DDMS ECinteractive™ Documentation

This page provides documentation on the ECinteractive™ and is.D-Force2 Web storefront, tightly integrated for use with DDMS® and UBC COPAS™ business systems. On this page:

Getting Started | Migrating From Dealer Station/D-Force | Using Specific Features

We welcome your feedback on improving our documentation!

Getting Started with ECinteractive

What is ECinteractive™?

Our completely new e-commerce product ECinteractive™ (formerly known as Project Cozumel) offers advanced features and an all-new user interface with a professional look and feel that will represent your company well. It harnesses cutting-edge technology, including the latest ASP .NET techniques, SQL Server 2005 database, and AJAX, a new technology that makes Web applications faster and more responsive. We know you'll be excited about this product…and so will your customers! See also our ECinteractive™ product information page on eci2.com.

How much does ECinteractive cost if my company has not already invested?

Email Dean Kim or call him at 800-366-3367 to discuss pricing.

Will ECinteractive work in all browsers?

ECinteractive is designed with cross-platform functionality in mind, and we test each release in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and 7, as well as Mozilla FireFox 2.

Is there a Demo ECinteractive Storefront site?

Yes. See the online ECinteractive demo site (ecinteractive.com/demo) and follow the login instructions on the home page to check out all its features for yourself.

ECi has produced a five-minute video that provides a guided tour of commonly used features in the ECinteractive family of products. The video discusses all the features your customers need to start shopping — account security (including the new 6-character password and security question and how to reset), catalog browse and search, quick order, favorites, machine matching, news, checkout approvals, and history. To view our video in a new browser window, go to www.motionmediasolutions.com/eci2/ecInteractive.html. For instructions on displaying this streaming video on your site (both the ECinteractive and Dealer Station families, see Displaying the Guided Tour Streaming Video (pdf).

Is there a Demo ECinteractive Admin Control Panel?

No, not at this time. However, we frequently schedule special Web-based demonstrations. If you would like to schedule a demonstration, email Dean Kim or call him at 800-366-3367.

Once your site is ready to go live, the ECi Installer will contact you about attending the Web-based training sessions, scheduled weekly.

Is is.D-Force 2 the same thing as ECinteractive?

Somewhat. is.D-Force 2 has everything ECinteractive has. However, is.D-Force 2 catalogs are strictly is.group "direct-buy" content, and is.D-Force 2 has unique features funded by is.group for its membership. More information is available on the is.group Web site (www.isgroup.org), and members should contact Janet Eshenour eshenour@isgroup.org for questions about is.D-Force 2.

What are the latest enhancements in ECinteractive?

Announcing ECinteractive and is.D-Force2 Version 8.0.1

Announcing ECinteractive and is.D-Force2 Version 8.0.0

What's New in ECinteractive 7.4.7

What's New in ECinteractive 7.4.6

What's New in ECinteractive 7.4.5

What's New in ECinteractive 7.4.2

What's New in ECinteractive 7.4.1

What's New in ECinteractive 7.4.0

What's New in ECinteractive 7.3.6

What's New in ECinteractive 7.3.5

What's New in ECinteractive 7.3.4

What's New in ECinteractive 7.3.3

What's New in ECinteractive 7.3.2

What's New in ECinteractive 7.3.1

What's New in ECinteractive 7.3

What's New in ECinteractive: S.P. Richards Enhanced Content

What's New in ECinteractive 7.2

What's New in ECinteractive 7.1

What's New in ECinteractive 7.0

What's New in ECinteractive 6.9

What's New in ECinteractive 6.8

What's New in ECinteractive (pdf) ECi ’s next-generation e-commerce storefront application includes many of the widely-used features from Dealer Station®. But ECinteractive Versions 6.8, 6.9, and 7.0 include enhancements such as online accounts receivable, point rewards, user activity reports, catalog management, order manager service, order management page, limiting customer groups by catalog, SKU-specific images, Admin training menu navigation, first in search, filtering, and merchandizing products. Advanced technologies like AJAX, SQL and .NET give you more competitive power.

ECi Begins ECinteractive Release and Training Drive (6.6.5)

What are the next scheduled enhancements in ECinteractive?

In the next few months, the ECinteractive team is releasing more hot priority features to make your Web presence more competitive and efficient in upcoming release versions tentatively slated as follows:

Note: wholesaler items marked with an asterisk (*) does not apply to is.D-Force2.

8.1.0 (Release date TBD)
Upload Your Own Items & Lists to S.P. Richards Enhanced Content
Rank Your Own Items in SP Richards Enhanced Content (6009)
Filter Enhanced S.P. Richards Subcatalogs (5175)
8.2.0 (Release Date TBD)
Let shoppers use Coupons (3270)
Let shoppers use Jumptech barcode scanners (6906)
Show new tab for orders Approved, separate from orders Pending Approval
Let shoppers view Budgets even if they are not privileged to edit them (6443)
Let shoppers view Advanced Manifest (Shipping & Delivery) Information
8.3.0 (Release Date TBD)
Let shoppers look up RouteTrak delivery signature (3085)
Display competitive pricing information in ECinteractive item detail (6900, already in is.D-Force2)
Let shoppers update their machine meter readings online (6902)

What enhancements are coming over the horizon for ECinteractive?

Soon, you will be able to:

Integrate with vendor systems via ECi Private Supply Network to view real-time stock levels.
Integrate with vendor systems via ECi Private Supply Network to check backorder status.
Display RouteTrak proof-of-delivery signatures on Order History page.
Integrate with UPS and FedEx systems to track packages online.
Schedule consumable replenishment orders in advance (paper, toner, and so on).
Integrate with Punchout purchasing systems such as ARIBA.

Can a dealer set up customer service reps with limited access to the Admin Control Panel to answer basic questions (look up lost orders, held orders, status, rewards, username, password reset)?

Yes. In addition to the master administrator, you can set up multiple Admin Users who can access the ECinteractive Admin Control Panel. Each CSR will have his or her own userID and password. What they are allowed to do will be determined by the master administrator at each dealership. We will soon allow the master administrator to determine an Admin user's rights (read, write, or no access) per Admin page.

What records, files, or information should I have to prepare for setting up my ECinteractive site?

