A Systems Analysis and Upgrade of a Small

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A SENIOR PROJECT

BY PAUL LOUTHAN AA SSYYSSTTEEMMSS AANNAALLYYSSIISS AANNDD UUPPGGRRAADDEE OOFF AA SSMMAALLLL BBUUSSIINNEESSSS EECCOOMMMMEERRCCEE WWEEBBSSIITTEE

A SENIOR PROJECT

SUBMITTED TO THE

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

OREGON INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

PAUL LOUTHAN

JUNE 10, 2012

KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan

SENIOR PROJECT APPROVALS

This senior project, completed by Paul Louthan for the Bachelor of Science degree, was accepted by the evaluation committee and the Department of Management at the Oregon Institute of Technology.

COMMITTEE APPROVALS:

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Reviewer 1 Date

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Reviewer 2 Date

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Reviewer 3 Date

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Professor Grant Kirby Date Program Director (Oregon Institute of Technology)

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document is a record of the work done by Paul Louthan on a project to improve an existing e-commerce website by migrating to the Magento Go e-commerce software platform. This document describes the project, its objectives, stakeholders, planning and analysis, research results, scope, risk assessment, external inputs, solution outline, management model, success metrics, timeline, and summary of unresolved issues. It also includes an appendix, which contains the project proposal, analysis support documentation, design elements, list of product features and capabilities, cost structure, screenshots, and other resources.

The e-commerce website, www.kingsmums.com, is a major asset of King’s Mums, LLC, a small business located in Oregon City, owned and operated by Ray and Kim Gray. The business is a greenhouse nursery that specializes in propagating over 400 varieties of exhibition, garden, and vintage chrysanthemums, which it sells and ships to customers throughout the United States and Canada as rooted plant cuttings. During production season, which runs from January through the end of June, King’s Mums earns an annual revenue of just over $100,000. Approximately 60% of the company’s orders are received through its website while the remaining 40% are accepted via catalog mail- order, phone, fax, or email.

The original website and administrative interface was created in 2008 by a free-lance IT consultant. From the beginning, the website and accompanying order management software was obsolete and difficult to use. In order to fully automate transactions, provide improved customer experiences, and better compete with alternative chrysanthemum suppliers, the website design, functionality, and feature-set needed a substantial overhaul—or a complete redesign—from the top down to the bottom, with special considerations for the logistical and practical needs of the business owners as well as their customers. This project addressed those needs.

This report documents the results of Paul Louthan’s work on this website upgrade project. It explains how he analyzed the existing website, business systems, and processes, and subsequently researched alternative solutions, including available e- commerce software platforms, web development tools, design standards, and security considerations, as well as competing industry solutions and standards employed by similar businesses. This report explains how and why he ultimately selected the Magento Go e-commerce software platform to address the needs of the King’s Mums website, and how he used the Magento Go software to design, develop, and plan for full implementation of the new e-commerce solution as a replacement to the existing website and management software.

This document shows how the new e-commerce software improves common customer experience for tasks such as browsing and navigation, searching for products, placing

June 10, 2012 Page 3 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan orders, and finding information. This report gives details on how this project expands website features, improves data quality, simplifies employee-facing software interfaces, and makes placing repeat-orders easier for customers. In addition, this document explains how this upgrade project has automated King’s Mums’ web order transactions and thus eliminated the need for an employee to process each order manually. This document explains how the new e-commerce software reduces the likelihood of human errors and improves overall efficiency. Finally, this document reports on the progress of the project so far, summarizes unresolved issues, and specifies the remaining tasks and timeline to complete the project.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to the many people who have made this project possible and helped me along the way, especially OIT faculty and students, as well as my family. In particular, I wish to express my sincere thanks to the following key individuals:

• Ray and Kim Gray, the dedicated owners and operators of King’s Mums, for their detailed feedback, helpful suggestions, endless support, continued patience, and their willingness to entrust me with a task so important to their business. • Ivan Gray, for his help with the analysis of existing systems and configurations, his extensive knowledge of the technical aspects of King’s Mums’ business arrangements, and his encouragement and support. • Ken Brueck, for lending his valuable time, technical expertise in graphic design and web development, and for his many words of encouragement. • Professor Grant Kirby, for his advice and mentoring throughout all phases of this project, and especially with regard to project planning, management, and documentation. • My wife, Beverly, for her special expertise in capturing, organizing, and providing the beautiful, high-quality images of countless chrysanthemums; her technical knowledge in using Adobe Photoshop for image editing; and her indispensable advice and guidance throughout the life of this project, from its inception all the way through its continuing development.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

SENIOR PROJECT APPROVALS ...... 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... 6 CHAPTER 1 : PROJECT OVERVIEW ...... 7 PROJECT OVERVIEW ...... 7 PROBLEM DEFINITION ...... 9 PROBLEM SIGNIFICANCE ...... 10 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ...... 11 MAJOR MILESTONES AND TIMELINE ...... 12 CHAPTER 2 : PLANNING, RESEARCH, & ANALYSIS ...... 17 WEBSITE REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW ...... 17 RESEARCH & ANALYSIS OF E-COMMERCE INFORMATION SYSTEMS ...... 17 STATE OF THE ART OF E-COMMERCE ...... 21 SUMMARY ...... 21 CHAPTER 3 : DESCRIPTION OF WEBSITE FEATURES ...... 22 OVERVIEW ...... 22 FUNCTIONAL AND NON-FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS ...... 22 CHAPTER 4 : DESCRIPTION OF WEBSITE DESIGN ...... 24 OVERVIEW OF GOALS & OBJECTIVES ...... 24 WEBSITE DESIGN ELEMENTS ...... 24 SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS & DEPENDENCIES ...... 25 WEBSITE DESIGN TOOLS & SOFTWARE ...... 26 CHAPTER 5 : PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ...... 27 OVERVIEW ...... 27 TEST PLANS & BETA TESTING ...... 27 INSTALLATION OF FINAL PROJECT ...... 27 MANUALS AND OTHER DOCUMENTATION ...... 27 CHAPTER 6 : SUMMARY ...... 29 OVERVIEW ...... 29 PROJECT SUMMARY ...... 29 FUTURE DIRECTION & IMPROVEMENTS ...... 29 REFERENCES ...... 30 APPENDICES ...... 31 APPENDIX A : PROPOSAL ...... 31 APPENDIX B : ANALYSIS SUPPORT DOCUMENTATION ...... 55 APPENDIX C : DESIGN ELEMENTS ...... 67 APPENDIX D : IMPLEMENTATION ...... 76

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Chapter 1: PROJECT OVERVIEW

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The purpose of this project was to improve the functionality and user experience of the KingsMums.com e-commerce website for both customers and employees. The main goals of the project were to create greater customer satisfaction, reduce order processing time and errors, and increase yearly sales.

The project included a thorough planning and systems analysis phase, which involved a comprehensive review of all of the processes and functions of the current website and e-commerce management software, as well as identification of areas requiring major improvement. I carefully compared and contrasted the King's Mums website against those operated by industry peers and competitors, and I performed extensive research and analysis of all feasible solutions in order to gain an informed perspective of the wide range of prices and capabilities of all available software platforms. In addition, I considered whether I could feasibly modify the existing e-commerce software package to include the desired functionality at minimal cost and within a reasonable time frame.

After performing the research and review of feasible solutions, as well as the analysis of industry standards and competitors, I determined that attempting to modify the existing e-commerce software to add the newly required features was not feasible. Such an endeavor would be much too big and far too complex for my personal skill set and proposed time frame. My intention for this project was not to “re-invent the wheel” after all.

Therefore, I selected an e-commerce software platform and used it to begin development on a new website to replace the old one. I reasoned that by customizing a so-called ‘off-the-shelf’ e-commerce software platform, I could build the website on top of a full-featured, industry-proven shopping cart architecture. In this way, I could provide a much better quality solution overall—for both King’s Mums and its customers—and I could provide it much more quickly. The owners of King’s Mums accepted this plan. However, they wanted to ensure that any new software system would be able to incorporate all of features of the old website, and that it would not trade-off any of the unique and essential functionality of the old custom-built software for new features that they were not yet certain they needed. In other words, they did not want compromise the functionality they already had. I accepted this challenge and responsibility.

Initially, I selected an e-commerce software called Magento Community Edition (Magento CE). It is a free, open-source version of Magento, which is also available as a paid solution with varying levels of features and support. I signed up and paid for a basic,

June 10, 2012 Page 7 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan shared hosting package from a web hosting company called Bluehost. As part of their service, they provided me with a product called Simple Scripts, which automated the installation of Magento CE onto the hosted server for me. I began learning, exploring, and customizing the software to the requirements of the King’s Mums website. However, after working on the website for about 2 weeks, I had only managed to achieve some basic configuration changes, and I could not figure out how to complete some of the essential functions required in order to customize the website to my needs.

One day, while I was experimenting with some security settings, I inadvertently disabled access to certain secure parts of my storefront. I tried to reverse my actions, but the administrative panel would no longer save any of my changes. In effect, I had broken my software installation, and unfortunately, I had not set up any sort of backup mechanism for this type of contingency. Now I had to decide between either investing time into trying to fix the issue, or simply re-installing the software and starting over from scratch. I did not know if it was even possible to fix the issue, and I had not made so many changes that reinstalling would have set me back too long. However, I had begun to doubt whether I would be able to learn to use the software quickly enough to make re- installation worth the time and effort. I decided to look for a third option. It was at that point in time that I stumbled upon Magento Go.

Magento Go is a subscription-based, retail version of Magento designed specifically for small and emerging businesses. Unlike many paid e-commerce services (such as Yahoo! Small Business), Magento go does not charge a percentage on transaction fees and only charges an exceptionally low monthly rate. In addition, Magento Go offers a free 30-day trial, of which I took advantage at first.

Getting started with Magento Go was much easier than with Magento CE, largely because the Magento Go product provides customers with a wide range of help and resources, such as how-to videos and excellent knowledge base articles—not to mention support via email and live chat available 24 hours a day, seven day per week. The open-source version only offers community-based support through user-edited wikis and web forums. By comparison, the Magento Go software greatly simplifies the complex process of preparing a store for deployment.

Once I got started with Magento Go, development progressed much faster. I quickly learned how to configure and edit the website design and appearance. With the task of choosing a consistent design for the website out of the way, I began configuring the product catalog. This task involved setting up categories and entering product information. I learned how to create custom product attributes and configure product attribute sets, which allowed me to add highly customized products details to each catalog entry. Working with Ray and Kim Gray, I developed a set of descriptive, informative, and searchable attributes that are common to each chrysanthemum cultivar, which the storefront displays as additional product information for customers

June 10, 2012 Page 8 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan to view. I also developed and documented a specific convention for adding product data to help maintain consistency throughout the range of catalog products. I learned how to configure the rules that dynamically control the pages on which products appear. In addition, I learned how to export and import product data to and from a .CSV file for easier spreadsheet management.

I continued by designing and editing the appearance and content of the homepage as well as the material of some of the static content pages. This required me to use some basic HTML as well as XML coding, to which I am not very familiar. Fortunately, the software does provide a built-in WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. Developing the homepage and other pages required me to learn how to properly use Adobe Photoshop to efficiently edit and prepare images, banner blocks, and logos for display on the web.

Finally, I developed pricing algorithms to match King’s Mums business logic, set up some basic payment options, configured shipping cost algorithms, and I tested the system’s transactional email services.

To get the website ready for deployment, a lot more work must be completed, but I have made a great deal of progress. I have become much more familiar with the software as well as the remaining issues that I will need to address before I can complete the project.

PROBLEM DEFINITION

The current website lacks many of the standard features of a modern e-commerce store, such as basic tools that allow customers to easily navigate and search for products, view their order status or order history, view and post product reviews, use multiple payment options, designate separate shipping and billing addresses, and receive immediate feedback on order submissions. In addition, the current website lacks the capability to validate and process transactions in real time; an employee must manually process each transaction submitted via the website.

For example, when a customer places and order, their personal billing data and order information submitted via kingsmums.com and is temporarily saved in an online database. At the time of submission, the address field in the order form does not validate or check the address against an address database. Thus the customer may unwittingly enter and incorrect address, and neither the customer nor the business have any way of knowing that they have entered the wrong address, until it the time comes to print shipping labels. Dazzle, the shipping software used by King’s Mums, does validate destination addresses. However, by the time the address is printed to a shipping

June 10, 2012 Page 9 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan label, the customer is no longer readily available to correct a faulty address. The shipment may have to be delayed until the customer can be contacted. In addition, the incorrect address will have already been printed incorrectly on receipts and packing slips.

