Volusion Version 5 Feature List

Volusion V5: Worth The Wait

Volusion merchants are eagerly awaiting the next version to hit the street. For what I can gather, Version 5 is shaping up to be on hell of a release. It appears to focus on third party integration and improvements to Volusion’s store administration and work flow. Also included are upgrades in the webmaster tools, store design and sale tools departments.

Considering all the features packed into V5, I predict that Volusion will retain the crown of top hosted ecommerce shopping cart solution for a long time to come. I can also guarantee that other hosted carts are already scrambling to add similar features to their solutions. After all, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the features included in V5.

Third Party Integration Improvements

1. Gold level stores will be able to integrate with Stone Edge (great tool btw).

2. Gold level store will be able to integrate with Endicia/Dazzle. This will make shipping to PO boxes easier and make shipping via USPS smoother.

3. FedEx label printing will be added as a full integration including support for dimensional shipping. Dimensional shipping is hot topic nowadays so this feature is timely indeed.

4. Merchant will be able to input orders from other applications into their Volusion stores. Does this include QuickBooks? I hope so.

5. Full “per product” dimensional support for shipping via UPS will be included. I told you dimensional support is a hot topic.

6. A smooth integration with Google Check will be available. This includes the ability to have the order show up in the admin panel, automatically have the payment log updated at collection and adjust the stock status for sold items.

7. DHL WorldWide Express label printing will be included. This makes express shipping overseas more manageable.

8. USPS label printing will be kicked up a notch.

Store Administration and Work Flow Improvements

1. Most graphics can now be replaced without the need for ftp. This makes swapping out and adding graphics a bit easier.

2. The admin panel will be improved with a caching procedure for the table viewer. This will make the backend a little more fleet of foot.

3. Store owners will be able to change graphics on their sites from the front of your store with a new image gallery. This will make swapping out buttons and headings with Volusion inventory of graphics quicker. All you have to do is hover over an image and click to change it.

4. Merchants can set warehouses on a per product basis, and Volusion will then calculate shipping rates on multiple points of origin. This is otherwise called multiple warehouse support. This is a biggie if you do a lot of drop shipping. Volusion will be one of the first cart to offer this feature.

5. The phone order system will be improved so that it will no longer be necessary to collect an email address for order placed over the phone. Sometime customers just don’t want to give out their email address (or don’t have one).

6. The CRM system will be able to log and track phone calls as well as emails. Volusion has the best built-in CRM system on the market today.

7. Drag and drop category management will be included as an option. Merchant will have “the ability to drag and drop sub-categories from one parent category to another and also be able to add new categories and sub categories from the main page.”

8. The CRM system will be able to “weigh operator responses to CRM tickets based on multiple factors -- including Reply Length and Call Duration.”

9. The CRM system will be able to assign points “for various tasks such as reviewing ticket resolutions.”

10. The Financials section has been replaced with “a much more full featured Reporting section.”

11. Abandoned cart tracking will be included in this release. This section gives merchants the ability to view all cart contents real-time. People have been asking for this one for a while now. This is proof that Volusion listens to their clients.

Webmaster Tools and Improvements

1. Merchant will be able to add and manage true 301 redirects from a single page. No more calling support to set up redirects.

2. Email form submissions will contain built-in support for image validation. This will cut down on spam by blocking “bots from auto-submitting to the forms on your site. This feature is not only available for standard forms, like ‘email a friend’, but you can also include it in your own custom form submissions.” This is a ground breaking feature in the hosted cart solution arena.

Store Design Improvements

1. Volusion will be are releasing more free design templates in V5. Free is always nice so is a wider selection of templates.

2. Merchants will be able to preview design changes when switching templates. Changes can be proofed before publishing it to their store.

Sales Tools

1. Merchant will be able to offer coupons for Free Shipping. Another merchant requested features. I know Tom from our forums is happy about this one!

2. Customers will be able to click on a button to request notification when an out of stock item is back in stock. An email will be sent when the inventory is updated. This is a great sales tool and another ground breaker.