As you get ready to set up your ECinteractive Admin Control Panel, you need ten pieces of information to integrate properly with Ensite Pro, your operations, and your customers' purchasing practices:

Admin Users: You can set up master administrators and multiple customer support users with access to the Admin Control Panel. We recommend selecting from your Sales Manager and customer service reps who also have access to Ensite Pro.
Dealer Logo: We designed the logo area for images about 200 pixels wide by 60 pixels high. We recommend that your graphic designer provide you with a logo that does not exceed the ideal dimensions, and is no bigger than 5 KB, so your site has a truly professional look.
Site Info: dealer contact information for sales & service (phone, fax, postal/street address, email)
Site Prefs: In Ensite Pro's Personnel database, set up an Order Taker (OT) to track ECinteractive orders.
Site Text: Determine the globally available site text for Home, Contact Us, About, and Privacy Policy.
Location: You can set up one or more Locations in ECinteractive with a specific Ensite Pro G/L Location, inventory location, and printer ID, and then assign customer accounts to each Location, and synchronize departments.
Catalog: Perform quarterly catalog updates for your Ensite Pro to ensure that your back-end Item database matches the eContent on your Web storefront.
Special Items: Identify the items you've set up to display as shipping options (the description, flat rate, additional percentage, free shipping order minimums, and item company and number).
Customer Groups: Identify accounts who have similar feature requirements for Communication, Alternates/Substitutes, Checkout (budget/credit/past due hold, P/O required, credit cards, shipping/department/attention changes, and invoicing), Marketing (Web specials, rewards program, learning center, product showcase), Feature (access to catalog, QuickOrder, history, saved orders, department scope, A/R account balance & remittance, contract/laundry list), and Price (list/customer price display, contract item indicator, sub-decimal display).
Approval Groups/Chains: Identify the customer account end users to include in each approval group and hierarchy.

Where is the training handout for setting up my Site?

Home Page Display Order tab in Site Text control panel First impressions can make or break a relationship, whether it’s a job interview, a first date, a new restaurant, or a new Web site. When shoppers open your Home page, their first impression can lead them either to click the back button or to delve deeper. It should be a place where shoppers want to return again and again.

With this in mind, we've designed the interface to be friendly, easy-to-use, and as intuitive as possible. To help you achieve even better results, we give you more control of the information that's shown on the Home page.

Under Site Text, a new tab for Home Page Display Order lets you customize the arrangement of Default News, Home Page Text, Browse Category Display, and Account Specific News. Account-specific News is now displayed on the shopper's Home page by default, so important notifications can be displayed directly on the Home page without the necessity of clicking the menu to go to Account News. you can use the HTML-capable text editor to customize these elements, hide or resequence elements as you see fit, and preview what the results will look like on your home page.

In a related development, the Site Preferences page now allows you to specify how the Home and Browse pages displays subcategories. If you enable the new Expand Category Display on Home and Browse Catalog Pages checkbox, the complete list of level two categories will display, as long as there are not more than six top level categories. A new Edit Category Display Order button opens a page where you can select the catalogs from your Content Provider. The catalogs in turn drive the categories.

Note: For is.D-Force2 sites, United Stationers Enhanced Content features do not apply at this time, pending discussions between the parties of is.group and United Stationers.

For detailed instructions, see Customizing Site Text and Messages in ECinteractive (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/ecommerce/ecSiteText.pdf)

Where is the training handout for setting up my Items and Catalogs?

Within the Custom Product Management Dashboard, you can manage your items' categorization, and authorize your catalog to be pipelined through your Enhanced Content Provider. While your wholesaler's catalog is pretty comprehensive, many of you sell custom items that aren't available in eContent, but which you have set up in your backend item database, contracts, and laundry lists.

Our newly streamlined Custom Product Management Dashboard makes it easier than ever to manage dealer-specific custom items. You can add manufacturers, add custom product details and upload images as needed, create your custom catalog, and map your product categories so that your products are easy for your customers to find.

The new process also makes it easy to authorize your own items to be pipelined through United Stationers' SmartSearch Web service. As a result, your customer can shop Enhanced Content not only for United Stationers items, but your dealer-specific custom items as well.

(Our product development team has set the stage to integrate Custom Catalogs with S.P. Richards Enhanced Content in the next major release, 8.1.)

Note: For is.D-Force2 sites, United Stationers Enhanced Content features do not apply at this time, pending discussions between the parties of is.group and United Stationers.

After creating your custom catalog, you can assign your Catalog Groups to individual accounts, guest accounts, demo accounts, or mass change customer parameters for your Custom Catalogs. As always, you can also manage your custom products' ranking in ECinteractive's standard search results. Now you can manage the ranking within Enhanced search results. You can promote any product through Preferred Items and Web Specials.

For detailed instructions, see Setting Up Custom Items & Catalogs (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/ecommerce/ecCatalogs.pdf).

Note: Your work in the Custom Product Management Dashboard will take effect the following day, after the ECinteractive system generates your site-specific and customer-specific Catalog Combination Indexes (CCIs) during its nightly scheduled processes. This also gives your Enhanced Content Provider’s system time to run your custom catalog content data through its Pipeline process. If you’re planning a customer launch or prospect demonstration, we recommend leaving yourself a few days in advance to prepare, index and test the items your audience should expect to see.

Where is the training handout for setting up and managing my Customer Accounts and Orders?

Our Admin Guide to ECinteractive™ and is.D-Force® 2 (pdf) provides the instructions you need to tailor your shopping experience to meet the needs of your customers. In the second half of this document, you'll learn how to set up customer groups, where you have the flexibility to address your customers' different needs for shipping, shopping among various departments and attentions, credit card management, budgets, alternates and substitutes, pricing, contracts, laundry lists, checkout and communication requirements, and access to special features, global Favorites Lists, and marketing tools. You'll also learn how to use the guest account, create approval group hierarchies, and offer buyer incentives with point rewards and additional volume discounts. Site security, site selection (for dealers with multiple ECinteractive sites), account management, order management, and reporting is also discussed.

The Contract/Laundry Lists tab of Customer Management allows you to restrict or lock a customer to selected contracts. On your backend system, you may have contracts and/or laundry lists set up for items a customer purchases regularly.

