Need suggestion related to creating a web store

Hi all,
I want to create a small web store where people can buy online services and i will send them a email once they buy service that i will contact them in 24 hours.
I also want an affiliate system where people can refer users to buy from my site and they will get referral money.
All users will have a account and they can see services they have bought in the account.
A friend of mine suggested me Open Cart, can anyone tell me is it a good option ?
I basically want the web store to use a free pre made software and want to get a paid custom design for my store.
Can anyone suggest me what will be a good software for it ? Is open cart a good option or should i try something else?

Regards
AmanDH

 

I would suggest Prestashop for an e-commerce store. I own an e-commerce store. It is performing very well. I am happy with the experience.

 

I saw prestashop after you suggestion but i see all of their add ons are very high priced.
They don't have an inbuild affiliate system so for me it is out of question.

 

I wouldn't recommend prestashop unless you have $xxx-$xxxx to throw at addons.
Literally everything will cost you money from paypal addons to seo addons.

Opencart is pretty good and their addons are reasonably priced.

 

prestashop as it has an inbuilt option to do digital products it uploads the file and puts the link in your buyers account you can set up how many downloads they get and even set a time limit on them. Also they do have a affiliate plug in which is free it offers your affiliate discounts on your items and a discount for the buyer.

If you want to see an example of a here is a link to my free section for you to look at.

http://geoffreyfoggon.com/short/dehb

In your customers account page they can see the affiliate program etc...

 

Look at Wordpress Easy Digital Downloads. Also for your emails look at MailChimp

 

I think the best Ecommerce framework is that you build by own

 

Prestashop might help for that. You can try also via blogger by changing (modifying) the theme became an online store

 

Prestashop is a good one, however I would suggest using Wordpress + woocommerce, all they're free on basic plugins. More, using wordpress you also can customize the website easily and flexible, it also helps you in doing SEO with many SEO plugins supported already. I hope this help.

 

You haven't mentioned your budget for the store development which is very crucial. If you want a store at low budget you can opt for woocommerce which is based on wordpress platform. You can have all the features using woocommerce. However customizing your website can take time. But if you use Opencart or Magento, you can do website customization rather quickly. And both of these platform has required plugins for affiliate system.

 

If you do not have much money to throw around, I suggest you look at WordPress options and carts. Good designs, good templates and low priced. If you want something more robust then look into Shopify ad such although I warn you these require a lot of custom coding, for instance Bigcommerce does not send MIME for videos so if you have a video hoisted on server chances are that they do not play on may devices.

 

Agree, Shopify is also a good choice for lager business demaind

 

i suggest opencart is good option. in opencart all things are ready and you can find free extensions for that. i am also creating webstore in opencart and its very easy to use.

 

Woocommerce based website is a good option. Easier to maintain and learn.

 

Dude, this has nothing to do with this post but your profile pic is hilarious. Caused major disruption in business hahaha

 

Most of my e-commerce sites are now Wordpress blogs using the paid WP-estore plugin and it's associated WP-Affiliate Platform plugin. They are easy to set up and use.

 

hello, what do you do with wpestore ?

 

We use the WP-estore plugin to sell various digital products across several WP blogs. However, this plugin can also be used for physical products.

 

Well, I have some choices for you. Wordpress WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Shopify, Prestashop and Magento seem to be prferred by almost people. However, Magento is more suitable with big site because it costs quite high price and require technical skills. You said that you plan to open a small web, so you should concern the rest.

 

Must try yokart - it is an e-commerce platform that can be easily customised according to your needs. And also it is best suited for your small web store.