In addition, when billing for each order is processed, all customer and order data (except credit card information) is copied from the online database to a local database. Credit card data is manually processed via a credit card terminal and then deleted. While this system has worked in the past, it is slow, cumbersome, and does not scale well. Any increase in orders creates a proportional and unnecessary increase in transaction processing work. This requires the employees to take time away from managing other aspects of the business.

King’s Mums also accepts orders via email, fax, standard mail, and occasionally over the phone. Customer data and order information from those orders is also manually entered and stored in the local database. The entry form fields are unlabeled, often causing confusion and occasional human input errors. Also, the system completely lacks many necessary data fields.

Along with theses many logistical issues, the appearance of the website storefront is aesthetically unpleasing. It is plane and disorganized. The design also contains some strange quarks. For example, not all navigational features are present or located in the same place on every page. In fact, the appearance may negatively affect customers’ trust and willingness to make a purchase on the website. If they cannot find what they are looking for within a few minutes, they may give up.

PROBLEM SIGNIFICANCE

Prompt and efficient order processing is an important part of good customer service and is an essential function in retaining customers and earning revenue. Any inefficiencies and time drains associated with the process are unnecessary because the process can be automated for such a reasonable, low cost. Business managers and employees are better off spending their time focusing on other important aspects of the business, such as strategic planning and customer service.

Aside from orders placed through its annually printed catalog, 61 percent of King’s Mums 2011 orders (and 64 percent of its total revenue) were received through its website. It is clear that the website is the company’s main point of interface with the majority of its customers. Therefore, the kingsmums.com website is one of the company’s primary assets, and it should reflect that. However, in its present state, it stands in great need of improvement, both in functionality and in appearance.

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The long-term growth and success of the company is dependent upon its ability to appeal to current patrons as well as attract new customers to order via its website. By improving the functionality and user experience of their website, King’s Mums will greatly benefit. Customer satisfaction will improve, order-processing time and errors will be reduced, and yearly website sales will increase.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Chrysanthemum nurseries and other specialty flower greenhouses like this one have faced similar, if not the exact same business challenges as King’s Mums. The first owner of King’s Mums, Ted King, established the nursery in 1954 and mailed out his first official catalog in 1967. Like many businesses, it survived throughout all these years, long before the advent of the commercial Internet in the mid-1990s. With more and more web- savvy customers logging onto the web to go shopping, e-commerce has become for many customers a trusted and preferred method for purchasing all types of products. For businesses that provide rare or obscure products or services, the web has helped them to connect to even more customers who are searching for their products than ever before. Younger customers are less and less willing to use a printed catalog to place mail, phone, or fax orders. This means that companies’ are becoming increasingly dependent on their website(s) to handle all of their commercial transactions. Expanding a business to include some sort of web presence is now considered an absolute necessity.

When Ray and Kim Gray purchased the business from Ted King and assumed management over the business in late 2008, they inherited a website that provided only basic informational services. Potential customers could view pictures and product descriptions, but they could not place orders through the website. Customers could actually fill out an order form on one of the pages, but it was only intended to be printed and sent through standard mail along with a check—the only form of payment that was accepted at that time. The previous owner had decided that accepting credit cards and other forms of payment was just too expensive.

The new management wanted to ensure that they made it as easy as possible for their customers to place orders. That meant they needed to accept orders through the website and accepting all major credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. In order to protect their profit margins, they simply increased the price of their products by a small amount. Unfortunately, they did not any experience in setting up a modern e-commerce website. They did not know how to do it themselves nor did they have an understanding of current solution options and best practices. They knew they wanted to create something as inexpensively as possible, but also had no knowledge or exposure to shopping cart software available at that time.

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Ray and Kim eventually contacted a local free-lance IT consultant for help. The consultant obliged and took over responsibility for developing a customized solution for a very low cost. Ray wanted something that would allow him to easily edit the website himself, and he asked the consultant to provide a solution that would give him the capability to do that. It turned out much differently than Ray had hoped.

The consultant actually used an existing homegrown software application that had been previously developed for a country grain supplier and modified it for use at King’s Mums. Therefore, the core software was not actually written specifically for King’s Mums. Because of this, many quirky problems and diverse issues often present themselves. Besides the fact that the software is not being used as it was originally intended, it is not user-friendly and many form fields are unlabeled. In addition, it is quite buggy, unstable (it closes unexpectedly quite often), and difficult to install. On more than one occasion, customers have had to call in to place orders simply because the checkout process does not work or confuses them. They sometimes even complain that it is one of the worst websites they have ever used.

Even though the IT consultant initially provided the software at a very nominal price, he has begun to charge much higher rates for ongoing maintenance and customization. To be sure, the consultant has actually improved the software quite a lot since it was first deployed. Ultimately, however, the software application he provided was advertised as a good, low-cost solution; in reality, it has been comparatively expensive and does not meet many of the needs of the business. Additionally, the IT consultant has not been a particularly good communicator, and does not always quickly reply or provide the maintenance and services requested by Ray.

With all of the time, money, and experience invested into this old software, one might ask whether Ray and Kim would be willing to start over with a new unknown solution. The answer is of course yes. Ray and Kim are eager to improve their business in any way they can even if that means transitioning to a new e-commerce application. When I first offered to take on such a project, Ray told me that any help I could provide would be more-than-welcome. He only stipulated that it had to be better than what they already have, and meet their logistical needs.

MAJOR MILESTONES AND TIMELINE

In this section, I will provide detailed explanation of how I proceeded through my project. I will include a table with a list of deliverables and dates showing when I completed each item. In addition, I will discuss how I plan to complete the remainder of this project.

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND MAJOR MILESTONES

When I started this project and composed the proposal, I had no experience as an official project manager, and I had virtually no familiarity with web design or e- commerce software. Overall, I had very little understanding of the processes and tasks that would be required of me to complete the project. Nevertheless, I created a schedule to help me manage my time and track my progress throughout the project. I used all of the experience and judgment I could assemble and then put my best effort into making educated guesses concerning what I would need to do.

In general, my plan included two major phases. First, I was to do extensive research of available free and low-cost e-commerce off-the-shelf solutions, and then select the best option. Second, I was to customize the selected solution to fit the specialized needs of the King’s Mums business. I followed this general plan throughout the course of my project, but as for my detailed plan, I strayed quite a lot, and I quickly got very behind my planned and documented schedule, which was very unfortunate. I did my best to catch up and keep up, but I think that my inexperience in planning such a large and foreign undertaking played a role in my inability to stay on schedule. It was a good learning experience, however. In the future, I will do my best to do a better job of under-promising, and over-delivering, rather than vice versa. For reference, I have included a table with an accurate list of my deliverables and the dates I completed each corresponding task (see Figure 1 on page 16).

While many of the tasks and milestones that I scheduled and setup for myself were realistic and helpful, many were simply not required in order to complete the project. To an equal degree, I completed many tasks and would-be milestones that I simply had not understood or predicted that I would need to perform. As I worked to get the website up and running, the tasks and procedures that occupied the large part of my schedule included the following:

• Research web host provider offerings • Select and purchase a suitable web host provider and account • Learn how access and use my web hosting account • Learn about web hosting backup technology • Scour knowledge base articles, web forums, and wikis to learn how to use Magento CE • Analyze, compare, and choose and a design template • Configure and edit the design template • Learn how to efficiently edit photos in Photoshop • Design and produce a new logo • Design and produce banner blocks • Proofread and edit old website text and product descriptions

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• Configure and edit the product catalog • Configure and edit product categories • Develop a list of standard chrysanthemum attributes and configure the properties of those attributes for optimized searching • Procure and prepare new product images from a set of disorganized hard drives • Learn how to import and export product data to and from a spreadsheet for simplified editing • Learn where to find and how to install extensions and add-on modules • Design and code a new homepage • Design and code other static web pages • Learn how to configure product pricing algorithms to match King’s Mums’ current business logic • Research and Set up payment options • Configure shipping options • Configure and test transactional email services

The tasks listed above supplanted unnecessary tasks that I had originally scheduled for completion during the Spring 2012 Term, such as:

• Create an ERD • Write any necessary SQL queries • Create a test plan for the database • Test queries • Develop and code reports • Test reports

Some incomplete tasks that I did plan into my original schedule, and that I will still need to complete include the following:

• Write a test plan • Perform integration testing • Perform system testing • Perform security testing • Perform usability/ alpha testing • Perform live beta testing • Review test results with client; get feedback

Of course, several other tasks remain before I finish and this website can be successfully deployed. These tasks are as follows:

• Finish adding all catalog products • Configure an automatic and regular backup service

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• Determine whether existing product and order history should be imported • Install or develop a module for the checkout script that allows customers to select a shipping date from a dropdown box • Develop a report that will print out a production list based on the shipping date • Create a catalog request form, separate from the existing “contact us” form • Create a catalog request report • Add a link to enable customers to download and view a PDF copy of the annual catalog • Add a quick order form that allows customers to add products to their cart by entering SKU numbers and quantities into the form • Configure a shipping price algorithm to accurately calculate shipping costs to match King’s Mums’ unique shipping prices. • Select and configure a credit card payment gateway service, such as PayPal • Add more static content pages • Add and configure more banners and static blocks • Transfer the website to the KingsMums.com domain • Prepare a grand-re-opening email campaign for the new store • Launch the store

Clearly, many tasks remain to be completed. I am planning to put more time and energy into the project in late August and early September, and I plan to finish the website by mid-September, before fall term begins. This plan should give me adequate time to resolve even the most difficult and challenging issues that remain, such as adding the “select shipping date” dropdown box functionality, the catalog request form, and the quick order form.

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Figure 1 – This table shows my scheduled plan of tasks, dates, and completed and incomplete deliverables.

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Chapter 2: PLANNING, RESEARCH, & ANALYSIS

WEBSITE REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW

This upgrade project incorporated features and functionality to meet the specified requirements outlined in the Requirements Breakdown Structure (see Figure 3 in the addendum of the project proposal, located in the appendix, on page 49).

This project included two major functional requirements: first, implement a customer account center for common self-service needs; second, simplify business administration processes by centralizing product and customer information. These requirements are additional to the existing functionality of the existing website, e.g. the capability for customers to view available products, find basic growing information, place orders, submit billing information, and specify a shipping date. Administrators require the existing capability to view and manage orders, print order and shipping reports, and print labels for plant cuttings.

Each of the above functional requirements consists of supporting non-functional requirements. I explain the full details of both the functional and non-functional requirements and discuss how each feature plays a supporting role in the new e- commerce software in Chapter 3: Description of Website Features.

RESEARCH & ANALYSIS OF E-COMMERCE INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Many practical alternatives were available to solve the problems of the existing website and take advantage of opportunities presented by this project. I discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a few below.

One possible solution was to keep the existing e-commerce software and develop new features and functionality into it. I explored this alternative. While it may have been a viable option within a wider time frame, I determined that I did not have enough time to adequately familiarize myself with the intricacies of existing software, nor did I have time to learn all the necessary skills that are required to complete such work within the project’s allotted time schedule. In addition, this solution is very risky because the existing website’s codebase may contain unknown problems or limitations. Acquiring flexible software that already meets most of the project requirements will be much faster and a more efficient use of time. While an incremental website development method may have facilitated a less disruptive transition for stakeholders, I believe the nature and urgency of the problems associated with the current website called for an immediate solution, rather than a gradual one.

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Other options include much more expensive and risky development alternatives. Such options include paying the full market price to contract a new outside professional or firm to consult and develop the new website. This would likely lead to the highest quality solution, but would incur excessive costs. Finally, another option would permit the current IT contractor, Philip Parshley, to continue to slowly and incrementally develop the website from its current state. To-date, this approach has proven to be slow and relatively expensive. Monthly costs vary widely, but the arrangement with Philip typically costs between $2000 and $3,000 per year.

None of the above alternatives was a desirable option. The project sponsors, due to the nature of their business and its limited capital, preferred a solution that would offer low annual costs and allowed them to update and control website content and products on their own.

CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Content Management Systems (CMS) are applications that enable easy administration and maintenance of static web content. Well-known and popular CMS products available today include WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. Others are available through my Blue Host web hosting account, including ocPortal, MODx, e107, Mambo, XOOPS, PHP-Nuke, and phpwcms. For a while, I considered building the website based on Joomla. However, instead of using a one of these dedicated CMS applications, I eventually determined that I needed an e-commerce product that integrated and natively included this type of CMS functionality. It turns out that many e-commerce products include such functionality, including Magento. That is one of many reasons I ultimately selected it.

SHOPPING CART SYSTEMS

E-commerce software is sometimes called shopping cart software. A shopping cart is a ubiquitously used analogy to describe a website software application that allows customers to select products (just as they would in a physical store) and save them in a container until they are ready to checkout. The shopping cart software does the job of remembering all of the products that were selected for purchase and totals them up at the time of purchase. Many shopping cart applications also provide services to allow customers to select a shipping option, and to specify billing information for payment. These are common functions that most web users are familiar with today. However, shopping cart software can be extremely complex. Modern, full-featured e-commerce software includes expansive functionality and hundreds of features, from automated transactional email services to real-time order tracking.

