I have products I want to sell, things like iPhone cases and accessories. I want to create a website where I would be able to display my products on the website. I DO NOT want an actual eCommerce website where they can buy and pay through the website, all transactions will occur OFFLINE. So, what would be the best method for creating such a site?
cheapest option would be using a off-the-shelf software like oscommerce. you can modify that to process your orders inhouse.
If you want to just display your products and not process any online transactions, then just toss up a wordpress site with possibly a photography style theme that will let you display all of your products thumbnails on the homepage and let users click through to read more about the product. It has to be asked though as we are all thinking it: Why on Earth would you not want to accept payments online? Studies have been done showing something like 84% of visitors would immediately exit the site if there was no option to buy the product online and they were forced to buy via an offline transaction
Any suggestions for photography style theme? I know how to build Wordpress sites, but I can't imagine how it would work out! As for your question, I'm not accepting payments online because this is a very local-area business only (college thing).
Ohh okay, gotcha. When I typed that last post out I thought "Well, his idea might work if its very niche OR local specific", so you should be good there. Anyways, here's how to find some really awesome photography themes that I think would work really well with your idea. 1. Download and install the newest version of Wordpress on your domain 2. Log into yourdomain's wp-admin wordpress admin section 3. On the left menu, click the appearance drop down option 4. Under appearance, click themes 5. At the top of the page that opens up, click the tab that says INSTALL THEMES 6. You'll see a search box to type in keywords, and below that a few categories with different options. Don't type anything in the search box, but scroll down and in the last section where it says Subject: check the box that says PHOTOBLOGGING 7. Click 'Find Themes' 8. Look through, find the one you like, and wordpress will automatically install it for you right there on the spot from your web-based search results 9. $$ Profits $$ 10. Come back to DigitalPoint and thank me =) Edit: Well I now realize you simply asked for me to suggest a theme. Sorry, I don't have any specific ones in mind, but I'm sure one will stand out if you follow the steps above!
Why are you reducing your potential catchment from the entire world to one college campus? Why not sell to anyone but just market your site locally?