Things go fast when it comes to SuiteCommerce product development. Only a few months ago we were introduced to SuiteCommerce Advanced Mont Blanc version, and now a new version called Vinson came out, bringing plenty cool features for SCA websites.
Let’s take this opportunity to highlight some of Vinson’s new features and efforts involved in migrating your SCA website to this version.
SuiteCommerce Categories
Let start with this very acclaimed feature – Categories! The lack of categories in SCA had many side-effects which impacted both in the shopping flow and website’s SEO. Up to now, SCA developers needed to custom build a category structure to accommodate these type of pages. Now is part of the native SCA offering available from NetSuite UI and Site Management Tools.
Store Locator
Also another popular feature that we have been able to deliver through customization, the Store Locator helps shoppers search (based on zip code, address or geolocation) store locations. Likewise, Manufacturing and W&D industry customers can use this feature as a dealer locator.
Product to Quote
Even though “Request a Quote” feature was released with Mont Blanc, where a “Request a Quote” link is displayed in the header of the shopping cart and my Account pages, Vinson version takes it to the next level by adding the capability of adding items to a quote directly from the product detail page.
Alternative Payment Methods at My Account
Another feature released with Mont Blanc but now enhanced in Vinson is supporting alternative payment methods / gateways at My Account (Customer Center) section. With Vinson, customers can select any payment method available at web store to pay outstanding invoices or quotes.
Stackable Promotions
Vinson supports adding multiple promo codes into the same order, allowing now merchants to take complex promotion rules into SuiteCommerce web stores. Provisioning of this feature requires contacting assigned NetSuite account manager.
Related to this point, Vinson now supports “Multi-Ship To” with promotions codes.
Cybersource Device Fingerprinting
(Also available for Site Builder)
Do you know what a device fingerprint is? … me neither. Let’s define this first – read below (taken from Cybersource website):
Fraudsters typically run their fraudulent transactions from the same computer system but try to mask certain aspects of the order such as the IP address of the computer, what country they’re in, etc. The device fingerprint attempts to use aspects of the computer that don’t typically change such as the operating system, browser, etc., and creates a unique “fingerprint” based on that information. Despite what the fraudster changes on the surface of the system, the fingerprint remains the same, and identifies the computer that the orders originate from.
Vinson version, through Cybersource, provides the capability of identifying probability of fraud on transactions entered into NetSuite. This feature requires a Cybersource payment profile set in NetSuite.
Pre-Populate Forms
What seems like a small enhancement is actually a major user experience improvement. How many times, at checkout, you get frustrated for entering the same information in multiple fields across the checkout pages? Well, starting with Vinson, shoppers will no longer go through these pains, as fields will get auto-populated assisting the shopper through the data entry process and making it faster to place the order.
SuiteCommerce Records
(Also available for Site Builder)
The idea behind these records is to allow merchants to perform basic website configurations, without the need to request the help of a developer. These records will help on many website setups such as: set checkout steps (including one-page checkout), layouts, search preferences, and my account options. This feature requires a bundle installation.
Vinson also comes with other improvements such as a newsletter sign-up form (one field) at footer (chances are that you already have this in place, but through a customization), allow shoppers not to save their credit card (keep on file) and ability to display a PO# field at checkout pages.
Migrating to Vinson
First thing you should take into consideration is that starting Denali version, the SCA website architecture had significant changes (to be fair, improvements). In any case these architectural changes impacts on the efforts required when upgrading from pre-Denali versions to Denali, Mont Blanc or the upcoming Vinson (all post-Denali versions).
If you are currently on Denali or post-Denali version then the migration to Vinson is relatively easy and straightforward. If you are currently on a pre-Denali version migration will take a larger effort, but it’s worth acting on it sooner than later to benefit from a better (and easy to maintain) architecture, plenty of new website features, and much better site performance.
