eSTORIS eCommerce Features Enrich Guest Experience Ahead of the Holidays

The eCommerce Product Development team at STORIS continues to keep its eye on the pulse of the industry. As home furnishings retailers prepare for the busy holiday shopping season, eSTORIS Release 4.3.7 packages a range of valuable enhancements.

First, Release 4.3.7 enables retailers to sell Non-Inventory SKUs on their websites. The goal of a retailer’s website is to expand revenue streams. One application of this new feature is to provide the sale of services online such as design consultations or 3D room plans. Another application is to sell swatch samples to online guests. As many customers choose to shop exclusively online, this has become a popular trend to preview fabric options in their homes which increases consumer confidence before ordering.

The eSTORIS platform’s search functionality has also been enhanced. The search logic is more flexible when generating results to the customer’s query. It uses phrase match to ensure more customers will get their intended product results allowing for a greater range in the keywords they input. This powerful new search will lead to reduced bounce rates.

Another beneficial addition to eSTORIS is the ability for retailers to operate two independent websites on the same framework: a public-facing portion of the site and a log-in restricted Guest Portal. A retailer can separate a restricted portion of their website by building that content on its own Store ID. This creates seamless web development for retailers whose online strategy requires a private Guest Portal, want to differentiate their inventory offering across separate brands, or who want to promote exclusive content.

Additionally, a change reflects a trend seen across STORIS’ technologies. STORIS’ Point of Sale organizes the individual products on a customer’s Sales Order by Fulfillment Method such as a Delivery or Take-With. Now, when a customer views their Open Orders in their online Account, their order will also be organized by Fulfillment Method. These groupings let the customer view their Order by fulfillment dates and if needed, reschedule all line items in the same Fulfillment seamlessly. As an added benefit, retailers can configure their eSTORIS website so when a customer reviews their Open Orders, they will see recommendations for add-on products based on items on their Order. This is a great way to use the Account portion of your website to generate upsell revenue and repeat customers.