Now, you can limit shoppers to your backend contracts and/or laundry lists. Previously, the Contracts/Laundry Lists tab in your Customer Management page previously only allowed you to assign contracts or laundry lists to the selected customer. Now, this tab has been enhanced to include three new Select Item Limit options:

None lets the shopper view all catalogs and contracts and/or laundry list items assigned to his account.
Restrict lets the dealer restrict the shopper from using specific contracts and/or laundry lists. For example, this option lets the dealer set up a restricted contract and/or laundry list of items the shopper cannot view. This is a useful feature for dealers who need to restrict certain items, such as furniture products, from displaying on specific user Web pages.
Lock lets the dealer lock the shopper to Contracts Only (All items that are in the selected backend lists will override the customer’s Catalog Group settings. In effect, the assigned backend lists become the customer’s catalog groups.) and Include Contracts (All items that are in both the customer’s Catalog Groups and the selected backend Contracts/Laundry Lists are shown to the customer).

For details and exceptions, please see Lock Shoppers to Contracts/Laundry Lists (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/ecommerce/ecLockContractLL.pdf).

What are some setup tasks I can postpone until my site is up and running?

As you add customers and build volume, consider the following optional items and settings:

S.P. Richards Enhanced Content Features: For customers who purchase items that are in the S.P. Richards catalogs, you can set up accounts to use enhanced search filters, cross-sell and up-sell opportunities, additional item images, and product comparison and rich media content. For detailed instructions and an important clarification on the exclusion of items from custom dealer catalogs and other vendor catalogs, please see Setting Up SPR Enhanced Content in ECinteractive (pdf).
United Stationers Enhanced Content Features: For customers who purchase items that are in the United Stationers catalogs, you can set up accounts to have access to enhanced content and search capabilities, side-by-side comparisons, richer product details, targeted machine & equipment accessory matching, and relevant alternative items. For detailed instructions, please see Setting Up United Enhanced Content in ECinteractive (pdf).
Machine Matching Tool: Activate this feature to let your customers find consumables for machines they have in their home or office, and save a list of their machines for future reference.
Custom Confirmation Emails: customize the default emails sent to your customers.
DEMO Account: To prepare to demonstrate your site's capabilities, set up accounts with ‘DEMO’ as the account number or user name. It will not submit to the backend system as a valid order.
Contracts/Laundry Lists: To limit a user to a contract or laundry list, the items and IDs must be set up in Ensite Pro's Item database and Customer record.
Special Items: Identify items to promote Web special pricing only available for Web orders, and items to promote as popular or preferred.
Custom Items: If you have custom items, have a record in your Item database before you enter its images and category in ECinteractive's Item and Catalog Management pages. When you load main and thumbnail images for these custom catalog items, make sure they meet certain restrictions (no larger than 12 KB, no more than 240 pixels wide x 240 pixels high). Only image files with an extension of ".gif", ".jpg", ".jpeg", or ".png" are allowed.
Favorites Lists: Identify any Favorites list items that should be globally available to all your accounts, or to be assigned to individual accounts or departments.
Rewards: Identify items you will use as an incentive for Point Rewards, along with their ratio value (dollars to points), and identify the end users to serve as your key accounts' rewards administrators.
Integrated Volume Discounts: Have volume discounts set up in Ensite Pro's Item database.
Remit A/R: You can set up an AR Remittance address, even a different one for each GL location, to be displayed when the user views, prints or pays balances online.
Site and Account News: Identify promotional information to display for account-specific news.

How do I set up custom items and catalogs, and assign them to customer accounts?

Our Admin Guide to ECinteractive™ and is.D-Force® 2 (pdf) provides the instructions you need to get started selling online with ECinteractive. Topics include setup, administration and customization of your ECinteractive site. We'll show you how to enter your company and contact information, define locations, set up site preferences, change color schemes, add admin user accounts, load custom item images and descriptions, create Web specials, and even rank items so they show up first in search results. Site security, site selection (for dealers with multiple ECinteractive sites), and A/R Remittance online are also discussed.

(Our product development team has set the stage to integrate Custom Catalogs with S.P. Richards Enhanced Content in the next major release, 8.1.)

Note: For is.D-Force2 sites, United Stationers Enhanced Content features do not apply at this time, pending discussions between the parties of is.group and United Stationers.

For detailed instructions, see Setting Up Custom Items & Catalogs (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/ecommerce/ecCatalogs.pdf).

Can I add keywords to items in the online catalog?

It depends. Wholesaler catalog content is maintained by the vendor, and cannot currently be edited by dealers. However, when you add your own custom catalogs, categories, and items, you can specify keywords.

Can I set up a demo account on my site that does not incur transaction fees or clutter up my back-end with invalid orders?

Yes, as of ECinteractive version 7.2 and higher. To prepare to demonstrate your site's capabilities, set up accounts with ‘DEMO’ as the account number or user name. It will not submit to the backend system as a valid order.

Can ECinteractive integrate with major Procurement PunchOut systems like ARIBA?

Not at this time. However, PunchOut integration is a high priority, and a Punchout Phase I project is tentatively scheduled for release in 2009 (subject to change).

Can new or guest users create online accounts that also write to the DDMS backend system?

Yes, when a guest user decides to sign up for an account, the system will write their account information to the DDMS Customer database.

Do you have an online user guide?

Yes. For both your online shoppers and administrators, page-specific Help files are found on every page of the storefront shopping site and dealer Admin Control Panel.

Our Admin Guide to ECinteractive™ and is.D-Force® 2 (pdf) provides the instructions you need to get started selling online with ECinteractive. In the first half of this document, topics include setup, administration and customization of your ECinteractive site. You'll learn how to add Admin users with different privileges, load custom item images and descriptions, create Web specials, and even rank items so they show up first in search results. The second half of this document provides the instructions you need to tailor your shopping experience to meet the needs of your customers. You'll learn how to set up customer groups, where you have the flexibility to address your customers' different needs and access to special features. You'll also learn how to use the guest account, create approval group hierarchies, and offer buyer incentives with point rewards and additional volume discounts. Site security, site selection (for dealers with multiple ECinteractive sites), account management, order management, and reporting is also discussed.

