Orbit Guides
What each
feature does,
in plain English.
Twelve guides so far, one per feature, written for whoever runs the shop rather than whoever builds software. Each one says what the feature replaces and links to its feature page.
Built into every plan
Shipping, returns, gift cards and discounts
- Build3 guidesCustom fields: the product details every shop needs, built inThe page builder: change your shop without waiting on a developerNavigation: the menu is doing more selling than your homepage
- Sell3 guidesWholesale and trade accounts: stop running your B2B on emailed spreadsheetsSubscriptions: repeat customers on a schedule you chooseGift cards: money now, from customers you have not met yet
- Manage3 guidesAdvanced shipping rules: charge the right postage on every single orderStock control: know what you have, where it is, and why the number changedReturns: the part of the sale everyone forgets to design
- Grow2 guidesDiscounts: how to run offers that grow the basket instead of shrinking the marginAbandoned carts: the orders you already won and then lost
- Payments1 guidePayouts, fees and tax: making the number in your bank match your books
- 12 feature guides
- Five areas, from Build to Payments
- Problem first, then the feature
- 6 to 12 minute reads
The guides
One guide per feature.
Twelve so far, grouped by the job: building the shop, selling, managing it, growing it and getting paid. Open one to read what the feature is for, what it replaces and how to set it up; the feature page beside it has the plan and the price.
Build
3 guides: Pages, media, menus, and how the whole thing looks.
Product editor
Custom fields: the product details every shop needs, built in
Extra boxes you invent yourself, added to products, orders or customers, so your shop can properly store the details that matter about what you actually sell.
- Instead of: a metafields or custom-fields app
- 9 min read
Page builder
The page builder: change your shop without waiting on a developer
A visual editor where you build and change shop pages by dragging things around, with no code and no waiting on anyone else.
- Instead of: a page-building app
- 9 min read
Navigation
Navigation: the menu is doing more selling than your homepage
The menus, header and footer that tell visitors what you sell and get them to it in as few clicks as possible.
- Instead of: a mega-menu app
- 7 min read
Sell
3 guides: The ways money comes in: products, trade accounts, subscriptions, gift cards, channels.
B2B and wholesale
Wholesale and trade accounts: stop running your B2B on emailed spreadsheets
Trade customers log into the same shop as everyone else, but the prices they see are the ones you agreed with them.
- Instead of: a wholesale or trade pricing app
- 8 min read
Subscriptions
Subscriptions: repeat customers on a schedule you choose
Subscription products with weekly to yearly plans, and an account page where customers pause, resume or cancel.
- 6 min read
Gift cards
Gift cards: money now, from customers you have not met yet
A code worth a set amount that customers buy now and someone else spends later at your checkout.
- Instead of: a gift card app
- 8 min read
Manage
3 guides: Stock, orders, returns, customers, and who on your team can do what.
Fulfilment and shipping
Advanced shipping rules: charge the right postage on every single order
A set of your own rules that work out the delivery price at checkout, so a mug and a wardrobe never get charged the same postage again.
- Instead of: an advanced shipping rates app
- 12 min read
Inventory
Stock control: know what you have, where it is, and why the number changed
One table showing every product in every place you keep stock, with a full history of every change so numbers can always be explained.
- Instead of: a multi-location inventory app
- 9 min read
Returns
Returns: the part of the sale everyone forgets to design
A proper process for handling things coming back, so returns stop being an email thread and start being a record you can learn from.
- Instead of: a returns management app
- 9 min read
Grow
2 guides: Getting more out of the visitors you already have.
Discounts
Discounts: how to run offers that grow the basket instead of shrinking the margin
Codes and offers with proper guard rails, so a promotion pulls basket sizes up rather than handing money to people who were buying anyway.
- Instead of: a discount or promotions app
- 9 min read
Abandoned cart recovery
Abandoned carts: the orders you already won and then lost
An automatic email to people who got partway through checkout and left, with a link straight back to the basket they built.
- Instead of: a cart recovery app
- 8 min read
Payments
1 guide: Taking the money, and knowing where it went.
Payments and finance
Payouts, fees and tax: making the number in your bank match your books
A full record of every charge, fee, refund and payout, so you can always explain the difference between what you sold and what arrived.
- Instead of: a tax calculation app
- 9 min read
12
Feature guides
One per feature, grouped by the job it does. Each ends with a link to the feature’s own page.
Step by step
In the help centre
A guide explains what a feature is for and what it replaces. The click-by-click instructions are in the help centre.
Opinions
On the blog
Comparisons, tax and platform advice are blog posts, each dated so you can see how fresh its figures are.
About the guides
What a guide is, and is not.
Plans, scope, and where the instructions live.
Plans from £25 a month
Read the guide. Then switch it on.
Start a 14-day trial and open the feature the guide describes on your own shop.