The number and diversity of e-commerce software applications currently offered is incredible. I was very surprised at how many options are available. Some are free, open

June 10, 2012 Page 18 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan source packages; others are available only upon payment. Prices vary widely. Some are available only through a subscription, and others can be obtained by paying a one-time license fee. Each shopping cart purports to have the best and widest ranging feature set, but this obviously cannot be true. Some are better suited for specialized purposes, such as for selling digital downloads. Features, flexibility, functionality, security, cost, and support all vary widely. I seriously considered offerings from Yahoo! Small Business, ShopSites, and Homestead. Other alternatives that I investigated briefly include 3dCart, ZenCart, OpenCart, PrestaShop, CubeCart, OSCommerce, AgoraCart, and TomatoCart. An incomplete list of many e-commerce applications is available in Appendix B-1, found on page 55. Notable resources that I used as a starting point for finding and researching e-commerce applications are Wikipedia articles located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Open_Source_eCommerce_Software and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_shopping_cart_software.

I chose to use Magento for many reasons. Mainly I felt it had the best feature-set and yet it is very flexible and customizable. Magento is very popular. The company boasts that its software has been downloaded over 4 million times and that over 100,000 stores actively run on the Magento platform.

A full list of the features included in Magento Go is given in Appendix B-3, on page 62.

PAYMENT GATEWAY SYSTEMS

Magento allows me to choose from a variety of payment gateway systems, which are an essential component in receiving payment when a customer buys something from the store. The gateway system includes the functionality that allows customers’ payments to be processed in real time—a core requirement of the upgraded website. In specific to Magento Go the following payment options are available:

Payment Gateways: • Authorize.net • Authorize.net Direct Post • Braintree • Card Gate Plus • CCAvenue • CyberSource • DIBS Payment Services • eWay • Google Checkout • Ogone • PAYBOX • PAYONE • PayPal Express Checkout • PayPal Website Payments Pro • PSIGate • Sage Pay

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• WorldPay

Payment Methods: • Credit Card • Check or Money Order • Gift Cards • Purchase Order • Store Credits • Zero subtotal checkout I have not yet selected a vendor to process payments for the store. I may need to sign up with a new payment gateway vendor because King’s Mums’ current credit card payment processor, Elavon, does not readily support a plug-in for Magento Go (although it does for Magento CE). I will contact Magento Go support and Elavon find out if the two can work together. If not, I will need to consult with the storeowners before making a final decision on another payment processor. However, I have examined the costs and features available through PayPal, and I have begun an analysis of King’s Mums’ existing payment processing solution, which is a keypad-operated point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

The reason Ray and Kim have opted to use this payment processing solution up until now is that it is inexpensive, costing only 1.99 percent, plus $0.27 per transaction. However, Ray and Kim are not familiar with all the details of the service agreement, and there may be other fees associated with it that are as yet unknown to me. I have not yet been able to get the full cost summary, but I suspect that there may also be an annual fee, and perhaps an equipment rental fee, causing it to be more expensive than the monthly statements make it appear. Ray and Kim are unsure, and I will eventually need to uncover this data in order to make an informed decision regarding a new payment gateway. One thing is certain; using a POS terminal to manually process every transaction is a tedious and time-consuming to task. It may be an unavoidable chore for mail orders, but not for Internet orders. According to an Elavon document furnished by Ray and Kim, Elavon offers the same discount rate (1.99 percent) for Internet merchants as it does for mail/telephone-order merchants. This rate is offered through a special partnership for Costco members. The updated version of the document and offer is available online at http://www.elavon.com/acquiring/costco/. It would probably be worthwhile to try to keep those good rates if possible.

PayPal is widely used and very popular, but it is more expensive. It costs 2.99 percent, plus $0.30 per transaction. However, there are no setup, annual, or monthly fees. PayPal provides a full set of services and can process payments from all major credit cards and debit cards in addition to allowing customers to pay using their trusted PayPal account—all without redirecting customers away from the store interface. With a Pro account, a virtual POS terminal can be used to process credit card and debit payments that are made by customers through the King’s Mums mail catalog.

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STATE OF THE ART OF E-COMMERCE

The e-commerce industry is really a very complex and vast marketplace. New technologies and services appear to be springing up everywhere. During the process of my research and analysis of e-commerce software applications, I found dozens of high quality, well documented and supported free/open-source projects as well as hundreds of proprietary, licensed solutions. This is a testament to me that there is no longer any reason to develop a website of any type from scratch.

Magento itself only started as recently as early 2007 when its then developer, Varien (now Magento, Inc.), began the project as a OSCommerce fork. The project changed course and the first public beta version of a completely re-written shopping cart software was released on August 31, 2007. The first full production version was launched on March 31, 2008 (Wikipedia). It has received regular updates since then, and has been widely acclaimed for its flexibility and ease of use. In 2009, Magento announced its Enterprise Edition offering, and in 2011 and Magento was acquired by eBay (Warren, 2011).

With the likes of Google, eBay, and Amazon along with thousands of other independent e-commerce stores battling it out for market share, the World Wide Web has become a crowded place. And yet it still continues to offer unprecedented growth for small businesses who want to try to connect with a larger audience. Luckily, the technology enabling such connections is continuing to expand and it is becoming easier and easier to use. In today’s marketplace, almost anyone can start a web store and sell something. Doing a good job at it, however, is not something that everyone can do. This project has opened my eyes and taught me a great deal about this industry and how it works.

SUMMARY

Creating an online store may seem at first like a very simple process. After researching, analyzing, and considering all the requirements and functions that combine to create the customer’s experience, I now realize that e-commerce is an extremely complex field to work in. Even for a very simple store employed by this small business, there are hundreds of features and settings in place to merchandize and sell the products, facilitate the transactions, and create a positive overall experience for the customer. A good e- commerce website requires close attention to all of these details to make this happen.

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Chapter 3: DESCRIPTION OF WEBSITE FEATURES

OVERVIEW

The Magento Go platform supports most of the requirements of the new website right out of the box. It provides a rich set of features to help create an attractive and flexible web store. It provides an accessible and easy to use administrative interface and an intuitive and familiar storefront interface for customers.

FUNCTIONAL AND NON-FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS

A customer account center is a common feature in many e-commerce websites, and usually includes many features, functions, and tools. The most basic of these functional requirements includes allowing a user to create an account. This basic task involves many non-functional requirements, such as a database that is able to accept and manage data fields such as username, password, first name, last name, company name, shipping address, and an optional alternate billing address. Each time the customer returns to the customer account center, they are required to log in. A non-functional requirement of this feature involves username and password validation and a mechanism to recover the forgotten password. Once inside the customer account center, a user must be able to manage account preferences. Non-functional software and database mechanisms must be in place to allow the customer to change their account information, opt in or out for email subscriptions, manage and validate multiple shipping and billing addresses, and manage and validate multiple payment methods.

Allowing customers to view an order-processing status and order history is a functional requirement and a feature included in the Magento software. It is supported by Magento’s non-function requirements, which include installation and access to a MySQL database. That database supports many Magento features, which are powered by queries that select relevant database fields, such as customer name, customer ID, order ID, order date, products ordered, quantities ordered, and prices. I selected Magento CE in part because installation and maintenance of an appropriate database is included during software installation. With Magento Go, the service completely automates the database installation process and hides it from the user. However, I still had to modify the database attributes, fields, and table properties. The resulting application enables customers to re-order all or selected products from their previous orders.

Features that allow cross-compatibility with the annual mail catalog are required. For example, many customers of King’s Mums that have traditionally placed orders only

June 10, 2012 Page 22 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan through the catalog are beginning to use the website. Many of these customers prefer to use the printed catalog to browse and build an order list. However, they place their order through the website. Therefore, a requirement of the new website is to enable customers to easily do this by entering product SKUs from the catalog along with quantities into an order form on a provided a web page. The SKUs entered into the form are saved to the shopping cart and are totaled at checkout. The non-functional requirement supporting this feature involves custom form design with database integration. I have not yet completed this requirement and hope to find an add-on module or extension that I can simply install as a plug-in to enable this functionality on the new website. I have observed other Magento-powered websites with this functionality (such as groworganic.com), and I hope to replicate their inclusion of this non-standard feature. See http://www.groworganic.com/quick-order for an example. Likewise, customers wishing to browse and build an order list on the website are able to print the order list from the checkout screen and send it in with a check via traditional mail.

A related functional requirement (that was not included in the project proposal, but that has since been discovered) is the need for a catalog request page. This page includes a form that asks customers to specify their name, mailing address (including separate validated fields for street, city, state, and zip), email address (optional), and phone number (optional). This requirement has been made because customers often send emails or leave phone messages to request a catalog, but they forget to disclose their mailing address. Non-functional requirements to fulfill this functional requirement include building a webpage form and integrating it with the database. A notification of the request is also sent to the email address of the administrator. Again, this is a feature requirement that has not yet been met. An example of the catalog request feature has been identified and is located at http://www.groworganic.com/garden-catalog.html.

Simplifying office processes by centralizing product and customer information is a requirement that the Magento software meets. It enables this function through providing its software as a service (SaaS). Because the software is web-based, administrators can access if from any computer and no software installation is required. Customer and product data is stored and managed in the integrated online database. It is an integral feature of the new website and enables much simpler administration.

To gain a clear and comprehensive understanding of all the functional and non-functional requirements that I have summarized above, see the Requirements Breakdown Structure (Figure 3) in the addendum of the project proposal, located in the appendix of this document, on page 49.

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Chapter 4: DESCRIPTION OF WEBSITE DESIGN

OVERVIEW OF GOALS & OBJECTIVES

In this chapter, I provide a description of the website design elements. To accompany my description, and to better communicate my message, I have supplied screenshots to illustrate exactly how my design implementations are displayed on the website. These screenshots appear in Appendix C-1: Old and New – Sample GUI’s and Visual Design, which is found on page 67.

WEBSITE DESIGN ELEMENTS

The Magento Go platform takes care of much of the heavy work with regard to visual design elements. However, the software does allow a user to modify all elements of the graphical user interface (GUI) to his or her liking. I made some relatively minor modifications, but took advantage of a predesigned cascading style sheet (CSS) template that was provided free of charge with my trial account (I have since signed up for the basic monthly subscription). I altered the way that some of the default text was displayed and I removed the sample callout blocks and banners. I replaced these elements with very basic banners of my own. I also designed and inserted a logo, which appears at the same place on the top of every page, and on transactional emails and other correspondence.

A major design feature that I created is an important information architecture element and is shown in Figure 19 (see page 74, in Appendix C-1: Old and New – Sample GUI’s and Visual Design for details). Each product entry on the old website included a stock keeping unit (SKU) number, a name, a pair of dates, and a one or two sentences of description as shown in Figure 11on page 70. Often the name field also included a code number, but this code number was not identified in any way. This code number actually represents the flowers’ classification and its basic attributes. Many customers called or emailed to ask about these strange codes, but no explanation was ever added to the website.

I developed a design that would highlight these and other important attributes that are common to every chrysanthemum. My solution eliminates the confusion and at the same time capitalizes on an opportunity to help customers become more informed and engaged with the products. The result is a table that clearly and succinctly communicates the properties of each cultivar. On the new website, each product detail page (a view that did not exist on the old website at all) displays the name, description, and at least one image by default (as shown in Figure 18). When a customer wants to

June 10, 2012 Page 24 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan view more details about a particular flower, he or she clicks simply clicks on the “Detailed Attributes” tab and a table with 15 distinct data fields is presented, as shown in Figure 19.

In order to create the feature, I had to add and configure each attribute to a specific view of the database, which, in Magento Go, is only accessible through the Admin Panel graphic interface. The process necessitated that I gain an elementary knowledge of chrysanthemum classification, and subsequent development required several iterations before I got it right.

Given more time, I would like to try to make a few additional edits to the visual design of the storefront. But until other priorities are sorted out and the store is made ready for launch, such tinkering will have to wait.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS & DEPENDENCIES

Magento Go is hosted by Magento, so hosting it on one’s own server is unnecessary. However, it is widely known that it must be installed onto an Apache web server and it must use a MySQL database for storage. The store owners are indifferent to these requirements.

I will attempt to use existing assets, such as the current SSL certificate (from TrustKeeper) and the existing payment-processing vendor (Elavon). However, these can and will be consider sunk costs if it turns out that Magento Go cannot work with these services.

The major consideration for this project is the timing. The King’s Mums business operates seasonally from January through June. Therefore, it is essential that the switch from the old website to the new one occur during the off-season, in order to avoid any business disruption.

