Last week we rolled an update to OpenSRS Storefront that allows Resellers to edit the text on the home page and also to create a page for displaying and marketing any sales or promotions that Resellers may be running. Documentation has been updated to reflect the changes, but I thought I’d put together a quick tutorial showing how to do it. I’m trying something a bit different this time so instead of a video screencast, I’ve provided step by step instructions with screenshots. Let me know which one you think works better for you in the comments, if you wish.

And on a related note, we’re continuing to work on OpenSRS Storefront and we’d love to hear your opinions on how we can make it better. Either drop us a comment right here in the blog, or drop by the forum and join in the discussion there.

Click through to view the tutorials, or download a PDF version for easy printing.

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Last week, we shared some screencasts to help you set up your Storefront site. Today, we’re going to share two more tutorials dealing with more advanced topics.

Using a Custom Hostname

Adding Search

A few days ago we told you about some improvements that were made to OpenSRS Storefront. Since the changes went live, I’ve had some time to go through the user experience on my own (I manage my own domains through Storefront on my own Reseller account) and I put together a short screencast showing off some of the improvements. I’m a big fan of Storefront because it makes not only buying domains easy, but it simplifies management of the domains I own.

Take a look:

We’ve put together some nifty tutorials for those of you just starting out with Storefront. Each of these brief screencasts will help you accomplish a specific task in your hosted Storefront site, and we hope you’ll find them helpful. We’ll be sharing some more advanced tutorials soon.

If you’re not familiar with Storefront, we introduced this easy-to-use method of selling domains late last year.

Editing and Enabling the Contact Us and About Us Pages

Adding Promotional Bullets

Adding Yourself as the Tech Contact for Domains

Setting Custom Pricing

Additional Blog posts in our Storefront Screencast series:

Part 2
Part 3

This afternoon, we rolled out the latest version of OpenSRS Storefront. Since we introduced Storefront late last year, we’ve been working hard to make it better for both our Resellers and for your customers. Many of the improvements come as a result of feedback provided to us by our Resellers. This lastest update focused on usability for the end-user interface.

The changes come in three areas:

1. An improved search experience: Storefront searches across a few dozen gTLDs and ccTLDs every time a user does a search. The lookup times for those searches can vary depending on the response times for each Registry. In some cases, those searches were taking too long so we redeigned the way search works to make things feel faster. Now, when a user performs a search, we return results for gTLDs immediately, and then start filling in the ccTLDs as the search results return. That means searches feel much faster for the end users.
2. A better Domain Manager: For users with a bunch of domains in their profile, the Domain Manager was a bit unwieldy. We set out to reorganize the navigation for the Domain Manager and at the same time, we rolled out a bunch of improvements that make managing domains easier. End users can do things like bulk changes to WHOIS records, bulk renewals, and other changes across multiple domains at the same time.
3. An easy way to auto-renew: We’ve added the ability for end-users to set domains and services to auto-renew. They can choose to set domains to auto-renew at the time of purchase, and later they can toggle auto renewal on or off for single domains, or multiple domains thanks to the new bulk tools.

If you want to take the new search experience for a spin, you can do so at our Storefront demo site. Keep in mind that this site is live and if you follow the purchase process through to the end, you’ve bought the domain name for real.

Drop us a line in the comments to let us know what you think.

Since OpenSRS launched back in 1999, we’ve offered a couple of ways for our resellers to sell domain names and related services. First, there is the Reseller Web Interface (RWI) which provides a browser-based sales and management interface. Second, there is our Application Programming Interface (API) that allows resellers to integrate domain sales and management into their own systems.

Starting today, we’re ready to tell you about a third way to sell through OpenSRS – a hosted storefront.

We’re rolling out our new OpenSRS Storefront solution as a “technology preview” in advance of its official launch in a few weeks. If you want to roll up your sleeves and try it out, later today, there will be a link in the RWI for you that will provision a ‘live’ working Storefront interface. You can also try Storefront in the Horizon Test Environment – it’s there already.

We’ve put together a list of frequently asked questions that will, we hope, answer most of the questions you might have about how Storefront works.

There are a few things that distinguish the OpenSRS Storefront from competing hosted reseller-in-a-box offerings. The Internet has changed dramatically over the past few years with the arrival of what has become known as “Web 2.0.” Our Storefront really reflects those changes.

Back in 1999, people looking to buy domain names were generally fairly tech-savvy individuals who knew how to code HTML or manage their own server. Or they were companies with IT departments that could make sure that the website that new domain name was pointing to worked properly.

Today, anyone and everyone wants to be online. Tools like hosted blogs, photo sharing sites and MySpace deliver on the promise of making it easy to establish and maintain an online identity. Our Storefront further extends this and makes it easy for everyone to find, buy, own and manage their own domain name, regardless of technical experience.

It’s really a domain name sales site for the Web 2.0 age and we think it represents the way domain names will be sold in the coming years.

Here’s a look at the end-user experience:

For current Resellers, there’s no fee to pay, or contract to sign. Just click the link in the RWI, when it appears later today, and your storefront will be created and you’ll be able to start customizing it right away.

