Specifically designed for independent booksellers, IndieCommerce (IC) is a full featured e-commerce solution with powerful online marketing tools.
- Tier 1 offers essential e-commerce functionalities at an affordable price, providing a simple yet effective online presence
- Tier 2 is a comprehensive e-commerce solution, equipped with robust inventory management, fulfillment options, shipping solutions, online marketing tools etc. tailored specifically for independent booksellers.
(Last updated on April 13, 2025)
Site Domain, SSL etc.
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
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Site Domain
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Personalize your website with your own domain name
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SSL Certificate
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Free SSL certificate for secure transactions
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Multiple Locations
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Manage and operate multiple physical store locations from a single, unified website.
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Theme & Design
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
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Responsive & Mobile Friendly
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Mobile-optimized and ready-to-use e-commerce website template, designed specially for bookstores
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Multiple Designs
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Have multiple designs ready to switch over for seasonal changes
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ADA Compliance
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ADA compliance features such as a color picker with contrast checker, a variety of fonts, ARIA labels, required alt text field for all images, slideshow with transition control and keyboard navigation.
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Multiple Design Elements
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Highly customizable design with three header options, multiple call-to-action blocks, a slideshow, a banner, up to seven navigation icons, an image grid that can display between one and nine images, product lists, event carousels etc. Design elements can be rearranged or disabled to create a unique layout.
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Clean Admin Theme
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Clean, powerful and accessible administration theme
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Admin Dashboard
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Easy to manage with a clear and intuitive dashboard for orders, content and site settings
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Message Center
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Important announcements and messages posted by the IndieCommerce team to the store staff, posted prominently on the Admin Dashboard
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Search & Browse
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Books
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Search the entire ABA's Book Database System by ISBN, Title, Author or Keyword
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Audio Books
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Offer digital audio books from Libro.fm
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eBooks
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Service terminated as of Jan/31/2025
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Store Merchandise
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Search by title or SKU to find products, including subscriptions, services, and non-book merchandise.
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Basic Browse
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Browse books by categories that cover the most commonly used BISAC codes. Offers filters and sort options for price, format and availability.
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Customized Browse
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Browse books by categories that cover the most commonly used BISAC codes, create additional categories that reflect the bookstore’s specialty, edit existing ones and delete unwanted categories and organize the category hierarchy. Offers filters and sort options for price, format and availability.
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Content Types
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Homepage
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Customizable Homepage using the easy-to-use design elements like Header, Slideshow, Call To Action, Image Row, Navigation Icons, Carousels and more.
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Basic Page
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Simple content type with a WYSIWYG editor for basic information. Supports file attachments and webforms.
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Landing Page
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Customizable stand alone web page suitable for specific goals, promotions etc. with options for Call To Actions, book / product carousels, introduction and conclusion regions.
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Product Lists
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A collection of books and non-book content like merchandise, subscriptions, services making it easy for customers to make a purchase. Can be a stand alone content and /or included on the Homepage and Landing Pages as carousels
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Blogs and Blog Tags
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Store blogs tagged by blog categories, with a specially designed template suitable for blogs
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Events, Events Calendar, Event Tags
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Single day and recurring events (daily, weekly,monthly), feeding into a calendar and list view. Support in-store, off-site and online events, link to third party services, tags to use with filters and carousels . Possible to promote books and store merchandise with events.
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Staff Reviews, Staff Review Tags
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Staff reviews per ISBN or for all formats of a title, display on the book product page and product lists, staff reivew tags to manage staff reviews.
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Bulk Upload Of Staff Reviews
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Manage staff reviews and staff review tags in bulk in a CSV format
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Catalog
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Online version of a store catalog with a catalog cover, multiple pages with books and store merchandise listed, banner images on catalog page etc.
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Announcements and Alerts
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2 types of messages from the store to their customers, with configurable start and end time. Alerts can be dismissed by the customers, Announcements are there to stay until the store removes it.
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Webforms
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Powerful and customizable for creating online forms and managing submissions, can be attached to Pages
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ABA Curated Book Lists
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Readily available Indie Next List (monthly), Indie Kids Next List (quarterly), Reading Group Indie Next List (quarterly) and Indie Bestsellers (weekly)
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Special Curated Catalogs
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Readily available to promote - ABC Group Best Books For Young Readers and Regional Holiday Catalogs
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Independent Bookstore Day
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Available to all participating stores - Marketing assets and Landing Page with the Indie Bookstore Day exclusives, ready to promote and sell online.
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Policy Pages
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Privacy Policy, Return Policy, Shipping Policy, Terms & Conditions, ADA Compliance - Default copy provided for stores to customize
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Books & Inventory
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Inventory of 12 - 13 million titles
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Titles with metadata available on all sites, at the time of launch.
