San Diego, CA, 2008/04/08 –

Dear Fellow Miva Merchant,

In a few short weeks, we will be streaming out the new 5.5 update to Miva Merchant 5. This is an important milestone for us since acquiring Miva Merchant some 8 months ago and I wanted to share a few highlights with you.First off, this is a major improvement to version 5 that will yet again establish Miva Merchant as the best-of-breed e-commerce platform–bar none. Here are just a few of the most noteworthy improvements:

• A far more intuitive Admin interface that focuses on click-efficiency and adds many conveniences, such as the new launchpad function
• Seamless import/export of all of your items and pages to/from Dreamweaver™
• Built-in SEO features including full control of your DOCTYPE, Product, and Category Metatags, and search-friendly links
• The ability switch between the default MMUI framework to our new skin-able CSS framework. This feature is currently in a public beta download and will ship about 30 days after 5.5

Most importantly, nothing you are doing now as a 5 storeowner will be negatively impacted by the new release, which was one of our driving principles. You’ll be right at home as soon as you update to the new product, and start benefitting from it immediately.

I want to personally thank you for your commitment to Miva Merchant and I’m confident that all of the hard work of our staff will show up in a better store for you, our valued clients.

MIVA Merchant is a great shopping cart. Miva Merchant is a browser-based storefront development and management system that allows merchants to create multiple online stores from anywhere in the world where there is Internet access. Miva does not host your site for you. The hosting service you use has to be configured specifically for miva. Which limits your hosting options and making it more difficult for you.

One thing that stands out about miva is their customer service. It was by far the worst company that I dealt with during the review process. They are not interested in answering your questions. Maybe if you pay an additional six hundred dollars to be a Platinum member you might receive some extra attention. But, you shouldn’t have to pay for customer service. The bottom line is that Miva Merchant is a great product but you should be aware of the poor support system.

Feature Set: 

A couple of the features that stand out in Miva Merchant are their shipping and tax configuration capabilities. Miva uses your existing FedEx account info to create a “Meter Number” which links your website to accurate shipping information. Miva also provides real-time calculation of US Postal Service rates for orders in your Miva Merchant store. Miva Mailer conveniently emails your customers, affiliates, etc. within your system special offers and relevant information about your site. Another great feature is their affiliate capabilites. This new feature makes it easy to control commissions you pay to affiliates for both sales and click-thrus. Both you and your affiliates have access to payout reports and you can even choose to add your affiliates automatically or with administrative approval.

Miva has a couple of limitations. Miva offers the ability to integrate with quickbooks for your accounting needs. However, you need to pay an extra $399.00 for it. Their customer support was terrible. Questions take a long time to be answered. Despite the fact that Miva has great brand recognition in the shopping cart industry, they are apparently not concerned with your needs.

Ease of Use: 

Miva is server based software. The merchant tools are setup up with a step-by-step wizard to guide you through the entire process of setting up your website, adding products, configuring shipping, and taxes. Miva adminstration is very simple to use with their interface design. The design is set up with a left side navigation bar to jump to whichever topic you need.

Ease of Installation:  

It is not easy to install Miva. The merchant needs to find a hosting service that already has miva software on it so that it can run your shopping cart. This limits where you can host your site. Also, if you have a question with installation it may be difficult and take a lot of time to receive any help.

Help/Documentation:  

The Help is very poor, unless paid for. First you have to sign up for support ranging from $150.00 to $600.00 a year. They do have FAQs and How-to-Guides on their website.

True E-Commerce Solution:

Is Miva Merchant an E–commerce solution? Yes. They have hosting partners available (although they won’t host it themselves), they give you the tools to develop your website, the merchant tools to manage your website, they offer the ability for credit card processing, and allow flexible shipping options.

Summary:  

Miva Merchant 5 is a good product and receives our eighth ranking of all the products reviewed. Overall it is easy to use and has many features that will help. You can purchase this software so you can host it where you want. However, if you expect good customer support and help getting set up, look elsewhere.