The 2009 Miva Merchant Conference kicked off yesterday, February 27, with a welcome message from Russ Carroll. After recognizing sponsors, presenters, and the Miva Merchant employees, Russ identified what we should expect to learn at the conference, and then covered a list of developments that have occurred since the 2008 conference:
- The return of Jon Burchmore, who was one of the original architects of the Miva Merchant shopping cart, to fulfill the roll of CTO of Miva Merchant
- They successfully released 5.5 after a significant beta test period
- The creation of the Miva Merchant Support Club, including the "Gems" benefit
- Bringing product support back in-house from India
- Discontinuation of Miva Payment, in favor of a tightened relationship with Intuit and Chase
- Support for PA-DSS compliance on versions 5.5 and the upcoming 4.25, including a new payment model for legacy v4 stores
Russ left us with one final thought on the economy: "Free-market capitalism is an anvil that has worn out many a hammer."
Rick Wilson spoke next on the past and future of the Miva Merchant software. He stated that there are now approximately 10,000 merchants running Miva Merchant 5.5, the latest version of the shopping cart, although there's still a significant number of merchants still using the 4.x platform as well. Some of the highlights that have taken place since version 5.5 was first launched:
- A new timeout-free set of import/export modules
- XML import capabilities
- Eliminated excess white space in the page source
- Admin click efficiency - making the administration easier to use
- A streamlined user interface
- Created a highly stable environment
- Opened up virtually 100% control of shopping interface
- MySQL optimization
- Skins
Rick also mentioned two "mom and pop" stores using Miva Merchant that have grown with such significance that they are now part of the Internet Retailer Top 500 - TotalVac.com and Allergy Buyers Club.
Rick also discussed the PCI compliance and PA-DSS compliance work they are doing on the software to ensure that merchants can continue to safely accept credit card payments. Finally, he demonstrated some new features coming out for Miva Merchant 5.5, particular related to order processing, editing, and capturing payments and handling refunds.
From there, the conference moved into a series of keynotes, some educational, and some product-based presentations by sponsors. These included Amazon Payments, Dr. Larry Osborne, the pastor of North Coast Church (who gave a wonderful presentation!), Google Analytics and Website Optimizer, and Tim Ash of SiteTuners.com - who had the dubious distinction of being the last speaker on a delayed schedule before lunch.
The afternoon breakout sessions included topics such as Quickbooks integration, social media, search engine optimization, Google analytics, and Miva Merchant skins. The evening concluded with a dinner.
