How To – Concordia Marketplace https://concordiamarketplace.com Giving Voice to the Church Mon, 10 Apr 2023 19:02:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 Order Management Panel https://concordiamarketplace.com/orders-management/ Wed, 29 Mar 2023 14:34:41 +0000 https://concordiamarketplace.com/?page_id=1163

Processing Orders on Concordia Market

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In the event that the product was a digital download or a virtual product, the seller would check that the payment has been processed successfully, alert would have been sent if a failed transaction occurred.  With a successful financial transaction, the status dropdown should be changed to "Completed."  The system is set to automatically enable downloads of digital products with a successful purchase, but the change to status enables the system to release the funds to the seller when they are received from Stripe in three to four days.

In the event that the product is a physical product, the seller should send a note to the buyer with an estimate of when the package will be sent.  The message is sent using the "Add note" feature in the lower right corner of the panel.  Don't forget to mark the note as "Note to the buyer" before it is added.
  1. Once the package is sent, update the order record by entering the tracking information in the "Shipping Tracking" pane in the upper right of the screen and select the "Add Tracking" button.
  2. Once the order has shipped and the delivery was successful, the order can be marked as "completed."

When the Seller Receives an Alert that their Shop Received an Order:

  1. Log into the Vendor Dashboard and select the "Orders" tab in the sidebar. The Orders tab will have an indication that a new order was received.
  2. Select the "View Order" that appears in the "Actions" column.
  3. In the event that the product was a digital download or a virtual product, the seller would check that the payment has been processed successfully, alert would have been sent if a failed transaction occurred.  With a successful financial transaction, the status dropdown should be changed to "Completed."  The system is set to automatically enable downloads of digital products with a successful purchase, but the change to status enables the system to release the funds to the seller when they are received from Stripe in three to four days.
  4. In the event that the product is a physical product, the seller should send a note to the buyer with an estimate of when the package will be sent.  The message is sent using the "Add note" feature in the lower right corner of the panel.  Don't forget to mark the note as "Note to the buyer" before it is added.
  5. Once the package is sent, update the order record by entering the tracking information in the "Shipping Tracking" pane in the upper right of the screen and select the "Add Tracking" button.
  6. Once the order has shipped and the delivery was successful, the order can be marked as "completed."
]]> Product Listing Overview https://concordiamarketplace.com/product-listing-overview/ Wed, 29 Mar 2023 13:53:42 +0000 https://concordiamarketplace.com/?page_id=1159

An Overview of the Product Listing at Concordia Market

It is beneficial for the seller to understand the contents of a typical product listing as they prepare to add their products.  Each listing will contain images and information that are critical to a compelling listing.

The images should be a balance of high quality and compact size.  We recommend a target file size of less than 100k for each image. The ideal size would be about half of that, at 50k.

The description should be brief but compelling.

The SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) is a unique code for each item.  The seller can determine the best strategy for developing unique SKU.

Look over the market and determine if there are potential benefits to your customers to offering a packaged deal.  The packaged deal or "Buy it together" option can include products from other sellers.  It is always best practices to discuss the use of another seller's products in the deal before making it public.

Select the "i" icon to learn more about the feature.

ProductListing

This is the featured product image.  The user can click on the featured image to load a full-screen image.  The user can swipe to the left or right to navigate through the side thumbnails.  The featured image can be a video.  However, the video will only play in the product listing view, not the store view.

The thumbnails contain additional product images.  The user can select one of the images to display in the main image window.  The user can swipe between images.  

The product information panel contains the product name, price/sale price, stock status, SKU and product category.  The price and quantity feature may display a variant if the vendor has enabled the "name your price" feature.

The description tab is open by default.  The description can contain text, audio, video, web links, and email links.  Ideally, a product description would contain no more than two paragraphs of text.  The description should include the following:

  • Visual or verbal description of the product
  • Features of the product
  • Benefits of the product
  • Assurances or guarantees

The vendor tab provides a quick link to the vendor's shop and shop information.

If the product has received any reviews, this is the tab that would display the reviews and ratings from other customers.

The Product inquiry tab allows the shopper to interact with the seller through the messaging system.

The bottom of the product page could contain several additional panels including:

  • Related Products.  These are products that are related to the viewed product.  The relationship is established by the seller when the product listing is built.
  • Buy Together Products.  This listing contains product "addons" offered by the seller or may contain deals on pricing discount when purchased together.
]]> Earnings Panel https://concordiamarketplace.com/earnings-panel/ Wed, 29 Mar 2023 01:49:38 +0000 https://concordiamarketplace.com/?page_id=1153

Earnings Panel

Earnings Page
Earnings Page

Each vendor has access to a dedicated earnings page in their vendor dashboard. Here they can view monthly charts, daily sales, individual orders, as well as other statistics.

