MIME-Version: 1.0 Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2026 10:53:36 -0700 References: In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Fw: School Store Requirements and Starter Content mtg From: Rian Bowden To: Erin Coulson Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="000000000000e56ee1065a0b0300" --000000000000e56ee1065a0b0300 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Erin, we'll chat more about this at some point soon, but just a couple quick notes: Your brick-and-mortar payment process, lightspeed, may not support online transactions. This is an important consideration. If you absolutely must use Lightspeed for all payments, we'll need to determine if they offer an online payment processor, its cost, how to enable it, and if they have a WooCommerce extension. Based on what I see online, my guess is the answer to the last question is no. In that case, we need to check if they have an API. I can build a WooCommerce extension, but that changes the scope quite a bit. My recommendation, and what 90% of people do, is set up Stripe.com for your online payments. Stripe is the gold standard for online payment processing and the default assumption when people start accepting online payments, but it does mean you have another company for your accounting team to track. Basically, you set it up, connect it to a bank account, and then Stripe handles all your payments and deposits the money into your bank regularly. Also, if you're doing summer camp registrations, that's actually a different type of product (non-physical), which makes an even stronger case for using Stripe since brick-and-mortar payment providers usually won't support this or won't be flexible enough. Typically, shipping doesn't require SKUs. If you need them, we should discuss your actual requirements to determine the best approach. Typically the e-commerce software (woocommerce in this case) has a shipping component. In your case it sounds like you want 3 levels of flat rate shipping (3 box sizes). Those are not a products though; that's done at checkout and can be handled in a few ways. Either the customer can pick what they need, or you can enter the size when entering products and have WooCommerce try to select the right shipping based on volume needed, or you can omit the size and let WooCommerce pick based only on the number of products. So if you're building a list of skus in a spreadsheet, I'd recommend adding a column ofr size. If you have it handy, also add weight. Rian On Tue, Aug 25, 2026 at 2:40=E2=80=AFPM Erin Coulson wrote: > Store answers, Part 1 > > (SKU list will be Part 2) > > *Erin Coulson* > > *Manager of Marketing & Communications* > > Brentwood College School > > (250) 743-5521 | Mobile (250) 252-3438 | > www.brentwood.ca | Facebook > > | Instagram > > | Brentonian Connect > > I work and reside on the traditional territory of the Hul=E2=80=99q=E2=80= =99umi=E2=80=99num > speaking people, more specifically the Meluxulh (Malahat) and Quw'utsun > (Cowichan) Nations. > *The information in this email and any attachments are confidential and > for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this > email in error, please accept our apologies for the inconvenience. Any > unauthorized use of the information is strictly prohibited. Please notify > the sender as soon as possible and then delete all copies from your syste= m. > Thank you.* > ------------------------------ > *From:* Erin Coulson > *Sent:* Tuesday, August 25, 2026 1:27 PM > *To:* Julie Miller ; Ian McPherson < > ian.mcpherson@brentwood.ca> > *Subject:* Re: School Store Requirements and Starter Content mtg > > *Notes from our meeting* > > Answers to Rian's questions, based on our meeting today (CAPS BELOW). He > will begin building this online store directly from our website, using th= e > WooCommerce plugin: https://woocommerce.com/. > > We landed on these action items: > > - *Erin*: include a query in the Torch September issue asking what > parents would like to see > - *Ian*: please provide the options for that parent popular vote list > - *Erin*: book Kurt for Monday, August 31, in the afternoon if he's > available > - *Julie*: please prepare a spreadsheet with SKU name, SKU price, and > SKU size(s) for your top sellers; leave space for additions > - *Ian*: review