Miva Merchant Review

Miva Merchant is flexible, reliable, expandable and easy to use e-commerce shopping cart software that comes with comprehensive features for new online businesses. Miva Merchant is a product of Miva Merchant Company. The software provides solutions for user to build online store, manage unlimited products, control inventory, manage customers and affiliates, take order, process payment, and much more.

User can view the demo of Miva Merchant as administrator or customer perspective from this shopping cart software website.

Miva Merchant has 16 main features: Store Design Tools, Administration Tools, Catalog Management, Inventory and Merchandising, Customer Management, Affiliate Programs, Additional Marketing Services, Order Processing, Localization Settings, Logging and Analytics, Shipping Calculation and Payment Processing, Data Access, “Getting Started” Wizards, Modular Architecture, Store Access and Maintenance, and Documentation and Support.

Powerful Store Design Tool Highlight Features:

• User has complete control over store design with new Store Morph Technology.
• Lets user use pre-defined pages, or add their own custom pages.
• User can specify the position of each component on every store page.
• Lets user easily insert third party module components into store pages.
• User can change content of HEAD and BODY tags on each page individually or globally.
• Allows user to use the ready-made design for their store, or create a unique look based on the default template.
• User has Point + Click mode control over fonts, colors, buttons, default navigation bar, product layouts, and more.
• Has advanced mode control over navigation bar code, buttons, product layouts, login links, and more.

Easy-to-Use Administration Tool Highlight Features:

• Comes with web accessible administration interface. Nothing to install on user’s computer.
• Has version history records each change for many store design components.
• Version recall enables user to experiment, and create alternate versions, without risk.
• Navigation tree directs user to all aspects of their online store settings.
• Links to the store provide user an easy way to view changes as they work.

Catalog Management Highlight Features:

• User can add unlimited products, unlimited categories and sub-categories.
• Lets user create detailed product descriptions with text or HTML.
• Allows user to create user-defined custom fields for each product, such as ISBN, UPC, Manufacturer, etc.
• User can assign thumbnail and full-size images to each product.

Inventory and Merchandising Highlight Features:

• Has Low Stock and Out of Stock inventory levels for each product.
• Lets user display customized inventory level messages for each product or universally.
• User can hide out-of-stock products from customers.
• Lets user receive email notifications for low or out of stock products.
• User can associate unlimited related products.
• User can offer upsale products based on order total, items purchased, or both.
• User can define product characteristics with attributes.
• User can add additional prices or weight to individual attribute options.
• Supports multiple attribute display types, including drop-down boxes, radio buttons, and text fields.
• Lets user use attribute templates to assign sets of attributes to multiple products.
• Changes to an attribute template can be copied to all products referencing it.
• User can set order minimums based on price, quantity, or both.
• Lets user display custom message for not meeting order minimum.

Customer Management Highlight Features:

• Allows user to encourage repeat business with customer accounts.
• Provides customers easy access to their account details and addresses.
• User can create price groups to offer special pricing for specific customers.
• Lets user use availability groups to offer hidden products to specific customers.
• User can assign customers to one or multiple Miva Merchant Mailer mailing lists.

Affiliate Program Highlight Features:

• Lets user promote their store by working with affiliates.
• User can set affiliate commission levels based on order total, traffic referred, or a combination of both.
• Online affiliate accounts enable affiliates to see earnings, retrieve store links and banners, and view program agreement.
• User can track all affiliate earnings and payouts through a simple affiliate management system.

Additional Marketing Service Highlight Features:

• Lets user work seamlessly with Miva Merchant Mailer, the mailing list management and email distribution system.
• User can take advantage of Miva Merchant Submit, a suite of search engine optimization and web presence enhancement tools.

