Innovative Store Designs Flourish with New Interface of ProStores 8.0
New version offers increased ease-of-use for new and experienced Web designers
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 20, 2007 -- ProStores, a full-featured
customizable online store solution for small- and medium-size
businesses, released its newest software upgrade, version 8.0. The
most significant upgrade since mid-2006, the latest version features
a new user interface and a complete redesign of the Store Design Hub
allowing merchants using ProStores software to set up and customize
the design of their online stores more easily. Demonstrating the
commitment to continually evolving and updating the merchant
experience, ProStores 8.0 is the sixth upgrade ProStores introduced
since the launch of ProStores as an eBay Company in 2005.
"Based on extensive feedback from our merchant community and valuable
usability testing, we've created a new Store Design Hub that is
simple and intuitive for store designers at any level," said Eric
Shoup, director of ProStores. "Merchants spend a significant amount
of time working on their ProStores web site design; in fact, half
make design updates to their site at least once a week. The new
features and functionality in ProStores 8.0 will help our merchants
quickly and easily revise their stores to provide the best customer
experience possible."
Easier Setup and Design
The ProStores 8.0 Store Design Hub is a centralized location that
provides design recommendations, easy comparison of available store
design themes, customizable view settings, improved navigation
between advanced design tools, and a redesigned help module.
Merchants now can easily apply edits across multiple page templates
with the new Page Template manager and make quick content and design
updates to their store information pages with a new "what you see is
what you get" (WYSIWYG) Page Text editor that does not require
knowledge of HTML coding.
Customer Log-in for Business Tier
The upgrade allows Business tier subscribers the option for customer
log-in, providing smooth check-out and access to account information
and order history for repeat customers. The customer log-in feature
was previously only available in the Advanced and Enterprise tiers.
Version 8.0, as with all other versions of ProStores, requires no
downloading or copying of files. Existing merchants are automatically
upgraded to the new version.
ProStores offers four e-commerce tiers: Express, Business, Advanced,
and Enterprise. The ProStores solution enables merchants to set up a
complete online store with the many of the same features and the
sophistication found on the Web sites of larger retailers, including
full shopping-cart capability with online checkout and integration
with major payment gateways and shippers.
Subscription fees for ProStores sites start at $6.95 per month for
the Express tier, with a 1.5 percent successful transaction fee. The
other three tiers are ProStores Business, the most popular tier at
$29.95 per month, Advanced at $74.95 per month, and Enterprise at
$249.95 per month, each tier with a 0.5 percent successful
transaction fee.
About ProStores
ProStores, an eBay Company, allows small- and medium-sized businesses
to create professional online stores, customized with their own
branding and domain name. ProStores was incorporated as an eBay
Company in November 2004, followed by eBay's acquisition of Kurant's
StoreSense technology in January 2005. ProStores launched its
full-service e-commerce solution to merchants in June 2005. For more
information about ProStores visit (http://www.prostores.com/).
About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995, eBay pioneers communities built on commerce,
sustained by trust and inspired by opportunity. eBay enables
e-commerce 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.
