Resources & References
If you are a first-time Yahoo! Store builder, you might have a few questions or need help in creating and maintaining the Yahoo! Store itself. Read through the following section, where we answer most common questions asked by people trying to create and run their own Yahoo! Stores.
Q: If I open a Yahoo! Store, will I be in Yahoo! Shopping?
Q: What do you do about security?
Q: Do we have to sign a contract with Yahoo! Store?
Q: Can we have create a Yahoo! Store but still have www.ourname.com as our address?
Q: How do the orders get to us?
Q: Can we do online credit card authorizations in our store?
Q: We do not have a merchant account yet. Can you help us get one?
Q: Can we change a store once we've created it?
Q: Can we get statistics about what is happening in our store?
Q: Do we need any special hardware or software to use Yahoo! Store?
Q: Will Yahoo! Store help me to drive traffic to my site?
Q: Will Yahoo! list my store in the Yahoo! Directory?
Q: Will anyone else have access to our sales data?
Q: Does Yahoo! accept international stores?
Q: What kind of network connection do Yahoo! Stores have?
Q: What does Yahoo! Store use as servers?
Q: What does Yahoo! do about backups?
Q: If I open a Yahoo! Store, will I be in Yahoo! Shopping?
A: Yahoo! Store merchants have the opportunity to join Yahoo! Shopping, one of the Web's leading shopping destinations. For more info, see the Yahoo! Shopping Merchant Information page.
Q: What do you do about security?
A: To help Yahoo! Store builders with security issues, Yahoo! uses industry-standard SSL encryption to scramble credit card information both on the way from the shopper from Yahoo!'s server, and from Yahoo!'s server on to the merchant.
Q: Do we have to sign a contract with Yahoo! Store?
A: When creating Yahoo! Stores, you have to agree to their Terms of Service, but you don't have to sign up for a set period of time. You can cancel whenever you want.
Q: Can we have create a Yahoo! Store but still have www.ourname.com as our address?
A: Yes, many of our users do. Yahoo! Store includes an easy tool that lets you register your own domain name (ourname.com). If you already have a domain name, we can help you transfer it.
Q: How do the orders get to us?
A: There are four ways to get your orders:
Most users view orders on the Web: just go to the Yahoo! Store home page and click on the Manager button. After entering your password, you'll be able to view orders over a secure connection.
- You can retrieve orders as database files in a choice of common formats.
This lets larger merchants feed Web orders into their existing order stream. - You can have orders forwarded by fax.
- If you have your own secure server, you can have orders posted to you in real time.
Q: Can we do online credit card authorizations in our store?
A: You can process orders online or through your existing in-store system, at your option.
Q: We do not have a merchant account yet. Can you help us get one?
A: Yes, you can apply online through Yahoo! Store. Your application will be processed in 1-3 business days. If you're accepted, your new merchant account will be hooked up to your store automatically.
Q: Can we change a store once we've created it?
A: You can update your site as often as you want, from wherever you happen to be. Some of our users update their sites several times a day.
While you're editing your site, visitors continue to see the previous version, but once you publish your changes, the updated version instantly becomes visible.
Q: Can we get statistics about what is happening in our store?
A: Yahoo! Store's tracking tools are regarded by most experts as the best in the industry.
Q: Do we need any special hardware or software to use Yahoo! Store?
A: You don't need anything more than you needed to read this page.
The only software you need is an ordinary browser: Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Explorer.
Q: Will Yahoo! Store help me to drive traffic to my site?
A: Yes. To start with, all Yahoo! stores are ordinarily included in Yahoo! Shopping, the biggest source of shoppers on the Web.
Sites built with Yahoo! Store are also designed for maximum visibility to search engines, and we automatically submit your pages to all the major search engines. It works! In a test by Internet World magazine, a site made with Yahoo! Store got more than 14 times as many page views as a one made with the number two online store tool.
Q: Will Yahoo! list my store in the Yahoo! Directory?
A: Yahoo! Stores should submit their sites to the Yahoo! directory for review. If your site is currently not listed and you have not submitted it already, see their site submission guidelines.
Q: Will anyone else have access to our sales data?
A: Absolutely not. Yahoo! publishes aggregate statistics, but they never disclose sales data for specific stores without their prior consent.
Yahoo! also understand the value of customer lists to direct marketers, and their policy is that this information is your property. They do not sell customer names, nor do they use them themselves.
Q: Does Yahoo! accept international stores?
A: Yes, For the time being, Yahoo! Store is unable to accept any new international merchants. They are working on policies and guidelines which will allow them to bring these merchants online as soon as possible.
Q: What kind of network connection do Yahoo! Stores have?
A: Your site will have the same network connection as Yahoo! itself, multiple T3s direct to all the major backbones. Yahoo!'s whole business depends on the quality of our network connection. Now your business can share it.
Q: What does Yahoo! Store use as servers?
A: The same kind of servers we use in Yahoo!'s own site: Pentium machines running FreeBSD.
Q: What does Yahoo! do about backups?
A: Yahoo! backs up all the user data every night. With orders we don't even wait till that night: they are backed up instantly.
