dispatch, purchaser address as well as any special instructions the customer may have entered online.


If you are offering a special promotion for a limited time, you may email customers a direct link to a page on your IBIS E-Commerce website to purchase these items. At the end of the sale period, if a customer clicks on this link, you can redirect them to a page on your website that advises them the sale is over. IBIS can support a redirection link for the following item types:

  • Retail items
  • Retail groups
  • Gift voucher items
  • Gift voucher groups
  • Admission item groups (not admission items)
  • Events are not supported at this time

 

Once you have built a page on your website with the content required (in our example http://yourwebsite.com/expired), you can either set up a redirection for all the items in a retail group or for an individual item as follows:

 

Redirect a group of items

  1. In IBIS Online, navigate to Setup, then Retail Groups
  2. Select the group, then click Edit
  3. Enter the text " |redirect-to http://yourwebsite.com/expired " at the end of the Description field 
  4. Save your changes.

image

 

Redirect an individual item

  1. Open the Retail items screen under the Point of Sale menu in the IBIS application.
  2. Find your item, then click on the Online properties tab.
  3. Add the string " |redirect-to http://yourwebsite.com/expired " at the end of the Online Description box
  4. Save your changes.

image 


E-commerce stock management

it is important to know that any stock items purchased through your E-Commerce website will go through your "online" till. It is recommended that the online till is set up in the location where you will dispatch your stock from as it will make it easier for you to manage accurate stock levels and prevent negative values.

Example
Your operation has 3 locations: your front desk, a cafe and a gift shop. You sell souvenirs at all locations as well as through your E-commerce website. If you are purchasing and dispatching all your souvenir stock from your Gift Shop location, you will be able to maintain more accurate stock levels.


What happens if my stock levels are low where I dispatch stock from?

Even if you don't have stock at your main retail location your online till is set to, your e-commerce platform will look at the overall stock level across all locations. This will prevent items from showing as "sold" even though you still have stock available at another location. However, it also calls for active stock management, as it can create negative balances in one of your locations and show an inaccurate number in the location where you took the item from. Note that your IBIS E-Commerce will never sell more than the total stock available.

Example
Your online till is set to the location Gift Shop, but you sell your Jurassic Coffee Beans in the Cafe as well. Your Gift Shop is out of the Jurassic Coffee Beans, but the Cafe still has 5 packets, so the online order for 2 packets will still go through. This means, however, that your Gift Shop location will now show a negative stock balance of -2 and your Cafe still shows 5, so you will have to transfer stock between locations to balance it out and keep an accurate stock. 


Reporting on online retail sales

Various reports can be pulled to look at your retail sales and stock levels for the 'online' till.

The Sales report shows all sales filtered down to what you need. For example, if you have your online till set to your main retail location, it can be used to compare Stock sales per till so you can see how much you sell in your store vs online.

The Stock balance report shows your current stock levels, with the option to view historically. You could see a list of your stock by dragging the Location filter into the column and Units as a Data Item so you can see how many of each item you have in stock and where.


Troubleshooting

I have an item showing online that I can't find on my retail items screen. How do I remove this?

If you have an item showing online that you wish to remove, you can quickly check the PLU code associated with the item by opening the item up in the E-Commerce website and checking for the PLU code at the end of the URL. The online name for the item may not match the item description so searching by PLU code is the quickest way to find it.