Why would I use a MicroStore?

MicroStores are essentially a targeted version of your existing website, and in certain scenarios can add a huge amount of value to your existing data. For example:

- Create a MicroStore that only shows products for a specific brand:

You could use this type of store to potentially attract CO-OP dollars from a vendor by offering to create a banner for them that links to their featured MicroStore on your site. When the user clicks the banner (or visits the link), they will see the MicroStore landing page and will then only see the products for that specific brand when shopping.

- Create MicroStores by user segments/verticals:

You could use this type of store to offer a specialized shopping experience to a particular vertical. You could create a MicroStore for janitorial customers, and another for MRO customers, and another for fastener customers. You could offer a tailored shopping experience to customers that would allow them to shop for the items that their customer type typically finds most relevant.

How does a user experience the MicroStore?

Once a user chooses to view a MicroStore (either by clicking a link or visiting the MicroStore page), the user will be "attached" to that particular MicroStore until their session expires. A session is typically terminated after 20 minutes of inactivity. Other things can also cause a session to expire such as clearing cookies, internet provider issues, or server resets. When a user’s session expires, they will then view your full site again instead of the MicroStore. A user who wishes to view your full site again can do so by using the "Click here to return to viewing our full site" link in the MicroStore banner.

Does the entire site change based on a MicroStore?

No. A MicroStore is simply an extension of your existing site. All existing links, navigation, colors, home page elements, banner images, etc. will remain the same. A MicroStore is not a separate entity from your live site but is a co-branded user experience for a subset of products that you designate.

Click on a MicroStore's name to enter Edit mode for that MicroStore. Click the red X to the right of the name to delete the MicroStore from the website.

To add a new MicroStore, click the "Add MicroStore" button. A creation wizard will help you create a new store. Use the field descriptions in the next step to help.

The edit screen presents several configurable options:

1. MicroStore Information is the meta-data related to the selected MicroStore.
   • Name - Required Field - This becomes part of the MicroStore's URL (In this example, the Name is "stanley" and the URL is /mstore/stanley ). Use only letters, numbers, and hyphens in this field, and keep good URL practices in mind.
   • Description - For future use.
   • Title - Required Field - The MicroStore will include a banner that reads "You are viewing our [Store Title Value] specialty site. Click here to return to viewing our full site."
2. "Image" allows you to configure the "sticky" banner image that the user sees at the top of each page while they're in the selected MicroStore. This image appears only when the user is in a MicroStore session. It does not appear any other time.
   • Image - Select a file from the drop-down list. The list is created from files found in the folder /Images/MicroStore in the File Manager tool.  You can upload an image for selection using the "Upload Image" button.
   • Alt Tag - This is hidden text that is used as the Alt Tag on the selected image. Alt Tag is used as a description for images on the web. The description is read by web crawlers from search engines, as well as screen readers (browsers for visually impaired people).
   • Height - Refers to the height of the banner image, measured in pixels.
   • Background Color - Fills in the banner in sections not covered by the selected image. You can use simple values like "red" or "green", but for best results, use HTML hex codes. Here is a simple color picker tool that will help you get those hex codes.
3. Filter to Apply - Select the type of filter and the filter value you want to use to determine which items will appear in the MicroStore. You can use Brand or Supplier Name, Supplier ID, Category ID Path (uses the Category ID rather than Category Name), or Product Tags to determine the list of items that will be available on the selected MicroStore. You can currently create your MicroStore catalog based on one (1) applied filter.
4. Selected Filters - From here, you can remove applied filters from the list of filters that create your MicroStore E-Commerce catalog.
5. Landing Page - Choose the content page that will act as the "home page" for the selected MicroStore from a list of all available content pages. Select "Create New Page" at the top of the Page Name drop-down list to create a new content page to act as the MicroStore's landing page.
6. This is the relative link to the MicroStore's landing page. Give this link (along with your domain) to users to send them directly to the MicroStore. For example, the full link here would be www.yourDomain.com/mstore/stanley.
7. Be sure to click "Save" when you're finished editing. If you selected "Create New Page" on step 6, "Save" will direct you to create the new page.