There are 3 columns at the top of the page showing the following information:

  • Earnings this month - this is the amount earned since the beginning of the current month (e.g. on February 5th, it is showing earnings between Feb 1-5)
  • Earnings in the past 30 days - this shows earnings in the last 30 days irrespective of current month (e.g on February 5th, it is showing earnings between Jan 5 - Feb 5).
  • Balance available - this shows the vendor's balance, the amount they are owed at the current moment.

Below these details, the vendor can find a list of all orders and associated earnings.

Transactions List in Earnings Page
Transactions List in Earnings Page

Here the vendor can see all of their orders as well as info such as: order / earning status, order total, earnings total, etc. Let's look at some of these and their significance.

Pending orders - Pending earnings
By default, in Concordia Market, the vendor only receives earnings for an order after that order is marked as completed. Until marked as completed, the earnings show but they are tagged as pending, and are not added to the vendor's balance.

Once the order status is set to completed, the earnings are also completed and the vendor balance is credited.

Order Total and Vendor Earnings
The order total will usually be higher than the vendor's earnings. The difference between the 2 represents the commission received by the marketplace for intermediating the transaction.

]]> Message Panel https://concordiamarketplace.com/message-panel/ Wed, 29 Mar 2023 01:36:41 +0000 https://concordiamarketplace.com/?page_id=1149

Vendor Messages

VenderMessages

Concordia Market contains a messaging system that provides easy, quick, and dependable communication between shop owners and their customers.  We encourage its use so that it can serve as a "paper" trail for all sales.

The left panel contains a record of messages, both active and closed messages.  When a message summary is selected, the conversation will be displayed in the right panel.  The Reply feature enables the seller to respond to the message.  When an issue has been resolved the seller or the customer may make the conversation as "Resolved" using the appropriate button in the upper right corner of the window.

]]> Dashboard Panel Overview https://concordiamarketplace.com/dashboard-panel-overview/ Wed, 29 Mar 2023 01:07:24 +0000 https://concordiamarketplace.com/?page_id=1141

Vender Dashboard Concordia Market

VendorSideBar

The payouts panel is not complete.
VendorDashboard
]]> Seller Documentation Panel https://concordiamarketplace.com/seller-doc/ Wed, 29 Mar 2023 00:57:54 +0000 https://concordiamarketplace.com/?page_id=1137

Seller Documentation

Seller Documentation

Concordia Market uses this tab to share important documents with shop owners.  The seller documents are updated regularly.  In addition to the MOU that articulates our agreements with shop owners, the document library contains samples that shop owners may use to create their shop information and policies.

]]> Vendor Dashboard Settings https://concordiamarketplace.com/vendor-dashboard-settings/ Tue, 28 Mar 2023 23:38:09 +0000 https://concordiamarketplace.com/?page_id=1127

Vendor Dashboard Settings

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    The settings option in the Vendor Dashboard control what is displayed in the store and in the dashboard.  Please take time to review the settings and adjust them to reflect the specifics of your shop.  This tutorial will provide a quick overview of the settings panel.

    Store Information

    Use the store information tab to adjust the contact information and brand images used in the shop.  You can open the shop information panel by selecting any of the lines.  The panel (see inset) has four tabs.

    A- Contains the store information.  The panel also allows you the option of hiding the email address and phone number on the store.

    B- The Address tab contains the address of the shop.

    C- The About Us tab contains a brief one or two paragraph statement about the shop.  Note that if you would like to share more information about your ministry, you can request a free listing from Concordia Market or link to your website.

    D- The Image tab is used to place branding in your shop.  The profile picture will often be displayed at 150pxX150px.  The banner will best be in 16:9 wide format.  You can replace the image by select the "Clear" word in the upper right corner.

    Shipping

    Currently, we do not use any of the built-in shipping features of the market.  There is nothing to edit in the shipping tab.

    Support Settings

    The support settings allow the vendor to determine the method their customers will use to contact with the shop staff.  The support channel options include:

    Support through messaging panel- This is the default setting.  The customers will use the Concordia Market messaging system to contact the sellers.

    Support through external URL- This option is used if your organization has its own support system on a separate website.

    Support through a dedicated email address- This is the least preferred method because it does not leave a record of correspondence within the Concordia Market system.  However, for vendors that do no regularly check on their shop, it is a better option that the messaging system.

    Vacation Mode

    The Vacation Mode setting allows vendors to notify their customers that their shop will be closed for a period of time.  During the vacation period, the shop's products will not be available for purchase.

