Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #46
    Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

    If I had to guess, June.
    Thanks,

    Rick Wilson
    CEO
    Miva, Inc.
    [email protected]
    https://www.miva.com

    Comment


      #47
      Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

      Hi Rick,
      I had a similar problem several years ago. I thought it was corrected with

      Bugfix 5755 - Accumulating rounding error/transaction errors when BasketCharge amount fields extend to 3 decimal digits.

      Can you reference 5755 with the new bug report to see if the errors are related. I wouldn't want to 5755 to be reinvented.

      I can empathize with lancermedias frustration and value his input to help discover this bug. I know how frustrated I was when I first discovered the problem and thought I was going crazy that cart totals wouldn't match. I reached out to several developers who were diligent, honest and professional. But it was a Miva problem so I hacked a solution and moved on.

      Hopefully lancermedia can empathize that developers can't fix Miva core problems especially if they are yet to be discovered. Developers get just as frustrated trying to fix problems that are not of their own making.
      http://www.alphabetsigns.com/

      Comment


        #48
        Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

        We're aware of the previous bug you mention (obviously) and we had thought the fix we used in that bug would allow Scott to update his module with some code we provided him to fix his module today. Sadly that didn't work and it caused us to realize there was another layer to the rounding bug.

        So in other words we definitely won't undo what we've fixed since it's really the same bug on a new deeper level.
        Thanks,

        Rick Wilson
        CEO
        Miva, Inc.
        [email protected]
        https://www.miva.com

        Comment


          #49
          Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

          Can you elaborate on the bug? Some modules may have been written to work around rounding issues and they may either 1) be broken now or more likely, 2) don't need convoluted work around code in them.
          Bill Weiland - Emporium Plus http://www.emporiumplus.com/store.mvc
          Online Documentation http://www.emporiumplus.com/tk3/v3/doc.htm
          Question http://www.emporiumplus.com/mivamodu...vc?Screen=SPTS
          Facebook http://www.facebook.com/EmporiumPlus
          Twitter http://twitter.com/emporiumplus

          Comment


            #50
            Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

            Bill,

            I'll email you the details off list and if you think any of it's worthy of posting here feel free.
            Thanks,

            Rick Wilson
            CEO
            Miva, Inc.
            [email protected]
            https://www.miva.com

            Comment


              #51
              Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

              to do them properly you need split payment
              What is "split payment"?
              Bill Dunn
              SunCam, Inc.
              http://www.SunCam.com
              [email protected]

              Comment


                #52
                Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

                What is "split payment"?
                Split Payment is the ability to break an order up into discrete chunks and send it to different places to process payment. It's not common to see in the Small and Medium Sized business space, but you see it say at Apple or other retailers who sell expensive items and they let you pay with multiple cards for a single order.

                By allowing the basket to break the order up into chunks and process the chunks differently, you allow for both proper Gift Card support (including offline/online real time gift cards) as well as multiple cards on a single order.
                Thanks,

                Rick Wilson
                CEO
                Miva, Inc.
                [email protected]
                https://www.miva.com

                Comment


                  #53
                  Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

                  "split payment"
                  Interesting but I can't recall ever getting a request to split an order in that way. (I guess that's the difference between a dime store and a jewelry store.)

                  ~~~~~

                  I hope that as Miva develops the new gift certificate feature that they will think of it more broadly than simply a gift certificate program. It's really a prepayment device that allows merchants to get the money now and deliver the goods/services later. I view it as the store's own currency. Here's what I mean!

                  We sell continuing education courses to engineers. We have re-purposed the Sebenza Gift Certificate module to sell "Prepaid Training Vouchers" to large corporate and government customers. The idea is to allow the boss to buy vouchers for all of their professional employees in order to get the best (50%) discount. The employees can then use the vouchers to purchase any of the training courses that fit their needs.

                  The boss likes vouchers because:
                  -He/she gets to hand out a $600 employee benefit that costs only $300.
                  -He/she controls cost by steering employees away from the extravagant (i.e. Lake Tahoe or Caribbean cruise) seminars that employees like to select for themselves.
                  -Our online courses are easy to interrupt for the "drop everything and come to a meeting" call from the boss or a client.

                  Employees like vouchers because:
                  -They are prepaid. They don't have to layout cash and wait for reimbursement

                  We like them because:
                  -Vouchers are the best customer loyalty program that we have ever tried.
                  -We get it done with one sale instead of hundreds.
                  -We get to hold the money until the employee gets around to taking their training.
                  -As with gift certificates, a small but significant number of vouchers (5-10%) never get used.

