Release Notes June 2021: NextChapter platform development & innovations

New functions and features have been developed in the NextChapter platform. Such as new marketing, frontend and e-commerce features, backend improvements, new direct integrations with marketplaces and important functions in Order Management and PIM.

Check the new functions and features in this blog for:

1. The e-commerce platform

2. Marketplaces

3. Order Management

4. PIM

Would you like to know more about these features and innovations, or their implementation on your webshop(s) and channels? Let us know.

Marketing features / front-end features

Add favorites directly from the overview page
You can now add favorites directly from the homepage, results pages, product pages and checkout. The favorites are saved by means of a favorites icon (such as a heart) in the header. This feature has no relationship with the existing favorites function in the account.

Horizontal filtering
In the frontend, the filters on category pages, brand pages and the search results page can now also be displayed horizontally. For webshops with relatively few filters, this can greatly benefit the user-friendliness.

Responsive webshops
More and more NextChapter webshops use the option of a responsive template. Are you interested in making your webshop(s) responsive? Please contact your account manager.

Cleaner url structure for subsubcategories
The url structure in subsubcategories has been cleaned up to a neat url that looks like domain.nl/categorie/subcategorie/subsubcategory. Of course we have technically ensured that the former URLs automatically redirect so that your Google indexing is preserved.

Improvements for pagespeed
Pagespeed is an important topic on the NextChapter roadmap. Behind the scenes, we continuously monitor points for improvement and implement innovations for the overall page speed. The next update is support for the lightweight WebP format. Temporary homepage (welcome page) You can now use a specific (temporary) homepage that you can use as a teaser or as a “coming soon” page. The page can be completely customized.

Parameters in 301-redirects
If there is a tracking parameter in the url, it will be taken over in the redirect-url from now on.

Korean
The Korean language has been added to the platform.

Manageable text blocks on shopping cart and checkout page
It is now possible to add text or images to the shopping cart and/or checkout page via manageable text blocks. Think of USPs or reasons to buy to convince doubting customers.

Ecommerce Features

VAT in Europe
As of 1 July 2021, if they send more than €10,000 worth of goods to other EU countries per year, Dutch webshops must charge the VAT of the country where the customer resides. If your webshop exceeds this limit on an annual basis, NextChapter can configure your webshop in such a way that this new VAT procedure is neatly applied in your webshop. We offer 2 options for this:

1. Your webshop uses the same prices to all European consumers, so that the VAT amounts per country are only known within NextChapter and your system(s);

2. Your webshop uses variable prices where the final price, which the customer will pay, is determined in the checkout depending on the shipping country selected in the checkout. As a result, it may happen that a customer from one country has to pay a slightly higher or lower price than a customer from the other country (so you pass the price difference on to your customer).

If you only ship within the Netherlands or if you stay below the €10,000 limit, nothing will change for you. Please contact us to see whether this new regulation applies to your webshop.

Excluding properties from categories
You can now not only fill categories on the basis of properties, but also exclude properties. This can come in handy when, for example, you want to exclude Sale items in a certain category.

Excluding online-only products from categories
It is also possible to exclude online-only products from categories.

DHL service points
Customers who use the NextChapter DHL carrier module can now also offer DHL service points. Consumers can then choose to pick up their package at a DHL collection point. The option for PostNL collection points has been around for some time. Reservation module: price added to overview + reservation email NextChapter has a Reservation module that is often used by fashion webshops. The product price at the time of booking has now been added to the overview page of a reservation. This price is also stated in the confirmation e-mail that is sent to the consumer.

Return contribution
It is now possible to have the consumer pay a return contribution for a return shipment. The return contribution is automatically deducted from the credit invoice. The return contribution is also flexible. For example, you can ask for a contribution of €4.95 for article group A and €7.95 for article group B, etc.

Expansion of Product Collections
It is now possible to compose Product Collections based on properties and the values ​​within properties. For example, you can select properties for your product collection via a refined filter system. For example, you can make a selection of the Season property, with the Winter 2021 value selected, but without the Summer 2021 value. In this way, creating a product collection has become much faster and more efficient. It is also still possible to link products manually.

NextChapter Backend

New brand style NextChapter eCommerce
The NextChapter backend and NextChapter PIM already use our new housestyle.

Manage delivery costs yourself
It is now possible to manage the delivery costs of your webshop yourself in the NextChapter backend. Please contact us for clarification and to make this available.

Customer groups available
In the Customers section you can now also create Customer groups. Here you group customers that you can then use, for example, as a condition in a promotion. Different rights per account The options for obtaining different rights per account are extensive. For example, one account within an organization can be given rights to perform refunds and the other account within the same organization cannot.

Filters
We have added an extra option to the search filter management. With this option you can choose per search filter whether or not the filter should be shown if there is only one value. This can save a lot of (in some cases superfluous) filters and makes filtering in your webshop clearer and more user-friendly.

Excluding online-only products in Channable feed
Online-only products can now be excluded in your Channable feed.

Integrations

New integrations with external systems and platforms
Integrations with various systems/platforms including ACA XPRT, Vendit, Softwear, Datatrics and It's Perfect have been added, updated or expanded.

Security

Bot's maximum characters
In order to support continuous protection against spam bots, we have shortened the maximum number of characters in forms in the checkout, account and registration. This makes bots much less likely to use forms for spam purposes.

Integration with Bol.com
In addition to the existing integration with Bol.com via partner ChannelEngine, the NextChapter platform now also has a direct integration with Bol.com. The integration of products and inventory runs from Channable. Orders, returns and shipments are directly linked. We have developed the direct link for webshops that only want to use Bol.com in their marketplace strategy.

Sending marketplace content to Channable
Content that has been written specifically for marketplaces can now also be made available to Channable.

Integration with fashion outlet To Be Dressed
The NextChapter platform has made a direct integration with fashion outlet platform To Be Dressed. The integration of products and inventory runs from Channable. Orders, returns and shipments are directly linked. The platform also imports the specific To Be Dressed packing slip, so that you can send it to your TBD customer in the package. If your webshop uses order allocation, the TBD orders are included in the regular allocation process.

Canceling items in the NextChapter platform
The functionality for canceling individual items within the order has been further expanded. If applicable, a credit note is automatically generated. If you use automatic refunds, the refund will also be sent directly to your PSP.

Import for cancellations
Cancellations from external (ERP) systems can now be imported. Of course, a cancellation email will be sent to the customer and the amount can be refunded (automatically or manually).

Improvement in shipments
Where previously a shipment was always created with every order, this now only happens when an order has already been paid. the order data is cleaner and that unexpectedly no unpaid shipments can be handled. This does not apply to webshops that use Allocation, because shipments are created there after the allocation has been accepted. Allocations in as few shipments as possible In the allocation process, the shipments within an order are split up and allocated to various locations. In this process we can set up that the order is allocated in as few shipments as possible.

Improved product stock location allocation
We have added business rules to be able to determine even more finely which stock location(s) is/are given priority in the allocation of order lines.

Imports via Excel
We have made importing product information easier. You can now load an Excel file directly from your browser to add, enrich or remove product content. Additional languages ​​PIM now also supports Korean. In addition, NextChapter PIM supports the languages ​​Dutch, English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.

Roles and rights
Our customers who use an extensive roles and rights structure within PIM can now adjust user rights themselves.

Speed ​​of imports
The speed of the import and export processes is improved.

Issues and bugs in the platform are always solved by us immediately, making the platform error-free.

Do you have any questions about the Release Notes of June 2021 or their implementation on your webshop(s) and channels? Let us know.