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WEBSITE DESIGN TOOLS & SOFTWARE

In completing the work for this project, I used a basic computer and a web browser very heavily. Primarily, I used Mozilla Firefox 11.0 for my browser. However, the browser and especially the computer operating system that I used were irrelevant; this project could have been completed from almost any type of modern computer, because the Magento Go software is based on the web. The Magento Go software I used in this project was version 1.0.0.32.

In addition to the software listed above, I used Adobe Photoshop CS 3 and CS 5 to create and edit some of the graphic elements of the interface, such as the logo, banner blocks, and product images.

All of the images on the website were provided courtesy of my hard working wife, Beverly. She uses a Canon 5D Mark II, which provides great photos with excellent depth of field effects.

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Chapter 5: PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

OVERVIEW

Once the project design is completed, testing will need to be done. Assuming that testing goes well, switching the website over from the old one to the new one should not be too difficult. It helps that during King’s Mums’ off-season, the website receives very little or no traffic. This will help make the switch a low-pressure situation.

TEST PLANS & BETA TESTING

I have not yet arrived at a point where testing is prudent. Many other issues and priorities need to be solved and handled before I perform testing. I will need to create some specific test plans that ensure realistic scenarios are working properly.

INSTALLATION OF FINAL PROJECT

Several important tasks will need to be handled at when the project is finalized and the product is ready for launch. I will need to point the DNS server for the kingsmums.com domain to the IP address of the new server, and I will need to transfer the SSL certificate from the old website to the new one. Much like everything in this project, I have never before performed either of these tasks. Fortunately, Magento Go provides many helpful support avenues in case I run into any issues during implementation.

I will also send out an email announcement to all of King’s Mums customers, notifying them of the new website, and inviting them to visit and see it.

MANUALS AND OTHER DOCUMENTATION

Magento Go provides a plethora of resources, including full documentation and support. The Magento Go User Guide is a comprehensive manual and includes everything one needs to start and manage a store. It includes 537 pages, complete with full color screenshots and example images. It can be downloaded in PDF format from http://info.magento.com/rs/magentocommerce/images/MagentoGo-UserGuide.pdf. A copy of the file is included on the data disc accompanying my documentation.

Magento Go also provides a 134-page Design Guide, found at http://info.magento.com/rs/magentocommerce/images/MagentoGo-DesignGuide.pdf and a Launch Guide that provides hyperlinks to essential resources and videos from within a

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PDF document. It can be downloaded from http://info.magento.com/rs/magentocommerce/images/MagentoGo- LaunchMyStoreGuide.pdf

Please note: The guides listed above are not included with my documentation, simply in an effort to avoid using so much paper.

Finally, Magento Go offers a fantastic knowledge base website. It is located at http://go.magento.com/support/kb/ and is very well organized and written. I must confess that I have used this particular resource more than I want to admit. It is very helpful.

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Chapter 6: SUMMARY

OVERVIEW

In this chapter, I provide a summary of my senior project experience, along with what I feel are my best achievements as well as some lessons learned.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Overall, I learned a great deal through working on this project. I learned a lot about web modern e-commerce and basic web development, but I also learned much about project management. I struggled to create my schedule during the planning and analysis phase, and when the time came to follow that schedule it was even more difficult to keep to that schedule. It was always a challenge to manage my time efficiently.

This project helped me learn that I simply need to jump in and get working. I probably spent too much time over-analyzing various shopping cart options and web hosting packages. I was afraid of making a mistake. In reality, when I just stopped over-thinking, and started doing, I began to get results. I would never have gotten anywhere if I had just continued looking at different e-commerce vendor websites.

I would not have stumbled onto the greatness of Magento Go if I had not first done some work and failed at it. The project taught me that it is okay to encounter failures. Adversity only makes us better at identifying solutions. During this project I had to learn about how to accept failures and move on. When tinkering caused me to have problems with Magento CE, that’s when I found Magento Go, and it was a much better solution for this project.

FUTURE DIRECTION & IMPROVEMENTS

I suppose that I may have set myself up to fail by attempting to complete such a large project with such a small amount of time and experience at my disposal. However I am glad that I was able to find a fun and challenging project to work on. It is also a project that was greatly needed. And it makes me happy to know that the clients are waiting with eager anticipation for the project’s completion.

I feel that the only way I could have successfully completed my project on time is by either choosing a different project—one that did not challenge me—or by better understanding and planning for the senior project experience. I think students need to

June 10, 2012 Page 29 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan be better informed about the senior project requirements starting when they begin their junior year. I only remember one reference to senior project during all my classes at here at OIT.

As I stated early in this report, I hope to complete this project and implement the website by mid-September. I have really enjoyed this experience so far. I will likely always continue to be an active developer and maintainer of the site. It feels really good to know that hard work and a job well done are being appreciated and used by many.

REFERENCES

Warren, C. (2011, June 6). eBay Acquires Open Source Ecommerce Company Magento. Retrieved from Social Media News and Web Tips – Mashable – The Social Media Guide: http://mashable.com/2011/06/06/ebay-acquires- magento/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3 A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Magento - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved June 1, 2012, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magento

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: PROPOSAL

KINGSMUMS.COM WEBSITE UPGRADE

SENIOR PROJECT PROPOSAL

Paul Louthan

December 4, 2011

Submitted to

Grant Kirby

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This is a project proposal to improve an existing e-commerce website. The website, www.kingsmums.com is a major asset of King’s Mums, LLC, a specialty greenhouse, owned and operated by Ray and Kim Gray. The company sells and ships exotic and ornamental chrysanthemum cuttings throughout the continental United States, from January through the end of June. Approximately 60% of the company’s orders are received through its website while another 40% are accepted via catalog mail-order, phone, fax, or email.

Unfortunately, the existing website and accompanying database are extremely outdated and difficult to use. In addition, it is not set up to automatically process transactions. Therefore, an employee must process each order manually. The new website will be able to handle common customer tasks such as searching for products, placing orders, and viewing order history. In addition, this upgrade project will enable the King’s Mums to process web orders automatically, thus eliminating the need for an employee to process every order. By making it easier to place orders, improving data accuracy, and adding a powerful new database, Kings Mums expects customers will be more satisfied, place more orders, and drive sales up to a new level. In addition, these new features will eliminate repetitive tasks by organizing information and reducing business problems caused by human error, thus improving efficiency.

This project proposal provides details about how the project manager will replace the existing website with an updated, modern version. This proposal describes in detail the project, its objectives, stakeholders, major components of the solution, and alternative solutions. It also explains the project requirements of the sponsor, the project scope, risks, and external inputs. Finally, this proposal provides an outline of the solution, including the chosen project management model, success metrics, and a schedule for successful completion.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (PROPOSAL) TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... 33 SECTION 1 – PROJECT OVERVIEW 34 PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES ...... 34 KEY STAKEHOLDERS FOR THIS PROJECT ...... 35 SECTION 2 – PLANNING AND ANALYSIS 36 ALTERNATE METHODS FOR ACCOMPLISHING ACCEPTABLE OUTCOMES FOR THIS PROJECT ...... 36 USER REQUIREMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT ...... 36 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT ...... 38 OUTSIDE OF THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT ...... 38 PROJECT RISKS ...... 39 EXTERNAL INPUTS REQUIRED FOR THIS PROJECT ...... 42 SECTION 3 – OUTLINE THE SOLUTION 43 HIGH LEVEL SOLUTION CHOSEN FOR THIS PROJECT ...... 43 MAJOR FEATURES AND COMPONENTS OF THE PROJECT SOLUTION ...... 43 PMLC CHOSEN AS THE MANAGEMENT MODEL FOR THIS PROJECT ...... 44 PROJECT SUCCESS METRICS ...... 44 PROJECT TIMELINE ...... 45 SECTION 4 – ADDENDUM 46 PROJECT OVERVIEW STATEMENT ...... 46 REQUIREMENTS BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE ...... 47 WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE ...... 50 RISK ANALYSIS WORKSHEET ...... 52 PMLC SELECTION AND JUSTIFICATION ...... 53

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SECTION 1: PROJECT OVERVIEW

PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the KingsMums.com Website Upgrade Project is to improve the functionality and user experience of the KingsMums.com e-commerce website. The main goal of the project is to create greater customer satisfaction, reduce order processing time and errors, and increase yearly sales.

The current website lacks many of the standard features of a modern e-commerce store, such as basic tools that allow customers to easily navigate and search for products, view their order status or order history, view and post product reviews, use multiple payment options, and receive immediate feedback on order submissions. In addition, the current website lacks the capability to process transactions immediately as they are received; an employee must manually process each transaction that is submitted via the website.

For example, customer data and order information submitted via kingsmums.com is temporarily saved in an online database. Later, when billing for each order is processed, all customer and order data (except credit card information) is copied to a local database. Credit card data is manually processed and then deleted from the system. While this system has worked in the past, it is risky and may not meet Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards. King’s Mums also accepts orders via email, fax, standard mail, and phone. Customer data and order information from those orders is also manually entered and stored in the local database. The system lacks all of the necessary data fields and is subject to human input error. In addition, maintaining two databases is unwieldy and slows processing time.

Aside from orders placed through its annually printed catalog, the 61% of King’s Mums 2011 orders (and 64% of its revenue) were received through its website. It is clear that the website is the company’s main point of interface with the majority of its customers. Therefore, the kingsmums.com website is one of the company’s primary assets, and it should reflect that. However, in its present state, it stands in great need of improvement.

The long-term growth and success of the company is dependent upon its ability to appeal to current patrons as well as attract new customers to order via its website. By improving the functionality and user experience of their website, King’s Mums can greatly benefit. Customer satisfaction will improve, order processing time and errors will be reduced, and yearly website sales will increase.

The solution path I will pursue to address the aforementioned problems will come in two phases. First, I will do extensive research of available free and low-cost e-commerce

June 10, 2012 Page 34 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan off-the-shelf solutions, and select the best option. Second, I will customize the selected solution fit the specialized needs of the King’s Mums website.

KEY STAKEHOLDERS FOR THIS PROJECT

Key stakeholders for this project include primarily the owners and operators of King’s Mums, Ray and Kim Gray. As the project Sponsors/Clients, Ray and Kim are the primary source for providing requirements to help design the project goals and outcomes. Others include full and part time employees; Ray and Kim will consider their requirements as necessary.

One major stakeholder that will be affected by this project is Philip Parshley, who has been a contracted to do work on previous IT solutions and maintenance. Philip will continue to maintain the current website and databases for at least the next year. I will need to work closely with Philip to determine specific technical requirements. In addition, I will need to ensure that he understands he is a key consultant and welcome participant in this project.

Other stakeholders include customers who will use the new website interface. While the majority of customers will greatly benefit from the added functions and features of the new website, others may struggle to adapt and may have trouble completing the basic tasks they are accustomed to with the old website. The needs of customers will be a primary consideration in determining requirements for the website. Ray and Kim will represent the needs and recommendations that their customers have expressed to them. They have a personal relationship with many of their customers, and often receive informal feedback during their interactions with them. While no surveys will be administered to gain direct feedback, King’s Mums customers’ unique set of requirements will be a major focus of consideration.

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SECTION 2: PLANNING AND ANALYSIS

ALTERNATE METHODS FOR ACCOMPLISHING ACCEPTABLE OUTCOMES FOR THIS PROJECT

A few practical alternatives solve the problems of the current website and take advantage of opportunities presented in this project. I discuss the pros and cons of each below.

One possible alternative solution would be to incrementally develop new features and functionality into the existing website. I have explored this alternative. While it is a viable option within a wider window of time, I have determined that I do not have enough time to learn all the necessary skills that are required to complete such work within the project’s allotted time schedule. In addition, this solution is very risky because the existing website’s codebase may contain unknown problems or limitations. Acquiring software that already meets most of the project requirements will be much faster and a more efficient use of time. While incremental website development could facilitate a less disruptive transition for stakeholders, I believe the nature and urgency of the problems associated with the current website call for an immediate solution, rather than a gradual one.

USER REQUIREMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT

This upgrade project will incorporate features and functionality to meet the specified requirements outlined in the Requirements Breakdown Structure (see addendum).

This project includes two major functional requirements: first, implement a customer account center for common self service needs; second, simplify office processes by centralizing product and customer information.

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Each of the above functional requirements consists of supporting non-functional requirements. I will explain the non-functional requirements and discuss how each feature will play a supporting role in the new website.

A customer account center is a common feature in most e-commerce websites, and usually includes many complex features, functions, and tools. The most basic of these functional requirements includes allowing a user to create an account. This basic task involves many non-functional requirements, such as a database that is able to accept and manage data fields such as username, password, first name, last name, company name, shipping address, and an optional alternate billing address. Each time the customer returns to the customer account center, they will be required to log in. A non- functional requirement of this feature will involve username and password validation and a mechanism to recover a forgotten password. Once inside the customer account center, a user must be able to manage account preferences. Non-functional software and database mechanisms must be in place to allow the customer to change their account information, opt in or out for email subscriptions, manage and validate multiple shipping and billing addresses, and manage and validate multiple payment methods.