For your shoppers, ECi has produced a five-minute video that provides a guided tour of commonly used features in the ECinteractive family of products. The video discusses all the features your customers need to start shopping — account security (including the new 6-character password and security question and how to reset), catalog browse and search, quick order, favorites, machine matching, news, checkout approvals, and history. To view our video in a new browser window, go to www.motionmediasolutions.com/eci2/ecInteractive.html. For instructions on displaying this streaming video on your site (both the ECinteractive and Dealer Station families, see Displaying the Guided Tour Streaming Video (pdf).

Migrating from Dealer Station to ECinteractive (D-Force to D-Force2)

Does ECinteractive have many of the same features as Dealer Station?

Yes. Naturally, our next-generation Web storefront includes many tried-and-true features from the Dealer Station® family of products. Your customers expect the services you have always provided. Widely-used features in common include: shopping from keyword searches, catalog categories, item number QuickOrder, custom pricing Contracts, Laundry lists, Favorites lists, Web specials, and order history. Multiple levels of order approvals or authorizations. Budget controls and departmental limits. Checking status from order history. Account-specific deals and news. Robust integration with your Ensite Pro business system, particularly the customer and item databases and order entry/history applications.

To compare the features in each generation of Web storefront, see the feature comparison charts on eci2.com.

What are some next-generation features only available in ECinteractive?

ECinteractive's all-new user interface utilizes advanced technologies like AJAX, Microsoft’s latest SQL Server database architecture, and the Microsoft® .NET programming framework. For you and your customers, that translates to advanced features such as:

Professionally developed site themes and WYSIWYG, HTML-capable editor for customizing site or account news and other Web storefront pages.
More streamlined group-based site feature and approval settings.
Enhanced Admin and end-user login measures, including longer hidden password and security question.
Faster cached keyword search and more intuitive advanced searching by brand and product attributes.
Search results dynamically highlight related categories, best sellers, and preferred manufacturers.
Item number QuickOrder instantly displays matching descriptions, alternates, or invalid items.
More flexible Point Reward buyer incentive programs, and volume discounts integrated with Ensite Pro.
Behind-the-scenes order management streamlines the queue of orders transmitted into Ensite Pro.
Limit Order History by date range, purchase order number, item, or department; drill down to line item detail; and and copy selected items to Favorites or Cart.
Deeper integration with Ensite Pro, including accounts receivable statement and (soon!) online payment.

To compare the features in each generation of Web storefront, see the feature comparison charts on eci2.com.

Has password security changed on ECinteractive?

Yes, ECinteractive features a number of password security enhancements:

6-Character Minimum. Unlike Dealer Station's minimum 4-character passwords, ECinteractive requires at least 6 characters. If you migrate a customer with an existing password less than 6 characters, the system will prompt the user at login to change the password to one that meets the 6-character requirement. Users also have the option to change their user name, as long as they enter an ID that will uniquely identify their records in the database.
Security Question. ECinteractive now prompts the user to specify a security question and answer. This will be used to verify the user's identity whenever a userID or password is lost or changed.
Lost Password Automation. At login, the user can request their password to be reset. The system will prompt for a security question and answer to verify the user's identity, and if answered correctly, an email will be sent with a temporary password to the email address on record. The user will be prompted to change the password at the next login.
Admin Password Reset. ECinteractive does not display end user passwords in the Admin Control Panel. The system does allow an administrator to reset the password and security question and answer for an end user. The user can then log in just like during initial setup, and the system will prompt for new password, security question and answer to verify the user's identity.

These security enhancements apply to both end users and admin users.

How has ECinteractive improved speed for accounts with multiple departments?

Unlike Dealer Station, ECinteractive prompts you to synchronize departments with your DDMS customer database when you create an account online. Therefore, departmental information is stored on the Web server, and transactions no longer require a call to the DDMS database for departmental data. This significantly enhances the speed of transactions for customer accounts with multiple departments.

At what point does ECinteractive pass orders into the DDMS system?

Unlike Dealer Station, ECinteractive does not submit a held order whenever a user adds an item to the cart, and therefore no longer ties up your on-hand quantities with unfinished orders. Instead, ECinteractive stores cart data online, including unapproved and saved orders, until the user actually submits the order at Checkout. As a result, orphaned orders tying up on-hand quantities in your DDMS system is eliminated.

Will ECinteractive retain the order history for end users I migrate from my existing site?

ECinteractive accesses the same order history as Dealer Station and is.D-Force. This history is stored in the dealer's back-end Ensite Pro system. The only orders that the end users may lose would be orders that have been put on hold on the Dealer Station server.

How do I import or migrate my customers from Dealer Station® to ECinteractive™ (D-Force to D-Force2)?

The migration tool was released in Version 6.9 at the end of April 2007. It will be turned on and available in the Admin Control Panel for a dealer's site on completion of the Migration Tool training. New groups of dealers are in Web-based training to go live every week. ECi and is.group firmly believe that a controlled release schedule leads to the most successful implementation for each customer. It allows our training and support teams to provide the requisite attention to all dealers in a fair manner, and to properly assess server performance as consumer usage increases.

ECi product managers and trainers have sent personal invitations periodically to groups of dealers to attend Web based training, set up their sites, and migrate their customer accounts. Selected dealers include Project Cozumel investors, beta test sites, and other dealers with consideration made for historical online order volume. If you are a Project Cozumel investor or beta test site, your company has been sent an invitation to join our ECinteractive virtual classes.

For detailed instructions, see Migration Tool for ECinteractive and is.D-Force 2 (pdf). First, learn how to print the ECinteractive Export reports in Dealer Station/D-Force, and examine the settings that your end-users have currently been granted. Second, use the reports to determine how to set up your ECinteractive Customer Settings, to group users according to their substitute settings, checkout settings, price settings and so on. Third, create Customer Groups in ECinteractive and synchronize your customer accounts to them. Once the groups are set, you can begin migrating your users, one group at a time. The migration process will transfer Dealer Station/D-Force user data, including user name, password, email address, rewards points, and favorites lists. You can also print Approval Chain reports in Dealer Station and D-Force.

What materials are available for training my customers on my new site?

Using Specific ECinteractive Features

Can my site use United Stationers SmartSearch technology?

United Stationers recently announced the release of its SmartSearch Web service in cooperation with leading industry technology providers, including eCommerce Industries, Inc. (ECi). If you are a United Stationers dealer with an ECinteractive Web storefront, your online customers will have access to enhanced content and search capabilities, side-by-side comparisons, richer product details, targeted machine & equipment accessory matching, and relevant alternative items.