Order Processing Highlight Features:

• User can batch all new orders and run batch reports.
• Orders provide customer information, payment and shipping methods, and product details.
• Lets user process all orders through their payment gateway remotely.
• Order encryption provides increased security for customer payment details.
• The software generates confirming e-mail messages for customers when orders are placed.
• User will receive e-mail notifications when new orders are received.
• Notification emails can be copied to a third party for drop-shipping, among other uses.

Localization Setting Highlight Features:

• State-based sales tax and shopper selected sales tax settings available.
• Calculate sales tax for Canadian VAT, German VAT, or customize with a generic VAT setting.
• Lets user use US currency format or European currency, with conversion rates.
• User can create any customized currency format.
• User can specify product weights with customized weight label.
• Customizable state and country lists can be modified for use in any part of the world.

Logging and Analytics Highlight Features:

• The software generates an ELF2 formatted log file for use with the Urchin E-Commerce module for the Urchin 5 software.
• User can track customer page visits with Miva Merchant Access Log.
• User can view statistics for revenue, number of orders, and top selling products.

Shipping Calculation and Payment Processing Highlight Features:

• Customers will get automatic shipping rates from UPS, USPS, and FedEx.
• User can create custom rate tables based on quantity, order total, order weight, and more.
• Lets user accept credit cards with a variety of built-in payment gateways, including Authorize.net, VeriSign, CardService International, CyberSource, and many more.
• User has the ability to accept and process credit cards manually.
• Compatible with other payment methods, such as PayPal, electronic checks, and COD.
• Smart commerce library detection automatically tells user which shipping and payment modules are supported by their web host.

Data Access Highlight Features:

• Lets user import product, customer, and category data for faster storefront setup.
• Lets user export products, customers, orders, affiliates, and categories from storefront.
• Additional Miva Merchant Synchro add-on provides real-time product, customer and order synchronization with QuickBooks.
• MIVA-SQL technology uses the power of SQL for enhanced database performance without a SQL-compatible server.
• Configurable for use with MySQL database systems.
• XML-based provisioning for automatic store setup.

“Getting Started” Wizard Highlight Features:

• Comes with easy-to-use wizards to walk through every aspect of the storefront to help user get started.
• Wizards provide assistance for getting adjusted to using an e-commerce solution.
• Simple Mode administration interface provides a step-by-step walk-through of all required parts of an online storefront.

Modular Architecture Highlight Features:

• Easily accepts add-on modules from third party developers.
• All modules are built around a common API and plug into the appropriate sections automatically.
• Third party module settings configured directly in user’s administration interface.
• Large module aftermarket provides unlimited new features for storefront.
• Context-sensitive Extras buttons throughout administration interface direct user to MivaCentral.com for suggestions of related third party modules.
• Module interface provides access to all installed modules.
• User can remove built-in modules they do not wish to use.

Store Access and Maintenance Highlight Features:

• Lets user create unlimited user accounts for administrator access.
• User can assign access groups to limit user access to specific store administration duties.
• Maintenance mode enables user to close the store for maintenance.
• Customizable maintenance message displayed to all visitors while store is temporarily down.
• Automated streaming updates means never having to upload a patch or perform an upgrade again.
• Connection to the Miva Merchant update server notifies user of available patches, and prompts an optional automated installation.

Documentation and Support Highlight Features:

• Comes with an overview guide, “Getting Started as an Online Merchant,” provides a readable, magazine-like introduction to the concepts and language of online shop keeping.
• Has comprehensive online Help system, with more complete and relevant information, enables users to find answers quickly.
• Context sensitive Help icons throughout the administration interface guide user to relevant online help guides.
• Detailed instructions not only explain how to accomplish the task at hand, but also provide information to help the user understand how to use the tool most effectively in their business.
• Active, friendly user communities enable idea sharing and skill building for businesses using Miva Merchant, Miva Merchant online store designers, and programmers who create innovative new modules to extend the functionality of the product.
• Phone and email technical support from trained Miva Merchant technicians available through Miva Merchant Service Club.

User Experience with Miva Merchant Software

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