Buyers New Functionality July 2007

Fabulous new features for buyers
NEW AND ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONALITY - DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY TO HELP BUYERS ON CLOTHES AGENCY!

JULY 2007

Thousands have purchased from Clothes Agency since it's launch in 2004 and the community has leapt forward since the complete rebuild in October 2006. A lot has changed since those early days!

Clothes Agency is delighted to announce new features designed exclusively to help make the buying process an even better experience - as well as being a great deal easier!

Available immediately the following additions have been made:

International Postage

How It Used to Work:

Up until now, international postage has had to be requested by the buyer and charged for manually by the seller after, or just before, the sale is processed.

New Functionality:

Buyers will immediately be able to see (if applicable) the additional international shipping charges within each listing. By clicking on 'More Details' for a sale item, buyers can now view the totals including Domestic Shipping, as well as International Shipping.

How Will Buyers Be Affected?:

It will open your purchasing window to the world! Sellers who've chosen to ship globally will be able to show their international charges right there within each item for sale - so buyers will no longer have to make the enquiries about how much they'll have to pay to have purchases sent to their country.

What Buyers Need To Do:

Nothing - as long as the country of residence in each member's address details is accurate, the system will do it for you! (To check, simply go my details, within the my account section of the Member's Menu, and ensure that your address details are correct.)

i) Shop till you drop! However, do make a note of the items that welcome international buyers. To do so - click on More Details of any item you wish to purchase and pay particular attention to the Seller Location: and Will Ship to: categories.

ii) When you have finished making your selections, proceed to the checkout process. Clothes Agency will detect if your country is different to that of the seller and will automatically select the amount applicable to International Shipping and calculate the total for you.

iii) When you are happy with your checkout items - proceed to payment and the seller will receive notice of your order.

It's that easy!

Seller's Country of Origin:

How It Used to Work:

Up until now, there was no way of knowing where a seller was based. This was found to be slightly off-putting to some members.

New Functionality:

The system will now recognise where each seller is from. When a buyer clicks on 'More details' for any sale item, they will instantly be able to see the seller's country of origin.

How Will Buyers Be Affected?:

It will help buyers to recognise items for sale from within their own country, as well as help alert them to potential international shipping. Clothes Agency doesn't believe in springing surprises!

What Buyers Need To Do:

Nothing! As long as the correct country in the seller's home address has been selected, the system will tell buyers where the items they're interested in are based!

New Printed Invoices for Buyers

How It Used To Work:
When making purchases on Clothes Agency, buyers were shown a Shopping Basket screen and then invited to proceed to checkout - when selected this would take the buyer immediately to the payment process, or if check/cheque payment was selected, the confirmation of purchase message. This was found to be a little too fast for some and so an interim invoice has now been added.

New Functionality:
Clothes Agency has now added a checkout/invoice page for buyers. It will show a confirmation of items chosen, the method of payment chosen and a further option to print a copy of the invoice for their records. If an alternative method of payment would be more suitable, buyers will also be able to return to their shopping basket to make another choice. The buyer will then be invited to proceed to payment at which time the applicable payment process will begin.

How Will Buyers Be Affected?
This new screen will help buyers to check they're satisfied with the items chosen, will allow them to print a copy of their invoice for safe records and will also act as a slight buffer, (as opposed to plunging them straight into the payment process!) for the new user.

What Buyers Need To Do:
Nothing at all! Simply feel safe in the knowledge that the checkout process is methodical and careful and that if a change of heart occurs mid-checkout, it's easily actioned.

Platinum and Top Drawer Catalogue ID.

How It Used To Work:

Up until now, selling catalogues have been displayed with just the seller's names showing. It has been requested by members that Top Drawer catalogues are identified, as some buyers may prefer to purchase only from private (and platinum) sellers.

New Functionality:

Because of the increase in visitors and activity within the Clothes Agency community, Top Drawer catalogues are now clearly identifiable with a (TD) after the selling name. Platinum members are also identifiable with a (P) after their selling name.

How Will Buyers Be Affected?:

The ID will help buyers to easily identify private sellers across the community. As time goes by there will be fewer and fewer catalogues marked with (TD), this is a worldwide community and it is planned that these will be gradually phased out.

What Buyers Need To Do:

Nothing! It's all automatically programmed for you.

About Me - Get To Know Each Other! Buyer's Can Now Introduce Themselves to Sellers..

How It Used To Work:

Until recently, only seller's personal introductions to the community were being seen - this was available via the 'Meet the Seller' link on each item for sale. There has been no easy way to get to know buyers, so this has now been addressed.

New Functionality:

Members who've chosen to fill in their short biographies (stored within my details in the my account section of the navigation) now have the ability for their introductions to be posted in two places:

i) As sellers, the 'About Me' can be seen on each item for sale ('Meet the Seller');

ii) Buyer's introductions can now be seen by the seller once a transaction has been completed, (it is not available at any other point) and is viewable via their items sold lists I Sold It (in the sales menu). At the top of each item sold, there is a link called 'Get to know each other; Meet the Buyer'.

How Will Buyers Be Affected?

In a beautifully positive way! This is a community and in communities it's great to get to know one another, helping to create the warm and friendly atmosphere for which Clothes Agency is so famous! The more members introduce themselves to each other, the more friendships can be made, this can help build confidence between both parties!

