Can anyone tell me if drop-shipments are supported with ViArt out of the box before I go and download/buy and set everything up? All I will be doing are drop shipments, so it can't be a per-order hack or bare-bones functionality.
 
I've been looking through all the major open source shopping cart systems and only OSCommerce has a drop-shipping module, but OSCommerce is pretty ancient and would require a lot of retooling to make it look as good as ViArt. (I'm currently set up with ZenCart, and not happy with the Web 1.0 baloney either.)
 
Thankies!

Hello,
 
At present, ViArt shopping cart does not include drop shipping, however we are planning to add this functionality to one of our future releases as quite a lot of our customers are interested in it.
 
With kind regards,
ViArt Support Team

Ya ZenCart is just a hacked OSCommerce. I used both for a number of years and still see lots of people using them. But it's just too clunky and unsecure.

Just bumping the question, I also require drop shipments.
 
Does the latest version now support this? - It's a deal breaker for me.
 
Thanks in advance.

 
Unfortunately, At the present, no. I'm unsure of why this is the way it is. The stock control feature doesn't work either. I mean, if I have 5 products available, and the customer continues to select 7 products. It adds 7 products to the cart and doesn't notify me that there's not enough inventory. That would be the case where I would need to order the product. Drop shipping could work this so that it creates a report for orders needed and prints them according to the manufacturer we get them from. Maybe we can add in a Vendor to sort it by or something....

Anything new on dropshipping? Being able to automatically notify a vendor will be a great feature for us when it becomes available... or is there a way to do it already?

Hi not sure if this is spot on for drop shipping but it is a request which has been priced by Viart in July this year. it involves ability to add extra fields to va_items table which opens up a whole host of possibilities and is "new release proof" + an automated stock control, ordering and alert system. which I am sure could be customised to suit drop shipping requirements also.
 
###########past post################
 
I have made a proposal to viart to include a purchase orders system in the viart system
 
Let me explain.
 
This is in 2 stages.
 
My first request was for the ability to add additional fields via admin to the va_iems table. This would allow additional fields at product level(and data) to be added and be upgrade proof in newer versions. + also the abily to choose the field type e.g text, numerical, currency etc.
 
The reason for the new fields would be to add data regarding stock re-order levels, re-order qty's and as an added bonus any other fields which are not now available. The benefit is that these fields would be stored at row level in the va_items table which would make data much more easy to manipulate (as opposed to if adding as features, specifications etc).
 
The next step I proposed was to add a supplier list (similar to users). This would mean that in addition to manufacturer details (already a feature) the details of each actual supplier can be added for each product.
 
With the combination of stock re-order levels and also supplier details the next step would be for the system to generate reports based on units in stock compared to re-order levels and units on order.
 
e.g re-order level = 29
units in stock = 10
re-order qty = 50
 
When clicking on the purchase order report generator for a particular distributor the system would generate an order (maybe in pdf format) for the goods which are below the re-order level. In the above example an order for 50 units.
 
This could be improved further by having a criticalstock level field
 
e.g Stock_critical_level
 
If set to "8" when the stock reaches this level a manual count of the products could be undertaken to check that the physical stock matches the database. This would ensure the integrety of all stores and hopefully prevent stock being marked unavailable when in fact stock is remaining and vice versa.
 
The process for purchase orders will work something like this.
 
1). Generate initial report (1 for each different supplier)
2). Count stock manually (optional, but i think necessary)
3). Update stock figures after counting
4). Regenerate the report and submit a purchase order by email which could be automatically sent to supplier using the email address stored for this supplier. (Maybe a pdf attachment). There would at this point be an option to alter the qty's if required due to seasonal demand alsthough this could easily be done at product level before the report is printed (either way would have the same effect)
6). Several statuses could be applied for the purchase order's items e.g After ordering the status would be "awaiting delivery" for all items.
7). As each item arrives into stock the status could be updated to "received"
8). Importantly the system will look at not only units in stock but also goods "awaiting delivery"
 
e.g
units in stock =29
re-order level =30
re-order qty = 50
goods "awaiting delivery" 50
 
so the report would not suggest ordering any more of these items.
 
9). Finally the system would add up the value of the order based on buying price so that admin could decide if to generate an order based on the minimum order requirement of each particular supplier. (this feature was not mentioned when Viart estimated the costings for the above)
 
The reason for this forum post is to get ideas on how this could be improved and hopefully if many people are interested combine resources to ensure this valuable feature is added.
 
Viart have quoted
$600 for additional fields functionality
$600 to add the full purchase order system
 
Which is a little too much for me on my own to be honest.

I like the sounds of this, unfortunately I'm still waiting for the 2 customizations I paid viart for about ~4 months ago... sooooo until I see some results I can't invest anymore.

Any news on Drop Shipping feature ?
 
Anyone willing to chip in ?

Hi Ibn Saeed,
 
It seems like the "supplier" setup in the products menu can be used for drop shippers. I am using it that way. Set up the supplier, then choose that supplier in the product setup, then set up emails to notify customer (if desired) and drop shipper whenever that product sells.
 
The email to the drop shipper was not perfect. It lacks the ability to display exactly the purchase information I wanted to pass on. I think I had to include my selling price which I preferred not to include... anyway it works great. They bill me and notify me of the shipment. I have to manually pass along shipping info to my customer.
 
The feature(s) could probably could use some strengthening, and I would consider going in on it.
 
Greg

"It lacks the ability to display exactly the purchase information I wanted"
 
Is this because you are using {basket} to show order information?
 
I had a new feature added recently to get customers to give product feedback after ordering and needed to create a different version of this, called {new_basket} on this occasion.
 
I had Viart create this for me and if that is your only problem it may be a low cost solution to your problem?
 
Chris

Thanks vic and Chris

Hey Chris, Yes I am using {basket}. Could you give a brief description of what {newbasket} would show?
 
Thanks!
Greg