16 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
16 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Offline Oops! - Now What??

by NewbiesDiary
14 replies
g'day Warriors

hehe - I was chatting (as I do) to a computer shop owner the other day - I mentioned that I use my computer 20 hours a day for the internet, he asked what I do - bla bla bla later and he got quite excited and wants me to build him an eCommerce site for his computer shop.

Woot!

BUT! having never built an ecommerce store or owned one - I have not a clue!

Anyone able to give me a really quick education on what I should be looking for, what should I be offering / using etc etc. What cart to use, what system etc?

He wants to keep his prices down so i thought i'd find a template and get it modified for him, and focus on seo and marketing - allowing more $$ for the necessary and less $ on the design etc.

thoughts?? PLEASE!
#offline #oops
  • Profile picture of the author Ken Strong
    Check out 1shoppingcart.com to start (not an aff link) -- does everything, including software, autoresponders, etc.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[546856].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Mark Brian
    Magento - Home - eCommerce Software for Growth seems to be the best free option for shopping carts.
    Signature

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547297].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author elishahong
    Okay the free ones that come with Fantastico are actually good. I've tried Zen Cart before but you might want to invest on a nice template which can cost from between $197-$297.
    It's a pinch but the templates are generally beautiful.

    There are free templates that come with it but it's pretty much "amateur" work.

    The trouble with e-commerce though, would be the fact that you've got to manually add the product categories and sub categories manually and this is not something that you can avoid. There are other challenges such as tweaking the tax values, adding forms and it can take a while before you get the e-commerce site up.

    Adding the template is easy, it's like adding a WP template on your Wordpress blog. That is probably the easiest thing to do..

    Or open a Yahoo ecommerce store. I guess that would be another easy way to go around this matter.

    1shoppingcart is probably the way to go, with the least hassle.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547308].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author NewbiesDiary
      Originally Posted by elishahong View Post

      Okay the free ones that come with Fantastico are actually good. I've tried Zen Cart before but you might want to invest on a nice template which can cost from between $197-$297.
      It's a pinch but the templates are generally beautiful.

      There are free templates that come with it but it's pretty much "amateur" work.

      The trouble with e-commerce though, would be the fact that you've got to manually add the product categories and sub categories manually and this is not something that you can avoid. There are other challenges such as tweaking the tax values, adding forms and it can take a while before you get the e-commerce site up.

      Adding the template is easy, it's like adding a WP template on your Wordpress blog. That is probably the easiest thing to do..

      Or open a Yahoo ecommerce store. I guess that would be another easy way to go around this matter.

      1shoppingcart is probably the way to go, with the least hassle.
      thanks for that - I'll be outsourcing the alterations to the template and the uploading of products etc

      Some of the templates I've found are really nice looking - so that's prob the way I'll go.

      I'm gonna set up the 3 free ones from fantastico onto my site and have a play with them, just to get a feel for them
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547587].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Then
    Yahoo Store was recommended by Andy Jerkins in his StomperNet course.

    The problem with other carts is that they are not SEO friendly. Yahoo Store allows more SEO work. That's what Andy said.

    Maybe you can check it out.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547326].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author NewbiesDiary
      Originally Posted by Joseph Then View Post

      Yahoo Store was recommended by Andy Jerkins in his StomperNet course.

      The problem with other carts is that they are not SEO friendly. Yahoo Store allows more SEO work. That's what Andy said.

      Maybe you can check it out.
      hehe I can't imagine my client would be happy with a yahoo store LOL
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547592].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Ricky Parker
        Originally Posted by NewbiesDiary View Post

        hehe I can't imagine my client would be happy with a yahoo store LOL
        Yahoo Stores can work great.


        They are also pretty darn user friendly. Which could come in handy for you and the shop owner since you are both new at this.


        I would at least look into them a little deeper. I have sent many completely new people the Yahoo Store route. And they have been happy.
        Signature

        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547602].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Debbie Songster
    I use zencart and we are playing with Magneto now
    There is no such thing as doing an ecommerce store "cheap"
    A fair amount of time goes into creating the look, loading product, setting up the shipping and payment options, loading images, setting attributes as well as changing a few of the files.

    With zencart you can get modules (usually free) so you can bulk load your product into the store

    I haven't had any problems with seo and my stores even though zencart doesn't use the friendly urls. Having a great title for each of your products is the best thing.

    There are many shopping cart platforms - I stay away from oscommerce - its too limited.

    If you need a hand, Tina and I are Zencart pro's. She does a lot of custom templates
    You can see our work in our services for hire link in my signature.
    Signature

    Getting back in the grove after taking a year off following a family tragedy.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547382].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
      You may also want to analyze whether having an online shopping cart is what he really needs or if the store would be served better by:

      # 1: Driving to web traffic to call, email or visit the store in person.

      # 2: Capturing contact details of existing clients and store walk ins and following up with them with special deals by email, mail and/or telephone.


      In many cases maintaining a complex online store is not worth the effort for a local business compared to using the website to sell people on the benefits of dealing with the store.