and amend spreadsheet to a level you are happy with > for launch; signal Erin so it can be shared with Rian right away > > > RIAN's QUESTIONS: > > - Which SKUs to start? (will need item name, sizes, photo, and price) > - JULIE KNOWS the first dozen SHE WANTS TO SELL; IAN FEELS THE > 'LIFESTYLE' STUFF SHOULD LEAD; CONSIDER BRINGING IN A FEW ALUMNI PI= ECES; > DITTO FOR SPECIFIC CHEERLEADING PIECES PER SPORT - E.G., *HERE FOR > BRENTWOOD ROWING, PROUD BRENTWOOD RUGBY PARENT, FIRED UP FOR BRENTW= OOD > TENNIS/BASKETBALL/SOCCER/FIELD HOCKEY/VOLLEYBALL* > - Who is our current merchant account provider? (in the store now) > ... we will need to apply to sell online, in addition to brick-and-mor= tar > - LIGHTSPEED > - Paypal, CC, and debit? What do we want to offer? > - CREDIT CARD ONLY TO START > - ONCE WE LAND ON SOMETHING HERE, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO EXTEND THIS > TO OUR SUMMER CAMP REGISTRATION AS WELL > - Currency - offering in CAD only, yes? > - YES > - ON THIS, HOW WOULD RIAN SUGGEST WE MANAGE THE TAX PORTION? WE > ANTICIPATE MANY CLIENTS FROM OUTSIDE OF CANADA > - Shipping - Canada Post? Courier? ... we'll need additional > plugins for this > - CANADA POST > - POSSIBLE OPTION TO OFFER PRE-PAID BOXES (DIFFERENT SIZE OPTIONS - > E.G., SMALL AND MEDIUM) WHERE YOU CAN STUFF THEM FULL AND PAY TH= E SAME > SHIPPING REGARDLESS OF WEIGHT > - THE BOX ITSELF BECOMES ITS OWN SKU > - WE WILL THEREFORE NEED SPACE FOR ~3 SKUs at minimum TO > COVER THE POSTAGE/PACKAGING ITSELF > - Also, under "delivery method", we want to offer a pickup > on campus option > - Collect in School Store > - Student picks up on behalf of parent/family > - INTEREST IN COURIER, YES; UNCLEAR HOW OFTEN WE WOULD USE IT > > > NB: Our staff member responsible for parcel receiving and distribution on > campus (and off) will either need to drive items to Mill Bay Pharmasave, > herself, or if costs/logistics work out well, of course we would be happy > to have couriers to come to us (e.g., Purolator, Loomis) > *~* > ------------------------------ > *From:* Julie Miller > *Sent:* Wednesday, August 19, 2026 3:16 PM > *To:* Erin Coulson ; Ian McPherson < > ian.mcpherson@brentwood.ca> > *Subject:* Re: School Store Requirements and Starter Content mtg > > Sounds great - this date/time works for me as well. > > *Julie Miller* > *External Events Manager* > *Campus Store Manager/Buyer* > *Cel: 250-884-1324* > > *Brentwood College School* > *(250) 743-5521 ext. 8466 | **www.brentwood.bc.ca* > * | **Facebook* > * | * > *Twitter* > > *The information in this email and any attachments are confidential and > for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this > email in error, please accept our apologies for the inconvenience. Any > unauthorized use of the information is strictly prohibited. Please notify > the sender as soon as possible and then delete all copies from your syste= m. > Thank you.* > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Erin Coulson > *Sent:* Wednesday, August 19, 2026 1:11 PM > *To:* Julie Miller ; Ian McPherson < > ian.mcpherson@brentwood.ca> > *Subject:* School Store Requirements and Starter Content mtg > *When:* Tuesday, August 25, 2026 12:30 PM-1:30 PM. > *Where:* Julie's office > > Let's bring our respective questions to this discussion and align as much > as possible on the basics (scope/offering/transaction must-haves/timeline= ), > then plan to regroup with the website creator (Rian) separately once we > have more information to share. > > Our goal is to build this *within one month* of our meeting, so that > parents can access the online shop *before* the competitive seasons for > all sports and well before Christmas. That said, if we have to start smal= l > and iterate a little=E2=80=94through the fall=E2=80=94that could be an op= tion. The main > risk to a slow start is the first impression we make on our families=E2= =80=94let's > do all we can to start on "Wow!" > > EC > > *@Julie Miller* *, if you want to include > anyone else in this meeting, that's fine, but we are not yet at the > training stage, so I don't know if you would need your staff included.* > --000000000000e56ee1065a0b0300 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Hi Erin, we'll chat more about this at some point= soon, but just a couple quick notes:

