Q: Where can I read the basics and order this service?

A: Here you go: http://www.designextend.com/page/miva/PROD/shorten-checkout

Q: Can you explain a little more about the checkout screens and what exactly is being skipped?

A: In a standard Miva Merchant store there are typically 4 screens a user encounters once they enter the checkout process. They are:

LOGN - This is typically #1, where a customer can opt to "Log into account" or "place order without account"
OINF - This is the 2nd screen where a customer (logged in or otherwise) fills in in (in the case of a new customer) or checks over (in the case of a logged in account) their ship to and bill to information.
OSEL - This screen which comes next is the one where a customer selects how they wish their order to ship and what payment method they will use.
OPAY - This final screen is where the customer enters the information used for whichever payment method selected back on the OSEL screen. For example their credit card number.


NEW!! Our recent Version 3 update for allows a SINGLE PAGE checkout to be used on ALL stores. That's right, now you can present your customers with a single page to collect all information and process the order.

Q: My store uses "smart" shipping modules such as UPS, USPS where the destination address determines the shipping rates. How does single page checkout handle this?

A: for these stores we have a slightly different setup. Please visit the following store and try their checkout to see:

http://www.tetonvillagesports.com

In these cases we move the shipping selection box down *below* the address area. The customer need only fill in their address and the screen will update the shipping area AUTOMATICALLY with valid rates. Further, any attempt on their part to modify the address will reload the shipping options which are valid for that address. No matter what the customer does, accurate rates are always returned!

For customers with an account, upon logging in using the log in area at the top, valid rates for their stored address are loaded *automatically*.

Q: I have a version 4 store. Why do I need to use Other Page Templates module for this?

A: Strictly speaking, the module is not needed and this service could be installed in stores without it. However it would be a little more time consuming that way and as such would increase the price by about the same as what the module costs. So, in light of that we figured for the extra money you get the OPT module which has MANY additional uses for any store! BONUS!

Q: My store has a lot of "stuff" in the checkout already. Coupon module redemption, gift certificate redemption, additional checkout information collection (addendum) and so on. Is there support for those things? Is accommodating them going to cost an arm and a leg?

A: Nearly all of the usual enhancements to the checkout process such as those listed above are easily handled at no increase in price. On occasion, a store may have a very unusual customization / module of some sort that needs special attention. If so, you will be made aware of that and given an accurate quote BEFORE we give you the go ahead to purchase the service.

Important: Due to the need to standardize the process to provide the highest performance and ease of support, one page checkout now officially supports only the modules for coupon and gift certificate listed on our main page: http://www.designextend.com/page/miva/PROD/shorten-checkout

An *important* note about the use of coupons and gift certificates to pay for shipping and tax (If your store uses coupon and / or gift certificate modules and you do *not* allow them to pay for tax or shipping then you can disregard this section.)

This scenario represents one of the bigger challenges for a single page checkout setup. Here is why: These modules were written to apply their discount against things that are *already* in the basket at the time they are redeemed. In a standard checkout setup, every time you click continue, things go into the basket. The shipping charge and tax become *items* in the basket by the time you reach the final checkout screen (payment information) so the coupon and gift certificate modules then "know" what to apply against.

However, in single page checkout, tax and shipping do not go into the basket *until* the order itself is submitted, which is then too late for these modules to be able to apply themselves against those amounts. Furthermore, in the cases where a gift certificate and / or coupon are enough to cover products, tax and shipping the order must be allowed to "pass through" without asking for any kind of credit card / payment information. Again, in standard checkout this is taken care of by the coupon / gift certificate modules themselves.

In the one page checkout environment, to allow these modules to apply themselves to tax and shipping and allow a "pass through" of the order without collecting payment information in the case where the order total is less than the amount of the gift certificate / coupon being redeemed a special programming "mimic" must be written so that the cart summary accurately reflects what the order amounts will be *before* the customer completes the order, and to swap in a "no payment" needed method to allow checkout for $0.00 balances.

