IPN plugin will:

1) Save all the information about the order and your customer into the database. You will be able to access each order info anytime. Database can be searched by name, e-mail, unique paypal order number, and date.

2) Send customized e-mail in addition to paypal generated generic e-mail to the customer upon the purchase. You can specify the content of the e-mail. E-mail can be either txt or HTML formatted.

3) You will have easy to use e-mail tool that will allow you to communicate with every customer directly from the shopping cart. E-mails are pre-populated with the order and customer information.

4) IPN plugin allows inventory management.

5) If you sell downloadable goods, such as .pdf, .mp3 etc. files you can use IPN plugin for the instant digital goods download. I.e., upon the purchase, IPN plugin will create unique copy of the file on the server and will e-mail the URL to that file to the customer.

All this, eliminates most of the real person intervention into the selling process and makes your site a bit more professional in terms of instant notification/communication with the customer.

Regards,
Admin