Announcing Version 7.4.1 of ECinteractive

This message covers the following timely topics:

What’s New In This Release?
How Do I Set Up My "Down For Maintenance" Page?

What’s New In This Release?

ECi is loading Version 7.4.1 of ECinteractive™ and is.D-Force® 2 onto your live Web servers Saturday, April 12, 2008 — between 9 PM and 7 AM Eastern Time. This release includes the following changes:

Enhanced Synchronization of Contracts and Laundry Lists

Version 7.4.1 of ECinteractive/is.D-Force2 includes these enhancements for customer contracts and laundry Lists:

• SuperIndex Reference. Enhanced the Contract/Laundry List Management page under Site Info in the Admin Control Panel to reference SuperIndexed items against the Web catalog content. In addition to the Item Company field, the process will reference the Catalog Prefix. Changes to item numbers and prefixes on the back-end item database no longer result in those items missing from online customer contracts. For example, if SAN50323 is in your backend system with PAP in the wholesalers prefix field, and the Web catalog has it listed as PAP50323, your customer can order the item as SAN50323 or PAP50323 thru Quick Order because of the new SuperIndex reference. (6897)
• Backend System's Contract Categories. Enhanced two Admin Control Panel pages to let dealers 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, disabled by default. (5284)
• Sync Progress Bar. Enhanced the Contract/Laundry List Management page under Site Info in the Admin Control Panel with a progress bar. When the administrative user synchronizes contracts or laundry lists including more than 2000 items, the progress bar displays the status until the process is complete. (5465)

DDMS Software Update Required: If you wish to use the new contract and laundry list enhancements, you must load the DDMS 8.14.41 software update on your DDMS server. With new SuperIndex and Category field references, the new GOA software allows for efficient synchronization of contract and laundry list data with the ECinteractive family of Web storefronts.

Note: This GOA update will be required to use synchronization enhancements for contracts and laundry lists in Version 7.4.1 of ECinteractive and is.D-Force®2, due for release April 12.

If you do not load DDMS 8.14.41, you may continue operating as before. However, you will not be able to take advantage of the contract and laundry list enhancements.

If you want to take advantage of these software changes, we will be happy to ship the software update to you via United Parcel Service (UPS) Ground. You can request a software update by email support@eci2.com, including your DDMS account number, contact name, company name, shipping address, and phone number. Or log in to submit a ticket for the latest software online (https://support.eci2.com).

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 www.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. (6964)

For detailed instructions on setting up your Google Analytics ID in ECinteractive and is.D-Force2, see Setting Up Google Analytics for Your Site
(www.ddms.com/resources/support/faq/ecommerce/ecGoogleAnalytics.pdf).

Include Product Descriptions in Search

• Enhanced the Site Preferences page under Global Settings in the Admin Control Panel by adding a checkbox: Include Product Descriptions in Search. This checkbox is enabled by default because the search engine normally uses both keywords and item descriptions. If you uncheck this checkbox, it may improve the relevance of search results for your customers. Note: this feature does not apply when using the SPR Enhanced or United Enhanced catalog search features. (7468)

This list is not exhaustive. To look up all changes in this release, use Program Updates (www.ddms.com/updates/searchresult2.asp?product=-1&swversion=239&search=Search).

For information and documentation about other features we've released, see also ECinteractive FAQs (www.ddms.com/support/doc/ecinteractive.htm).

How Do I Set Up My "Down For Maintenance" Page?

Your Web storefront will be unavailable during these maintenance periods. You can schedule your site to be Offline for Maintenance by following these simple steps:

1. Log into your ECinteractive or is.D-Force2 site’s Administrative Control Panel.
2. (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.
3. Click Global Settings, and then click Site Maintenance.
4. In the Time Settings box, check your Time Zone and Daylight Savings settings.
5. 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, for JUST Weekend. (Leave the Weekday time fields blank unless you have set them up for your DDMS® system maintenance such as backup and day-end.)
6. (Optional) Select your Scheduled Maintenance page, for JUST Weekend. (Leave the Weekday page field blank unless you have set them up for your DDMS system maintenance such as backup and day-end.)
7. Click the Auto Maintenance Mode On button. At the Are You Sure message, check your time settings. If they are correct, click OK.
8. Click the Update button. The changes are implemented within one minute.

NOTE: On Monday after the software update is complete, you may wish to return to these settings, and simply adjust the Weekend time off and on settings, so that your site is not unnecessarily shut down for maintenance on other weekends.

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

Find Out What's Coming Soon And More

Live Dealer Sites to Date: 327

Current Released Version: 7.4.1

Next Release Version: 7.4.5

Development Status: Quality Assurance Testing

Estimated Release Date: May 16, 2008

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 (*) do not apply to is.D-Force2.

• 7.4.5 (for release May 16, 2008)
  Set Catalog Priority in Search Results.
  Multi-Department Ordering By Line in ECinteractive
  
• 8.0.0 (for release in July 2008)
  United Stationers Enhanced eContent and Search*
  Filter Enhanced S.P. Richards Subcatalogs.*
  Use new style for email messaging.
  Limit shoppers to a contract/laundry list.
  More home page catalog categories from your suppliers.
  Customize home page catalog category display order.
  Set prefs for categories & list lengths in Contracts/Laundry Lists/Favorites.
  Let shoppers see their budgets even if they can't edit them.
  
• 8.1.0 (Release date TBD)
  Let shoppers look up RouteTrak delivery signature.
  Let shoppers use Coupons.
  Streamline Item Management.
  Rank Your Own Items in SP Richards Enhanced Content.*
  
• 8.2.0 (Release Date TBD)
  Display competitive pricing information in ECinteractive.
  Let shoppers update their machine meter readings online.

We are also aggressively working with our vendors to implement any advancements they make in content, our mutual goal being a better search experience for the end user. We understand the importance of continued progress and have an aggressive development schedule planned for the remainder of 2008.

To find out more about the ECinteractive family of products, see our ECinteractive Product Information (www.eci2.com/products/ecinteractive/), where you can access a demo site, marketing tools, and color themes. You can compare Dealer Station® and ECinteractive features for both your Administrative control panel and your end-user Web storefront.

See It Up Close and Personal

Join us April 24-26 at ECi Empowerment 2008 (eci2.com/empowerment2008), the National User's Conference for DDMS. Pick from five new sessions on e-commerce:

1. ECinteractive™ — This double-length session provides the information you need to get started selling online with ECinteractive and boost your online sales!
2. Migrating Customers to ECinteractive and is.D-Force2 — This session outlines the process for successfully migrating end users from Dealer Station or is.D-Force to ECinteractive or is.D-Force2. Learn how to set up customer groups for more control over the migration process. Group users based on their settings for substitute items, checkout, pricing, etc., and then migrate groups instead of individual users.
3. If You Build It, Will They Come? — Learn secret weapons for driving traffic and volume through ECinteractive™ to successfully compete with larger companies. Topics includes Web marketing, customer rebates, cross- and up-selling, how to provide attractive promotions, and giving your website a polished, professional appearance that reflects your overall company identity.
4. Increasing Leverage and Maintaining Accounts — Fortune 500 companies can be profitable customers, but many of these companies use specialized procurement software. Discover how to integrate your ECi e-commerce site with major procurement systems like Ariba, Commerce One, and SAP, positioning your company to win profitable new business.
5. ECinteractive™ Roundtable — Find out what winning e-commerce dealers know and do. Hear what successful dealers are doing with both ECinteractive™ and e-commerce in general to win business on the Web. Share your own thoughts, ideas, and accomplishments with your peers.