Enhanced Search gives you better filtering as well as new views: quick, detail, summary, and comparison.

Action Required: Please contact your United Stationers Account Manager to request your SmartSearch Web Service Dealer ID and password.

For detailed instructions, see Setting Up United Stationers Enhanced Content
(www.ddms.com/resources/support/faq/ecommerce/ecUNIContent.pdf).

Note: For is.D-Force2 sites, United Stationers Enhanced Content features do not apply at this time, pending discussions between the parties of is.group and United Stationers.

How do I take advantage of the Catalog Combination Index (CCI) feature?

You want your site to display any set of items you want to sell, as many sets as you want, while making it as easy and snappy as possible for your customers.

Your ECinteractive Product Management team wants the same thing. But historically, catalog content in the office supply industry has its share of complexities. From the multitudes of manufacturers, to the use of multiple wholesaler catalogs, to individual dealers selling unique items in their own catalogs, to individual customers searching according to their own contracts and laundry lists, it is a challenge to filter out duplicate search results. The system has had to process individual parameters and limits on what catalog a user is allowed to shop, for each user, every time they visit.The dynamic nature of serving item information to hundreds of sites and thousands of users can take its toll on performance.

That's the beauty of ECinteractive's new Catalog Combination Indexing function (CCI).

The CCI automatically generates a list of items with unique SKUs for each distinct combination of Global Catalog Group and Custom Catalog Group. When displaying items to your customers, ECinteractive directly accesses this pre-generated CCI list.

The results:

Since the search engine only has to work with a smaller subset of the catalog specific to the dealer or customer user, it speeds up search results.
In Search Results, there are no more duplicate items displayed, even when the same item occurs in different wholesaler catalogs that your site uses.
Since we've fully implemented CCI, no search timeouts have occurred.
The system is faster at displaying personalized content and product detail.
It sets the stage for ECinteractive to let you limit shoppers to their contracts and laundry lists. (Coming in Version 8.0.0)
Vendors offering Enhanced Content will use CCIs to synchronize subsets of dealer-specific Enhanced content, so their Enhanced search results will also limit to dealer-specific catalogs and shopper-specific contracts or laundry lists. (Coming in Version 8.0.0)
When the same item occurs in multiple catalogs, you control which images and details to display in search results and product detail pages. In your Admin Control Panel under the Site Customization menu, the Provider Priority Management page lets you prioritize your site's catalog providers.

How does it work? The CCI works behind the scenes to give you granular control over what your customer can shop and buy. It dynamically displays the right catalog content for every customer who hits your Web site.

By default, this drives which content is displayed in Browse categories, Search results, or product detail, MyFavorites, Contracts, Laundry Lists, Web Specials, Preferred Items, and Product Showcases.

Every night outside normal business hours, the system checks to see if any pending catalog combination subset exists in the index, and generates new CCIs as needed for all sites according to the following triggers:

When you add or remove items from a custom catalog in the Catalog Management page.
When you add or remove catalogs in a catalog group from the Global Catalog Group Management page or the Custom Catalog Group Management page.
When you specify a Global Catalog Group and Custom Catalog Group while adding/editing a customer in the Customer Management page.
When you specify a selected customers' or customer group's Global Catalog Group and Custom Catalog Group in the Parameter Maintenance page.
Whenever you adjust rankings on the Provider Priority Management page.

Let's say ABC1234 is in your custom catalog, as well as S.P. Richards and United Stationers catalogs, the three catalogs assigned to Customer A. In this example, your site name is ranked highest on the Provider Priority Management page, and you've ranked S.P. Richards higher than United. When Customer A logs in to your site, the system will check for that customer's CCI, and quickly display the appropriate subset of Browse categories, Web Specials, Preferred Items, and so on. When Customer A searches for ABC1234, the system looks first for the categories, product details, and image(s) you entered for that item to display. If you haven't entered content for that item, your site will look next to the S.P. Richards content to display, and then to the United content.

Exception: If your site uses a wholesaler's Enhanced Content/Search features, your ranking will not affect Browse categories, Search results, or product detail, since a third-party content repository provides that information. (See the 7.4.5 announcement
www.ddms.com/support/release/whatsnew/ec745.htm)

How do I set up my site to use my back-end system contracts and laundry lists, and their categories?

None lets the shopper view all catalogs and contracts and/or laundry list items assigned to his account.
Restrict lets the dealer restrict the shopper from using specific contracts and/or laundry lists. For example, this option lets the dealer set up a restricted contract and/or laundry list of items the shopper cannot view. This is a useful feature for dealers who need to restrict certain items, such as furniture products, from displaying on specific user Web pages.
Lock lets the dealer lock the shopper to Contracts Only (All items that are in the selected backend lists will override the customer’s Catalog Group settings. In effect, the assigned backend lists become the customer’s catalog groups.) and Include Contracts (All items that are in both the customer’s Catalog Groups and the selected backend Contracts/Laundry Lists are shown to the customer).

For details and exceptions, please see Lock Shoppers to Contracts/Laundry Lists (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/ecommerce/ecLockContractLL.pdf).

You can specify whether to use category headers from the back end business system or to use the original wholesaler categories. In the Contract/Laundry List Management page under Site Info, you can now switch between using the default Wholesaler Categories and using Backend Categories when you refresh or sync your lists.

Then, on the Site Preferences page of the Admin Control Panel, you can enable the Use Backend Categories in Contract/Laundry List checkbox, which is disabled by default.

How do I set up my site with Google Analytics?

Now you can use Google Analytics (google.com/analytics) to learn how visitors interact with your site. Google Analytics gives you free reports on your site visitors, including their referring sites, search engines, search keywords, time on each page, pages per visit, geographic location, browser versions, and much more.

This analysis can help you make informed decisions about your marketing campaigns, increase conversions from guest to loyal customer, and empower you to grow your business online. Google offers its Analytics free of charge. For more details and to sign up, see google.com/analytics.

To make Google Analytics easy to implement, your Admin Control Panel has a new Google Analytics ID box in your Site Preference page. After you enter your Google Analytics tracking code, the ECinteractive system automatically enters it onto every page of your front end Web site, so that Google Analytics can track your traffic.

