ProductCart v4

ProductCart v4 is the latest release of our shopping cart software. Most of its new features and improvements are a direct consequence of customer feedback. Thanks to all for providing suggestions and comments!

Among other things, ProductCart v4 has been officially PA-DSS validated.

ProductCart v4 was released in October of 2009. The upgrade for existing stores is available free of charge under the new Support & Updates policy that took effect on September 15, 2009. Go here for detailed upgrade instructions.

A few maintenance updates have been made available since the initial release of v4. More about ProductCart Updates >>

Among the new features in ProductCart v4:

• One Page Checkout
  A user-friendly checkout page for a faster, smarter checkout process. It makes extensive use of AJAX to minimize any need to refresh or change pages.
• Guest Checkout
  Customers will be able to checkout without saving a password, yet they will still be able to log in and view order details (using their e-mail address and Order ID).
• Save Shopping Cart
  Shopping cart content is now automatically saved. When customers go back to the store, they will see the products they last added to the shopping cart (if any). Registered customers - in addition - can retrieve multiple, previously saved shopping carts from a dedicated page in their account area. A new report on “Saved Shopping Carts” is available to the store manager.
• Category Content Preview
  The AJAX-driven “preview” feature has been extended to include categories. If you turn it on, customers will be able to get a quick preview of subcategories and products included in the category, just by placing their mouse over a category name or image (see screen shots). You can now separately turn on/off the AJAX preview for categories, products, and search.
• Content Management
  New content management features include the ability to have different staff create and approve new content pages, generate navigation menus separate from category navigation, restrict pages only to certain customer groups, etc.
• Promotions
  New marketing tools will allow ProductCart merchants to easily create promotions such as “Buy 1, Get 1 Free”, “Buy 2 CD's and Get 75% Off the 3rd One”, etc. More information.
• Sales Reports: New sales reports include:
  • Sales by brand
  • Sales by category
  • Sales by drop-shipper
  • Sales by supplier
• Archive Orders
  Move orders that have been completed out of the list of orders that still need your attention.
• Recently Reviewed Products
  New storefront page where you can list products for which reviews have recently been written. The page is managed from the Control Panel, similarly to the New Arrivals and Best Sellers pages.
• Limit Number of Selections (BTO)
  The configuration page in ProductCart Build To Order can now enforce a maximum number of selections (e.g. Box of 12 chocolates: you can only pick up to 12 items).

Among the most notable improvements:

• Redesigned Control Panel
  The ProductCart Control Panel has been redesigned for better usability and quicker store management.
• Generate Navigation
  Now you can generate a navigation menu that is “ready” for a SPRY-based horizontal or vertical navigation system.
• Manage Brands
  New tools allow for much more flexibility when managing brands.
• Manage Categories
  Many productivity improvements in this heavily utilized area of the Control Panel:
  • Quickly navigate the category tree
  • Category tree is saved to an XML file for quick loading on the next visit to the page
  • Clone an existing category, including products and subcategories
  • Copy and/or move products to another category
  • Export category information
• Manage Customers
  New search filters make it easier and faster to locate a customer, and a new search tool helps more quickly assign customers to specific Pricing Categories.
• Tons of Small Updates
  We literally reviewed every one of the over 700 files in the ProductCart Control Panel in an attempt to improve performance and usability across the board.

• Built-In SEO URLs
  Keyword-rich URLs is now a feature that can be turned on right from the Control Panel (assuming the Web server has been properly setup for it), as all of the necessary code has been built into the storefront, without needing to upload any additional files.
• Gift Wrapping improvements
  Gift wrapping options can now be ordered (order in which they are displayed in the storefront) and rendered active/inactive (e.g. make a Christmas gift wrapping option inactive after the holidays, then active again next year).
• Multiple Gift Certificates
  You can now redeem multiple Gift Certificates at the same time (i.e. using 2 or more Gift Certificates on the same order).
• New category display settings
  Now you can choose a “Thumbnail Only” option to display categories in the Browse by Category pages.
• Multiple different from minimum
  When enforcing the units of a product that customers can purchase, you can now set a multiple that is different from the minimum (for example: min 500 business cards, then multiples of 100. E.g. 500, 600, 700, etc.).
• Apparel Add-on: new sub-product settings
  Reward Points and “Units to make 1 lb/kg” can now be set and manage at the sub-product level. The Control Panel pages to manage sub-products have also been redesigned.
• Apparel Add-on: sub-products details change dynamically
  On the product details page now List Price, Price, Savings, and Reward Points change dynamically based on the Sub-Product selection (in v3 only the Price changed).
• Lots of other improvements!

• License Eligibility
  The license associated with your store must be enrolled in the ProductCart Technical Support & Updates Plan (if you are receiving technical support from a ProductCart Reseller, then contact your reseller about the v4 Upgrade).
• Version Eligibility
  You must be running version 3.51 to upgrade to v4. If you are running a previous version, please update to version 3.51.
• Detailed Upgrade Instructions
  Make sure to carefully review the following, detailed ProductCart v4 Upgrade Instructions
• Developer's Corner
  A technical overview of the new “One Page Checkout” system.

Are you new to ProductCart? Learn more and purchase our top-quality shopping cart software today:

• Why choose ProductCart shopping cart software
• Detailed list of ecommerce features
• Buy ProductCart
  If you just need to purchase the upgrade, you simply need to be enrolled in the ProductCart Technical Support & Updates Plan.