Google Checkout

Google Checkout is a new, alternative checkout process that has been integrated into your ProductCart-powered store and can be activated at any time. Google Checkout is a combination of a payment gateway and a checkout system.

It bypasses the default ProductCart checkout process, communicating with your store along the way to determine shipping information, tax details, validate discounts, and save order and customer information into your store database.

For online shoppers, Google Checkout is an attractive option because it provides a secure and convenient way to shop online. The main advantage is that buyers can have a single log in that can be used for purchases on various stores that support Google Checkout across the web.

Google Checkout is currently available to US and UK merchants. Although there are a few differences between the two systems, most features apply to both. In the following paragraphs we have pointed out where the two systems differ. Google Checkout is currently not available to merchants whose stores are located outside of the US and the UK.

For more information and to sign up:

• If you are in the USA, use this link: http://checkout.google.com/sell?promo=seei
• If you are in the United Kingdom, use this link: http://checkout.google.co.uk/sell?promo=seei

There are some features that are available in ProductCart that are not supported by Google Checkout. Since Google Checkout by-passes the ProductCart checkout steps, not all features are supported. There are details on all feature limitations in the paragraphs below.

There are products for which you may not be able to use Google Checkout. If your store sells any of these products, you should not activate Google Checkout or your account will be automatically disabled by Google. “Prohibited items” are defined in the Google Checkout content policies.

ProductCart is a Google Checkout ready shopping cart. The system features a tight (Level 2), certified integration with Google Checkout, which means that you can manage most order-related tasks directly from your ProductCart Control Panel. Your ProductCart-powered store and your Google Checkout account will keep each other synchronized in real-time.

For example, you can process an order in either place, and the other system will instantly know about it and update its interface to reflect it. This allows you to reduce to a minimum the times in which you need to use both the ProductCart Control Panel and your Google Checkout administration area.

• Overview: ProductCart shopping cart software and Google Checkout
• More details: Level 2 integration between ProductCart and Google Checkout
• Other Google products and services integrated in ProductCart

To activate Google Checkout in ProductCart follow these steps:

1. Create a Google Checkout account
   • If you are in the USA, use this link: http://checkout.google.com/sell?promo=seei
   • If you are in the UK, use this link: http://checkout.google.co.uk/sell?promo=seei
2. Configure your account
   You will be taken through a series of steps to complete the setup. Specifically, click on the “Settings” tab and configure each area.
   1. Link your business bank account to Google Checkout under “Financials”. This step may take up to 2 business days as you bank account awaits a test deposit from Google.
   2. Link your AdWords account to your Google Checkout account, if you have one.
   3. Set your “Preferences”: we recommend that you set up the system so that transactions are authorized, but not captured at the same time.
   4. On the “Integration” tab, correctly enter the “Call Back URL”, which should be formatted as follows:

      https://www.yourdomain.com/mystore/pc/pcPay_GoogleCheckout_Callback.asp

      …where “yourdomain.com” should be replaced with your store’s domain name, and “mystore” should be replaced with the name (and path to) the main ProductCart folder (this folder is named “productcart” by default, but it is often renamed). This is the folder that contains the “pc” folder within your store. Note the “https:” in the URL. Your store must have a SSL certificate to use Google Checkout. The SSL certificate must have been issued by one of the authorities recognized by Google.

