Store Building Tip

How to Use the Coupon Manager As you make your back-to-school plans, consider offering a special seasonal coupon. With Yahoo! Store's Coupon Manager, you can create coupons that are redeemable for a set dollar amount, percentage off a purchase total, or free shipping. To create a new coupon: Go to the "Coupon Manager" page in your Store Manager. Create a new coupon code. It's best to select something short for the coupon code, since customers have to type the code during the checkout process. Yahoo! Store coupon codes must begin with a letter and can contain only letters and numbers. These codes are for your use in tracking the coupon, so they should follow a naming convention that works for your business. For example, a back-to-school discount for fall of 2003 might be coded as "BTS03" or "FA03." Set the discount for the coupon. Tip: When deciding between a dollar discount, percentage off, or free shipping, consider how much each of these different discounts might cut into your margin. For example, a retailer whose typical customer buys about $200 in clothing would lose $20 on a 10% discount. So that store might fare better with a flat discount of $10 off the purchase. Meanwhile, a store that sells gift baskets in the $30 range would do better with a 10% discount (shaving off $3) than with a $10 coupon (which would cut 30% of the sale). In short, it pays to think about how you'll calculate your discount! Set the expiration date. Choose a date that gives customers a reasonable amount of time to redeem the offer without exposing you to many months of discounts. Tell customers about the coupon by putting the code in your email newsletter or print or web advertising. You can also send the coupon to a specific group of customers, or post it on your web site. Note: Coupons can be used an unlimited amount of times until they expire, unless you decide to include terms of use that limit the coupon to one discount per customer. To redeem your coupon, customers simply visit your store, add items to their shopping cart, and enter the coupon code on the order form page during checkout. The discount you specified will automatically be calculated and displayed on the second page of the order form. After customers redeem the coupon, the Coupon Manager will allow you to track the effectiveness of your coupon promotions with relevant statistics. See how many times the coupon was used, how much revenue it generated, and how it performed over time. This information can help you understand what kinds of promotions work best for your store.

Newsletter Poll Results

Changes You've Requested Last month, we asked you to participate in a poll telling us how to make this newsletter more useful. We want to thank everyone who responded and share the results with you: 80% of those who took the survey find the newsletter valuable. Favorite sections of the newsletter include our Store Building Tips and Feature Updates, which describe how to get the most out of Yahoo! Store's built-in features. Finally, in response to your feedback, we'll be working to bring you substantial tips and tutorials that address more complex merchant needs. In the coming months, we'll be reshaping the newsletter to better reflect the improvements you've requested.

Feature Update

Order XID Field Explained Recently you may have noticed a new field in the Order Screen, called "Order XID." If you use Commission Junction, you'll be pleased to know that this field makes it easier to track your affiliate referrals. If you don't have a Commission Junction affiliate program at this time, you can safely ignore the field. For merchants using Commission Junction, the Order XID field assigns a unique number to every order. When you view your Commission Junction reports, you'll be able to tell which affiliates are responsible for specific orders. Also, when you use the Store Manager Order Lookup search, you can search for orders using their Order XIDs. Now you also have the option of exporting your XIDs and their associated Yahoo! Store order numbers. Here's how: In the Store Manager, click "Orders." Next to "Export," enter the range of orders for which you would like to view the XIDs. Set the file format to "MS Excel" and click "Export." On the next page, click the link to download the "IDtoXID.csv" file. Please note, because every order receives an XID number, your file will include every order in the range you've specified, including non-Commission Junction orders.

E-commerce on the Web

Links to Sites, Features, and Stories Advertise Your Site...For Free A marketing expert reveals an inventive way to gain free marketing for your business. Hint: It's as easy as writing an article and giving it away. Is Your Marketing Out of Focus? Read why one marketing expert says the key to sales success is picking a target and focusing your marketing efforts.