Your brick-a= nd-mortar payment process, lightspeed, may not support online transactions.= This is an important consideration. If you absolutely=C2=A0must use Lights= peed for all payments, we'll need to determine if they offer an online = payment processor, its cost, how to enable it, and if they have a WooCommer= ce extension. Based on what I see online, my guess is the answer to the las= t question is no. In that case, we need to check if they have an API. I can= build a WooCommerce extension, but that changes the scope quite a bit.

My recommendation, and what 90% of people do, is set = up Stripe.com for your online payments. Stripe is the gold standard for onl= ine payment processing and the default assumption when people start accepti= ng online payments, but it does mean you have another company for your acco= unting team to track.=C2=A0Basically, you set it up, connect it to a bank a= ccount, and then Stripe handles all your payments and deposits the money in= to your bank regularly.

Also, if you're doing = summer camp registrations, that's actually a different type of product = (non-physical), which makes an even stronger case for using Stripe since br= ick-and-mortar payment providers usually won't support this or won'= t be flexible enough.

Typically, shipping doesn= 9;t require SKUs. If you need them, we should discuss your actual requireme= nts to determine the best approach. Typically the e-commerce software (wooc= ommerce in this case) has a shipping component. In your case it sounds like= you want 3 levels of flat rate shipping (3 box sizes). Those are not a pro= ducts though; that's done at checkout and can be handled in a few ways.= Either the customer can pick what they need, or you can enter the size whe= n entering products and have WooCommerce try to select the right shipping b= ased on volume needed, or you can omit the size and let WooCommerce pick ba= sed only on the number of products. So if you're building a list of sku= s in a spreadsheet, I'd recommend adding a column ofr size. If you have= it handy, also add weight.




Rian

=
On Tue= , Aug 25, 2026 at 2:40=E2=80=AFPM Erin Coulson <erin.coulson@brentwood.ca> wr= ote:
Store answers, Part 1

(SKU list will be Part 2)

= Erin Coulson

Manager of Marketing & Communi= cations

Brentwood College S= chool

(250) 743-5521 | Mobile (250) 252-3438 | www.brentwood.ca=C2=A0|=C2=A0Facebook=C2=A0|=C2=A0Instagram=C2=A0|=C2=A0Brent= onian Connect

I work and reside on the traditional = territory of the Hul=E2=80=99q=E2=80=99umi=E2=80=99num speaking people, mor= e specifically the Meluxulh (Malahat) and Quw'utsun (Cowichan) Nations.

= The information in this email and any attachments are confidential and for = the sole use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this email in error, please accept our apologies for the inconvenience. Any unauthori= zed use of the information is strictly prohibited. Please notify the sender= as soon as possible and then delete all copies from your system. Thank you= .
From: Erin Coulson <erin.coulson@brentwood.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2026 1:27 PM
To: Julie Miller <julie.miller@brentwood.ca>; Ian McPherson <ian.mcpherson@bre= ntwood.ca>
Subject: Re: School Store Requirements and Starter Content mtg
=C2=A0
Notes from our meeting

Answers to Rian's questions, based on our meeting today (CAPS BELOW). He will begin building this onli= ne store directly from our website, using the WooCommerce plugin: https://woocommerce.= com/.

We landed on these action items:
  • Erin: include a query in the Torch Septem= ber issue asking what parents would like to see
    • Ian: please provide the options for that = parent popular vote list
  • Erin: book Kurt for Monday, August 31, in= the afternoon if he's available
  • Julie: please prepare a spreadsheet with = SKU name, SKU price, and SKU size(s) for your top sellers; leave space for = additions
    • Ian= : review and amend spreadsheet to a level you are happy with for launch; si= gnal Erin so it can be shared with Rian right away