Allowing customers to view order processing status and order history is a functional requirement which will be supported by the non-function requirements of developing a series of queries that properly selects relevant database fields, such as order ID, order date, products ordered, quantities ordered, and prices. I will select a software package that includes an integrated combination of the required database and web server. The resulting application will enable customers to order selected products from their previous orders.

Features which allow cross compatibility with the annual mail catalog are required. Many of King’s Mum’s traditionally ‘mail-order, catalog-only customers’ are beginning to use the website. Often these customer prefer to use the printed catalog to browse and build and order list. Then they wish to place their order through the website. Therefore a requirement of the new website will be to enable customers to easily do this by providing a web page that can accept product numbers from the catalog. Likewise, customers wishing to browse and build an order list on the website will be able to print the order list and send it with a check via traditional mail.

Simplifying office processes by centralizing product and customer information is a requirement that will be handled and enabled by the careful and thoughtful development of a new database. I have mentioned many of the features and fields that will use the database. It will be an integral part of the new website and will lead to much simpler office processes.

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To gain a clear and comprehensive understanding of all the functional and non-functional requirements I have summarized above, see the Requirements Breakdown Structure (RBS) in the addendum of this document.

SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

Based on the user functional and non-functional requirements, the scope of this project includes the implementation of a new database and customization of an e-commerce software package to replace the existing website. The two major new features will be the customer account center and the centralized online management database. I will utilize existing content (photos and product descriptions) as much as possible to complete the website. I will retain existing content features and website organization for the new interface.

OUTSIDE OF THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

Many modern e-commerce websites now feature interactive functions that allow customers to do more than just place orders. These feature sets help customers share reviews and product links with their friends and family, which drives additional orders. The project sponsor has requested these features as functional requirements. Enabling customers to post reviews, create wish lists, purchase gift cards, share product deals via social media, and use customized search features involves customized e-commerce software, some third-party social networking plug-ins, and a properly configured database. While Ray and Kim want many of these features, they have decided some of these features are not a high priority. Addition of these features to the website, therefore, will be reserved for a follow-up project.

Implementing a user forum would allow customers to exchange ideas and information. A pre-packaged forum application would be able to handle the needs of King’s Mums and their customers with very little or no customization. However, while Ray and Kim have expressed their interest and desire for a forum integrated into their website, they have conceded that it is more of a want than a need, and thus this feature will have to wait for another project at a later date.

The organization and appearance of the existing user interface will also change out of necessity, but will not be the chief focus of this website upgrade. I will spend minimal time dealing with issues related to the aesthetic qualities of the new website. Extra customer tools such as customer reviews, wish lists, gift card options, social media plug- ins, and a customer forum—all designed to encourage additional orders—are not the highest priority for this project and as such will be implemented later, in another project. This project will not re-invent software code that already exists. This project will customize existing content wherever possible and avoid creating new graphics or flash animations.

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PROJECT RISKS

Based on the Risk Assessment Worksheet in the addendum, I have determined and analyzed the major risks that could impede my ability to finish this project as designed. I have listed these risks in the following table, in order of risk priority.

RISK TABLE

Risk Risk Risk Priority Risk ID Risk Description Impact Likelihood (Impact * (1-10) (1-10) Likelihood) 5 I may not know how to complete a project work task 7 7 49 4 I may finish a project work task later than scheduled 7 6 42 8 I may be too busy with other school courses 6 7 42 2 Determined requirements may be wrong or incomplete 4 7 28 9 I may not be able to find and select suitable software 9 3 27 1 Sponsor may be too busy to work with me on project 6 3 18 3 Current IT contractor may not be cooperative 3 4 12 10 During product testing, major issues may appear. 4 2 8 6 I may have a miscommunication with the sponsor 3 2 6 7 I may not meet the quality standard for the project 2 2 4

For each of the risks listed in the table above, I have developed a plan to mitigate the risk, should it arise. The plans are as follows (again, in order of risk priority):

RISK ID 5

If find that I do not know how to complete a particular project work task, I will get help as quickly as possible (contingency plan). I will set a limit of 3 hours to learn new skills. If I have made no progress after that time (trigger), I will stop trying to learn how to do it on my own, and find help. To prevent this risk from affecting my project, whenever possible, I will use tools and skills that I already have (preventative measure).

RISK ID 4

If I finish a project work task later than originally scheduled, I will modify the schedule to reflect the new circumstances, and I will the make necessary changes in the schedule so that I can still finish the whole project on time (contingency plan). I will check the schedule and compare my progress every day to help prevent this issue (preventative measure), and to ensure that I understand when I have deviated from my plan (trigger).

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RISK ID 8

If I find that I am too busy to other school courses, I will do my best to take immediate action. I will monitor, and determine as early as possible, during the winter and spring terms, whether I can handle the workloads of the classes in which I have enrolled (preventative measure). If I get behind in any class (trigger), then I will re-evaluate my situation. I will consider postponing one or more classes to later terms, or even withdrawing from courses if necessary (contingency plan), in order to give myself adequate time to complete this project. I will also be constantly re-evaluating the scope of the project, to determine whether it is too big.

RISK ID 2

If I find that the original project requirements are wrong or incomplete, I will meet with the project sponsors, Ray and Kim Gray, as quickly as possible, to explain the oversight, and if possible, find a solution (contingency plan). In any case, we will continue to communicate until we come to a resolution that is agreeable to both parties. I will know that a requirement is wrong or incomplete when I recognize that it will not help achieve the goals of the business (trigger). I will re-evaluate the project requirements at the beginning of each week to help prevent work towards irrelevant requirements (preventative measure).

RISK ID 9

If I find that I cannot find and select suitable off-the-shelf e-commerce software package, I will meet with the project sponsors, Ray and Kim Gray, and explain the situation to them as clearly as possible, in order to reset their expectations. Together, we will decide on another plan to improve the website, most likely by adding to the existing software (contingency plan). I will know that this risk has occurred if I have not found and selected a software package by the date listed on the schedule (trigger). I will work to prevent this risk from affecting the project by asking trusted consultants for advice and by giving myself adequate time to research and select a suitable software package (preventative measure).

RISK ID 1

If I find that the project sponsors, Ray and Kim Gray, are too busy to work with me on the project, due to work commitments or other extenuating circumstances, I will complete the project on my own, as if it were my own business website (contingency plan). If this issue occurs, the final product may not resemble a solution that accurately fits the needs of the sponsors’ business, but it will represent a solution that could work for a similar business. In addition, because I have easy access to both of the main

June 10, 2012 Page 40 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan sponsors, plus a handful of employees, I do not see this as a major issue. I will rely on the best resources available at any given time. I will work hard to plan meetings in advance with all project members, so that they can understand the schedule as early as possible (preventative measure). I will know that there is a problem here if I have to re- schedule any meetings more than twice (trigger).

RISK ID 3

So far, I have found the current IT contractor, Philip Parshley, to be very cooperative and helpful. However, should he change his mind about the project, and behave differently (trigger), I will have to work without his expertise and knowledge of the existing website and database (contingency plan). In this case, I will have to consult with other IT professionals with questions that I may have concerning specific technical issues. I will have to work closely with Phil to ensure he feels he is a valued member of the project team (preventative measure).

RISK ID 9

If, during testing, I find that major issues are appearing and preventing the proper operation of key website functionality, I will arrange time into the schedule to patch the issue. If I cannot resolve the issue, I will get help from an expert (contingency plan). I will know this has occurred when I determine that I cannot find the root cause of the bug (trigger). In order to prevent this situation, I will perform incremental and informal tests, to test basic functionality as I make changes (preventative measure).

RISK ID 6

If I have a major miscommunication with the project sponsors or other project personnel, I will contact and meet with them to apologize and explain the mistake. In addition, I will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the problem does not re-occur (contingency plan). I will know when a miscommunication has occurred when I am confused or have difficulty understanding any terminology, language, messages from other project personnel (trigger). In projects like this, it is important to establish a common set of terminology at the very beginning to avoid confusion. Therefore, I will establish such terminology as early as possible in all project meetings (preventative measure).

RISK ID 7

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If I find that I am struggling to meet the quality standards set for the project, I will meet with the project sponsors and get their opinion of the quality of the product up to that point. We may discuss possible alternative methods or standards. I will do this as early as possible in order help the project sponsor set correct expectations for my work (contingency plan). I will know that I am missing quality standards when my work is no better than the existing solution (trigger). I will show my work to the project sponsors as often as once per week to help them gain an idea of the project is progressing. They will help me to evaluate the quality of my work, and help me adjust it to their standard as necessary (preventative measure).

EXTERNAL INPUTS REQUIRED FOR THIS PROJECT

For this project, I plan to use a few external inputs to complete the work. The most important input is a third-party e-commerce software package. I will perform research into the available options and select a free, open source tool, or pay for a low-cost software package. This package will provide the foundation the new website. If I cannot find a suitable software package at the right price, I will have to revert to an alternative plan to improve certain aspects of the existing website. Those improvements may include developing an interface for viewing customer order history, and developing the attached database to support it. The overall project would result in a much smaller improvement. In addition, in that contingency, I would be even more dependent on the current IT contractor, Philip Parshley, for detailed information about the current system. I will rely on him, to some degree, for advice and non-functional requirements, whether I use a third-party e-commerce software package, or not. If he is not available, I will seek advice of friends, other students, instructors, and other expert IT professionals to answer my questions.

The other major dependency of this project is the business requirements as defined by the project sponsors, Ray and Kim Gray. They have already supplied most of the business requirements, and they are documented in the RBS (see addendum). If they don’t help in re-evaluating these requirements as throughout the life of this project, then I will be forced to make certain decisions on my own. However, many of these details have already been handled.

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SECTION 3: OUTLINE OF THE SOLUTION

HIGH LEVEL SOLUTION CHOSEN FOR THIS PROJECT

In preparing a solution for the King’s Mums website, I examined two possible alternatives. At first, I approached company owner, Ray Gray to ask him if he would like to add any new features for his website. He responded by explaining that would like to allow customers to view their order history on the website. I took this idea and began investigating what it would take to add that feature. After some investigation, I came to the conclusion that the amount of work it would take to add the order history feature would probably equal to or greater than the amount of work it would take to upgrade the entire website. In addition, an upgrade to the entire website would provide greater overall value to the business compared to the addition of a single new feature. Therefore, the purpose of this solution solves several major problems that King’s Mums is now facing. This project solution will improve the customer experience on the website, organize and centralize key product and customer information, and eliminate slow and unnecessary office processes.

MAJOR FEATURES AND COMPONENTS OF THE PROJECT SOLUTION

The major features and components required in this project solution include a complex e-commerce website with a hierarchy of web pages to display the customer account center, sales products, and shopping cart dialog. The website will be accompanied by a new backend database, which will support the new data fields required by the customer account center and product information.

One major component of my solution will involve buying hosted services (in addition to current services) upon which I can develop the new website. If existing hosting service allows for more domains, then I will simply use the existing service. The hosted services will be used to support a database and a web server application. I will need to acquire a customizable off-the-shelf e-commerce software solution. I will seek a solution that is free of charge, but I may need to purchase the software. I will only consider software options that involve a small one-time payment (up to $300). I will not consider e- commerce solutions that require a monthly or annual subscription fee for this project.

Much of the content that is currently in use on the existing website will also be a major component of the new website. Many photos and text descriptions of sales items will be re-used.

The upgrade will also include a customer forum, which is a completely new feature for the website. I will seek a free off-the shelf software product for this solution. I will not

June 10, 2012 Page 43 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan integrate the tool with the website. Customers will be able to access this generic forum tool through hyperlinks on the main kingsmums.com website.

The graphic interface of each web page will include a new, easy to use menu, and will adhere to a consistent, organized design. I will retain and re-use the majority of the existing content from the old website, including product photos and text descriptions. I will add new, high-resolution photos, where available, to provide customers with a better likeness of the products they are ordering. In addition, users will be able to view larger detail photos by clicking on small thumbnail photos. A major non-product deliverable for this portion of the project will be a map of the website.

The database that supports the website will be quite complex. Major non-product deliverables include documentation such as an ERD, custom queries, reports, security certificates, backup and maintenance procedures, and test plans.

PMLC CHOSEN AS THE MANAGEMENT MODEL FOR THIS PROJECT

For this project, I have chosen to use an iterative Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC) model. I have chosen this method is because it is the best fit for this type of project. This agile, iterative approach will enable me to regularly demonstrate my progress to the clients and allow them to provide me with necessary feedback. I believe this method will help them to gain an understanding of the progress and direction of the project as early on as possible. I want to work as closely as I can with the clients in order to deliver a final product that will meet their expectations and needs.

