The way we access the web and shop online in 2016 is very different than how we did it in 2012. Today, more than 50% of visits to US websites come via a mobile device and this year, consumers will spend 1,888 trillion dollars online.

Here at IndieMade, we're doing everything we can to make sure your online store is ready for every buyer that comes along. In addition to the upcoming features you see here, we're also working our way through the suggestions you've submitted via email or through our Facebook group.

We succeed when you succeed and we hope that these new features will help you reach your business goals in Q4 and in the coming year.

New Features for All IndieMade Stores

Direct Checkout Integration (Beta Testing)

Many of you have asked for an alternative to Paypal and 2Checkout so that you can eliminate checkout steps and lower your processing fees. To this end, we're currently testing direct checkout with Stripe. With direct checkout, customers would stay on your site when placing a credit card order instead of moving out to a third party website. This means fewer instances of cart abandonment and increased trust between you and your customer.

If you would like to be considered for Stripe beta testing please let us know. After Stripe will we move on to other merchant gateways ie Authorize.net and PayPal Payments Pro.

SSL Certificates for Custom Domains and IndieMade URLs

Since IndieMade uses secure hosted checkout through PayPal and 2Checkout we've never needed our own secure certificate (SSL). However, having an SSL certificate boosts customer confidence and Google does give a slight rank increase so we've been installing it on request. Once we implement the new direct checkout options, every site will need an SSL certificate.

If you would like us to help you install one now, please open a support request. In the near future, this will be an option in settings. And don't worry, the certificate is completely free.

Discount Functionality (Beta Testing)

Instead of using coupon codes for discounts you can now discount entire categories or certain products. Discounts will strikethru the retail price and add the sale price. We hope to offer this to everyone this month. If you would like to try this feature, we'll be happy to turn it on for your site as long as you understand that we're still in the testing phase.

A Few More Minor Updates and Changes

Optional URL for Gallery Images
When editing or adding images in a gallery you can specify an alternate URL. This has been requested so adding a link directly to a product page from the galleries is possible.

Sitewide Messaging and Vacation Mode

If you haven't notice already we have created a section to place your site in vacation mode which keeps your products but disables checkout. In addition you can now add any message at the top of your site. See your Website > Settings section.

MailChimp Popup Integration

Even though many people requested MailChimp popup code it has not worked on IndieMade sites. We have fixed this on most themes. If you would like to add this code to your site please let support know.

Tax on Digital Downloads

Some states require sales tax on digital downloads, you can enable this under Store > Settings.

Prices on Shop Results Page

Some themes did not show prices on product result pages, you can now enable this by going to your design > Basics for your theme. If you do not see this setting on your theme please let us know.

Sitewide Search on All Themes

We have enabled sitewide search on all themes. You can enable this for your theme as well by going to Design > Basics 

On the Horizon

As you may already know M29 Technology and Design acquired IndieMade in November 2015. It has taken us awhile to get comfortable with the system and now we really feel like improvements are coming easier for us! Here are some of things we are currently working on:

• Calculated shipping using USPS

• Better product administration

• Customer product reviews

• More themes selections

Did we miss anything? Let us know! And please let us know how you feel about the upcoming features. You can get in touch with us through the contact form in your account or email support@indiemade.com.

If you have general comments or questions that would benefit other sellers, please leave them in the comment section below.