      Kindest regards,
      Andrew Cavanagh
      Signature
      Old School Copy Like This Is BACK & Converting Like Crazy!
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547579].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author NewbiesDiary
      Originally Posted by Debbie Songster

      I use zencart and we are playing with Magneto now
      There is no such thing as doing an ecommerce store "cheap"
      A fair amount of time goes into creating the look, loading product, setting up the shipping and payment options, loading images, setting attributes as well as changing a few of the files.

      With zencart you can get modules (usually free) so you can bulk load your product into the store

      I haven't had any problems with seo and my stores even though zencart doesn't use the friendly urls. Having a great title for each of your products is the best thing.

      There are many shopping cart platforms - I stay away from oscommerce - its too limited.

      If you need a hand, Tina and I are Zencart pro's. She does a lot of custom templates
      You can see our work in our services for hire link in my signature.
      Hey Debbie - thanks!

      LOL yeah I didn't imagine it was gonna be cheap - the client has different ideas tho haha.

      I've put oscommerce, zen and whatever the other one is in fantastico onto my own site for a play with each of them, then I may try to get some free trials of the others and play with them too - not that I'll be doing the work, but I'd like to make sure I get the best one for the client.

      Originally Posted by AndrewCavanagh

      You may also want to analyze whether having an online shopping cart is what he really needs or if the store would be served better by:

      # 1: Driving to web traffic to call, email or visit the store in person.

      # 2: Capturing contact details of existing clients and store walk ins and following up with them with special deals by email, mail and/or telephone.

      In many cases maintaining a complex online store is not worth the effort for a local business compared to using the website to sell people on the benefits of dealing with the store.

      Kindest regards,
      Andrew Cavanagh
      hey Andrew

      yeah I did ask him if he specifically wanted to sell online and he said he does, but he wants most of his business to be directed to the store - I think he's trying to grab his share of online purchases.

      I was also thinking of suggesting an ebay store - and make sure his primary aim is to grab as much traffic from that as he can. I'd also recommend optimising his about me page on eBay to get visitors to his newsletter - of course the newsletter would include his regular specials, his website and shop addy etc etc etc.

      He also said he's got around 150 email addys and he doesn't know what to do with them - I told him that's wonderful cause I do LOL!

      So I'm just trying to get a feel for what i should be offering him and at what prices.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547607].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author NewbiesDiary
      Originally Posted by Debbie Songster

      I use zencart and we are playing with Magneto now
      There is no such thing as doing an ecommerce store "cheap"
      A fair amount of time goes into creating the look, loading product, setting up the shipping and payment options, loading images, setting attributes as well as changing a few of the files.

      With zencart you can get modules (usually free) so you can bulk load your product into the store

      I haven't had any problems with seo and my stores even though zencart doesn't use the friendly urls. Having a great title for each of your products is the best thing.

      There are many shopping cart platforms - I stay away from oscommerce - its too limited.

      If you need a hand, Tina and I are Zencart pro's. She does a lot of custom templates
      You can see our work in our services for hire link in my signature.
      Hey Debbie - thanks!

      LOL yeah I didn't imagine it was gonna be cheap - the client has different ideas tho haha.

      I've put oscommerce, zen and whatever the other one is in fantastico onto my own site for a play with each of them, then I may try to get some free trials of the others and play with them too - not that I'll be doing the work, but I'd like to make sure I get the best one for the client.

      Originally Posted by AndrewCavanagh

      You may also want to analyze whether having an online shopping cart is what he really needs or if the store would be served better by:

      # 1: Driving to web traffic to call, email or visit the store in person.

      # 2: Capturing contact details of existing clients and store walk ins and following up with them with special deals by email, mail and/or telephone.

      In many cases maintaining a complex online store is not worth the effort for a local business compared to using the website to sell people on the benefits of dealing with the store.

      Kindest regards,
      Andrew Cavanagh
      hey Andrew

      yeah I did ask him if he specifically wanted to sell online and he said he does, but he wants most of his business to be directed to the store - I think he's trying to grab his share of online purchases.

      I was also thinking of suggesting an ebay store - and make sure his primary aim is to grab as much traffic from that as he can. I'd also recommend optimising his about me page on eBay to get visitors to his newsletter - of course the newsletter would include his regular specials, his website and shop addy etc etc etc.

      He also said he's got around 150 email addys and he doesn't know what to do with them - I told him that's wonderful cause I do LOL!

      So I'm just trying to get a feel for what i should be offering him and at what prices.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547630].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author twomasters
    Hi Debbie,
    I have been in exactly the same situation.
    I use any of the free systems supplied with Fantastico installation. You can decide how much you want to dolly up the templates (or pay for it).
    The problem is that that the owner normally odes not understand that the system needs to be maintained. Prices need to be updated on a weekly (?) basis and the effort to do that is not taken into account.
    Best wishes with your project.
    Cor
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547700].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author artsub
    Oh great,
    Alot of ibfo there in posts,
    Thanx for sharing.
    Regards!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[547726].message }}

Trending Topics