For more information concerning my decision to select this PMLC model, please see the document “PMLC Selection & Justification” in the addendum.

PROJECT SUCCESS METRICS

A successfully completed project will include a professional, finished website that is fit for business use. The website functions and features will all work with no errors. Customers will enjoy a smooth, easy to use interface from start to finish as they browse web pages, use customer account tools, submit billing information, and order products. I will use three metrics to measure the success of this project. First, the website must be able to accept and process, without errors, at least five typical, simulated orders, in accordance with all documented requirements. Second, the website must successfully allow five simulated customers to create and edit their account information. Third, an employee user must be able to use the database to create and print a weekly order report.

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PROJECT TIMELINE

Figure 2 – Proposed Project Timeline

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SECTION 4: ADDENDUM

PROJECT OVERVIEW STATEMENT

KING’S MUMS WEBSITE UPGRADE PROJECT OVERVIEW

October 5, 2011

For my senior project, I propose a plan to improve an existing e-commerce website. The improvements will include adding a customer database, which will allow customers to create an account on the website, save their basic mailing address information, register for email subscriptions, and gain access to their order history.

King’s Mums is a local greenhouse business, owned and operated by Ray and Kim Gray, that sells specialty, rooted chrysanthemum cuttings via mail order, from February through June, each year. The company markets and sells its products to customers throughout the United States through its website, www.kingsmums.com, and via a catalog that is mailed out to customers once per year.

The existing website has very limited functionality. It does not provide the standard tools many consumers have come to expect when shopping online, such as a personal customer account, order history, or shipment tracking. Each time a customer places an order, they must enter their name, address, and billing information. This system is inconvenient for customers, and it is prone to many errors, due to lack of data validation. This often means that an employee must call or email customers to clarify the details of their orders and/or correct the spelling of their addresses. This is a costly waste of time in a low profit-margin business where the employees are already too busy, often shipping more than 100 orders (each containing 3-50 rooted mum cuttings) per week.

At this time, customer order history resides in emails (except catalog orders, which are sent through paper mail), and therefore is very difficult and time-consuming to track. The customer mailing list is kept in a series of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. However, the information in the spreadsheets is also subject to errors, because the data is manually entered into the spreadsheets and is not validated. The spreadsheets do not contain any information regarding customer orders and is not linked into any software applications, such as the shipping software.

Ray, who directs the website content, would like to see at least three new features added. First, he would like to give customers the ability to sign in and create a customer account. Second, he would like to allow customers to see their order history, register for email subscriptions, and see shipment tracking information. Third, he would like to

June 10, 2012 Page 46 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan use the new database to generate a series of useful reports, such as a weekly shipping report that can be imported into the shipping software application, and other reports that analyze business performance, year over year. By making it easier to place orders, improving data accuracy, and adding a powerful new database, Kings Mums expects customers will be more satisfied, place more orders, and drive sales up to a new level. In addition, these new features will eliminate repetitive tasks by organizing information and reducing business problems caused by human error.

REQUIREMENTS BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

EXPLANATION OF THE REQUIREMENTS BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

October 16, 2011

Defining the scope of a project, and then defining the requirements of a project within the given scope can be a very difficult task. Notwithstanding, I have undertaken to do just that. I have listed in the project requirements in the requirements breakdown structure (RBS) shown in the figure below. I will explain how I determined the scope and gathered these project requirements.

To help define the scope and requirements of the KingsMums.com website upgrade project, I have interviewed the chief stakeholders involved. Among those primarily involved or affected by this project are the project sponsors, company owners Ray and Kim Gray. We have talked about requirements on three occasions. After each conversation, Ray and Kim talk between themselves and determine what features are most important to their business. I have also been brainstorming to develop ideas for key features. During each discussion, I describe my ideas and then ask to find what Ray and Kim think about the ideas. By using this iterative requirements gathering process, I hope to discover most, if not all, of the project requirements before it is too late or too expensive to make changes to the project plans.

Ray and Kim have provided answers to dozens of my questions about how much time they spend manually processing each order and dealing with the mistakes related to human error that inevitably take place during such manual processing. They have described and demonstrated the processes they use each time they process an order, which varies depending upon whether it was placed through the website, or via the printed catalog. For example, when an order is received via mail order, fax, or phone, Ray or Kim must manually enter the order in to the database. Any changes to the database must provide a way to continue support for this existing process.

The other chief stakeholder is King’s Mums’ current IT contractor, Philip Parshley. He is the person who has developed the website up to this point and continues to support it.

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He has not yet responded my attempts to contact him. He will likely feel threatened by this project because it will replace the product of many hours of his work and very likely put him out of a job. However, he will need to know about the plans for the future website, and I will need to work with him to find out how to implement alterations to the existing system and database.

The final group of stakeholders affected by this project is of course the KingsMums.com customers. Ray and Kim have a good understanding of their customer demographic. They know what features and tools the customers are interested in because they have personally talked with their customers and have made notes as they received requests for such new website functionality.

In addition to talking about all of the requirements for the website upgrade, we have also discussed the scope of the project, as well as the risks involved with the project. This has been somewhat of an ongoing conversation over the past three weeks; however, I realize the need to place a deadline on a decision of scope for this project. Therefore, on Sunday, October 30th, I will again be meeting with Ray and Kim to come to a final decision on the desired scope of the project. They will decide on whether they prefer to implement a relatively small, minor upgrade to the existing website and database (only adding an order history interface—see function 1.5 on the RBS below), or instead to throw out the entire existing system in favor of customizing an off-the- shelf e-commerce solution. While it may seem like a no-brainer to choose the latter solution, it really depends on what the project sponsors feel is most prudent for their business, and what will best fit their broader organizational needs. They are not eager to risk a large amount of money on this project; however, they are willing to spend a reasonable amount in order to increase order processing efficiency and accuracy, and meet rising customer expectations. Therefore, they will judiciously compare the two options to decide which features are of the highest priority level.

Based on the decision made in that meeting, I will proceed with developing a plan, which will include developing a work breakdown structure (WBS) and a schedule for the project. The WBS will be developed using elements of the RBS. The requirements detailed on the RBS will provide a framework for the features that must be included in order to achieve success on this project. Designing and building those features will make up the work activities that fill the WBS. The project management life cycle (PMLC) model used for this project may depend upon the final decision for the project scope, but I will most likely use an iterative approach if it is decided that an incremental modification to the existing system will be an adequate upgrade. If, however, the sponsors decide they want to implement the off-the-shelf solution, then I will adapt an approach that will allow me to research and investigate the feature set and customization options of the available solutions. A major component of that model will inevitably include training employees on how to use and take advantage of all of the features of the new system.

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REQUIREMENTS BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE DIAGRAM

Figure 3 – Requirements Breakdown Structure (RBS) for scope management

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WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

OUTLINE VERSION OF WBS

1. Select an Off-the-Shelf E-Commerce Software Application 1.1. Research available offerings 1.1.1. Research and analyze features of free solutions 1.1.2. Research and analyze features of paid solutions 1.1.3. Research and analyze Payment Card Industry requirements 1.1.4. Research and determine website certificate requirements 1.2. Purchase or obtain software package 1.2.1. Evaluate trial versions of select candidate packages 1.2.2. Gain approval to purchase (if necessary) software package 1.2.3. Make final decision on software package, buy, and install 1.2.4. Explore and familiarize selected software package 2. Select Webpage Layout Pattern Design 2.1. Work with client to develop a suitable, attractive layout design GUI 2.1.1. Design and place branding 2.1.2. Design and place navigation/menus 2.1.3. Design and place main content container 2.1.4. Design footer section 2.1.5. Review design with client; get feedback 3. Ensure Database is properly configured to handle customer and product data 3.1. Customize database to the requirements of the product 3.1.1. Review features required by clients 3.1.2. Write up security and access requirements 3.1.3. Populate new database from data in current database 3.1.4. Create ERD 3.1.5. Define data dictionary 3.2. Program the database 3.2.1. Write any necessary SQL queries 3.2.2. Create a test plan for the database 3.2.3. Test queries 3.2.4. Develop and code reports 3.2.5. Test reports 3.2.6. Review reports with client; get feedback 4. Integrate New Database with Front-End Website 4.1. Connect main content containers to database objects 4.1.1. Arrange and adjust product IDs, text, and pictures as necessary 4.1.2. Review and test with client; get feedback

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5. Perform testing 5.1. Complete website testing 5.1.1. Write test plan 5.1.2. Integration testing 5.1.3. System testing 5.1.4. Security testing 5.1.5. Usability / alpha testing 5.1.6. Live beta testing

DIAGRADIAGRAMM VERSION OF WBS

Figure 4 – A graphical version of the proposed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to aid in planning and creation of the project timeline or schedule. June 10, 2012 Page 51 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan

RISK ANALYSIS WORKSHEET

Figure 5 – Risk Assessment Worksheet

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PMLC SELECTION AND JUSTIFICATION

November 20, 2011

For my senior project, the kingsmums.com website upgrade, I have chosen to use an iterative Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC) model. I have chosen this method is because it is the best fit for the type of project that I am working on. This agile, iterative approach will enable me to demonstrate several prototypes to the clients, which I hope will help them to gain an understanding of the progress and direction of the project as early-on as possible. I want to work as closely as possible with the clients in order to deliver a final product that will meet their expectations and needs.

The iterative agile project management model is a particularly good fit for my project because while I have worked hard to discover and precisely define the requirements and features of the end product, the exact details of many parts of the solution are still unknown. A key part of my project involves in depth research and selection of a suitable e-commerce web-application package. Until I have completed this step, I many questions will have to be left unanswered (for the time being). This is in part because I have little experience in working on a project of this nature. If I had more prior experience in building or customizing websites, or in using pre-built solutions, I would undoubtedly have a better idea of the exact range of features and costs from which I will have to select my solution. As it is, I have taken advice from other students and colleagues and melded that together with some basic preliminary research to determine that I will need to make a very careful and methodical decision concerning the software selection. That being said, I do have a general idea of many of the activities that I will have to engage in to complete the project. However, any tasks that I have planned, which will not actually be needed, or any tasks that I have neglected to include in my plan can more easily be added by using this agile, iterative approach.

I have a good, close relationship with the clients, which enables us to meet regularly. I believe this will help me to adequately engage the clients in the project, and I think using this iterative model will be a good fit because it will be a natural, intuitive way to update the clients on new developments or questions concerning the project that will inevitably arise. In addition, this model will benefit the clients by helping them to identify issues or changes that need to be made before it becomes too late to do so.

I believe this PMLC model will help my project succeed by maximizing communication between the clients and me. Even though many of the requirements for this project have already been determined, this type of model is fairly flexible and will allow for many decisions and corrections to be made along the way. This management method will

June 10, 2012 Page 53 of 78 KingsMums.Com Upgrade Project Paul Louthan allows the clients to periodically, or even continuously, review the progress of the current solution and make suggestions for improvements. If the clients or I see such a need, this model can also allow changes to the scope of the project. It will be my job to monitor and control these changes, and make sure that all changes are necessary and beneficial to the success of the project, and to the quality of the end product. I believe that this PMLC model is the best way to adapt to any changes that may occur in business conditions and deliver a quality product that will meet the needs of the clients.

I think this agile approach lends well to achieving the goals for the solution and will provide the clients with a level of feedback that they will expect for this project. It will allow all parties involved to respond to needed changes and collaborate in a way that will provide a truly customized solution.

A visual representation of flow of the iterative PMLC model appears below.

Figure 6 – A diagram of the iterative project management life cycle (PMLC) model

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APPENDIX B: ANALYSIS SUPPORT DOCUMENTATION

APPENDIX B-1: COMPARISON TABLE OF E-COMMERCE ALTERNATIVES

The following table is derived from resources found on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_shopping_cart_software.