We expect that many of you will want to see for yourself what Storefront looks like on the back end. To get you started, we have a screencast showing how to get your Storefront provisioned, and what you’ll find once you log into the Storefront Manager.

We’ll have more information on Storefront in the coming weeks.

OpenSRS Storefront is new, and we expect you’ll have a lot of questions about it. We’ve tried to address as many as we could think of in this OpenSRS Storefront FAQ. If you don’t see the answer to your questions here, drop us a line in the comments and we’ll do our best to get you the information you need.

You can also check the documentation for OpenSRS Storefront.

What is OpenSRS Storefront?
OpenSRS Storefront is a third way to integrate with the OpenSRS backend to sell services. Storefront is a fully-hosted, domain sales and management website, including a payment processing gateway. Storefront is currently available as a technology preview to OpenSRS Resellers.

How much does it cost to become a Storefront Reseller?
Storefront is included in our reseller program just like the API and RWI. New OpenSRS Resellers pay the usual one-time activation fee of $95.

How do payments work for Storefront? Do I have to pre-fund my account?
Pre-funding is not required for Storefront sales because Storefront works on an affiliate model. Resellers are free to charge what they wish for the various services they offer. Payments are handled by OpenSRS (through our payment processor ShopCo.com). Resellers are charged a processing fee on sales and commissions are deposited into a Storefront account viewable in the RWI. Resellers will be paid out monthly via cheque when they account balance exceeds $50.

How much do I make per domain name sold?
The retail price is set by the Storefront Reseller. After a purchase is made, your Reseller account is credited with the retail selling price less costs.

What are the costs? How can I figure out how much I’ll make?
Fixed costs factored into calculating the Reseller’s commission are:

• 6% Payment Processing Fee – all transactions processed via Storefront’s Shopco.com payment gateway are subject to a 6% payment processing fee. The 6% payment processing fee is calculated on the Reseller’s retail selling price. This fee is subtracted from the retail price charged to the end-user.
• Domain Wholesale Costs – standard domain pricing of cost plus the OpenSRS Management Fee plus any applicable ICANN fee.
• Applicable Taxes on Retail Transactions – GST will be collected on retail transactions from end-users with a Canadian address in their Storefront account. Note that the Reseller will not earn commission on the amount of the GST collected.

Taking the retail price and subtracting costs will give you the Reseller’s commission. Once the Reseller has earned at least $100 in commissions, a payout will be processed on the last day of the month and paid one month in arrears.

Can you give me an example of how the Reseller commission calculated?
Sure, here is an example of the calculation for a Storefront Reseller commission on the sale of a domain:

• $20.00 – Storefront Reseller’s retail selling price for a 1-year .com
• subtract: $1.20 (6% Payment Processing Fee)
• subtract: $6.86 (.COM Registry cost)
• subtract: $0.20 (ICANN Fee)
• subtract: $3.00 (OpenSRS Management Fee)

The result would be $8.74 paid into the resellers OpenSRS account.

Is the 6% Payment Processing Fee negotiable?
No. All Storefront Resellers are subject to the 6% payment processing fee. Keep in mind that using the Storefront Payment Gateway means you don’t have to setup and manage your own payment gateway. Additionally, Resellers are protected from fraudulent transactions (we take on all the risk).

How are domain prices set?
Resellers are free to set their own pricing. You can view OpenSRS Wholesale list pricing here.

Can I use my own payment gateway?
No. All Storefront Resellers use the payment gateway hosted at ShopCo.com.

What is GST?
GST, or Goods and Services Tax, is a Canadian sales tax collected on retail transactions from end-users with a Canadian address in their Storefront account. We are required by law to collect GST from Canadian buyers. Resellers do not earn commission on any GST collected.

Which OpenSRS Domains Services are available in Storefront?
At this point, in the preview stage, just the most popular gTLDs are available for sale in Storefront. We will be adding ccTLDs by December 1, 2008.

In addition, Storefront offers:

• Premium Domain Names – Resellers earn the standard 10% commission on Premium Names provisioned through Storefront; however, 6% of the full domain purchase price will be held back to cover the payment processing fee levied on all Storefront transactions, thereby crediting the Reseller’s account a gross commission of 4% on the sale of a Premium Name.
• Name Suggestion Tool – Name Suggestion Tool is enabled for all Storefront Resellers.
• WHOIS Privacy – WHOIS Privacy is free to Storefront Resellers and their end-users.
• Managed DNS – Managed DNS is free to Storefront Resellers and their end-users.
• Domain and email forwarding – available free to Resellers and to end users at a price determined by the Reseller

Are Storefront domains eligible for Parked Pages and Expired Domains Programs?
Resellers using Storefront to manage their domains are not eligible for revenue sharing in the Parked Pages Program or Expired Domains Programs. Revenue sharing is available to API/RWI customers only.

How can I customize my storefront?
You can upload a logo, choose from one of four themes and add your own text on the home page and about us and contact us pages. We’ll add further themes and customization options in the future.

Can I user Storefront to manage existing domains in my OpenSRS account?
Not during the preview period, but by December 1st, we’ll give you the option to transition your domains to Storefront.