   5. For the “Callback Method” select “XML”.
3. Activate Google Checkout in ProductCart
   • Ensure that your store is using the latest version of ProductCart.
   • You must be running ProductCart v3.04 or above (3.1 or above for Google Checkout UK)
     1. If you are running an earlier version, use the Check for Updates feature in the ProductCart Control Panel’s start page to download the next available update.
     2. Carefully review the ReadMe file that is included with the update for detailed installation instructions.
     3. Repeat this step until you are no longer prompted to download an update.
   1. Once you are running ProductCart v3.04 or above (v3.1 or above for Google Checkout UK), log into your Control Panel. From the main menu select “Payments > Add New Payment Option”.
   2. Under “Alternative Checkout Options” select “Google Checkout System”.
   3. Complete the on-screen activation wizard and select the desired settings. You can obtain your “Google merchant ID” and “Google merchant key” from the “Settings > Integrations” page inside your Google Account.
   4. Select Currency from the “Currency” dropdown menu under the “Miscellaneous Settings” heading. You may choose from the following options:
      1. US Dollars (Google Checkout US)
      2. Pounds Sterling (Google Checkout UK)
4. Google UK Only
   Shipping Handling Charges include VAT? Select “Yes” or “No”. This setting only applies to UK merchants. If you set this setting to “Yes”, ProductCart will assume that Shipping & Handling charges (which are always shown as a single amount by Google Checkout) include VAT, and Google Checkout will be instructed to include them in the VAT calculation. If your store is using VAT, you might have noticed that there is another area in the ProductCart Control Panel where you can indicate whether shipping and handling charges include or do not include VAT. This setting is repeated here because Google Checkout cannot list Shipping and Handling separately, unlike ProductCart.

To test your Google Checkout Settings you will need a test account. Google’s test website is called the sandbox. Signing up for a test account at the sandbox is the same as creating a regular account. The test account sign up page is located at: http://sandbox.google.com/checkout

Access the menu Payments > View/Modify Payment Options. Under Alternative Checkout Options select modify Google Checkout. There is check box called Enable Test Mode which allows you to switch to the Sandbox to place test orders. Note that you must have a Google Checkout Sandbox Merchant Account to complete test transactions.

The Google Checkout buttons display automatically in your storefront after you have activated Google Checkout in your ProductCart Control Panel. When your customers add items to their shopping cart, a new button will be shown just below the standard ProductCart checkout button. If Google Checkout is the only available checkout option, the default checkout button is hidden. You can let customers know that you accept Google Checkout on your store by also displaying other logos in your store’s graphical interface. For example, you could add a logo to the footer of the store. Here is a link with information regarding acceptance logos. Make sure that you adhere to the guidelines mentioned on that page to be compliant with Google’s requirement.

http://checkout.google.com/seller/acceptance_logos.html

Can I use Google Buy Now buttons?
No, you should not place Google Checkout Buy Now buttons on your ProductCart-powered store. Buy now buttons are not available because they do not allow ProductCart to communicate with the Google Checkout API to do things such as calculating shipping and taxes and registering the order in the ProductCart database.

Can I display a small product image inside the Google shopping cart?
No, Google Checkout does not support product images at this time.

How can I put my logo on the Google Checkout Screen?
At this time, Google Checkout does not support Co-Branding.

Google Checkout will determine shipping rates for the order by dynamically exchanging information with your ProductCart-powered store, invisibly to the customer. To prevent a situation in which there are no shipping rates to choose from (e.g. a communication problem between your Web server and Google's servers), Google Checkout requires that your store provides a set of default shipping rates. These are the rates used when the actual shipping rates cannot be calculated.

When a buyer clicks the “Google Checkout” button, ProductCart will first provide Google Checkout with the default shipping rates. At this time the buyer’s shipping address is unknown to ProductCart, and therefore the system cannot calculate the actual shipping rates.

Then, after the buyer's address is known, Google Checkout will attempt to contact your store, invisibly to the customer (i.e. this is completely transparent to the customer and is part of the integration between ProductCart and the Google Checkout API), so ProductCart can determine the correct shipping rates for the order.

If for any reason your store does not respond within 3 seconds, Google Checkout will display all default rates to the buyer. Note that the “default” rates are only shown to the buyer if Google Checkout can not communicate with your store after the checkout process begins, which should rarely happen.

Selecting your default shipping rates can be a complicated process. ProductCart simplifies the work by automatically calculating reasonable rates based a number of parameters. Advanced users have the option to override the ProductCart default rates with personalized rates.

All shipping options available in ProductCart will work with Google Checkout.