Latest Latest Release Programming Software Name Creator Stable Cost (USD|GBP) Updates License Type Date Language Version

Starter Package: $34.00 monthly, 1AutomationWiz.co Basic Package: $59.00 monthly, Pro Package: $99.00 monthly, m WebCom Autoresponder Package: $34.00

Inc. 7.1 12/15/2011 monthly Automatic Proprietary ASP.NET

3dcart Infomart

2000 Inc. 4 7/1/2011 Standard: $19.99 monthly Varies Proprietary ASP.NET Standard: $790.00; With RMSlink Integration: $1490.00; With 24SevenCarts LAN RMSlink Integration (Pro):

Services, LLC 1.1 12/9/2009 $1990.00 Free Proprietary ASP.NET

Belavier AbanteCart Commerce Free

LLC 0.9.2 2/15/2012 Free Automated GPL PHP $24.95 ‐ $99.95/month including hosting, SSL and 24hr support. Ashop Commerce Ashop Additional feature apps available

Commerce 3.5 5/15/2012 starting at $1 Free Proprietary ASP.NET

Absolute Shopping www.absolu

Cart teshoppingc Full: $19.99/month ‐ including SSL Free

art.co.uk 5.1 3/1/2010 & email Automated Proprietary ASP.NET

Avactis Premium: $449.00, Avactis Owned: $249.00, Avactis Lite:

Avactis $149.00, Private Label license: $399.00, SaaS (Hosted) Edition Pentasoft with Total Support and hosting: Free for Free /

Corp. 2.1.1 3/1/2011 $19.95 ‐ $99.95/month Life Proprietary PHP

Premium version: $499.00, Pro AdVantShop.NET AdVantShop. version : $299.00, SaaS (Hosted)

NET 2.5 1/17/2011 Edition $16.99 ‐ $60.00/month Free Proprietary ASP.NET

AspDotNetStorefront ML8: $795, MultiStore: $1295, no

Vortx, Inc. 9.2 3/21/2011 monthly fees Free Proprietary ASP.NET

Batavi Batavi 1 1/25/2011 Free Free GPL PHP

BigCommerce BigCommerc

e Inc. 7.1 6/17/2011 $24.95/mo to $299.95/mo Free Proprietary PHP

Bitwords Bit‐Cart Media Group Starter:Free ;Standard: $49.00;

LLC 1 professional:$99 Free Proprietary PHP

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Latest Latest Release Programming Software Name Creator Stable Cost (USD|GBP) Updates License Type Date Language Version

BoostBear $8 ‐ $224 ($24 ‐ standard); includes

BoostBear 2 hosting, SSL, domain registration Free Proprietary PHP Full: £19.99/month ‐ Free Set‐up, free reviews, cart and admin area secure SSL pages, e‐mail, reservation system, mobile device CartSmart support, Facebook page store, live chat, newsletters and more. £4.99/month ‐ EPOS Stock / Price Free

CartSmart 1.0.5 5/8/2011 Sync. Automated Proprietary PHP

CartXpress CartXpress 2.2 1/1/2009 Standard License: $330 AUD Free Proprietary PHP

CARTZ Link Standard License : $59.00, SE with

CARTZ Link 11 7/12/2009 Unique Design : $395.00 Free Proprietary PHP Varies by service level, CATENO CLAW typically E.Shop included in Standard: 100 ‐ 400 dollars a subscriptio

Cateno.no 2 5/5/2011 month n model Proprietary ASP.NET Pioneer Plan: $19.99/mo, Advanced Plan: $34.99/mo,

CoreCommerce Inc. Sum Effect Professional Plan: $59.99/mo, Software, Expert Plan: $99.99/mo, Premier

Inc. 9 4/1/2012 Plan: $149.99/mo Automatic Proprietary PHP

Crucial Solution www.crucial Free for

solution.com 2 1/21/2010 Standard License $600 Life Proprietary ASP.NET

Community Edition: $0.

CS‐Cart Professional Edition: $295.00 ($235/each next license). Multi‐ Free for 12

CS‐Cart 2.2.4 9/28/2011 Vendor Edition: $985/$845 months Proprietary PHP Free for CubeCart Devellion 4.3.9 4/21/2010 Standard License: $129.95 Life Proprietary PHP Free for DantoCart DantoCart 3.0.1 7/22/2009 GPL License: Free Life GNU/GPL PHP Free 7‐day trial,

$5/mo for up to 10 products & 50 E‐junkie MB of download storage. Sine Info Free & Ventures Continuous Continuous / Larger plans w/ more centrally

Pvt. Ltd. / SAAS SAAS products/storage available. managed Proprietary PHP

Easy Basket EasyBasket ver 012 12/1/2011 100% Free Free Free PHP

eCommerce Mediachase

Framework G5 (ECF) LLC 5.0.201 3/26/2009 Contact for pricing Free Proprietary ASP.NET 3.5

Ecommerce Shopping Infinite

Cart Software Power

Publishing 1 1/25/2009 Free Free GPL PHP

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Latest Latest Release Programming Software Name Creator Stable Cost (USD|GBP) Updates License Type Date Language Version

Ecommerce Electronic Templates Shopping Free for 6

Solutions LLC 5.7.4 6/1/2009 $159.00 months Proprietary PHP & ASP

ePages Rental starts $9.99 / month ‐

ePages Ltd. ver 6.13.3 3/1/2012 Perpetual starts $3,000 / licence. Free Proprietary Perl & Java

Flying Cart Flying Cart Free ‐

LLC v3 5/5/2009 Free ‐ $59.99/mo $59.99/mo GPL PHP

Fortune3 Fortune3.co Free for

m 2010 2010 Free ‐ Hosted from $29.95/mo Life Proprietary PERL

Infinities Cartease by

Infinities 4 1/21/2010 $25/month hosting Free Proprietary Coldfusion Gold package: $19.97, Business: $39.97, Platinum: $69.97, IzzoNet Diamond: $99.97, Izz'R'Best:

IzzoNet LTD n/a Every day $299.97 Automatic Proprietary PHP

Basic Package: $14.95 monthly, iHostStores Standard Package: $19.95 monthly,

iHost.Net 5.7 1/31/2012 Pro Package: $29.95 monthly Automatic Proprietary ASP.NET Shopping Cart Only from

Go Ecommerce Go Continous / Continous / £1/month. Basic Online Shops Free for

Ecommerce SaaS SaaS from £4/month Life Proprietary Java, AJAX Free for 12 months. Additional Interspire Shopping 12 months

Cart ‐ 50% of Starter License: $295.00, retail Professional License: $995.00, license

Interspire 6.0.11 8/26/2010 Ultimate License: $1,795.00 cost. Proprietary PHP Free for 12 iScripts Multicart iScripts 2.2 12/10/2008 Standard License: $147 months. Proprietary PHP

JadaSite JadaSite 2.03 4/25/2010 Free Free GPL v3 Java Free for JShop Server Whorl 2.3.0 11/1/2010 Standard License: £195.00 Life Proprietary PHP

Jigoshop Jigowatt 0.9.9 9/20/2010 Free Free GPL PHP

Standalone starts at $79/month with $2950 startup fees; Integration to Dynamics GP starts k‐eCommerce at $225/month with $9950 startup fees; Integration to Dynamics AX starts at $375/month with $14950

kCentric.NET 2011 4/1/2011 startup fees Free Proprietary ASP.NET Community Edition: Free, KonaKart DS Data Enterprise Systems UK Community Edition: Free, Edition:

Ltd 5 6/15/2010 Enterprise Edition: £3,000/yr £3,000/yr GNU LGPL Java

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Latest Latest Release Programming Software Name Creator Stable Cost (USD|GBP) Updates License Type Date Language Version

LemonStand Limewheel

Creative Inc. 1.5.52 6/3/2011 $299.98 Included Proprietary PHP

Creative LiteCommerce 3 Developmen core

t v1.0.10 9/29/2011 Free Free OSL 3.0 PHP

LiveCart www.livecart Free for

.com 1.4.0 10/25/2010 $249 Life Proprietary PHP Standard: € 80 Pro: € 165 Pro+: € 250 LogiVert Enterprise: € 1.750

Aurore contract (support and

LogiVert BV ver 5.5.4.1 5/1/2012 upgrades): € 34/month Free Proprietary PHP Community Edition: $0, Professional Edition: $2,995/year, Magento Enterprise Edition with Total

Varien ver 1.6.2.0 1/11/2012 Support: start at $12,990/year. Free OSL 3.0 PHP

Miva Miva Merchant Merchant

Inc. 5.5 8/24/2011 Standard: $49.99 monthly Free Proprietary MIVA Script Free ($50 charge per web site to remove

nopCommerce nopComme rce copyright nopCommerc nopCommer notice from e Public ASP.NET MVC

ce ver 2.5 4/4/2012 Free footer) License Framework

OpenCart OpenCart 1.5.2.1 3/4/2012 Free Free GPL PHP OrderStorm WordPress OrderStorm GPL /

eCommerce Inc. 0.5.0.2 12/29/2011 Free + 5 levels $5‐158/mo. Free Proprietary PHP

osCommerce

osCommerce 3 3/1/2011 Free Free GPL PHP

Community Edition: Free GPL

OXID eShop Version, Professional Edition: €1,990.00 (~$2,780.00), Enterprise OXID eSales Edition (with mall feature): start at GPL /

AG 4.3.1 4/27/2010 €12,990.00 (~$18,150.00) Free Proprietary PHP Proprietary PDshop PDshop ver 7.0 10/10/2009 Standard: $99 Free License ASP.NET

PhPepperShop PhPepperSh $165.‐ / Proprietary /

op 2.6.1 10/26/2010 from $275.‐ / Free Free GPL PHP

Pinnacle Cart Desert Dog Licensed $797.00 / Hosted $24.95

Marketing 3.7.7 6/29/2009 per month Free Proprietary PHP

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Latest Latest Release Programming Software Name Creator Stable Cost (USD|GBP) Updates License Type Date Language Version Free, either manually or

PrestaShop using www.prestas AutoUpgra

hop.com 1.4.8.2 5/14/2012 Free de module OSL 3.0 PHP

PrestaWinkel www.presta Hosted €199 per year / €16 per

winkel.be 1.4.3 6/27/2011 month Free OSL 3.0 PHP

ProStores www.prosto [1 Month

res.com 10.3 5/17/2011 $29/mo to $99/mo Free] Proprietary PHP Free for 90 days, then

ProductCart Standard License: $695.00; Build $195/year To Order: $1,495 (includes (support &

Early Impact 4.1 7/12/2010 advanced product configurator) updates) Proprietary ASP From $0 ‐ $739.99 RomanCart

RomanCart 2 8/25/2011 From £0 ‐ 399.99 Free Proprietary ASP

Santarém Escola ecommerce Superior de

Santarém 1 11/8/2010 Standard: $1000.00; Free Proprietary PHP Basic: $39 Lite: $69 Standard: $119 SearchFit Professional: $179 SearchFit,

Inc. v8.20 9/6/2011 Enterprise: $299 Free Proprietary PHP Starter: € 24 / 2% Professional: € 59 / 1,5%

SEOshop Business: € 99 / 1% Enterprise: € 249 / 0.5% SEOshop

Group B.V. v5 12/22/2011 Custom: €599 Free Proprietary PHP

SellRex eCommerce SellRex

Corporation 1 9/15/2010 $9.99/mth Free Proprietary ASP.NET

ShopCMS ADGroup 3 1/2/2009 Standard License: $100.00 Free Proprietary PHP FREE setup. Monthly cost starts Shopping Cart Powerfront NEW 1/1/2011 from $19. FREE Proprietary ASP

Shopping Cart Gold Shopping

Cart Gold NEW 7/12/2011 Free Free Proprietary PHP

ShoppingCart.ORG ShoppingCar Standard License : $39.00, Fully

t.ORG 3.5 7/12/2009 featured : $99.00 Free Proprietary PERL Basic : $29.00 Professional : $59.00 Shopify Continuous Continuous / Business: $99.00

Shopify / SAAS SAAS Unlimited: $179 Free Proprietary Ruby on Rails

Shopizer Shopizer 1.1.4 5/15/2011 Free Free LGPL Java

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Latest Latest Release Programming Software Name Creator Stable Cost (USD|GBP) Updates License Type Date Language Version By Service Level : One‐Time Payment / Subscription Model (Monthly) Varies by Service

ShopSite Level, typically Starter License: N/A/$9‐$39, included in ShopSite, Manager License: $495/$35‐$75, subscriptio

Inc. 10.2.0 7/19/2010 Pro License: $1295/$70‐$125 n model Proprietary C/CGI

SOLUCART www.solucar

t.com 2.1 5/15/2010 Fully featured : $99.00 Free Proprietary PHP

Spree spreecomme New BSD

rce.com 1.0.0 11/2/2010 Free Free License Ruby on Rails

Summer Cart summercart. Free for 3

com 4 10/17/2010 225 euro months Proprietary PHP

Turnkey Free for 12 SunShop Web Tools, Standard $199.99 / Owned months /

Inc. 4.3.0 2/6/2012 $499.99 Free Proprietary PHP miniCMS: FREE maxiCMS: £10 p/m

Superia Commerce eLITE: £20 p/m Superia ePRO: £35 p/m Commerce

Ltd 1.1.3 12/15/2011 eXPERT: £50 p/m FREE Proprietary ASP.NET

TomatoCart Elootec 1.1 10/8/2010 Free Free GPL PHP Standard License (Introductory): $49.00, SE with Unique Design TOUGHCartz (Introductory): $295.00, SE with

