Beginning on Monday, July 25, the American Booksellers Association will begin a phased rollout of new IndieCommerce 2.0 websites to bookstores "so that their staff can familiarize themselves with the new platform and start customizing their site to fit their needs," Bookselling This Week reported.
In the first phase of the transition, the focus will be on stores that recently joined IndieCommerce, IndieLite stores and some IndieCommerce stores that have a limited need for advanced features. This group represents a majority of IndieCommerce stores. Larger stores that require more advanced website features will be moved in later phases. The transition will take a two-month pause during the holiday season, from November 1 to December 31, and resume on January 1.
The ABA noted that even stores that don't make the transition this year will "still experience an improved platform this holiday season due to the changes made to the current platform." These include ADA compliance modifications, integration with most major bookstore POS systems and real-time postage quotes from USPS.
The ABA's e-commerce senior manager Geetha Nathan will host an Introduction to IndieCommerce 2.0 webinar next Monday, July 25, 1-2 p.m. Eastern, that will review new features and services on the new platform.