Using ProductCart version 3.51 and higher you can add detailed shipping zones to Google Checkout. For example, you can specify a list of postal code, states, and countries that you ship to, or do not ship to. Adding shipping zones requires a small edit to one of the Google Checkout files. To get started follow the instructions below:

1. Download the file pcPay_GoogleCheckout_Start.asp. Save a back-up copy of the file.
2. Open the file in a text editor, such a notepad or Dreamweaver.
3. Find the following code:

   
   Find: (around line 64)
   
   '////////////////////////////////
   '// Start: Shipping Zones
   '////////////////////////////////
   Dim pcv_strZones, pcv_ArrStates, pcv_ArrZips, pcv_ArrCountries, pcv_strType
   pcv_strZones = "AUTO" '// Ex: "AUTO", "ALL", "CONTINENTAL_48", "FULL_50_STATES"  
   pcv_ArrStates = Array() '// Ex: Array("PA", "CA")
   pcv_ArrZips = Array() '// Ex: Array("90210", "90212", "90214")
   pcv_ArrCountries = Array() '// Ex: Array("US", "GB")
   pcv_strType = "allowed"
   '////////////////////////////////
   '// End: Shipping Zones
   '////////////////////////////////
   
   

4. Add zones
   1. Add state zones by placing a comma separated list of state codes with the state array. e.g. pcv_ArrStates = Array(“PA”,”CA”)
   2. Add postal code zones by placing a comma separated list of state codes with the state array. e.g. pcv_ArrZips = Array(“90210”, “90212”, “90214”)
   3. Add country zones by placing a comma separated list of state codes with the state array. e.g. pcv_ArrCountries = Array(“US”, “GB”)
   4. Tell Google if your zones should be allowed or excluded. If excluded, and the customer shipping address is located within the region, then they will not be able to checkout.
      1. Allowed Zone e.g. pcv_strType = “allowed”
      2. Restricted Zone e.g. pcv_strType = “excluded”
5. Save the file. Upload to the server.

There are times when if you compare shipping charges in ProductCart and in the Google Checkout shopping cart, they appear different. The most common causes for shipping rates discrepancies are:

• Google Checkout cannot communicate with your store (or not fast enough) and therefore default shipping rates are used
• You use a separate Shipping & Handling Fee in ProductCart, but since Google Checkout does not have a separate line item for it, it includes it in the rates shown to the customer.

• US merchants: similarly to what happens with shipping rates, ProductCart communicates the accurate tax values to Google Checkout after the buyer logs into his/her Google Account. This is done transparently to the user. Tax calculation is performed in the same way as it would be if the buyer were to checkout using another payment option on your ProductCart-powered store.
• UK merchants: Google assumes that prices include VAT (just like ProductCart), shows the VAT included in the order, and removes the VAT from the order is the order is shipped to a country outside of the EU. If products are assigned to special VAT categories in ProductCart (e.g. reduced VAT on books), those settings are used by Google Checkout as well in the VAT calculation.

Will non-taxable items be charged sales tax with Google Checkout?

• US merchants: No. All tax calculations are still performed my ProductCart. ProductCart will send your tax information to Google Checkout to display.
• UK merchants: If in the ProductCart Control Panel you assign a product to a special VAT category (e.g. reduced rate, VAT exempt, etc.), that information is provided to Google and is taken into account when determining the VAT included in the order.

• US Merchants: All you coupons and Gift Certificates will function normally. Currently, the only limitation is that a Gift Certificate and Coupon can not be used together, at the same time. This is a limitation in ProductCart, which is not specific to Google Checkout. In addition, coupons cannot be set to auto-apply to an order.
• UK Merchants: Coupon code functionality is not currently available to UK merchants. Google indicated to us that they are planning to add this functionality in the near future.

Gift Registries are not supported. If the user is shopping with a Gift Registry the Google Checkout button will be inactive (it will appear grayed out). If your store is using Gift Registries, make sure that you have another payment option available beside Google Checkout.

Google Checkout allows ProductCart to calculate the price. All your discounts will be transferred to Google.

Google Checkout accepts major credit and debit cards, including VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. Buyers enter their credit or debit card information when they first sign up for Google Checkout and can select their preferred payment type during checkout. Since Google handles all aspects of checkout any additional security on your site is not transferred to Google.

Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode are not part of Google Checkout at this time.

Google Checkout allows customers to “mask” their e-mail address. When the customer decides to use this feature, Google Checkout will provide the customer will an email alias. If you email the customer at that email address, your message will be redirected to the customer.

For example, even if the email is an alias, when ProductCart sends out the order confirmation e-mail that includes download information for a software product purchased on your store, the e-mail will be received by the customer. Google Checkout takes care of redirecting the message.

A customer account is created in ProductCart using the alias e-mail address.

Will customers return to my store after completing the checkout process?
No, when checking out with Google Checkout, customer will not be automatically redirected to your store at the end of the checkout process. This does not mean that your store database will not be updated with order and customer information: order and customer information will be updated and you will be notified that a new order has been placed.

How do I know if I receive an order from Google Checkout?
Google Checkout will send an order notification email to sellers and buyers after they click “Place your order now” during the checkout process. Additionally, Google Checkout will send buyers a shipping confirmation email after you confirm the order.

Google Checkout will only send an order notification email to buyers after they click “Place your order now” during the checkout process. ProductCart will send email notifications to the customer as it normally does during the order fulfillment process.

Why can’t Google Checkout orders be edited?
ProductCart has no way to update an order once it has been received by Google Checkout. For this reason the “Edit Order” features have been disabled on Google Checkout orders. You can edit orders that were placed with another payment option in your ProductCart Control Panel, but not orders placed with Google Checkout.

How do I process an order from Google Checkout in ProductCart?
The steps involved in the order fulfillment process are nearly identical when orders are placed using Google Checkout as they are when orders are placed using another payment option available in your ProductCart-powered store.

Assuming that you setup Google Checkout to authorize orders, but not to charge them automatically (recommended), when an order is placed using Google Checkout:

• The order status is pending
• The payment status is authorized. Google Checkout orders have not been charged. They have been authorized, and they will be charged by you after you review them. This is true unless you setup your Google Checkout account to “Authorize & Charge”, which it is not recommended.
• The order-fulfillment process doesn't change. Orders placed with Google Checkout appear in ProductCart just like other orders.
• After reviewing the order, you will need to Charge it. When you do, you are processing the order as far as ProductCart is concerned, so the order status is changed to processed.
• You can send ship the order just like you do with any other processed order.
• You can also Cancel an order and/or Refund the customer. When you do, Google is notified.
• All actions taken in your Google Checkout administration area and in your ProductCart Control Panel are synchronized automatically so that both systems remain always up-to-date.

What do I do if orders appear in Google Checkout but not in ProductCart?
When you activated Google Checkout, you were asked to enter the “Callback URL”. If Google Checkout orders do not appear in ProductCart, the reason might be that the Callback URL is incorrect.

Please review this setting by logging into your Google Checkout account and going to the “Google Integration > Settings” page.

The Callback URL should look like the following link:

https://www.yourdomain.com/productcartfolder/pc/pcPay_GoogleCheckout_Callback.asp

…where “yourdomain.com” should be replaced with your store’s domain name, and “productcartfolder” should be replaced with the name (and path to) the main ProductCart folder. This is the folder that contains the “pc” folder within your store. The “Callback Method” should be “XML”.

My Google orders are in ProductCart but funds do NOT appear in my Bank Account?
Depending on how you set up your Google Checkout preferences, orders will be either Authorized or Authorized & Charged when they are placed. We recommend that you configure the system to Authorize only. That way you can review orders before processing them (and not process fraudulent transactions, for example). If you do so, you must then “Charge” the order for the payment to be settled and the funds to be transferred to your account.

Google Checkout is available in the United States and in the United Kingdom. It currently cannot be used as a payment option by stores located in other countries.

US merchants must have a US bank account and address, plus either of the following:

• A Social Security number and a valid credit card.
• A Federal Tax ID/Employer Identification Number (EIN).

UK merchants must have a UK bank account and address, plus either of the following:

• A valid credit card.
• A valid Companies House Registration Number.

