When you primarily or even solely rely on Ecommerce transactions in your business, the shopping cart is like the central nervous system to your entire website operation. With it being such a critical component of your site, there have been several new enhancements we are pleased to announce.

Empty Cart Message

This enhancement is seemingly simple but worthy of acknowledgment. Developers are often thought of as highly detailed, analytical, square and straight -laced. Stereotypes also depict them as awkward, and unsocial beings. However, the FASO developers, while highly detailed and analytical are also creative guys, full of personality with great senses of humor. Given the nature of the work they do, there times they express their creativity and humor in the product.  Early versions of the Empty Cart Message  read "Your cart is empty and Sad." After receiving customer feedback, it was decided to change the wording to simply "Your cart is empty."

Before:

After:

Hide Enter Discount Code Link

There has been two camps of thought regarding discounts in business. You are either in favor and open to offering them, given the opportunity, or you are adamantly opposed and offer no discounts for any reason. The same lines hold true in Ecommerce as well. The ability to allow an online customer the ability to enter a discount code during checkout has become a standard feature and expectation among shopping cart systems. Among the world of art retail and online art sales, the lines continue to be split down the middle as well. When the Discount Code was added to the FASO shopping cart, it was applied to all clients all the time by default. Artists could create discount codes in their control panel and share them with any of their clients they chose.

There were also artists who had no plan to offer discounts or had been contacted by their clients who thought the artist may have been withholding a deal from them and we began to receive requests to remove the Discount Code Link. Some coding was written enabling Support the ability to hide the Enter Discount Code link. While this was a workable solution, by analyzing additional client feedback, the developers modified the back end controls and added the enhancement allowing artists the ability to turn the Enter Discount Code Link on or off by simply changing a setting in the FASO control panel. 

The Enter Discount Code link is still active by default but now you have the choice to enable or disable it on your own without the need to call on the Support Team. In your control panel click the Gear Icon, then click Account Settings from the drop-down menu, then click Settings. 

On the next screen scroll down to the Commerce section, then you will see the setting Shopping Cart - Discount Code. It will be Enabled by default so if you want to disable it, simply click the Edit link.

On the setting control screen, click No, then click Save Setting.

After you disable the Discount Code, the pricing details section of the shopping cart will no longer show the Enter Discount Code link.

Opt In/Subscribe to Artist's Newsletter on Checkout

Another common and standard feature among shopping cart systems gives your customer the ability to opt-in to your newsletter.  The checkout screen in the FASO powered shopping cart is no exception. Here you will see the default checkout screen with the sleek field for your customer to enter their email address and check the nicely styled checkbox with a clear and somewhat standard worded call to action to "Please subscribe me to this artist's newsletter." 

As you are looking at the checkout screen, you are probably thinking, "yes, that is nice, but..." Let me stop you right there. If you were to add up the collective arts experience of the FASO team it is mind-blowing. This is to say we understand artists and know how you think. While you were looking at that standard nicely worded message, you were going to say, "It would nice if I could change the call to action message." Well, our awesome and creative developers have beat you to the request. In your control panel, click the Commerce button along the top button bar.

In the Commerce Settings scroll down to the bottom and located the last field labeled "Cart Newsletter Opt In Message." Enter your new message in this field and click the Save Changes button, then whatever you enter will replace the standard Please subscribe me to this artist's newsletter.

Please stay tuned, and follow along as we announce  product improvements and new features to the FASO platform. If you are a painter, remember, that painting on your easel is not going to paint itself! If you are a sculptor it is ok to chuckle at the painter, but keep in mind that huge rock or lump of clay isn't going to sculpt itself either.