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Sync Store Inventory (Books)
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Automated syncing of store inventory for books from the POS system, several times a day. Manually adjusting the stock per product is also possible, if needed
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All Formats & Editions
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All available formats (Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Books, eBooks etc.) and editions listed on the product page
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Detailed Product Pages
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Detailed description, custom description, additonal information, cover image, staff reviews, annotations, customizable availability text, on-hand stock, all available formats etc.
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Signed Copy - Book Variation
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Signed copy as a book variation with a unique SKU, banner on the book cover, with options for price, stock, inscription and search
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Signed Copy - Simpler Solution
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Signed copy flag on a standard book, no unique SKU
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Used Used Copy - Book Variation
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Used copies (different conditions) as book variations with unique SKUs, with options for price and stock. Search result for the new book will have a reference to the used copies.
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Remainder / Sale Book - Book Variation
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Remainder / sale book as book variation with unique SKU, with options for price and stock. Search result for the new book will have a reference to the used copies.
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Bulk Upload of Book Variations
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Manage book variations in bulk from a CSV file / spreadsheet
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Books In Series
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When viewing one book, other books in the series included in a carousel on the book product page
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Preorder Titles
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Promote and offer pre-order titles for purchase on the site, with several options for the pre-order window
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Not For Sale
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Option to suppress and block the purchase of specific titles of choice.
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Remove Books
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Remove certain books from being available on the site, customers will not be able to find it via search
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Bulk Upload of Not For Sale / Removed Titles
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Manage Not For Sale & Removed titles in bulk from a CSV file / spreadsheet
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Banners / Badges
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'PREORDER', 'STAFF PICK', 'DISCOUNTED', 'NEW RELEASE', 'SIGNED' banners / badges added to books automatically. (SIGNED is only for Tier 2).
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Independent Bookstore Day
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Automatically create Indie Bookstore Day products and landing page for participating stores only.
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Merchandise & Inventory
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Store Merchandise
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Unlimited number of merchandise grouped by product categories, unique to the store.
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Non-Shippable Store Merchandise
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Store merchandise that are not shippable products like event tickets.
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Store Merchandise with Clothing Variations
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Clothing related attributes like size and color are readily available to create store merchandise with different combinations.
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Bulk Upload of Store Merchandise
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Manage shippable and non-shippable store merchandise in bulk from a CSV file / spreadsheet
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Subscription
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Customizable subscriptions like Book a Month, First Editions Club etc. with options for various data types like text field, check boxes, radio button, emails, addresses etc.
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Services
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Unlimited number of Services grouped by Service Categories, suitable for workshops, classes, school visits etc.
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Sidelines From Wholesaler
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Calendars, maps, book-like sidelines, board games, puzzles etc. available on all sites at the time of launch
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Sync Store Inventory
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Automated syncing of store inventory for Store Merchandise from the POS system, several times a day. Manually adjusting the stock per product is also possible, if needed
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eCommerce - General
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Guest Checkout
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No account necessary to place an online order. Only information required are name, email and phone number. Guest Checkout can be also be disabled.
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Flatrate Shipping Methods
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Multiple custom rates - Flat rate, Flat rate + per item, Flat rate per item with options for additional conditions per shipping method
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Pickup Options
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In-Store Pickup, Curbside Pickup, Off-site Pickup
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Payment Options
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Pay At Store, Credit Card, Paypal, House Account, Purchase Order, Gift Card, Digital E-Gift Cards and Square
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Sales Tax
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Source Based and Destination Based sales tax, tax for shipping and coupon discounts. Non-taxable product categories can be excluded from sales tax
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Tax Exemption
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Organizations and customers exempt from sales tax can update their account profile to be exempt from sales tax for online purchases. Admins also have access to mark orders as tax exempt.
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Sales Tax Holiday
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Offer tax free sales during Sales Tax Holiday for all online purchases
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Fraud Alert
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Point based logic to alert store staff of possible fraudulent orders
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Customizable Order Emails
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Make store pickup order emails different from shipped orders, add multiple store staff to receive the order notification emails
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Promotions & Coupons
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Coupons and Promotions (with or without coupons) with various options
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IndieCommece E-Gift Cards
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Built-in IndieCommerce E-Gift Card available to all stores at no cost. Available to customers to purchase, send as gift and redeem for online purchases. Admin interface to generate in bulk, download gift codes, check balance and transaction history, customize generated emails to recipients.
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Gift Receipt
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Gift receipt with special gift message, with or without sender information
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Gift Cards - Givex
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Givex Gift Cards - physical and e-gift cards. Available to customers to purchase, send as gift and redeem for online purchases.
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Gift Cards - POS Supported
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Gift cards offered by POS vendors - IBIDie, iMRCHNT and WordStock
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Gift Cards - Store
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Customers enter the gift card number during checkout, store prcesses the information outside the website and adjusts the order accordingly.
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Abandoned Cart Management
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Automatically email customers who have started, but not finished, their orders, and make it easy to resume them.
