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Introduction To Zen CartZen Cart is a free, user-friendly, open source shopping cart system, that allows you to create an online e-commerce store for selling your goods and services.It is written in PHP and requires a MySQL database to work.The software is designed to cater specifically to the requirements of store owners and shoppers.Zen Cart is freeWhat is Zen Cart?Allows customers to shop your store 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365+ days a year! Easily keep your product/catalog Product Customization through AttributesSimple Checkout ProcessMultiple Payment OptionsMultiple Shipping OptionsMultiple Languages, Currencies and TaxesWide Array of Marketing ToolsAdvanced Pricing OptionsOrder Total CalculationOrder ManagementCustom Look-and-Feel

Features of Zen CartZen Cart is divided into two areas:Store FrontAdmin ConsoleStore Quick TourA Typical Shopping Flow

Home page21ProductInfo page 3Shopping Cart page4Log In/Sign Up page5Delivery information page6Payment info pageOrder Confirmation page7Checkout success page9My Account Information page8Store LocationObjectivesIn this lesson you shall:

Understand how the different pieces of location information (i.e. Countries, Zones and Zone Definitions) are used together to determine the taxes, shipping and payment charges that a customer incurs.

Configure Countries information.

Configure Zones information.

Configure Zone Definitions information.

Specify your Store Location.Categories of LocationLocation is divided into three categories in Zen Cart:

Countries

Zones

Zones DefinitioncountriesZen Cart comes with a complete set of countries in the DatabaseYou might have to remove some countries

ISO Country Codes These are internationally recognized abbreviations of country codes according to the ISO-3166 standard.

ISO-3166 Standarddefines both two-letter and three-letters codes for different countries in the world.Zen Cart uses both the ISO Code (2) and ISO Code (3)Address Formats Used in Different CountriesEach country defines a fixed format for their addressesThis address format is available via the post office of each countryZen Cart comes with a default of six address formatsAddress format patterns used in Zen CartAddressFormatPatternDefault CountriesAffectedAddress Format Examples1$firstname $lastname$streets$city, $postcode$statecomma$countryAll other countries notstated below.James Logan496 Victoria StreetSydney, 2010New South Wales, Australia2$firstname $lastname$streets$city, $state $postcode$countryUnited StatesJohn Doe123 Magnolia StreetDallas, TX 55803-0034United States3$firstname $lastname$streets$city$postcode - $statecomma$countrySpainMartina GonzalezGeneral Castanos, 86Barcelona08003 Barcelona, SpainAddress format patterns used in Zen Cart (continue)AddressFormatPatternDefault CountriesAffectedAddress Format Examples4$firstname $lastname$streets$city ($postcode)$countrySingapore

Singapore John Low16 Whampoa DriveSingapore (260042)Singapore5$firstname $lastname$streets$postcode $city$countryAustria, GermanyGermany Heidi KohlerLentzeallee 19414195 BerlinGermany6$firstname $lastname$streets$city$state$postcode$countryUnited KingdomKingdom James Watson1 St. Georges Business CentrePortsmouthPortsmouthPO1 3AXUnited KingdomZonesZones are defined as geographical regions within a country

Zen Cart comes with a default set of zones configured for the following countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Palau, Spain, Switzerland and United States.

Purpose of Zonesto allow you to fine-tune your shipping, payment and tax charges based on Zone information.Adding a Zone

Zone DefinitionsA Zone Definition is a logical grouping of zones

A Zone Definition can cover a small area such as a State in a country (e.g. Paris) or several countries in a federation (e.g. European Union).

Purpose of Zone Definitions: Zone Definition allows you to restrict a shipping or payment option only to customers from a specific area in the world. Similarly, you can use a Zone Definition to specify a specific tax rate for customers from a specific location in the world.

Adding a Zone Definition

Specifying Your Store LocationYou need to provide Zen Cart with details of where you are located

This is because Zen Cart may need this information to determine how certain charges are to be calculated

To specify your store locationSummaryLocation information provides the basis for you to specify shipping, payment and tax rules

A slight misconfiguration here could affect the charges that a customer should pay for your product or service; ultimately it might hurt your revenue and possibly your reputation. Zen Cart Store Contact InformationObjectivesWe shall :Specify your store contact information. See how your store information is displayed in your online store.See how your store information is displayed in printable documents generated by your store. See how your store information is displayed in emails sent to customersSpecifying Store Contact InformationResearch has shown that customers prefer to deal with businesses that display their contact information prominently

To specify your store's contact information for online and printed documents:

Store Contact Information Displayed OnlineYour store contact information is available in the following places online:Contact Us page.Order Confirmation page if Check/Money Order payment option chosen by customer.Contact Us PageTo view your store's contact information in the Contact Us page, go to your Store Front and click on Contact Us from the Information side-box.Store Contact Information Displayed in Printable DocumentsYour store's contact information will also appear in the following printable documents invoices and packing slips.

InvoicesYour store contact information will be displayed on the top-left corner of an invoice

Packing SlipsSimilarly, your store contact information will also be displayed on the top-left corner of a packing slip.

Store Information Appearing in EmailsContact information presented in emails sent out from your store will only contain the store name and store owners

As shown in the following sample screen shot.

SummaryYour contact information is available through several mediums: online store, printed documents and in emails.

Always keep your contact information updated as it is important for the image and credibility of your business.CurrencyObjectivesWe shall :Add new currencies to your Zen Cart store.Update currency exchange rates in real-time.Specify the default currency for your storeThe Currencies Screen

All currency configurations in Zen Cart are configured via the Currencies screen. To access this screen, click on Localization > Currencies

US dollar is the default currencyhas a value of 1.00000000All other currencies will be relative to this currency when specifying the exchange rate.

To add a new currency:

Updating Exchange Rates in Real-TimeTo update your currency to the latest exchange rates, you click on the update currencies button in the Currencies screen.

Zen Cart will immediately fetch the latest exchange rates from http://www.oanda.com.

If this site is down or the exchange rates you specified is not available there, Zen Cart will switch to another currency exchange site http://www.xe.com