For your Dealer Station and original is.D-Force sites, you can use Site Text to incorporate the Google Analytics script into HTML-capable pages.

For detailed instructions on setting up your Google Analytics ID in both the ECinteractive and Dealer Station families of Web storefronts, see Setting Up Google Analytics for Your Site (pdf).

How do I set or reset a customer's password?

Note that, for security reasons, ECinteractive does not display end user passwords in the Admin Control Panel.

When a user account is initially set up, either through migration from your old site or through self-registration, the system sends an message to the specified email address, with a randomly generated temporary password and instructions for logging in. The user can then log in, and the system will prompt again for the current (temporary) password, the new password, the confirmed new password, and the security question and answer to verify the user's identity.

When users forget their password, they can use the automated method of using the Forgot Password? link on the Login box or page. They will be prompted to specify their user name and answer a security question to verify their identity. Again, the system sends a temporary password, which they must change upon login.

When users forget both their password and the answer to their security question, they can't use the automated use the Admin Customer Management page to manually reset both. After you reset the password, the system again emails a temporary password to the email address on record. The user can then log in just like during initial setup, and the system will prompt again for the temporary password, the new password, the confirmed password, the security question and answer to verify the user's identity.

Of course, if the user forgets their username as well, you can look them up using other fields in Customer Management. We just don't advise simply changing the user's email address at the same time they request a password reset. The password reset message should be sent to the original email address so that the original owner can take action. In the rare case that somebody must change the email address to a new provider at the same time they've forgotten their login credentials, and they no longer have access to the old email account, we recommend verifying other account information. For example, you could ask them to verify their shipping address and describe what was on their last order, and check it against Order History.

How do I customize site messages and pages?

Note: For is.D-Force2 sites, United Stationers Enhanced Content features do not apply at this time, pending discussions between the parties of is.group and United Stationers.

Sample HTML Order Confirmation Message Format One more way you're going to be more visibly competitive is with ECinteractive's new HTML-formatted automated messages, such as order confirmations, approval emails, and payment confirmations.

Under Site Text, the Emails tab has been enhanced to allow you to specify Headers and Footers that you've designed in our HTML-capable Text Editor.

It is not mandatory to design your own custom headers and footers. You can simply go with our professionally designed default format.

However, it gives you an opportunity to show off your logo and add a personal touch or promotional message that brings loyal customers back for more.

You can also choose whether your customers receive HTML or plain text by default either for specific customers in Customer Management or in mass under Communication Settings.

Shoppers can set their own email format preference when registering as a new user by using the Register Me link and when updating their information.

For detailed instructions, see Customizing Site Text and Messages in ECinteractive (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/ecommerce/ecSiteText.pdf)

How do I delete or transfer orders among a customer's users?

Sometimes, your customer may inform you that Bess Buyer has been promoted or Paul Procure has left the company and should no longer have purchasing responsibilities, but Sam Shopper takes their place. If an order has been added to the shopping cart and saved, you can transfer it to another user or delete it in Order Management. This will be especially helpful if a user leaves the company with pending orders or approvals. See Transferring and Deleting Orders in ECinteractive™ (pdf).

How do I set up users to shop for other users or departments?

If a user account has rights to multiple accounts, departments, or attentions, they can select the desired scope not only at checkout, but at any time after login. To use this feature, the user’s Customer account database record must be set up with departments and/or attentions in the back-end system. Once set up in the back-end and your Checkout Settings, the shopper will be prompted after login to specify the scope or accept the default. They can also use the menu along the top of each page at any time during the shopping experience. Based on the new scope, the system automatically reprices items as needed, whether they are already in the ShoppingCart or added to it. Pricing may vary depending on how the Customer account, department, and attention is set up in the back-end system. The selected account, department, and attention affects the display of many pages on your shopping site, including Order History, Customer Budgets, Online A/R, and so on. Previously, the ability to change departments or attentions was limited to the checkout page. For setup instructions, see Letting A User Shop For Others in ECinteractive™ (pdf).

How do I assign users to multiple General Ledger/Inventory locations and printer IDs?

To serve national and regional accounts with their own far-flung offices, your back-end system uses multiple General Ledger and Inventory locations and printers. Whether you want to add customers from your multiple locations, assign a specific shopper to one of those locations, or just have their invoices print at their sales representatives’ printers, you can now get really granular. Your Admin Control Panel's Account Management feature now has more flexibility in managing accounts across multiple locations. For setup instructions, see Setting up GL/Inv Location-Specific Users in ECinteractive™ (pdf).

How do I set up users to pay A/R invoices online via credit card?

With the Online Accounts Retrievable Remittance feature, you can let selected customers access their outstanding A/R balances from the backend system.

The next phase of our Accounts Receivable feature set is here as of Version 7.4.0, released March 22, 2008. In addition to viewing invoice history and printing a remittance, end users can now pay them online via credit card using the Pay Invoice option of the My Account menu. See Letting Shoppers Pay A/R Invoices Online (pdf).

How do I set up user access to select credit cards at Checkout and the Credit Card Management page?

As of the release of version 7.3.3 Dec. 1, 2007, Your Web storefront now makes it easier than ever for both users and dealers to manage credit card information online (QC# 4940). This expands payment options at checkout, and allows users more flexibility when purchasing for multiple accounts and departments.

To minimize security issues on the end user's storefront, all credit card information is maintained on your back office system. All credit card management capabilities provided on the end user's web storefront is shown in a single Credit Card Management page, called Credit Card Editor. Access to functionality on this page is granted by specific settings on the Admin Control Panel.

As a dealer, you can use new Admin Control Panel features to:

Grant or restrict customer access to credit card management through a Feature group.
Authorize each user’s payment options available at checkout:
- (default) Restrict the user to the original options (receive invoice, use account’s default card, or enter a personal card).
- Authorize access to the full list of credit cards associated with the user’s account and department on your back-end system.
- Select a more restricted subset of the list.
Customize the text links to the user’s Credit Card Editor.

With access to the Credit Card Editor, end users can:

Add multiple credit cards be used during order Checkout.
Edit information on credit cards for which they are authorized.
Request deletion as needed, which sends you a notification so that you may take appropriate action on your back-end system.

