Dear Yahoo! Store Merchant:

Hope you've rested up after the winter holiday season, because Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Are you ready for another huge sales opportunity? This newsletter will help you prepare.

Spotlight: Upgrade Your Editor

Store Building Tip: Get Notification When Customer Order Emails Bounce Back

Tips for Success: Yahoo! Store Valentine's Day Showcase

What's Working for You: Holiday Poll Results and Success Stories

E-commerce on the Web: Links to Sites, Features, and Stories

Spotlight:

Upgrade Your Editor We recently began rolling out the latest version of our Yahoo! Store Editor (the tool you use to design and publish your Store pages). The enhanced Editor includes improvements you've requested - such as being able to use the Back and Forward browser buttons when you design your site - and fixes bugs that have bothered you. Plus it's faster, more reliable, and easier to use. We're already getting great feedback from folks who helped us test the new Editor. Here's what two of our Developer Directory members say: "I had the opportunity to work with the new Yahoo! Store Editor when it was still in the beta phase. I especially welcome the more user-friendly database uploader, the ability to remove custom properties, and the ability to use the Back and Forward buttons of the browser (a definite "no-no" in the old Editor). In my opinion these features alone make it worthwhile to upgrade to the new Editor, but there are many other features that make it easier to build new stores and work with existing ones." - Istvan Siposs, Yahoo! Store Developer <http://www.nbdc.net/isiposs/> "Yahoo Store's new Editor includes several small enhancements which add up to a big increase in usability ... One of the best improvements is that the Back button is now completely functional. For some this may seem to be a small step forward, but ...[it] may prove to be the first big step in a series of improvements for Yahoo Store owners, operators and developers." - Don Cole, Y Store Tools <http://www.ystoretools.com/> When can you start using the new Editor? As soon as the upgrade is available for your store, you'll see an announcement in your Store Manager. (Sign in and look at your Store Manager today, as the upgrade already is available for some merchants.) Of course, the decision whether to upgrade -- and when to do it -- is up to you. To learn more, please visit the Editor Help pages at: http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/store/editv2/ Also, thanks for all the great feedback that led to these improvements. Please join us in giving a special Thank You to the testers (store owners and developers) who helped us test and launch the new Editor. We couldn't have done it without them.

Store Building Tip:

Get Notification When Customer Order Emails Bounce Back Now you can receive email notification when order and shipment status emails bounce from a customer's email address. (This often happens when customers mis-type their email addresses on the order form.) You'll have the option to contact the customer using other information provided on the order phone (i.e., by telephone) or to correct the customer's email address (such as adding an omitted "@" symbol or correcting an obvious spelling error). To enable the email bounce feature: Sign in and go to the Store Manager's Order Settings section. Then click on the "Shipment Status" link. Then, in the "Address for Bounce Messages" field, enter the email address where you would like to receive your bounce alerts. Finally, return to the Store Manager and publish your order settings to enable this feature on your live store. To learn more, visit the Help page at http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/store/manage/manage-13.html.

Tips for Success:

Yahoo! Store Valentine's Day Showcase This month we're highlighting ways merchants have prepared their stores for the 14th of February. Click around their sites to get ideas for your own store, and while you're at it, keep your own Valentine in mind. This is just a small sampling of ways to say, "I love you!" Valentine's Day Tip #1: Emphasize the Theme with Content and Design Updates Vermont Teddy Bear changes its site navigation to highlight Valentine's Day options. http://store.yahoo.com/vtbear/valentines-day-gifts-ideas.html Candy Warehouse adds Valentine's Day trivia to its sweet offerings. http://shop.store.yahoo.com/candywarehouse/valentinecandy.html Valentine's Day Tip #2: Help Shoppers Find Your Valentine's Day Products These smart merchants offer Valentine's gift guides, making orders easy and fast: 1Flowershop.com http://store.yahoo.com/1flowershop-com/holiday.html Aah! Chocolate! http://store.yahoo.com/aahchocolates/valentinesday.html Valentine's Day Tip #3: Put Items on Special and Make Delivery Options Clear Bargain-hunting sweethearts always appreciate special offers for the 14th, as the folks at 99 Dollar Jewelry know. http://shop.store.yahoo.com/99dollarjewelry/valspec.html Top Notch Gift Shop takes orders early and times delivery to hit the holiday. http://store.yahoo.com/topnotchgift/index.html Valentine's Day Tip #4: Give Customers New Ideas You don't have to sell chocolate and roses to make the most of Valentine's Day. WickedCoolStuff.com offers Valentine's themed novelties, like sweetheart rubber duckies and temporary tattoos. http://www.wickedcoolstuff.com/valrubduc.html Global Exchange features a Valentine's Day Gift Basket with international appeal. http://store.yahoo.com/globalexchange/valentine.html

What's Working for You:

Holiday Poll Results and Success Stories In last month's merchant poll, we asked you to rate your holiday sales. Here are the results! Q. My holidays sales were:   Better than expected. 25%   In-line with my projections. 23%   Lower than I expected. 40%   I had no idea what to expect. 11% As you can see, the majority of merchants who responded (48 percent) reported results better than or in-line with your predictions. That's great news. Congratulations on your sales success and be sure to check the Store Manager for future polls -- your feedback gives us excellent information about how to make the service better and what type of information you need in this newsletter. In last month's newsletter we asked you to share your Holiday Success Stories. Brett Dewey of WickedCoolStuff.com writes, "Hey there Yahoo! Store! You wanted to hear holiday success stories, here's ours! What worked for us this Holiday Season? Having a great relationship with a vendor of a hot item! It's always a guessing game for retailers - What will the hot item be? How much should we order? No one wants to run out of a hit item, or to be stuck with cases and cases of them on New Year's day either. This year our #1 seller was, hands down, the Ozzy Osbourne Talking Bobblehead! While stores nationwide ran out (both brick & mortar and online) we never did! We had a great relationship with the vendor and were able to keep just a two day supply on hand at all times. Every other day through the holiday season a new delivery of "The Prince of (bleep)ing Darkness" was brought to our door. We could've cut off the incoming shipments if sales lagged, but as it was we had to increase them to meet the demand! This was our fourth year as a Yahoo! Store, and we are thrilled to report it was our best ever! Fourth quarter sales through our Yahoo! Store increased 40% over the previous year! Happy (bleep)ing New Year to all!" We always love to hear your success stories, so be sure to write in with what you've learned, and any tips you'd like to share with your fellow merchants.

E-commerce on the Web

Links to Sites, Features, and Stories Technology Takes Crafts To a New Business Level Crafters are spinning full-time businesses out of do-it-yourself hobbies -- thanks to the Internet. Study: Consumers Plan More Online Spending in 2003 Online shopping projections for Q1 of 2003 look good, with consumer confidence staying stable despite a weak economy. Find out what the trend means for your business!