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Store-Building Tip
How to Create Gift Certificates

To get ready for the holiday rush, prepare to sell gift certificates for your Yahoo! Store. Gift certificates make holiday shopping much easier -- your customers simply purchase a gift certificate and it'll get emailed automatically to the recipient, who can then spend the money on any item you offer in your store.

Here's how to offer gift certificates for sale on your site:

1. First, in your Store Manager under "Process," click "Gift Certificates." Then read the Gift Certificate Guidelines and click "OK."
2. Next, go to your Store Editor. (Note: If you have not upgraded to the new Store Editor, click "Regular" or "Advanced.")
3. Now you'll treat your gift certificate much as you would a regular product:
   • In the section where you would like the gift certificate to appear, click "Item" to make a new item for the gift certificate.
   • Fill in all applicable product information including name, code, price, and caption.
   • It's also a good idea to include an image, if you have one.
   • Important: In the drop-down field "Gift-certificate," select "Yes," then click "Update."
4. Return to your Store Manager, and click "Publish" to publish your new gift certificate item.
5. When publishing is complete, click "Go to Manager."
6. Under "Process," click "Gift Certificates." You'll notice that this page has now become the "Gift Certificate Manager." Here you may:
   • Configure your Gift Certificate Manager options, such as the return email address, your store web address, and email gift certificate delivery options.
   • View the Gift Certificates Summary and review individual Gift Certificate Purchases to monitor customers' gift certificate spending.
   • Cancel a Gift Certificate code, if necessary.

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Feature Update
Store Improvements Available in Merchant Solutions

Yahoo! Merchant Solutions, the new upgrade available for Yahoo! Store customers, gives merchants new ways to manage their inventory and work on their web sites. Two major improvements found in Yahoo! Merchant Solutions are the new Catalog Manager and Store Tags.

• Catalog Manager makes it much easier to organize your merchandise in an online product catalog. Where you currently use the Store Editor to manage your catalog items and also handle your store layout, the new Catalog Manager separates the item details from the layout of your web site. You can continue to work on your store layout using the Editor, or you can now use the HTML authoring tool of your choice to design your site.

  With Catalog Manager you can create a product database online, upload and download your catalog in CSV format, arrange items by category, keep track of item quantities by item detail, and be notified when inventory levels get low -- all without changing the layout of your site or the look of your web pages. Many merchants have expressed the wish to design their Stores using HTML, and by separating the Catalog Manager from the Store Editor, we can now offer this option.

• Store Tags are special pieces of HTML code that give you a unique way to customize your site, more control over the appearance of your site pages, and a way to update your pages automatically when product details change. After setting up your Catalog Manager, you can build pages using HTML, and add Store Tags to enable e-commerce on any page of your site. Store Tags automatically display data from your Catalog Manager, allowing you to build e-commerce functionality into the layout of your web site quickly and efficiently and in more locations than ever before.

     http://store.yahoo.com/lib/vw/storetagtutorial.html
     http://store.yahoo.com/lib/vw/catalogtutorial.html

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On the Network
Changes to Yahoo! Shopping Merchant Ratings Explained

Yahoo! Shopping recently changed the minimum number of reviews required for a merchant rating from 10 reviews to five reviews. This means merchants will qualify for a rating faster than they did before. Yahoo! Shopping's merchant ratings and reviews help consumers make more informed purchasing decisions and improve the Yahoo! shopping experience. The merchant star ratings that appear on merchant listings provide "at-a-glance" information about how other shoppers have liked (or disliked) a merchant, based on a 1 to 5 star scale.

Because merchant reviews are written by shoppers themselves, they provide a good way for consumers to share information about their experience with a particular merchant. A high star rating shows shoppers that you are a trustworthy and established online merchant and can build credibility and make prospective customers more likely to buy from you.

Here's some more information about how the new merchant rating system works:

How many ratings does it take before a merchant receives an Average Merchant Rating?
To be sure that a single merchant rating does not affect an Average Merchant Rating too much, a merchant must receive five merchant ratings in a six month period before an Average Merchant Rating is displayed. If less than five individual ratings have been submitted, then a "Not yet rated" icon appears next to the merchant's name or logo.

Why aren't all the reviews in the Store Manager posted on Yahoo! Shopping?
Not all reviews that show up in your Store Manager will be posted on Yahoo! Shopping. Reviews older than six months drop off Yahoo! Shopping. Also, all reviews are screened for profanity and abusive language before being posted, and any reviews with such language are automatically rejected. Yahoo! Shopping also uses other controls to combat spam postings and other fraudulent activity, for your protection. Learn more.

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

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