For detailed instructions, see Setting Up & Using Credit Card Management (pdf).

Note: During development, changes were also made to the back-end Gateway program. Therefore, DDMS® Version 8.12.50 or higher is required to implement the enhanced Credit Card Management features. To request your software update, please e-mail support@eci2.com.

How do I rank items higher in search results?

ECinteractive provides list views of products on various end-user pages, including Advanced Search, Contracts, Laundry Lists and Web Specials. If you wish to control the order of the products in these lists to promote sales of selected products, you can use “Ranking” Icons.

By default, the system sorts any items in a Ranking Icon Group by its item number/SKU. Effective Feb. 2, 2008, you can also assign individual rankings to items within a Ranking Icon group. Items with a numerical rank value (integers greater than Ø such as 1, 2, 3, 100, 200, 300) display in the numerical order of their rank, and Items with a blank rank value are displayed alphabetically by SKU immediately after all numerically ranked products. For detailed instructions, see Customizing Item Ranking and Sorting.

You can also manage your custom products' ranking in ECinteractive's standard search results. Now you can manage the ranking within Enhanced search results. You can promote any product through Preferred Items and Web Specials. For detailed instructions, see Setting Up Custom Items & Catalogs (www.ddms.com/Resources/Support/faq/ecommerce/ecCatalogs.pdf).

How do I set up my "Offline For Maintenance" Page and avoid unwanted email notifications?

During your DDMS maintenance procedures, the Web server is unable to connect to the customer and item backend databases. However, the Web server will still be able to notify you via email that users are trying to access your site, or show a Scheduled Maintenance message.

The ECinteractive/D-Force 2 system will notify you whenever an end-user tries to access your Web storefront at the same time your DDMS server and/or TBLUtilities are shut down or otherwise inaccessible for:

DDMS backup
Day-end
Month-end
Quarter-end
Year-end
Ensite Pro software updates
Other maintenance while utilities are shut down
Other connection issues (that require you to contact your Internet Service Provider to resolve)
Other DDMS server issues (that require you to contact your ECI2 Support team to resolve)

As of Version 7.3.1.1215 (QC 6411), the system is designed to display the following message in case it cannot connect to your DDMS server gateway: "An error has occurred while communicating with the dealer host system. Please try refreshing your browser in a few seconds. If the problem continues, please contact customer support. We apologize for this inconvenience. Thank you."

Also, when gateway GOA exceptions occur, the system will will notify not only server administrators, but also the dealer and ECi support personnel. The email notification reports: "ECinteractive Exception: An error occurred when accessing the socket: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it."

If you do not wish to receive this email notification during your DDMS maintenance procedures, please set up your ECinteractive Site Maintenance schedule by following these steps:

Log into your ECinteractive site’s Administrative Control Panel.
(Optional) Click Site News, and then click Page Editor. Create or edit a Scheduled Maintenance page to include some text that will encourage your customers to log off before your scheduled maintenance period begins, so their work will be cached properly.
Click Global Settings, and then click Site Maintenance.
In the Time Settings box, check your Time Zone and Daylight Savings settings.
In the Automatic Scheduled Maintenance box, enter the appropriate times in the Time Off and Time On boxes, in the format HH:MM AM or PM. (Note: If you schedule maintenance for Saturday or Sunday, fill the Weekend time fields. If maintenance is scheduled for a Friday or other weekday, fill the Weekday time fields.)
(Optional) Select your Scheduled Maintenance page. (Note: If maintenance is scheduled for Saturday or Sunday, fill the Weekend page field. If maintenance is scheduled for a Friday or other weekday, fill the Weekday page field.)
Click the Auto Maintenance Mode On button. At the Are You Sure message, check your time settings. If they are correct, click OK.
Click the Update button. The changes are implemented within one minute.

After periodic maintenance is complete (for example, after completing quarter-end, year-end, or software update), you may wish to return to these settings, and simply adjust the time off and on settings.

See also your online help (http://images.eci2.com/ECinteractive_adminhelp/Site_Maintenance.htm).

NOTE: For your Quarterly Electronic Catalog Maintenance (usually in January, April, July, and October), please use the same steps, but set up both Weekday and Weekend times and pages.

Note: The process is slightly different during Web software updates. When ECI2 updates Web server software or catalog content, your site will be offline and unable to process queries or pages.

How do I control whether user-entered item number punctuation is cleaned up or used to find matching items?

Version 7.3.1.1215 added an “Allow Punctuation in Item Numbers” setting to Admin Site Preferences (QC 6405). It lets you determine whether or not punctuation will be removed from the Item Number before processing in QuickOrder, Favorites, and Order History.

If you leave the new setting enabled as by default, the Item Number field accepts all letters, numbers, special characters and punctuation that the user enters, and uses them to find matching item records. This is how it has always worked before.

But if you disable the Allow Punctuation in Item Numbers setting, any invalid special characters and punctuation will be stripped from the entered Item Number before the lookup. This will include these characters: ~`!@#$%^&*()-=_+[]\{}|;’:”,./<>? and space. The field will then be updated on the page to reflect an Item Number with acceptable letters and numbers. For example, if the user enters !Lag &%40*(&@5 0>1, the system will display and search for LAG40501.

EXCEPTIONS:

This new setting does NOT affect any Item Number fields in the Admin Control Panel.
This new setting does NOT affect the Advanced Search Item Number field.
The tilde (~) and caret (^) characters will ALWAYS be removed from Item Numbers regardless of the new Site Preference setting. These characters are reserved for backend communication and cannot be used elsewhere.

How can users resolve the issue with logging into my framed site in Internet Explorer 7?

ECinteractive 7.3 includes an enhancement that lets the dealer select a site layout for the end user's web page. The dealer can choose between "framed" sites that show headers and sites that do not. When using Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, some users are unable to log in when your framed site is activated, due to security settings for third party cookies. We can advise the following steps for any users who are having this problem:

On the Internet Explorer 7 menu bar, click on Tools, and select Internet Options.
Click on the Privacy tab.
Click on the Sites button.
Add www.ecinteractive.com and click Allow.
Click on OK to close the Sites dialog box.
Click on OK to close the Internet Options dialog box.

How do I set up S.P. Richards Enhanced Content?