TOUGHCartz 11 4/11/2009 Unique Design : $395.00 Free Proprietary PHP

Usercart 8 Infinity

Usercart Ltd NEW 12/2/2011 One off fee of £24.95 Free Proprietary PHP

uCoz Continuous Continuous /

uCoz Media / SAAS SAAS $1.99/Month Free Proprietary Perl

Vendder Host Shopping Cart Plans: Free,

Vendder 1 9/1/2010 Plus €19 / month Free Proprietary Ruby

Host Shopping Cart Plans: Silver Veracart $24 / month, Gold $37 / month,

Verango 3.5 4/15/2010 Platinum $67 / month Free Proprietary PHP VirtueMart for

Joomla! VirtueMart 1.1.6 11/23/2010 Free Free GPL PHP

Volusion £15/mo to £99/mo, plus higher

Volusion Inc V 11 3/1/2011 enterprise solutions Free Proprietary ASP.NET Free Version, Value Pac: $295.00, VP‐ASP Shopping Plus Pac: $495.00, Deluxe Pac: $795.00. Also offer complete e‐ Cart commerce solutions from $19 a Free for 12

VP‐ASP 7.01 3/29/2012 month. months Proprietary ASP WebAsyst Shop‐ Free for 12

Script WebAsyst 300 12/7/2010 Standard License: $299.00 months Proprietary PHP

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Latest Latest Release Programming Software Name Creator Stable Cost (USD|GBP) Updates License Type Date Language Version Free while evaluation marks are

X‐Cart not removed. Standard License: Free for

Qualiteam 4.5.0 4/25/2012 $159.00 Life Proprietary PHP Free / 30% of eZ xrow E‐Commerce Free / 30% of eZ Premium for Premium

xrow GmbH 1.1 11/1/2009 Support for Support GPL PHP

Zen Cart Zen

Ventures 1.5.0 12/30/2011 Free Free GPL PHP

Zeus Cart

AJ Square Inc 2.3 1/2/2009 Free Free GPL PHP

A comprehensive comparison of features is available on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_shopping_cart_software.

APPENDIX B-2: FREE AND OPEN SOURCE E-COMMERCE SOFTWARE

The following table is derived from resources found on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Open_Source_eCommerce_Software.

Current stable First release Latest release Software Name Written in Database License version date date serveral, primarily

Arcavias PHP MySQL LGPL 2012‐05 4/27/2012 2012‐02‐29[1]

Batavi PHP MySQL GNU General Public License 1.2.1 2012‐01‐18[2]

Bigfish Java several Open Software License 8/31/2011 2012‐05‐07[3] Broadleaf

Commerce Java several Apache License 2.0 1.5.4 2/21/2012

Bots (edi) Python N/A GNU General Public License 2.1.0 1/2/2012

Interchange Perl several GNU General Public License 5.6.3 2010‐03‐24[4]

Magento PHP MySQL Open Software License 1.7.0.0 8/31/2007 2012‐04‐24[5] ASP.NET

nopCommerce MVC MS SQL Mozilla Public License 2.3 11/19/2011

OFBiz Java several Apache License 2.0 10.04 1/19/2011

osCommerce PHP MySQL GNU General Public License 3.0.2 2000 2011‐08‐06[6]

osCMax PHP MySQL GNU General Public License 2.5.0[7] 2/20/2012

PrestaShop PHP MySQL OSL Ver. 3 / AFL Ver. 3 1.4.8.2 2007 2012‐05‐14[8]

Ubercart PHP MySQL GNU General Public License 3 2012‐02‐01[9] 2003, osCommerce 2011‐12‐

Zen Cart PHP MySQL GNU General Public License 1.5.0 fork 31[10]

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APPENDIX B-3: FULL LIST OF FEATURES OF THE MAGENTO GO ECOMMERCE PLATFORM

The following is derived from the following source: http://go.magento.com/features

Magento Go - Powerful Features Enabling Endless Possibilities Magento Go - Full List of Features Magento Go is a robust and flexible online store platform for small businesses that provides you with all the tools and functionality you need to design and operate your business the way you want. Here is a list of the many features included with all Magento Go plans: Store Design • Professional Themes • Upgradeable Themes • Industry-specific Themes • Design Editor • Drag and Drop Layout Customization • Edit Themes with CSS • Create or upload custom CSS • Upload custom logo and images • Edit Web Page Text • Customize System Labels and navigation buttons • Customizable layered navigation • Category-specific design • Design marketing and content pages • Override active theme for specific products and categories • Design grouped products view for customers • Customize Search Results • Design Static Category pages • Popular Search Term Cloud • List products in grid or list formats Payments Payment Gateways: • Authorize.net • Authorize.net Direct Post • Braintree • Card Gate Plus • CCAvenue • CyberSource • DIBS Payment Services • eWay • Google Checkout • Ogone • PAYBOX • PAYONE • PayPal Express Checkout • PayPal Website Payments Pro • PSIGate

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• Sage Pay • WorldPay

Payment Methods: • Credit Card • Check or Money Order • Gift Cards • Purchase Order • Store Credits • Zero subtotal checkout Checkout • One Page Checkout • Integrated, real-time shipping rates from FedEX, UPS, USPS and DHL • Flexible Credit Card Charging – Authorize Only, Authorize and Charge • Guest Checkout • Register Users • Tax and Shipping Charge Estimations • Optional Account Creation During Checkout • Save Shopping Carts • Store Credits Catalog Browsing • Layered / Faceted Browsing for filtering products within categories and search results • Category landing pages • Catalog search with auto-suggest • Popular search term and tag clouds • Product reviews • Breadcrumbs • Advanced Search • Sort By Price • Sort by Name • Sort by Position Language and Currency • Customizable Shopping Language (English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish) • Customizable Admin Control Panel (English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish) • Translate and edit any word/phrase in your store directly from the storefront • Set language-specific store themes • Sell in Multiple Currencies • Set language-specific currencies Reporting and Analytics • Dashboards • Top Products • Sales By Product • Sales By Category • Google Analytics Integration • Orders Report • Tax Reports • RSS feeds for new order alerts • Abandoned Shopping Cart Report • Low Stock Report

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• Product Reviews Report • Tags Report • Coupon Usage Report • Refund Report • Filter Reports by Date Range • Invoiced vs. Paid Report • Sales by Item Shipped Report • PayPal Settlement Reports • Products in Shopping Cart Report • Most Viewed Products Report • New Customers Report • New Accounts Report • Orders By Customer Report • Integrates with QuickBooks (Add-on) • Integrates with Salesforce (Add-on) • aheadWorks Reporting (Extension) Shipping • Real time rate calculations with major • shipping providers • Flat rate shipping per order • Flat rate shipping per item • Free shipping • Table rates for weight and destination • Table rates for number of items and • destination • Integrates with Atandra T-HUB (Add-on) • WebShopApps - Matrix Rates (Extension) • WebShopApps - Premium Matrix Rates (Extension) • ShipWorks (Extension) • Shipwire (Extension) Hosting and Security • PCI Compliant • Tier 4 data center • Total data security • Images delivered via Content Delivery Network (CDN) SEO • Search Engine Friendly & fully • customizable URLs • Google Site Maps • Category, Product and Page-level control • of meta data • Automatically generated list of popular • search terms • Maintenance Mode with 503 support • Support for 301 and 302 redirects Product Browsing • Multiple Images per product • Zoom-In Capability • Product reviews

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• Related products • Stock availability • Multi-tier pricing up-sell • Product options selection • Grouped products view

Marketing and Promotions • Newsletter Subscriptions Management • Dynamic Landing Pages • Rules-based pricing • Custom coupons and discounts • Fixed amount discount promotions • Percent amount discount promotions • Buy X and Get Y free (discount amount is Y) • Free shipping options • Buy X, Get Y free • Buy X, get Y with percent or fixed amount discount • Buy X, get free shipping on order • Buy X, get percent discount • Buy X, get fixed amount discount. • Tiered pricing for quantity discounts by customer category • Recently-viewed products • Gift Cards • Product Reviews and Ratings • Recently-compared items • Polls & Surveys • Product Tags • New Items Promotions Tool • Up-Sell in Shopping Cart • Cross-Sell on Product Pages • Related items and accessory up sell on • the Product info page • Like on Facebook • Send page to friend • Create and email wish lists • New Product Specials RSS Feeds • Auto-Generated Site Map • Promotional Widgets and Banners • Scheduled Promotional pricing • URL Rewrites • Live Chat (Add-on) • Integrates with MailChimp (Add-on) • Product Recommendations (Add-on) • Google AdWords Campaign Management(Extension) Product Management • Configurable Products Variants • Bundled Products • Grouped Products • Custom Product Attributes • Navigable and Searchable Attributes • Customer personalization

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• Inventory Management • Google Base Integration • Sell products in quantity increments • Virtual Products Social Shopping • "Like" button for Facebook • Product Tagging • Product Ratings • Product Reviews • Tell a Friend • Share your Wish list with friends • Beetailer Facebook Integration (Extension) Customer Accounts • Customers Can Create Accounts any time • while browsing or during checkout • Online order status and history • Re-orders from account • Recently ordered items • Address Book with default billing and • shipping addresses • Wish lists • Newsletter subscription management • Product Reviews submitted • Product Tags created • Customer Account dashboard • PayPal Access Integration Order Management • View, edit an fulfill order from the control • panel • Call center - process phone orders • through the control panel - including new • customer account creation • Create multiple invoices, shipments, credit • memos and store credits per order • Process refunds • Print invoices and packing slips

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APPENDIX C: DESIGN ELEMENTS

APPENDIX C-1: OLD AND NEW – SAMPLE GUI’S AND VISUAL DESIGN

Figure 7 - Old homepage

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Figure 8 - Old “About Us” static content page

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Figure 9 - Old "Ordering Info" page

Figure 10 - Old product category page

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Figure 11 - Close-up of an old product description

Figure 12 - Magento Community Edition Admin Panel

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Figure 13 - An example of a mostly blank and un-configured homepage of Magento Community Edition

Figure 14 - Magento Go Admin Panel

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Figure 15 - Magento Go Admin Panel: "Start My Store" wizard

Figure 16 - Product information page as seen from the Magento Go Admin Panel

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Figure 17 - Magento Go: a view of the new storefront homepage

Figure 18 - Magento Go: a view of a typical product page on the new storefront

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Figure 19 - Magento Go: the new storefront with detailed attributes for each product

Figure 20 - Magento Go: a view of the “About Us” page on the new storefront

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Figure 21 - Magento Go: the “Login or Create an Account” page on the new storefront

Figure 22 - Magento Go: a view of the customer account dashboard screen

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APPENDIX C-1: CUSTOM-DEFINED PRODUCT DATABASE ATTRIBUTES / DATA DICTIONARY

This is much too large to fit on this page and thus is only included on the data disc accompanying this documentation. Please see ~\MIS 498 - Senior Project III\Magento Go\Products\Products.xlsx on the data disc.

APPENDIX C-2: SAMPLE OUTPUT OF EXPORTED PRODUCT CATALOG

This is much too large to fit on this page and thus is only included on the data disc accompanying this documentation. Please see ~ \MIS 498 - Senior Project III\Magento Go\Products\ catalog_product_20120611_153729.csv

APPENDIX D: IMPLEMENTATION

APPENDIX D-1: TEST PLAN REPORTS

Test plans have not yet been created. I will create and use test plans when the website is closer to being ready to launch.

APPENDIX D-2: CODE SEGMENTS – CUSTOM CSS CODE (IF ANY)

Sample HTML code for the home page:

{{widget type="enterprise_banner/widget_banner" display_mode="fixed" types="content" rotate="series" banner_ids="1,2,3,4,5,6" template="banner/widget/block.phtml" unique_id="a4ddd45c20f9338dd6e7373f940058ae"}}

{{widget type="catalog/product_widget_new" display_products="new_products" products_count="10" template="catalog/product/widget/new/content/new_grid.phtml"}}

right.permanent.callout

right.reports.product.viewed

right.reports.product.compared

cart_sidebar

homepage_sidebar_kings1

APPENDIX D-3: HYPERLINKS TO MAGENTO GO ADMINISTRATOR – USERS MANUAL, KNOWLEDGE BASE, WIKI, & USER SUPPORT

The Magento Go User Guide: http://info.magento.com/rs/magentocommerce/images/MagentoGo- UserGuide.pdf

The Magento Go Design Guide: http://info.magento.com/rs/magentocommerce/images/MagentoGo- DesignGuide.pdf

The Magento Go Launch Guide: http://info.magento.com/rs/magentocommerce/images/MagentoGo- LaunchMyStoreGuide.pdf

Please note: The guides listed above are not included with my documentation, simply in an effort to avoid using so much paper.

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The Magento Go Knowledge Base: http://go.magento.com/support/kb/

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