February is the month of love and what’s not to love in the ever-changing world of eCommerce? It’s also the time of year where many store owners have completed an analysis of the holiday shopping season and are planning ahead for the next one.
Here at Your Store Wizards, we’ve been getting more and more questions from our clients about moving platforms. Many feel that a redesign just isn’t what their store needs this year.
They’re looking for more.
Maybe it’s more out-of-the-box features, more advanced editing capabilities, an easier-to-use interface, or they just feel that they’ve outgrown their current platform.
No matter what the case is, if you’re considering changing platforms it’s important that you don’t make a hasty decision that may not be the best one for your business.
Over the past year, we’ve migrated dozens of stores from different platforms. We’ve also told clients to stay put. We’re not in the business of migrating just to migrate. We’re in the business of making sure that any major project like this is one that has been researched, planned out, and executed properly.
I’m sure you can find lots to love about your current platform and just as many to love about a new one, but breaking up may not be the right decision. If you have questions about switching platforms, I encourage you to read a blog post I wrote a few weeks ago and use the contact form in it to set up a time for us to chat about whether or not a move is right for you.
Search Magic Update
Our flagship SaaS product, Search Magic, recently got some extra horsepower under the hood. The servers powering our advanced search application were updated in anticipation of something very exciting for our company.
In just a few short weeks, I will officially be announcing that Search Magic will be available for all Shopify store owners! Yes, the most affordable and feature-packed search app for Yahoo! Store will soon be available for Shopify merchants.
Our Application Development Team is putting the finishing touches on the app and preparing it for launch on the Shopify App Store. This marks an important milestone in our company’s history. It will be our first app designed specifically for Shopify and will be the catalyst for a steady launch of products not only for Shopify but for BigCommerce as well.
BigCommerce merchants, don’t fret! A version of Search Magic for your platform will be coming in mid-2020.
If you’re a Shopify merchant and would like to be part of our Early Launch program for Search Magic, please send me an email at scott@yourstorewizards.com and I’ll provide more information.
Yahoo! Store Updates
Recently Yahoo! rolled out some updates that our clients may find useful. The first was the availability to add information to your store’s robots.txt file. This file is used to provide information to search engines, such as directories that should not be crawled. For more information on this update, and how to edit your store’s file, click here.
Yahoo! has also removed the “Map” link from the Order Manager. While this used to be a functional part of your order detail screen, it wasn’t as of late, so the link has simply been removed.
A third update that rolled out fixed an issue with stores who have customer registration enabled but have not yet moved to https://. The update makes sure that stores that have not made the leap to sitewide SSL will function properly. Which brings up an important note, if you haven’t moved to https:// it’s time to! We can help, just click here and we can get the ball rolling.
A Simple Reminder
“I didn’t know you did that type of work!” It’s something I hear every now and then, so as I wrap up this month’s update, I’d like to reacquaint you with all the services our Wizards are capable of.
- Custom Programming – we pride ourselves on being the experts when it comes to solving complex eCommerce problems. From building custom apps for your store to fixing an issue that other developers just keep scratching their heads over, our team is one of the most experienced on the Yahoo! Store, Shopify and BigCommerce platforms.
- Speaking of Platforms – while our roots have been securely planted with Yahoo! Store, we’re also proficient developers on other platforms including Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, and more, which makes us the perfect choice to assist you with platform migrations.
- Data Management – when it’s time to move platforms or create a custom data feed for a shopping engine, I like to call us the “Master Data Manipulators!” These types of projects are often time-consuming and complex, but we’ve mastered the art of data management to make any type of data migration less stressful for you.
- Feed Management – if you’re looking to push your store’s product information to the search engines, there’s no easier way to do so than with our Feed Wizard app. It powers feeds for dozens of Yahoo! Stores and later this year we’ll be introducing a next-generation app for multiple platforms.
Of course, when in doubt… ask! We’re always ready and available to help with any eCommerce project you have in mind.
Till next month, Happy Selling!
Scott Sanfilippo
General Manager, YSW
Scott Sanfilippo began his eCommerce journey in 1994 by co-founding one of the Internet’s first online retailers, TheFerretStore.com, which was acquired by PetCo in 2006. In 2001, he co-founded the eCommerce design and marketing firm Solid Cactus, which was acquired by web.com in 2009. Today, Scott is the General Manager of Your Store Wizards and lives in Delray Beach, FL. Scott can be contacted at scott@yourstorewizards.com.