Sending attractive, branded emails from your store is a nice touch, not only does it reinforce your presence with your customers, it puts you on the same level as other eCommerce big wigs. Follow the directions below to send html emails from you Zen Cart store.

1. Go to Configuration -> Email Options
Set “Use MIME HTML When Sending Emails” (3rd line) to true
and
Set “Email Admin Format?” to HTML (line 10)

2. Go to Configuration -> Customer Details
Set “Customer Default Email Preference” (line 10) to 1 for html

3. Upload your store logo, saved as header.jpg to email/ folder on the server (you will be overwriting the default zen cart logo)

4. Language File Changes:
Change the define for EMAIL_FOOTER_COPYRIGHT to link back to your store in:
admin/includes/languages/english/email_extras.php
and
includes/languages/english/email_extras.php

5. The design for each email is defined in style section of the header for each of the following email template file:
email/email_template_checkout.html
email/email_template_contact_us.html
email/email_template_coupon.html
email/email_template_default.html
email/email_template_direct_email.html
email/email_template_gv_mail.html
email/email_template_gv_queue.html
email/email_template_gv_send.html
email/email_template_low_stock.html
email/email_template_newsletters.html
email/email_template_order_status.html
email/email_template_password_forgotten.html
email/email_template_product_notification.html
email/email_template_product_notification.html

Change the css in each file or create a external stylesheet and link to it from the header of each file.

6.You can check your changes in Tools -> Email Welcome of your admin. When you have finalized the design, sign up as a new customer on your web site, you should get a branded email generated from zen cart.

Here’s an easy way to add a “New Product” icon automatically to your product description pages in Zen Cart.

1. Create a small graphic that says New or NEW PRODUCT and name it new.gif. Then upload your image to includes/templates/YOUR_CUSTOM_TEMPLATE/images .

2. Open includes/templates/YOUR_CUSTOM_TEMPLATE/css/stylesheet.css at the bottom add the following lines:

.newProduct {
background-image:url(../images/new.gif);
width: Your image width in px;
height: Your image height in px;
}

Make sure you enter your actual image pixel dimensions.

3. Open includes/templates/YOUR_CUSTOM_TEMPLATE/templates/tpl_product_info_display.php and add the following:

$datesql = “select products_date_added from zen_products where products_id = “. (int)$_GET['products_id'] .” “;
$date_display = $db->Execute($datesql);
$newdate = $date_display->fields['products_date_added'];
$newdate2 = $newdate - 30;
function reformatDate($newdate) {
list($year, $month, $day, $hour, $min, $sec) = split( ‘[: -]‘,
$newdate);
return “$year-$month-$day”;
}
$dateA=$newdate;
$theDate=reformatDate($dateA);
$thirty_days_ago = mktime()-2592000;
if ($theDate >= date(’Y-m-d’, $thirty_days_ago)) { echo ‘<div class=”new”>
</div>’; }
?>

You may have to play with the placement of the code to get the image in the correct place.

Your products will display the new.gif icon you created for 30 days!

Looking for a good way to spruce up your eCommerce site for the holidays?

eSales411.com has new holiday themed checkout button set for Zen Cart. Sets include 7 buttons that guide your customers through the checkout process. At only $5 per set, this is a great way to get your set ready for the holidays.

Here are a few samples:

To purchase the buttons, visit eSales411.com

DON’T LET THE GRINCH STEAL YOUR CHRISTMAS!

With the market in turmoil, tightening credit markets and consumer confidence low, holiday sales are projected to grow just 1.9% this year.

The good news? ONLINE SALES ARE PROJECTED TO GROW by 9%. Still, the competition for holiday sales dollars is going to be tough. It’s time to optimize your web site and get creative in your marketing campains so that you can make the most of fourth quarter sales. Online holiday sales will begin the first week of November (just two weeks away!) and peak the first week of December.

Here are a few tips to get you started on optimizing your web site:

• Push your Promotions: Offering free gift wrapping or shipping for the holidays? Make sure you advertise this on the home page of your web site. Offering coupons to loyal customers? Start sending newsletters now.
• Update your Keywords: It’s not too late to target your customer by updating product descriptions and creating meta keywords for each product. Also, consider adding holiday specific keywords to your products.
• Get Social: Social bookmarking sites have really taken off in the last year. Consider adding links on your product pages so that browsers can easily recommend your items on social networking sites such as StumbleUpon, Furl, Wists, Facebook, and others.
• Add a Holiday Gift Category: Add a gift center to your web site by creating categories just for the holidays. Stocking Stuffers, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him are all great ways to draw customers in to your site.
• Test the Performance of your Web Site: Visit your site regularly to make sure your featured products are current. Place a test order on your web site to make sure everything works as smoothly as possible.
• Offer Multiple Forms of Payment: Don’t turn off customers by only offering only one form of payment. Make sure you accept credit cards, payPal, and consider accepting money orders too.
• Offer Multiple Forms of Shipping: The closer we get to the holidays, the faster your customers will want their items. Allow them to choose between standard and expidited delivery. As the holidays draw nearer, publish a holiday shipping cut off date on the home page of your web site. This ensures your customers that they can still get your products in time for the holidays.
• Expand Your Holiday Season: It’s not just Christmas, don’t forget Hanukkah and New Years.