CartLink® Integration Instructions
Why use CartLink?
The Problem
Many of the Covercraft product lines provide custom fitment to almost any vehicle year, make and model combination. This is a benefit to the consumer but an obstacle to those websites that want to sell our products. It means a database of thousands of applications and complex business logic to make sure the customer orders the correct part number for his/her vehicle.
The Solution
We have designed a seamless way for your customers to do a product search on our website (they won't even know they've left your website), find the correct part number for their vehicle, and buy the product on your website. This means you don't have to program the business logic... we have done this for you. This also ensures your customers are presented with the most up-to-date application data, as new applications are added daily. Additionally, you will have a quicker time-to-market and fewer returns. Best of all, you can use the system free of charge.
CartLink Requirements
What you need:
- Get setup as an authorized Covercraft Reseller
- Website with ecommerce capabilities (shopping cart)
What we need from you:
- Your Covercraft account number
- Which products lines you will be selling
- How you would like to retain the look and feel of your website (Framed or HTML Header/Footer)
- CartLink configuration information
- Form URL where CartLink will post lookup information
- Variables you require CartLink to send? (see options below)
- Your selling prices (if you want that information displayed or passed from CartLink)
As part of the integration process, we will send you our CartLink price load sheet. It contains all of the product lines available on the CartLink® platform. It lists generic part numbers which you would setup in your system for the products. Then you would determine your selling prices and fill those in as well.
Integration Steps
Step 1. Customer shops for Covercraft products on your site
For each product you sell, you would create selling pages on your site.
On each of these selling pages, you would place a special CartLink link. The customer would click this link to lookup and customize a Covercraft product. This link sends the customer to a lookup application hosted on our cloud infrastructure. The lookup application would have the look and feel of your site, so the customer doesn't realize they've left your site.
These special CartLink links contain the below variables and information:
| Variable | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| prod_id | Product ID - Each product line has a unique identifier which you would include in your links. | Required |
| cust_id | CartLink Customer ID - We will assign you a CartLink Customer ID. Note: This is different than your Covercraft Account #. Also, in order for you to use a specific product lookup, we must activate that product line for your particular cust_id. | Required |
| SESSIONID | Session ID - This is your session or cart identifier. You would generate this dynamically on your site and we would pass this variable back to your shopping cart. | Optional |
| year | Vehicle Year - If applicable to the product line, this variable can be passed into the lookup. This is useful in cases where you already ask this info on your site. If a match is found, the value is pre-selected or skipped. If no match is found, we simply ask the user for that infor. | Optional |
| make | Vehicle Make - If applicable to the product line, this variable can be passed into the lookup. This is useful in cases where you already ask this info on your site. If a match is found, the value is pre-selected or skipped. If no match is found, we simply ask the user for that infor. | Optional |
| model | Vehicle Model - If applicable to the product line, this variable can be passed into the lookup. This is useful in cases where you already ask this info on your site. If a match is found, the value is pre-selected or skipped. If no match is found, we simply ask the user for that infor. | Optional |
Step 2. Customer shops for Covercraft products on your site
The customer steps through the lookup screens to customize the product. These screens have the look and feel of your website. To accomplish this, you can either supply us with header/footer HTML files we host OR you can frame the lookup module.
The customer is presented with a final summary screen. This screen lets the customer confirm the vehicle and product selections made are correct. At this point, the customer clicks the Buy button. Once submitted, our form will post all of the hidden variables (key/value pairs) within the page to your shopping cart. You can tell us how you want these variables named so they match naming conventions you already use within your shopping cart code.
We need to know your shopping cart URL (where CartLink will post lookup information):
This URL can be static and tied to a specific cust_id or dynamically passed in to CartLink and used in the final Add-To-Cart form.
URL Example:
These are the dynamic <form> variables CartLink can post to your shopping cart:
| Variable | Example Variable Name (you specify) | Example Variable Value | Max Variable Length (value we return) | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your Part # | generic_part gpart our-part-number etc... |
e.g. G510000 (we provide suggested generic parts in our price load sheet) | 20 - alphanumeric | This is the generic part number which corresponds to the different price points for the product line in question. Some product lines have just one price point, while others have many. For each price point, you would setup a generic part number (normally we supply these part numbers). The logic within the product lookup determines which generic part number to pass to your shopping cart. By using generic part numbers in this way, you are able to represent, in your system, an entire product line which could have thousands of actual part numbers. You can then key off of this generic part number to know the price to display in your shopping cart. | |
| Our Actual Part # | part_num covercraft_part etc... |
e.g. C10575NH | 11 - alphanumeric | This is the actual Covercraft part number. It can be passed as a separate variable and/or be appended to the decription variable. Note: This is the part number you would be ordering from Covercraft. | |
| Description | descr description etc... |
e.g. Custom Fit Noah Car Cover: 2014 Toyota Camry | 160 - alphanumeric | The description is generated dynamically based on the vehicle and product selections made by the customer. | |
| Quantity | qty quantity etc... |
e.g. 1 | 2 - numeric | The default quantity is 1, however, the customer can enter a new quantity if desired. | |
| Comments | comments extrainfo logomono etc... |
e.g. LOGO:123 BMONO:My Car | 40 - alphanumeric | This variable contains machine-readable info which is required by product lines that allow the addition of embroidered logos and monograms (e.g. DashMat, Custom Floormats, etc.), unless you only need the human readable info which will be appended to the description variable above. | |
| Session ID | session sessionid sid etc... | (value you pass into CartLink) | alphanumeric | This is the session or cart identifier you originally passed to us within the special link from Step 1 above. By passing this variable back to your shopping cart, it ensures this newly selected item is grouped with other items the customer may have already added to his/her shopping cart. | |
| Year | year etc... |
e.g. 2016 | 4 - numeric | Where applicable - ACA industry standard value | |
| Make | make etc... |
e.g. Toyota | 25 - alphanumeric | Where applicable - ACA industry standard value | |
| Model | model etc... |
e.g. Camry | 50 - alphanumeric | Where applicable - ACA industry standard value | |
| Submodel | submodel etc... |
e.g. DLX | 125 - alphanumeric | Where applicable - ACA industry standard value | |
| Options | options |
e.g. Sedan with 2 mirror pockets | 255 - alphanumeric | Where applicable | |
| Color ID | color_id
|
e.g. FD | 2 - alphanumeric | Where applicable | |
| Color Name | color_name etc... |
e.g. Dark Blue | 30 - alphanumeric | Where applicable | |
| Custom Static Variables | In addition to the above dynamic variables, we can also setup any static variables and values that your shopping cart might require (e.g. cartAction=Add). | ||||
Step 3. Customer adds items to your shopping cart and checks out
In order for your shopping cart to recognize these passed variables, you may need to do some custom programming. One approach is to create a middleware script. Another is to create a special function or module within your shopping cart code. In either case, you would use the variables passed and add the new line item to your customer's shopping cart, while retaining the items the person may have already added to their cart previously.
Once the customer is ready, they would check out using your shopping cart.
If you have questions or would like to start using CartLink: contact us