The additional cost to accomplish this is $100

But again, if you use a coupon or gift certificate module to allow discounts off the products in the cart only and not to tax or shipping then there is *no extra fee* involved.

Q: How "smart" is this thing? If I add a shipping method or another credit card, is the checkout process going to update itself accordingly? Or am I going to have to come and pay you every time I make a change?.

A: While it would be very very difficult (and therefore more costly in the end) to give this service the ability to adapt to EVERY possible variation in checkout elements, we have done our best to make it "smart" for the majority of stores and potential changes. Adding new shipping methods and the addition / removal of a particular credit card as payment option, for example update automatically. However, once in a while a store owner may add something on their own that needs to be accounted for. Most of the time we can go back in and handle that for a nominal (and usually without any) fee.

Q: My store only has one payment method. i.e. I only accept credit cards visa and master card and no pay pal or cod or anything. Can I get this installed with the credit card information fields already visible and say, visa already selected in the dropdown list, instead of needing the shopper to "select one" first before those appear?

A: Yes, no problem.

Q: My store only has one shipping method and it is the same for everyone. Can you get rid of the shipping selection drop down and have the shipping charge and order total simply display without user input.

A: Yes.

Q: I know the base install price is $469.99, but there seem to be a lot of potential "what if's" that could increase the price. How expensive can it get?

A: Let's put it this way, the most we have ever had to charge anyone for an install was $749, and that store had half a dozen special checkout customizations going on. The vast majority of the stores this has been installed in were done for the base price.

Q: Why do I need to keep all my customer fields as "optional" in my store's admin?

A: In Version 5 stores, and in some Version 4 stores (depending on the set up), single page checkout "piggybacks" on one of Miva's built in functions to gather data for display. When this function is called by single page checkout, it may also call Miva's built in checkout validation routine (the one that highlights checkout address fields in red when they are invalid). In order to let the requested data through, we need to effectively disable that validation routine which is done by setting all customer fields to "optional". Single page checkout has its own built in validation of customer fields using pop up "quick alerts", so Miva's built in validation for checkout becomes redundant anyway.

Q: Why do I need to avoid special characters in my shipping methods?

A: One page checkout uses a special script to get the rates and load them dynamically into the page's shipping methods area. There are some characters that can choke this script and cause unpredictable results. Most notably the parentheis "()" and ampersand characters "&". In place of these it is advised you use either the curly and square brackets "{}" or "[]" and the word "and" in place of the ampersand.

Q: Why can I not use parenthesis in my shipping method names?

A: The floating cart (and other mechanisms) figures out how much the shipping charge is to be by looking at what is between the parenthesis when you select a shipping method. By default, all miva shipping methods that have a price have them there. Like this:

Shipping Method 1 ($1.99)
Sometimes, you may need to add some parenthetical information, such as a day range to a method so it looks like this:

Shipping Method 1 (2 to 3 day) ($1.99)
However, those extra parenthesis around "2 to 3 day" may cause a problem. Instead, either don't use parenthesis or use a substitute like the square bracket. So it looks ike this:

Shipping Method 1 [2 to 3 day)] ($1.99)
This will avoid any potential problems.

Q: What happens if someone's credit card is declined when using single page checkout? Does the whole page reload with the errors?

A: No. In the case of a rejected credit card, the customer is presented with a "bare bones" version of the standard payment information (OPAY) page which shows only the error message in the standard red color and the payment fields so the customer immediately knows what has happened and can "try again" (usually they mistyped a digit in the card number). This is done so that all the other data they just put in (address, shipping method, coupons, etc) is already stored and ready to be quickly resubmitted. Doing it this way makes it plainly obvious their cc was declined and allows them to correct their error and resubmit as rapidly as possible.

Q: Can you install this in such a way that it runs in the "background" so that I can test it without affecting current store functioning?

A: Yes, that is the standard method. The install is done to a spot in the store that can not be found or navigated to by a regular customer. We then provide you with instructions on how to test at your convenience.

Q: I don't have time to read all this - and I still have questions. Can I contact someone for more information?

A: Absolutely. Give us a shout!