    • To enable the Vacation Mode, select the "Enable Vacation Mode" button.
    • The Closing Time drop-down enables the vendor to schedule the closing time.
    • The Set Vacation Message box allows the vendor to set a message that will display on their shop home page.

    Store Notice

    The store notice will display a message on the store's page.  It does not interfere with the regular operation of the shop or the customer's ability to purchase products.

    Store Policies

    When the store policies are enabled, the customers will have access to the key policies of the store, including the return policy, use policy, and shipping policy.  Vendors can find examples of policies in the Doc's tab of the Vendor Dashboard.

    Store Categories

    Currently, Concordia Market doesn't use the store categories in its store layout.  Our customers interact with the store on the product level.  However, if you would like to set your category(s), select the blank field and a dropdown list with the category options will appear.  Select one or more categories that best describe the focus of your shop.

    Store SEO

    SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it is a critical key to speeding-up the search function of Concordia Market and your shop's presence in the internet at large.

    • SEO Title- This is the name of your store
    • Meta Description- This is a brief one-line description of your store's content.  The Meta description will not appear on the site, it is used by the search bots.
    • Meta Keywords- You want to include as many keywords as you can imagine that accurately describe the contents of your shop.  Each key word should be separated with a comma and no spaces.

     

    Profile Settings

    The profile settings allow the vendor to adjust the notification settings for their shop.  It is best practice to keep them all enabled.

    Enabling the The Dashboard settings to AJAX load should only be done when the shop has more than 20 products.

     

    ]]>         The Refund Panel https://concordiamarketplace.com/refund-panel/ Tue, 28 Mar 2023 13:39:15 +0000 https://concordiamarketplace.com/?page_id=1118

    The Refund Panel & An Overview of the Refund Process

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      Every buyer on Concordia Market has the ability to request a refund from a product.   The seller manages the refunds through the refund request panel.

      The seller will receive an email notification that a customer has requested a refund.  Upon notification, the seller will log into their Vendor dashboard and select the "Refunds" tab on the left tabs.

       

       

       

      The seller will locate the refund request from a list of refunds that will appear in the new window.  The tutorial below will help clarify the refund process from the seller's perspective.

      Step 1: Notification of a refund request

      The seller will receive an email notification that a customer has requested a refund.  Upon notification, the seller will log into their Vendor dashboard and select the "Refunds" tab on the left tabs.

      Step 2: Review the Request

      The seller will locate the refund request from a list of refunds that will appear in the new window and select the "view" option.

      Step 3: Determine the appropriate response

      The seller has three options,

      1. Send a Message- Use the message box to post a response.  It is helpful to keep the conversation within the message box to capture documentation which might be helpful should the case get escalated in the future.
      2. Approve the Refund- By selecting the approval button, the seller is committing to return the purchase price for the item.  Unless, it is stipulated in your return policy, the seller will need to return the entire purchase price.  The seller can stipulate that the total amount less the transaction fee will be returned.
      3. Deny the Refund- The seller has the option to deny the refund.  This option is only available if the refund request does not fall within the parameters of your shop's stated refund policy.  If the shop does not have a stated refund policy, the shop will have a difficult time justifying a denial of the refund.

      Step 4: Refund Approved: Next Steps

      Once a vendor has approved a refund, it is sent to the admin backend.

      The seller will need to arrange repayment with the buyer.

      ]]>             Reviews Panel https://concordiamarketplace.com/reviews-panel/ Tue, 28 Mar 2023 00:45:19 +0000 https://concordiamarketplace.com/?page_id=1116

      The Review Panel on Concordia Market

      The Reviews panel allows the Vendor to manage customer reviews of their product and their shop.  Each review appears on a line in the panel.  The line provides the name of the product, the customer's rating, the review comments, and the customer's user name.  It is a violation of the community standards to attack the character or family lineage because the customer wrote a bad review.  It is best to celebrate the many satisfied customers and work with the dissatisfied customers for the best possible outcomes.  Choosing to ignore a bad review will only work against your shop.

      • The "View Tab" (1) enables the vendor to view the full review text.
      • The "Reply" (C) tab opens a text edit window which allows the vendor to respond to the review.
      • The "Report" tab is used by the shop's vendor when they feel that a review was unfair or the user's review of their product violated Concordia Market's community standards. When a review is reported to the site's administrator, the administrator determines if the content has violated community standards.  If the administrators believe the violation has occurred, the review will be removed and the user will face appropriate consequences.
      ]]>             Earnings Panel https://concordiamarketplace.com/earnings-panel-2/ Tue, 28 Mar 2023 00:38:38 +0000 https://concordiamarketplace.com/?page_id=1112

      Earnings Panel on Concordia Market

      The Earnings panel will show the sales performance of the shop.  The lower portion of the panel can be used to export the earnings report of the shop.

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