On July 25, 2022, we began a phased rollout of new IndieCommerce 2.0 websites to bookstores so that their staff can familiarize themselves with the new platform and start customizing their site to fit their needs.
During this transition, all websites on the current IndieCommerce and IndieLite platforms will continue to be fully supported until every store has been moved to their new 2.0 website.
In this first phase of the transition to IC 2.0 we will be working with new stores that recently joined IndieCommerce, IndieLite stores, and some IndieCommerce stores that have a limited need for advanced features. Two examples of advanced features include: Uploading Local Store Inventory (LSI) data from your bookstore's POS to IC2.0, POS Integration with IC2.0.
To expedite the process of getting as many stores onto IC2.0 as quickly as possible, we are prioritizing stores that have a limited need for advanced features. Two examples of advanced features include: displaying in-store inventory on-line, POS integration and offering custom products. We’re also looking for stores with little or no data on the IC1.0 or IL platforms that would need to be migrated. We call these “Tier 1” bookstores. Starting the migration with these stores allows us to move all stores to IC2.0 more rapidly.
As of Sept 16, 2022 the first four IC2.0 websites are now live. In the process of taking them live, this first batch of websites provided us with excellent suggestions and feedback that made IC2.0 an even better website solution for bookstores. Working with them also gave us the opportunity to discover better ways to speed up the process of bringing new stores online. Two good examples of new IC2.0 websites that just went live are Rightonbooks.com in St Simons Island, Georgia, and a children’s bookstore, Littlestbooknook.net, in Sandy, Utah. Larger stores that require more advanced website features will be moved in later phases.
The IC team, working with our partners at Lullabot, have taken all of the information we’ve gained from bringing these first four stores online and applied it to the next four stores in the following week. This process of streamlining website onboarding with each new iteration of websites will allow us to accelerate the move to IC2.0 for all of the stores that follow.
Stores that will not be moving to 2.0 in 2022 will still experience an improved platform this holiday season due to the changes made to the current platform this year, including ADA compliance modifications, integration with almost all major bookstore POS systems (Integration varies, ask your POS service provider for details), and a new feature in the works: real time postage quotes from USPS. As always, if you have a feature request that would improve your customers’ online shopping experience or improve website management for your staff, please don’t hesitate to send your request to staff@bookweb.org.