What Buyers Need To Do:

Clothes Agency hopes that buyers, as well as sellers will introduce themselves to the community. It can be as detailed or as personal as is desired - perhaps a short biography, why Clothes Agency has been chosen as a place to shop and maybe what a buyer is looking for in particular. Why not share musical tastes and perhaps hobbies? There may be someone out there who has the same interests!

This information only has to be entered once and is editable at any time. Click on my details in the my account section of the member's menu. Scroll down and towards the bottom there's a box entitled 'About Me'. Place the personal introduction here and save the changes. That's it - it really is that easy.

Please note: Taking this small step of introduction to the community cannot be recommended highly enough. Clothes Agency has heard on more than one occasion that sellers love to get to know their buyers. It makes them far more comfortable and remember, selling as well as buying off the Internet is still quite a scary prospect for some - so by showing a friendly face, it will make a world of difference to a reputation.. Just a tip!

Forum - Subscribe to Your Favourite Threads.

How It Used To Work:

Members leaving posts in the Forums would only be able to follow their threads by logging in and clicking directly on Forums.

New Functionality:

Members leaving posts in the Forums now have the ability to receive messages via a convenient link by subscribing to any posts they're interested in. This will generate an email alert every time a fresh comment is left.

How Will Buyers Be Affected?

That's entirely up to each member! This will be a fabulous way of becoming active within the community and letting other members get to know one another! Leaving messages in the Forum will encourage others to join in - an active Forum is a fun Forum!

What Buyers Need To Do:

GET OUT THERE AND GET ACTIVE IN THE FORUMS! Messages won't write themselves and the more community spirit there is, the more other members will notice each other!

Why not contribute to the threads?; Start a few new ones!; Begin a debate!; Leave a joke; Share a family recipe; Tell us your funny pet stories; Ask advice - and give it!
There are so many things that can be done in the Forums and as a bonus, if buyers wish to try selling as well, there is a convenient link to each seller's catalogue under every post left.

Encourage friendships - get out there as much as possible and USE THE FORUMS!

Messages - Timings Have Been Adjusted

How It Used To Work:

When a member left a message via the message centre, the time and the date were both logged. However, when the message was replied to, the newer message was over-riding the time and date of the original message and the same information was shown on both messages.

New Functionality:

The new message no longer over-rides the original message - the times and dates are now separated and logged as individual items.

How Will Buyers Be Affected?:

A closer eye can be kept on when messages have been received, as well as an accurate record of replies sent. This will help enormously with the administration of each enquiry a member has made and the responses.

Please Note: Clothes Agency administration team may archive messages that are over six months old. This will be manually administered and messages that are obviously important will not be removed.

What Buyers Need To Do:

Nothing! The system will do it all automatically.

AND WE'VE SAVED THE BEST ONE FOR LAST...................

Buyers Can Now Choose to Allow Sellers to See That They're Watching a Particular Item!

(Not even Ebay offers this!)

How It Used To Work:

When a buyer has book-marked an item they're interested in, the item has been moved into the I Love It section of the purchase menu. Until now, sellers were unable to see if their items were being watched.

New Functionality:

When a buyer book-marks an item they will now be given two choices:

i) They will be encouraged to add the seller to their favourite sellers lists and even better....

ii) They will be given the option that, if selected, sellers will be notified that they're watching a particular item for sale. (They may choose to remain anonymous - but we don't recommend this!)

How Will Buyers Be Affected?:

If a buyer opts to allow the seller to see that they're watching a particular item, the seller will now be able to contact them via a simple link (which will be sent via the message centre). This will be hugely beneficial in that a seller may like to offer the particular item to the buyer for a lower price..

It's a fabulous tool for both buyers and sellers and Clothes Agency encourages members to consider it as a great opportunity to build warm relationships within the community.

What Buyers Need To Do:

When browsing on Clothes Agency, if a particular item catches a member's eye it can be added to a buyers watch list by clicking on I love it - add to my watch list, (seen in the purple band below the item's main information box).

When this is selected, two options will appear; Would You Like to Get This Item For Less? and Add This Seller to Your Favourites.

By placing a tick in the first box, the seller will be able to see that a particular buyer is interested in a specific item and may choose to make an offer that can't be refused!

Please note: Clothes Agency values each Member's privacy and so email addresses will not be visible at this time. This information will only be sent to the seller in the event of an order being placed. So any offers made by sellers will be sent via my messages, and buyers will receive an email informing them they have a message.

Offers from sellers may be viewed by selecting my messages within the my account section of the menu - and by selecting the messages sent tab at the top. Replies if necessary can be made via the same section.

If buyers wish to watch an item but remain anonymous, then the User Name will not be visible to the seller and the item will simply remain in the I love it section until removed.

The facility of an email alert will be added in the very near future to help sellers further monitor interest in their catalogues. In other words, every time an item from a catalogue is added to a buyer's Watch List - an email notification will be sent!

The second box offers buyers the opportunity to Add Seller to my Favourites. By placing a tick in the space provided, buyers will be able to see any new items listed by their preferred sellers at the convenient click of a mouse!

If a buyer does not wish to take advantage of either of these choices, they can simply proceed to the page they were viewing and no changes will be made, except of course, for the addition of the item to I Love it!

So - those are the new features for buyers and Clothes Agency hopes that members across the community will benefit from the new additions to the shopping experience.

New ideas will continue to be developed - but this is a community so please do feel free to put forward any suggestions you may have - all thoughts are warmly welcomed via the Contact Us link!

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