RIAN's QUESTIONS:
  • Which SKUs to start? (will need item name, sizes, photo, and = price)
    • JULIE KNOWS the first dozen SHE WANTS TO SELL; IAN FEELS T= HE 'LIFESTYLE' STUFF SHOULD LEAD; CONSIDER BRINGING IN A FEW ALUMNI= PIECES; DITTO FOR SPECIFIC CHEERLEADING PIECES PER SPORT - E.G., HERE FOR BRENTWOOD ROWING, PROUD BRENTWOOD RUGBY PARENT, FIRED UP FOR BR= ENTWOOD TENNIS/BASKETBALL/SOCCER/FIELD HOCKEY/VOLLEYBALL
  • Who is our current merchant account provider? (in the store n= ow) ... we will need to apply to sell online, in addition to brick-and-mort= ar
    • LIGHTSPEED
  • Paypal, CC, and debit? What do we want to offer?
    • CREDIT CARD ONLY TO START
      • ONCE WE LAND ON SOMETHING HERE, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO EXTEND = THIS TO OUR SUMMER CAMP REGISTRATION AS WELL
  • Currency - offering in CAD only, yes?
    • YES
      • ON THIS, HOW WOULD RIAN SUGGEST WE MANAGE THE TAX PORTION? WE= ANTICIPATE MANY CLIENTS FROM OUTSIDE OF CANADA
  • Shipping - Canada Post? Courier? ... we'll need additiona= l plugins for this
    • CANADA POST
      • POSSIBLE OPTION TO OFFER PRE-PAID BOXES (DIFFERENT SIZE OPTIO= NS - E.G., SMALL AND MEDIUM) WHERE YOU CAN STUFF THEM FULL AND PAY THE SAME= SHIPPING REGARDLESS OF WEIGHT
        • THE BOX ITSELF BECOMES ITS OWN SKU
          • WE WILL THEREFORE NEED SPACE FOR ~3 SKUs at minimum TO COVER = THE POSTAGE/PACKAGING ITSELF
      • Also, under "delivery method", we want to offer a p= ickup on campus option
        • Collect in School Store
        • Student picks up on behalf of parent/family
    • INTEREST IN COURIER, YES; UNCLEAR HOW OFTEN WE WOULD USE IT

NB: Our staff member responsible for = parcel receiving and distribution on campus (and off) will either need to d= rive items to Mill Bay Pharmasave, herself, or if costs/logistics work out = well, of course we would be happy to have couriers to come to us (e.g., Purolator, Loomis)
~
From: Julie Miller <julie.miller@brentwood.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2026 3:16 PM
To: Erin Coulson <erin.coulson@brentwood.ca>; Ian McPherson <ian.mcpherson@bre= ntwood.ca>
Subject: Re: School Store Requirements and Starter Content mtg
=C2=A0
Sounds great - this date/time works for me as well.

Julie Miller
External Events Manager
Campus Store Manager/Buyer
Cel: =C2=A0250-884-1324

Brentwood College School
= (250) 743-5521 ext. 8466 | www.brentwood.bc.ca=C2=A0| Facebook=C2=A0| Twitter<= span style=3D"font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;color:rgb(109,110,= 113)">=C2=A0
The information in this email and any attachments are confidential an= d for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). If you have received this = email in error, please accept our apologies for the inconvenience. Any unau= thorized use of the information is strictly prohibited. Please notify the sender as soon as possible and t= hen delete all copies from your system. Thank you.

From: Erin Coulson <erin.coulson@brentwood.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2026 1:11 PM
To: Julie Miller <julie.miller@brentwood.ca>; Ian McPherson <ian.mcpherson@bre= ntwood.ca>
Subject: School Store Requirements and Starter Content mtg
When: Tuesday, August 25, 2026 12:30 PM-1:30 PM.
Where: Julie's office
=C2=A0
Let's bring our respective questions to this discussion and align as mu= ch as possible on the basics (scope/offering/transaction must-haves/timelin= e), then plan to regroup with the website creator (Rian) separately once we= have more information to share.

Our goal is to build this within one month=C2=A0of our meeting, so t= hat parents can access the online shop before the competitive seasons for all sports and well before Christ= mas. That said, if we have to start small and iterate a little=E2=80=94thro= ugh the fall=E2=80=94that could be an option. The main risk to a slow start= is the first impression we make on our families=E2=80=94let's do all we can to start on "Wow!"

EC

@Julie Miller<= i>, if you want to include anyone else in this meeting, that's fine, bu= t we are not yet at the training stage, so I don't know if you would need your staff included.
--000000000000e56ee1065a0b0300--