                  We do not recommend any of the Sebenza modules because of poor/nonexistent support but re-purposed, the gift certificate module is getting the job done. Looking forward to the new one!
                  Bill Dunn
                  SunCam, Inc.
                  http://www.SunCam.com
                  [email protected]

                  Comment


                    #54
                    Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

                    I hope that as Miva develops the new gift certificate feature that they will think of it more broadly than simply a gift certificate program. It's really a prepayment device that allows merchants to get the money now and deliver the goods/services later. I view it as the store's own currency.
                    I agree and that's how we're thinking about it.

                    And thanks for the highly specific use case, that helps more than you know.
                    Thanks,

                    Rick Wilson
                    CEO
                    Miva, Inc.
                    [email protected]
                    https://www.miva.com

                    Comment


                      #55
                      Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

                      And while you're at it Rick...

                      I heard of a concept called 'split baskets'. I'm not sure how its done but the concept is that you can separate the items into separate sub-basket ids thus being able to apply different discounts, payments and shipping methods to each sub-basket.

                      Is that the same as 'split payments' and if so will we be able to select different shipping and coupon methods as well?
                      http://www.alphabetsigns.com/

                      Comment


                        #56
                        Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

                        Interesting, I hadn't heard of that concept specifically, but it does fall in line with what's truly necessary to do multiple address shipments anyway.

                        Gift Certificates/Stored Value Credit/Split Payments will all likely arrive before anything along the lines of Split Basket, for what it's worth.
                        Thanks,

                        Rick Wilson
                        CEO
                        Miva, Inc.
                        [email protected]
                        https://www.miva.com

                        Comment


                          #57
                          Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

                          Originally posted by Rick Wilson View Post
                          Kevin,

                          Understood, that part I can only try to assist with, but I did directly reach out to Scott for you.
                          Rick,

                          I am having a similar problem with getting ahold of Sebenza support. I've had 2 tickets open (7086 and 7090) for over a week with no response. Are they still around? Can you help out?

                          Thanks,
                          Eric

                          Comment


                            #58
                            Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

                            Yes Scott is still around, email me and I'll reach out to him.
                            Thanks,

                            Rick Wilson
                            CEO
                            Miva, Inc.
                            [email protected]
                            https://www.miva.com

                            Comment


                              #59
                              Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

                              So knowing the state that Sebenza is in......Rick can you give me any rough idea if/when Gift Certificates will be added to the core product? I have my client constantly asking us about this and we have to keep pushing him off. I can't in good faith use the Sebenza module, even when v9 comes out with the rounding fix because I don't trust Sebenza to support anything in the future. And with something like gift certificates, you can't just stop using the module if you have outstanding balances to customers.

                              We love working with Miva, and I think some of the things that v9 is going to add will help reduce the need for 3rd party modules, but we continue to get pressure from clients on Miva asking to investigate other platforms that have all the bells and whistles. We know that platforms like Big Commerce are great on paper....but in reality don't live up to the hype.....but it's hard to continually convince clients of this.

                              -Kevin
                              Web Design and Development, Internet Marketing
                              Lancer Media, Inc.

                              Comment


                                #60
                                Re: Sebenza out of business? - Gift certificate module suggestions

                                I can say this, it's the first feature we plan on adding once V9 ships. As for timeline, I can't speak to that (with any accuracies).

                                As for customers, customers will always be told the grass is greener on the other side, that's the entire purpose of marketing. However if you look at our legitimate customer generated reviews compared to the other guys, I think you'll find we stand virtually alone. However it's worth noting if they're reading "editorial" review sites, those are without fail pay to play. Usually it's about $5k a month to be #1, $4k a month to be #2, etc... and we refuse to play those games.

                                You'll generally find there are two types of companies out there competing with us:

                                1. The simple on purpose, with no desire to be different. I would put Shopify at the top of this list and as competitors go they do a good job. However their philosophy is publicly stated that they only want to add features 90% of their customers will use. So as a simple example they don't support Sub-categories. If Miva used that standard we'd have far less features. For us 10% adoption is a good goal.

                                2. The kitchen sink on purpose, architecture be damned group. I would put Magento at the top of this list, but BC and others go down this list. They add features as fast as possible without concern for depth or how they interact. They also don't care what they do to performance, just so long as their online marketing can claim to do anything.

                                We're following a different path, putting in well thought out features that scale, perform well across the board and interact properly with the whole ecosystem. Our platform is unique in the number of people who run multi-million dollar businesses on it compared to price point/place in market (so obviously Demandware customers are all huge, but they only have 110 customers).

                                If your customers want to know what real customers experience on other platforms and why Miva is unique, they could start here: http://www.mivamerchant.com/search-r...q=Case+Studies
                                Thanks,

                                Rick Wilson
                                CEO
                                Miva, Inc.
                                [email protected]
                                https://www.miva.com

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X