SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 6, 2005--ProStores, an eBay Company
(Nasdaq:EBAY) that enables small- and medium-sized businesses to establish
full-featured, customized e-commerce sites quickly and cost-effectively, today
announces new functionality and features in its newest Web storefront solution
release. The improvements apply to all four available tiers of ProStores, from
the basic ten-item Express store to the Business, Advanced and Enterprise
stores, with unlimited product inventory. The upgraded product will be available
at www.prostores.com starting October 10.
The new upgrades in
ProStores 6.0 include increased integration with eBay, search engine
optimization tools, enhanced inventory management capabilities, and expanded
shopping-cart options. Every ProStores site will be upgraded automatically,
without charge when version 6.0 is released. Store owners will be notified of
the product upgrade through an e-mail newsletter and where merchants log-on to
their sites.
"ProStores 6.0 incorporates feedback from our merchants and
includes more of the expanded features they seek to manage their online
storefronts effectively," said Chris Tsakalakis, senior director of stores and
platforms for eBay Inc. "We have made the shopping experience more convenient,
easier and flexible at all ProStores tier levels with this latest upgrade."
Greater eBay Cross-Functionality and Search-Engine Optimization
While ProStores enables merchants to operate a storefront independent of
the eBay marketplace, the software also provides integration with eBay.
Integration of ProStores with the eBay marketplace has been enhanced in the 6.0
upgrade, allowing merchants to import numerous photos of their eBay listings of
products. ProStores 6.0 also enables merchants to upload product files they
create with eBay's free Turbo Lister software.
Recognizing the crucial
importance of search-engine optimization for e-commerce sites, ProStores 6.0
gives merchants the option of letting the ProStores software automatically
optimize elements of their online store for search engines. This upgrade
includes extensive tips to help merchants improve their store's position in
search-engine results.
Increased Inventory Management Options
Inventory management is now available in all four available tiers of
ProStores, including the Express and Business tiers. The ProStores solution,
which launched in June 2005, initially offered inventory management for Advanced
and Enterprise tiers only. The new release enables ProStores Express merchants
to set whether they have one or many of up to ten items they have for sale. In
the Business tier, merchants now can indicate the exact quantities available for
each of their items. With the higher ProStores tiers, store owners can enable
backorders and list quantities by a variety of attributes, such as size or
color.
Customer Shopping Enhancements
The shopping experience
using ProStores 6.0 makes it faster and easier for shoppers to check out.
Shoppers can now purchase on a merchant's ProStores site without registering.
Merchants can choose to require registration or not, or let the customer decide.
The registration feature aids returning or repeat customers by automatically
remembering their billing and shipping information.
Improved navigation
allows shoppers to add or delete items easily from their shopping cart and to
access the shopping cart from anywhere on the merchant's ProStores site.
Shoppers also can enter a ZIP code to determine the actual shipping cost of an
item prior to checkout.
About ProStores
ProStores, an eBay
Company, allows small- and medium-sized businesses to create a professional
online store, customized with their own branding and domain name. ProStores
became an eBay company in November 2004, followed by eBay's acquisition of
Kurant's StoreSense technology in January 2005. For more information about
ProStores visit www.prostores.com.
About eBay Inc.
Founded in
1995, eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust, and
inspired by opportunity. eBay enables ecommerce on a local, national and
international basis with an array of web sites -- including the eBay
Marketplace, PayPal, Kijiji, Rent.com and Shopping.com -- that bring together
millions of buyers and sellers every day.
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