Checkout Manager Migration Webinar: Presentation Slides Now Available

If you missed today’s Checkout Manager migration webinar and can’t attend next Tuesday’s session, or are looking for a copy of the presentation, the slides used during today’s webinar are now available to download in PowerPoint format.

Download webinar slides (3.4 MB)

Don’t forget, you can also consult our migration information page and migration help section for further resources and assistance.

Checkout Manager Migration Webinars: July 24 & July 29

Merchants still using older versions of checkout (Order Forms) are reminded that the August 15 Checkout Manager migration deadline will be here very soon. If you haven’t yet moved to Checkout Manager, we invite you to attend one of our upcoming migration webinars. During these sessions, we will:

• Introduce you to Checkout Manager.
• Answer questions about the upcoming migration.
• Address any concerns about the migration that may have kept you from moving to Checkout Manager.

Webinar details are as follows:

Thursday, July 24, 2008, at 10 a.m. PDT

Webinar-only URL:
https://www.meeting.corp.yahoo.com/r44711981/

Audio conference information
Phone number: 1 (866) 356-4281
Passcode: 8592 7252

Tuesday, July 29, 2008, at 1 p.m. PDT

Webinar-only URL:
https://www.meeting.corp.yahoo.com/r44711981/

Audio conference information
Phone number: 1 (800) 295-4740
Passcode: 1821 8641

If you can’t attend one of these sessions, the presentation will be made available here on the blog and on the Checkout Manager migration information page.

Please note: This is not an optional migration. Stores still using older versions of checkout after August 15 will be automatically migrated to Checkout Manager, but not republished. All merchants are reminded that Order Settings MUST be republished following migration. If you do not republish your Order Settings, your store will not be able to accept orders once the old checkout servers are shut down.

We’re confident that the advanced features and customization capabilities available with Checkout Manager will provide you with the opportunity to optimize your checkout flow and help to increase overall site conversion. To learn more, please see our Checkout Manager migration help, and remember to attend one of the webinar sessions. We look forward to seeing you at the webinars.

Jennifer Farwell
Yahoo! Small Business

Tips for Optimizing Product Page Cross-Sell

We’re pleased to see so many merchants taking advantage of the product page cross-sell feature we released last fall. Cross-sell is a great way to give exposure to more products, but merchants should take note that its success depends not only on what is being cross-sold, but how it is presented.

Product page cross-sell gives you a lot of freedom to control its appearance. Below, I’m going to suggest a few ways that you can take advantage of this freedom.

If you haven’t run through the Design Wizard since the new Cross-Sell launched last October, it’s worth doing. (Or, if you’re using custom templates, use the sample CSS outlined in Help to achieve the same results.) This will adjust these visual elements of the module:

• "Related items" header color changes to match other site headers
• Cross-sell price (or sale price if there is no cross-sell price) becomes bolded
• Vertical space is tightened between the lines
• Padding is added between the columns for better separation

Cross-sell Module Default Appearance

Cross-sell Module Default After Completing Design Wizard

You can further adjust the cross-sell module’s appearance by modifying the CSS. For example, the following code adds borders to the images, removes the underline attribute from product names, and italicizes the sale or discount price while changing the font color to red:

.ystore-cross-sell-product-image { border: 1px solid black; }
.ystore-cross-sell-product-name a { text-decoration: none; }
.ys_promo { color: red; font-style: italic; }

If your prices are what set you apart, having the price appear in the cross-sell module is a smart way to drive click-thru. However, if price is not your competitive advantage you may want to consider suppressing the prices in the cross-sell module by modifying the CSS:

.ystore-cross-sell-product-price {display: none}

This way, interested customers will only see prices upon clicking through to the product page, where they will also be presented with detailed product information.

In addition to making design modifications to the module, remember that you also control where cross-sell items appear because the location of the div tag is up to you. Try to put cross-sell above the fold where more shoppers will see it. Your pages may already be full, but of all the things you could highlight, cross-sell is a pretty powerful contender.

Laurie Briggs
Yahoo! Small Business