Does anyone know where I can start? I want to read more into this and hopefully start up my own eCommerce website. Let me know if anyone can help! Thanks, DC
Install a shopping cart, its a piece of cake. If you don't have products or an idea of some that is another animal really but getting it up is snap. Magento is a high level solution and free but has a bit of a learning curve. You may want to check out prestashop http://www.prestashop.com/ hope that helps, Nigel
Where do I start though? How does it work? I'd really like to look into it, but don't even know how it works. lol
When it comes to products and inventory...where does that come from? Are the goods shipped from a certain location?
If you don't have a product (or products) then you don't need to have an ecommerce site. You can't just say, "I want to sell things online." and not have anything to sell. Sell clickbank products or something if you have nothing to sell yourself.
Ah, ok. So once the products are stocked up, then that means an e-commerce website can go up. Right? Thanks!
Before start with you ecommerce website first, you you will need to write a privacy policy that will protect your company and provide your customers with trust in your site. Online buying is based on trust and your customers feel their private data so they have a right to ask you that what you will do with their data? Second you'll need to make sure that your online transactions are secure. SSL (secure socket layer) encryption protects your customers' sensitive information, including credit card and personal information, during online transactions. Third is choosing of shopping cart. See there are number of shopping cart available in market so make sure the one you choose is easy to install and use. Try a few trial sales with your cart to ensure that it's user-friendly and easy to understand. Fourth you will also need a way to accept online payments like paypal and many more. There are many other tips especially about ecommerce website but these are the basic steps before you develop your ecommerce website. If you want then you can contact me via PM we have immense experience in development of ecommerce website and integration online payment gateway.
If you are intending to optimise your site then you will need to seek a pro web designer who will aid you will identifing keywords and sort on page SEO etc. If not have you considered terrapad? Free or upgrade and you will have an add to cart and SSL integrated! It really all depends that you £$ to spend...
Where do you start? You just start! I'm not quite sure what you're asking? It's like saying - I want a new carpet, where do I start? "go & look for a new carpet......" First question to ask, is "WHY" do you want an ecommerce website? Do you have products to sell? If you have products to sell already - then, this is really simple, just go talk to someone about building you an online shop. I've seen some replies along the lines of "install an online shop" personally I think if you're asking this question you may not have the experience / tech know how to do this, so it may be like me trying to do DIY (which in my case stands for "Destroy It Yourself" ) and may end up in disaster If you have the tech knowledge - then sure, install an Xcart or Magento or OScommerce or cubecart or whatever site. If you don't - then just seek out an ecommerce web designer. Also - there are a few replies recommending certain ecommerce packages - I really don't know how any one can recommend to you an ecomm package without knowing what products you're selling, the size of your range & so on, so I would be careful about taking advice like this unless the person giving the advice knows enough about your business to give you this advice. There are loads of packages, just depends on your business. For instance - some of the wordpress ecomm plugins are fine for small inventories, so if you have a small range then you may be able to use wordpress with a plugin - or you may need someone like Magento which is at the other side of the spectrum & which I'd advise if you have a relatively large range of categories & products. And then in the middle there are packages such as cubecart, Xcart, Zencart, OsCommerce. Cheers Kev
If you don't have huge needs for your shop, you may try using Opencart or OSCommerce, they are easy and, personally, I prefer Opencart. But that depends on you. Now, if you need lots (may say tons) of options (and lots of problems too), then try Magento. Anyway, try them, feel them, play with them. And the decide.
I agree with you, if the op has some experience, however you don't know the experience level of the op. Personally speaking, if someone is asking this question in the first place, I would be recommending that they find a good ecommerce web designer, rather than trying to do it themselves. I know some people who know about cars, they fix their own - I would never even dream of doing that, I'd go find a mechanic Thanks Kev