US and UK buyers, as well as buyers in a limited number of countries outside the United States and United Kingdom, can make purchases (in US dollars or Pounds Sterling) through Google Checkout.

Google Checkout was made available in the United Kingdom in April of 2007. ProductCart v3.1 has been certified as a shopping cart that fully supports Google Checkout UK. The service supports Pounds Sterling “GBP” in the decimal formatting 1,234,567.89. A currency conversion link automatically appears on the Google Checkout Shopping Cart for International Customers.

Here is a summary of features that are not available or limited in their functionality when your store is using Google Checkout.

• Store located outside the United States and United Kingdom
  You cannot use Google Checkout if you are not a US business. See details above.
• Order Management
  • Orders cannot be edited
    Google Checkout orders cannot be edited in the ProductCart Control Panel. This is because there is no way for ProductCart to update order information within the Google Checkout system after an order has been placed. See this section for details.
  • Batch processing
    This feature is not yet available for Google Checkout orders. Orders must be charged (i.e. processed) individually. We are investigating whether we can extend the batch processing functionality to Google Checkout orders and will do so in a future update if this is the case.
  • Batch shipping
    The same is true for batch shipping.
  • Resend order received email
    This email is not sent by ProductCart, but rather by the Google Checkout system itself.
  • Reset order status not available
    The order status cannot be reset.
  • Incomplete orders
    There is no such thing as an incomplete Google Checkout order. An order placed via Google Checkout will never appear in that report in the ProductCart Control Panel.
• Shipping-related features
  • Multiple packages notification
    Customers are not notified that the order is shipped in multiple packages, even if the corresponding setting is active on the Shipping > Shipping Settings page.
  • No shipping rates, and still checkout
    There is a setting in Shipping > Shipping Settings that allows your customers to checkout even if no shipping rates could be calculated. This setting does not apply to Google Checkout order. That’s because there is no scenario in which rates are not returned: default shipping options are shown where no shipping rates could be determined.
  • Non-shipping items
    Even if a customer is purchasing a non-shipping item (e.g. downloadable product), Google Checkout will still show the default shipping options, but with a 0 price.
• Tax calculation
  • Billing vs. Shipping address
    Taxes can only be calculated based on the customer’s shipping address. The Google Checkout API does not inform us of the customer’s billing address.
  • Display taxes separately
    This option is not available as Google Checkout cannot display taxes that way. Since it cannot be used by stores that reside outside of the United States and this setting is typically used by Canadian stores, this limitation should not be a problem.
  • Wholesale Customers are tax-exempt
    Customers that use Google Checkout can instruct the system to replace their actual e-mail address with an alias. This Google Checkout feature helps keep the customer’s “real” e-mail address private. Since the only way for ProductCart to determine whether the customer already exists in the database and whether he/she is a wholesale customer is through their e-mail addresses, this feature prevents ProductCart from accurately identifying the customer.
  • Tax by Zone
    This method of calculating taxes is not available through Google Checkout. Since it is typically used by stores located outside of the United States (it was specifically created to properly handle Canadian taxes) and Google Checkout is currently only available to stores based in the United States, this feature limitation should have limited or no effect on ProductCart merchants.
• Other checkout settings
  • Referrer drop-down
    This feature is not available when customers use Google Checkout for placing an order.
  • Terms & Conditions Agreement. Same.
  • Date and Time fields. Same.
  • Reward Points. Same.
  • Special customer fields.
    Same. Any fields added via the Special Customer Fields area of the Control Panel will not be shown during checkout, and therefore will not be filled out.
  • Automatic coupons.
    Same: an electronic coupon can certainly be applied by the customer to a Google Checkout order, but it should not be set to auto-apply as this specific feature is not available.
  • One time only coupons
    ProductCart cannot enforce one time only coupons when the customer chooses to hide his/her email through Google Checkout as the system can no longer identify whether the customer already exists in the ProductCart database.
  • Coupons limited to certain customers
    Since customers go through an alternative checkout process, this filter cannot be enforced.
  • All coupons
    Unfortunately Google Checkout UK does not currently support coupons. Google Checkout US does, except for the limitations mentioned above.
  • Category-based Quantity Discounts
    At this time it is impossible to send the category discounts value to Google Checkout because the system cannot apply a negative amount at the order level, only at the product level. This means that product-specific quantity discounts are supported, but category-specific discounts are not.
  • Gift Registries
    Same: the entire set of features that relate to Gift Registries is not available when checking out with Google Checkout. We are investigating whether we can extend support the Gift Registry functionality in ProductCart to Google Checkout orders and will do so in a future update if this is the case. If your store is using Gift Registries, make sure that you have another payment option available beyond Google Checkout.
  • Gift Wrapping
    This is also not supported. Unfortunately there is no way for ProductCart to communicate the Gift Wrapping options to the Google Checkout system. Specifically, Google Checkout indicated: “since Google Checkout is an alternative checkout option to the store Google Checkout can not offer any services that are not supported by Google. Google does not have a gift wrap option.”
  • Checkout without registering
    This setting does not apply.
  • Nicknaming your orders
    This feature is available after an order has been placed, if the customer logs into his/her account at the store (not through their Google Checkout administration area).
• Web site interface (header.asp and footer.asp)
  This limitation ONLY applies when Google Checkout is the only payment option active on the store. If there are other payment options available, ignore the following paragraphs.
  • Remove login box
    If you have added a login box (form) to your Web store’s graphical interface (header.asp or footer.asp files in the ProductCart “pc” folder), you will need to remove that code. That is because when Google Checkout is the only available payment option, customers will not register on your store. They will register (or just login) during the checkout process, on the first Google Checkout screen.
  • Remove login link
    For the same reason, you need to remove any links to “Login” or “Register”.

