Getting Started with The Shop Front

Table of contents:

• Install The Shop Front
• Configure your account
• Setup your assistant
• Import your products
• Preview your store

Install

The Shop Front is entirely web based. That means to install the application you need to create an account (register). Registration can be done either through the url https://dashboard.theshopfront.tech or by using one of our partner integrations such as shopify.

To register you will need to provide an email address and contact details. The Shop Front does not ask for nor store private information on its clients. If you register via the dashboard then you will have to provide a password which will be used to login to your account. If you register via our partner integrations, you will be logged in automatically via your partner dashboard. After you are logged in, your secure credentials will be saved in your browser until you logout or they expire.

If your credentials are not valid, you need to re-authenticate by logging in again using the above process. This registration / login process is all that is needed to use The Shop Front’s web-based technology. You will need a compatible browser (supports all updated versions of major browsers) and an internet connection.

Configure your account

When you have logged in to your account, you should configure your store and assistant information. This information will be used to generate a static-website and a dynamic engagement platform, so make sure the information is accurate and of a high quality. To configure your account you should provide the following information:

• LOGO - Your business logo will be shown on both the static and dynamic sites, against a LIGHT background. It should be a png / jpg image.
• BANNER - Your banner will be shown on the dynamic site, against a LIGHT background. It should be a png / jpg image.
• STORE ID - This is an automatically generated unique identifier for your store, it cannot be edited and you do not need to use this except as a reference with communication with The Shop Front
• STORE PATH - This is the url that will be used to generate both your STATIC and DYNAMIC site. Do not change this regularly (except to configure it initially) as you will lose all the SEO that has been built up on this path. This path must be unique, meaning that you can only select a path that has not been reserved by another store.
• STORE PRIMARY EMAIL - This is the email address that we will use for communications and notifications. If you have an integrated store, then this will be need to be configured when you login to the dashboard for the first time. If you’ve registered on the site, this will be the email used for registration.
• STORE NAME - This is the name that will be used for your brand on both the STATIC and DYNAMIC sites.
• STORE TELEPHONE - optional - Providing a contact telephone number builds trust and increases conversion. If you provide a business contact telephone number, this will be published on the STATIC site.
• STORE DESCRIPTION - This is the description that will be published on the static website. Make this information rich and accurate to build trust in your brand and increase conversions.
• RETURNS POLICY - It is a legal requirement in many geographical areas to provide a returns policy. Please ensure this is accurate and compliant, even if you are supplying services.

Setup your assistant

Your assistant is the entity that your clients interact with, complete with names and Avatar images. While this doesn’t have to real information, providing complete and accurate data will help to build trust with your customers and improve conversions. Remember, this is a peer to peer solution with video calls, so try to use real and accurate information to represent your business. The fields to setup an assistant are:

• First Name - The first name of your assistant, shown when welcoming customers
• Last Name - The last name of your assistant, shown when welcoming customers
• Profile image - An image, that will be a small visual representation of your assistant and shown in chats and other interactions
• STORE PATH - This is the url that will be used to generate both your STATIC and DYNAMIC site. Do not change this regularly (except to configure it initially) as you will lose all the SEO that has been built up on this path. This path must be unique, meaning that you can only select a path that has not been reserved by another store.
• Description - Rich information that will be shown in some interactions with your customers
• Welcome message - This is the text that will be automatically streamed to your customers when they are connected to your dynamic store. You can preview this effect by opening your store in another browser tab.

Import your products

If you have a direct integration (you registered via https://dashboard.theshopfront.tech), then you can manage your products by accessing the “products” menu link. This will present you with an overview of your products, you can now “Add products” or use the clipboard icon to clone an existing product into an identical but unpublished version.

You can manage the images using the image manager, where you can upload up to 5 high quality images (we will take care of scaling and cropping them on the site) of up to 10mb each one. You can also choose the primary image, which will be used to generate the thumbnail and be the initial loaded asset.

You can also edit and create the description of your products, and choose if they are published / not published or Private products.

• PUBLISHED - a published product will be available on both the static and dynamic sites
• PRIVATE - a private product will only be available on the dynamic site, and only accessible via a private url. To all intents and purposes this is undiscoverable unless you choose to share this with a customer.

Variations are the SKUs and prices & options of your products. You should create your variations and prices using the variation manager, these will then be purchasable options available to buy in both the STATIC and DYNAMIC site.

Preview your store

Once you have added all the appropriate information for your Shop Front, it is a good idea preview the store. You can preview both the static and dynamic sites by using the links in the header of your dashboard. The dynamic site will always be updated with the latest information. The static site is published periodically by cron job, if you follow the link and see a 404 page, you should try again later. This can take several hours to update.