What steps do I need to take to get started?

You need to progress successfully through the sign-up process, providing contact and payment details and, as a result, receive an email providing you with your registration key and download details.

How long does it take to be up and running?

It depends very much on the access path you have to your AspDotNetStorefront site. It can take anything from just a few minutes to, worst case, perhaps half an hour. We are, at all times, here to help.

How long does it take to see results?

Emails can begin going out to the visitors who left behind abandoned carts within an hour of your registration. You will certainly be recording a difference within days, although this is inevitably dependent upon your volume of visitors and the number of those that register and subsequently abandon their cart.

An easy-to-follow installation guide comes with the download procedure – in essence it assumes that you probably only have FTP access to your AspDotNetStorefront files and therefore it guides you through copying a few necessary files to your local drive, running a very short installation program and then copying the files back to the web host. We repeat our offer to install for you, free of charge, if you have any difficulties.

How much of my time will be needed to use CharleyMail for AspDotNetStorefront?

CharleyMail for AspDotNetStorefront runs completely independently of you.

What if I need more help?

We are always here to help, available by phone or email.

My Account

Will my credit card automatically be charged every month?

Yes. A monthly subscription fee of $39.95, plus any extra bandwidth charge (over 1000 emails sent per month) will be charged to your card until such time as you let us know that you wish to discontinue the service.

Will I be charged the same amount every month?

Yes, unless your usage runs to more than 1,000 emails per month. Additional emails sent during the month will be charged at one penny each ($0.01).

How do I cancel my subscription?

Just call (541-201-9965) or email (charley@charleymail.com) and let us know. You will receive immediate acknowledgment.

What happens when my credit card is approaching its expiration date?

The first time that it is impossible for us to process a payment, we will inform you of the problem, and of the likely reason.

What happens if there is a problem with my credit card?

As part of your registration, you will have provided us with your contact details, and we will pause your use of the product until we have managed to make contact and payment has been successfully processed.

Will new features be made available to current users and will they cost more?

New releases are planned. Major revisions may lead to a different pricing structure, but there will always be the option to continue without the new features. Will my costs ever increase? As your usage goes up, you may move into a zone of bandwidth charge, but this will be a reflection of your success! We cannot, of course, guarantee a lifetime fixed price, but there are no plans for a price increase.

Using CharleyMail for AspDotNetStorefront

Once installed, how does the program work?

A neat piece of code constantly “patrols” the checkout aisles and watches for baskets that have been empty and unpaid for longer than x hours (you designate the value of x in your simple configuration process). Any registered visitors who didn’t end up buying the contents of their cart will receive a beautifully crafted email (you can manage the contents to your own satisfaction) making it very easy for them to return and complete the checkout.

You will see a new button in your admin menu bar, called “CharleyMail” and a new entry in the Topics list.

Your CharleyMail Configuration page makes it very easy for you to specify when emails are sent. A default email has been created for you, and can be modified in the Topics editor using the regular WYSIWYG system provided by AspDotNetStorefront.

Your reports will show you a daily log of the emails sent (and opened) so you will be able to monitor its ongoing success.

Absolutely nothing. Whistle a little tune. Brew some coffee. Sell lots of stuff. CharleyMail will do all the work for you.

See above. No problem. Have a lovely vacation!

Only in the same way that you are notified of all successful orders. These are no different, they have simply been nudged along by CharleyMail.

The setup has all been done for you. A drop down CharleyMail menu gives you a link to the reports. The first time you use it you will be asked for the login details you created during the registration process, so keep them handy.

Custom Features

How do I personalize my emails?

Using the WYSIWIG editor that you are already accustomed to as part of the AspDotNetStorefront admin interface. The CharleyMail template is listed as one of the Topics pages.

Take a look at the provided email and you will understand the objective. Largely, the message is “we’re sorry that you were interrupted in your shopping, dear buyer, and we’d like to make it really easy for you to pick up where you left off, so click here and carry on ….”. You could, if you wanted to, paste a money-off coupon as part of the email, but give a little thought to whether or not you might be “training” shoppers to deliberately abandon in order to save some money! Some people have found success with offering a coupon off subsequent purchases – but this demands a level of management so needs consideration. We at CharleyMail are actively gathering statistics on successful emails and will share information among our active subscribers. It’s our goal to help you to be successful!

Clearly, your brand image should stay consistent with your site. When shoppers receive your email, they should feel a sense of familiarity. Emails should be polite and upbeat. Some users are finding success with HTML and images, others are using straightforward text with great results. You will know your end users much better than anyone else. You can change the email as often as you like, so feel free to experiment.

The style of your email must match the style of your website. Clearly this is true of color and logo, but also in terms of the style of your marketing copy. If your site is straightforward, minimalist, “clean,” then a flowery, emotional email will leave the shopper confused! Never use too many words – recipients need to see at a glance what you are telling them. If you plan to insert images, make sure that they are not more than perhaps 10kb in size, or download times will annoy your shoppers. Make sure that the “link” back to the shopping cart is valid – test it on yourself once in a while and see if it would work for you. You may like to ask your shopper if he/she would like to receive emails from you, moving forward, and direct them via a link to a webpage offering a selection of mailings (special offers, sales, new-product announcements, industry news). If you would like us to help you with this, please contact charley@charleymail.com.

You will know most about the typical latency of your shoppers. If you are selling Lexus sports cars then there is probably a long decision cycle between browsing and paying! If you are selling cut flowers, then speed may be of the essence. You can configure CharleyMail to send an email as soon as one hour after the cart has been abandoned, or leave it a day if you prefer. Our data indicate “sooner the better,” but there is clearly a difference between markets.

Is there more?

What other tools are available in the Charley suite and what can they do for me?

We offer design skills, and list management, and a very wide ranging “Full Managed Service” capability. Please go to CharleyMail Products & Services  to learn more.

Your shoppers’ contact details are being stored in CharleyMail for future use. It is important to remember that the emails sent out as part of CharleyMail for AspDotNetStorefront are “transactional” (sent as part of the single shopping transaction) and that the recipients have NOT opted in to email marketing at this time. You may like to include (see above) an invitation for these shoppers to become part of a larger, well-planned email marketing campaign. We are always delighted to work with our customers to maximize online effectiveness, so contact us at charley@charleymail.com if you would like some help.