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Gift Wrapping
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Customers can choose from upto 5 gift wrapping option, add a gift message. Stores have the option to charge for the gift wrap
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Captcha for Checkout
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Captcha can be enabled during checkout to prevent Bots attacks on the checkout form
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Contact Preference for Customers
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Customers can indicate email or phone (call or text) as their preferred mode of contact for quick updates
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Custom Checkout Pane
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Customizable checkout pane, has a checkbox and a text field. Suitable for collecting Membership or Rewards information
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eCommerce - Order Processing
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Store Fulfillment
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Process and ship orders from the store, or process for store Process and ship orders from the store, or process orders for pickup
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Wholesaler Fulfillment
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Mark the order for Customer Direct Fulfillment and have it shipped from a wholesaler (Ingram) directly to the customer, with a single click.
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Manage Orders
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Create admin dashboard shortcuts to quickly get to different types of orders. For example, new orders with no action taken, orders being processed by a staff, orders pending payments, preorders etc. Various filters can be used to define these short cuts.
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Create Orders
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Create orders on behalf of a customer (exiting or new customer), for the current date or a different date
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Search Orders
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Search for orders by order number, customer name or customer email
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Tag Orders
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Multiple, custom, color coded tags to tag orders. Each order can have multiple tags
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Manage Payments
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Multiple payments per order, with options to capture, void, refund or cancel existing payments, create new payments
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Manage Shipments
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Multiple shipments per order, each with its own tracking information updated on the order and shared with the customer
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Address Validation
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Validate shipping and billing addresses using USPS API, validation is done when the admin views the order
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Bulk Operations
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Manage orders in bulk to update order status, tags, payment status, print invoices
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Large Orders
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An improved experience for customers and store staff processing orders
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Pick Lists
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Downloadable list of ordered items with availability information to streamline order processing and packaging of orders
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Order Reports
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Sales Report; Sales Report by SKU; Customer Report; Sales Tax Report; Tax Exempt Report; Coupon Usage Report; Sales Tracking from Product Lists, Landing Pages and Catalogs.. and new reports added regularly
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Financial Reports
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Credit Card Charge Report, Paypal Charge Report, Gift Card Report, Commission Report, Transaction Report for wholesaler fulfilled orders
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Integration With POS Systems
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Manage Inventory
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Upload stock information to the website automatically, multiple times a day. Available for Anthology, Basil, Booklog, IBIDie, iMRCHNT and WordStock
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Sync Online Orders
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Sync online ordes to the POS, eliminates the need to key in the order details manually, Available for Anthology, Basil, Booklog, IBIDie, iMRCHNT and WordStock
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Gift cards
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Offer POS gift cards online to purchase, check balance, redeem for online orders. Available for IBIDie, iMRCHNT and WordStock
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Integration With Third Party Services
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Libro.fm - Audio Books
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Audio Books - Search option for audio books and 'Digital-Audio' format included on the book product page
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Bookshop.org eBooks
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eBooks - Bookshop.org ebook format included on the book product page
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Kobo - eBooks
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Kobo eBooks - Affiliate integration has been terminated as of Jan/31/2025
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Book2look - Look Inside the Book
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'Look Inside The Book' available on book product pages, where available
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PirateShip - Shipping
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Basic integration with PirateShip to export order shipping information to print shipping labels and import tracking information
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Stamps.com - Shipping
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Basic integration with Stamps.com to export order shipping information to print shipping labels and import tracking information
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ShipStation - Shipping
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Basic integration with ShipStation to export order shipping information to print shipping labels and import tracking information
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Givex Gift Cards - Gift Cards & Payment
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Offer physical and e-gift cards for purchase on the website, balance check and redeem the gift cards towards an online purchase
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Constant Contact
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Email Marketing, Newsletter Signup - standard form or modal
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MailChimp
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Email Marketing, Newsletter Signup - standard form or modal
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MyEmma
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Email Marketing, Newsletter Signup - standard form or modal
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Brevo
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Email Marketing, Newsletter Signup - standard form or modal
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Social Media, GA & Email Marketing
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Social Media
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Built in icons to support Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads, Vimeo, YouTube, X
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Email Marketing
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Integrated with Mail Chimp, Constant Contact, MyEmma and Brevo (could expand to other services in the future). Supports Newsletter signup forms on a page or modal
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Google Analytics
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Support for Universal and GA4
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SEO
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Meta tags, Schema, Site Verification
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Special Features
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Gift Registry
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Fully loaded Gift Registry feature, suitable for customers planning events like birthdays, baby showers etc., for institutions like school planning book fairs and book drives. Export registries, upload products in bulk, order reports, hold orders at the store and more
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Wish Lists
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Personal wish lists to manage one's own lists, can also be shared with others
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Fulfillment
| Feature Name | Feature Description | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
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Book Availability
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Offer all books in the database or books in stock at the warehouse or only books in stock at the store
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Book Availability Message
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Customizable availability messages
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List Price Preference
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Choose from Ingram price, publisher price or higher of the 2
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Discount or Mark Up
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Several options to discount or markup books by ISBN, Wholesaler Discount Code
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