If you have customer accounts who purchase items that are in the S.P. Richards catalogs, you can set up your feature groups and customer groups to use enhanced search filters, cross-sell and up-sell opportunities, additional item images, and (in Version 7.3 and higher) product comparison and rich media content.

After is.group reached an agreement with S.P. Richards to serve its content to members, is.D-Force dealers have access to Enhanced Content features as of Version 7.4.6.

For detailed instructions and an important clarification on the exclusion of items from custom dealer catalogs and other vendor catalogs, please see Setting Up SPR Enhanced Content in ECinteractive (pdf).

How do I create Point Reward incentive programs in ECinteractive™?

Using Point Rewards in ECinteractive (pdf) Create multiple incentive programs to reward your customers with points for each dollar they spend. Customers can use accumulated points to purchase additional products, based on the point value you assign to the reward items. Unique to ECinteractive is the ability to award points to individual users, even if they are not the final approver of the order, and the option to apply all of a customer's reward points to a single reward account.

Does ECinteractive let customers enter their favorite organizational categories for items like "add rolls", "fasteners", "inkjet cartridges" and so on?

Definitely. In addition to Favorites lists assigned and maintained by dealer administrators, users can maintain their own multiple Favorites lists. Users can name or rename them to their satisfaction, and even copy items from one Favorites list to another as needed, specify quantities, and delete items or lists as needed.

Does ECinteractive let a customer select items from their favorite organizational categories, and add them all to the cart at once?

Of course! When shopping from a Favorites list, the customer can select all, deselect some or all, specify different quantities as needed, and add all selected items to their cart at once.

Can I set a user's payment method strictly to Charge Account?

Yes. You can set up a Customer Settings Group with Checkout settings where Accept Credit Cards and Require Credit Cards are unchecked, but Allow Invoicing is checked. Then assign the account to that Setting group.

Can I limit users to a specific contract/laundry list?

Soon! This enhancement is scheduled for release in ECinteractive version 8.0 (due for release mid-October, but subject to change).

Meanwhile, many dealers are adding custom catalogs based on their contracts or laundry lists, and limiting certain customer groups to those custom catalog. See Setting Up Catalogs in ECinteractive (pdf).

How do I add unique items and display their images, when they are not in the wholesaler's catalog?

Use Item Management in the Admin Control Panel to set up unique items and load their images. Then, use Catalog Management to determine what catalogs are displayed globally. You can also use Customer Groups Settings to control what catalogs are visible to certain accounts. See Setting Up Catalogs in ECinteractive (pdf).

Can I offer promotions like "Buy Item A and Get Item B for Free", points, and discounts?

"Buy A and Get B Free" seems to fall under the category of Coupons, which are an upcoming enhancement. While "Buy A and Get B Free" was not available in Dealer Station's discount-centric Coupons, it would make a very competitive enhancement. Currently, ECinteractive offers Point Rewards and Integrated Volume Discounts:

With Point Rewards, you can set up a reward program where a customer earns points for their purchases, based on a dollar ratio, and redeem them for items you specify. Unique to ECinteractive is the ability to award points to individual users, even if they are not the final approver of the order, and the option to apply all of a customer's reward points to a single reward account. For detailed instructions see Using Point Rewards in ECinteractive (pdf).

Integrated Volume Discounts uses the Additional Volume Discounts feature in Ensite Pro Order Entry. It lets you offer discounts and item gift rewards to customers that place orders within a certain dollar amount. When ordering online, the customer can view how close their order total is to earning a volume discount or gift. The additional volume discount feature is not included in all software packages and may require authorization. For more information, contact ECi sales. For detailed instructions, see About Additional Volume Discounts.

What other specials or promotional features are in ECinteractive?

Dealers can add items to Web Specials and Preferred Items. Web Specials let you offer special pricing for certain items when purchased online. Preferred Items show up in Search Results.

Wholesalers and manufacturers provide the content for the Product Showcase and Learning Center features. The Product Showcase provides more information about a product, such as a case study or special brochure. The Learning Center provides instructions to help customers make effective use of certain products.

What are Preferred Items and Best Sellers?

When an end user does a keyword search in advanced or quick search it lists 5 “Best Sellers” on the right side of the Search Results, that is the Preferred Items list for what ever keyword they entered.

Normally the dealer has access to the top two listed. You can add an item in the Admin Control Panel by clicking Marketing Tools, then clicking Preferred Items. Then you can attach items to what ever keyword you chose and set a ranking. The higher the ranking the higher the item will display in the 5 “Best Sellers” list.

The ECi Marketing group has access to the last three items; however, if they are not using those three slots, then the dealer will have access to those as well.

One of the biggest misconceptions we have seen is concerning the keyword. The keyword assigned by the dealer must either be the keyword or be in the item description for the item you are attaching.

In other words if I add FEL00001 to my preferred items list under the keyword “ File Folder” and file folder is not part of FEL00001 keyword or description in econtent it will not display as a preferred item when an end user enters “File Folder” in a keyword search.

Can ECinteractive calculate shipping charges based on weight and ZIP or postal code?

Not at this time. Currently, shipping is based on a percentage of an order or a flat rate that you specify.

Can the customer alter/edit/delete items in the final Checkout screen before submitting the order?

When reviewing the order at Checkout, the user has the option to go to the View Cart page to make item changes.

Have any Accounts Receivable, invoice, or online balance payment functions been added to ECinteractive™?

Yes, currently your customers can view and print outstanding A/R, and pay invoices on line via credit card. With the Online Accounts Retrievable Remittance feature, you can let selected customers access their outstanding A/R balances from your backend system. Customers can print a remittance form to mail with payment, or use a credit card to pay online. See Letting Shoppers Pay A/R Invoices Online (pdf) and Setting Up & Using Credit Card Management (pdf)

How Do I Link Account News to SPR Online Flyers?

As part of our ongoing work with vendors to implement advancements they make in content, we would like to offer this tip. S.P. Richards now publishes flyers with dealer-specific quarterly pricing, as part of its Signature Series of online flyers.

You can publish links to these online flyers on your Web storefront’s Home page or Account-specific news. For detailed instructions on displaying Signature Series flyers in your Home or Account News pages for the Dealer Station or ECinteractive families of products, see Displaying SPR Flyer Links in Account News (pdf).