The reason for removing the login box and login/register links is that if Google Checkout is the only available payment option, and a customer adds products to the cart, and then tries to login or create an account, they will receive a message from ProductCart that says that they cannot login or register because there are no payment options available on the store. Avoid showing this message by removing the links as indicated above. Once again, you need to take these steps if Google Checkout is the only payment option available on the store.

Google Checkout currently accepts an SSL certificate issued from one of the Certificate Authorities listed below. Other SSL certificates are now supported.

• AAA Certificate Services
• AddTrust Class 1 CA Root
• AddTrust External CA Root
• AddTrust Qualified CA Root
• Baltimore CyberTrust Code Signing Root
• Baltimore CyberTrust Root
• Class 1 Public Primary Certification Authority
• Class 1 Public Primary Certification Authority - G2
• Class 2 Public Primary Certification Authority
• Class 2 Public Primary Certification Authority - G2
• Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority
• Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority - G2
• Entrust.net Certification Authority (2048)
• Entrust.net Client Certification Authority
• Entrust.net Secure Server Certification Authority
• Equifax Secure Certificate Authority
• Equifax Secure eBusiness CA-1
• Equifax Secure eBusiness CA-2
• Equifax Secure Global eBusiness CA-1
• GeoTrust Global CA
• Go Daddy Class 2 Certification Authority
• GTE CyberTrust Global Root
• GTE CyberTrust Root
• GTE CyberTrust Root 5
• Secure Certificate Services
• Secure Server Certification Authority
• Starfield Class 2 Certification Authority
• Thawte Personal Basic CA
• Thawte Personal Freemail CA
• Thawte Personal Premium CA
• Thawte Premium Server CA
• Thawte Server CA
• Trusted Certificate Services
• UTN - DATACorp SGC
• UTN-USERFirst-Client Authentication and Email
• UTN-USERFirst-Hardware
• UTN-USERFirst-Object
• ValiCert Class 2 Policy Validation Authority
• VeriSign Class 1 Public Primary Certification Authority - G3
• VeriSign Class 2 Public Primary Certification Authority - G3
• VeriSign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority - G3

In parenthesis is the value saved in the orderStatus field of the Orders table (and used in the ASP source code to show/hide information and perform various tasks that are dependent on the order