Setting up an eCommerce website / online shop

[XJSJohn]

Seeking any recommendations for a platform / service provider that can provide something along the lines fof the following.


can host a website that will provide the following services

product listings
customization of purchase
shopping basket
Visa / MasterCard payments
integration with Amazon and Lazada
Direct purchase from website


Also any idea what the costs are per month for such services (looking at around 20 - 40 transactions a month.

[DSLiverpool]

Shopify $29 a month, no hosting or pci issues and anyone can work on it.
If you want a local to you dev they have a regional list of experts on the shopify site.

[MockingJay]

DSLiverpool said:

Shopify $29 a month, no hosting or pci issues and anyone can work on it.
If you want a local to you dev they have a regional list of experts on the shopify site.

This.

[XJSJohn]

cheers folks,

Had found a few websites with "top 10's" and Shopify (BigCommerce, Volusion etc) cropped up on most, was hoping that you guys were going to mention one of them!

Also cheers for giving me an idea of the costing also.

I assume that is on top of website hosting (email, storage etc) or do they provide all that inclusive?

I know I can get this info from them but any "useful" info on all thee guys does seem to require them to contact me!

Again, the powers of PH rock

Cheers guys! Will update with progress in a few months

[jammy-git]

What sort of personalisation of products do you need?

[silobass]

XJSJohn said:

cheers folks,



I assume that is on top of website hosting (email, storage etc) or do they provide all that inclusive?

Doesn't include email but does include the hosting of the site. Best thing to do is get a domain name from a provider, set it up to link to the store and create the emails from the provider. Shopify has tutorials on how to do this and if you choose 1&1, GoDaddy or another big name domain provider has exact instructions for that provider. They might even sell you a domain, I can't remember.

Shopify also lets you take card payments and you can also set Paypal up. You just pay a % transaction fee that's quite competitive.

For product customisation, there's a few add on apps that will probably do the job - extra £7-15 per month I guess. All these eCommerce solutions use apps these days, don't be put off by the thought.

[Digga]

The other thing which is pretty good, as an alternative to Shopify, is Ecwid. Similar sort of thing.

[XJSJohn]

jammy-git said:

What sort of personalisation of products do you need?

branding and logo'ing ....

[DSLiverpool]

XJSJohn said:

branding and logo'ing ....

Suggest you use someone local as it can be hard to set up a design / logo remotely however we are using a freelancer in Manchester for a sports website and he is pretty amazing - he designs for web rather than just designs. If you want his info let me know.

[XJSJohn]

DSLiverpool said:

XJSJohn said:

branding and logo'ing ....

Suggest you use someone local as it can be hard to set up a design / logo remotely however we are using a freelancer in Manchester for a sports website and he is pretty amazing - he designs for web rather than just designs. If you want his info let me know.

that's the bit that's in house

Factory in Indonesia, and the worlds our oyster for sales ...

[DSLiverpool]

XJSJohn said:

that's the bit that's in house

Factory in Indonesia, and the worlds our oyster for sales ...

Generically what product type ?

[MockingJay]

XJSJohn said:

cheers folks,

Had found a few websites with "top 10's" and Shopify (BigCommerce, Volusion etc) cropped up on most, was hoping that you guys were going to mention one of them!

Also cheers for giving me an idea of the costing also.

I assume that is on top of website hosting (email, storage etc) or do they provide all that inclusive?

I know I can get this info from them but any "useful" info on all thee guys does seem to require them to contact me!

Again, the powers of PH rock

Cheers guys! Will update with progress in a few months

For basic Shopify you'll be paying $29 p/m plus 2.2% + 20p per transaction if you use their payment gateway. They provide email address that can be rerouted to your hotmail / gmail account. You'll also pay about a tenner a year for your domain.

If you have an idea of your branding / logo get somebody to do it on Fiverr if you're on a budget.

Edit: If you plan on scaling the business beware of the cost increases with Shopify. We're paying over £200 a month now.

[XJSJohn]

DSLiverpool said:

XJSJohn said:

that's the bit that's in house

Factory in Indonesia, and the worlds our oyster for sales ...

Generically what product type ?

corporate branding / marketing/ merchandising stuff.

Office coffee cups through to trade show logo'ed give-away's etc

[LDN]

Digga said:

The other thing which is pretty good, as an alternative to Shopify, is Ecwid. Similar sort of thing.

Ecwid is expanding very quickly and is becoming a very very nice platform indeed.

[Digga]

LDN said:

Digga said:

The other thing which is pretty good, as an alternative to Shopify, is Ecwid. Similar sort of thing.

Ecwid is expanding very quickly and is becoming a very very nice platform indeed.

I completely forget why, but we opted for it rather than Shopify (which looks very good) a few years back and it's done all we expected from it, plus more. My only, very minor grip is the hours their telesupport people keep - US biased.

[red_slr]

Would you mind sending me a link to your store so I can have a look at it? I am intested in using it. Cheers

[LDN]

Digga said:

I completely forget why, but we opted for it rather than Shopify (which looks very good) a few years back and it's done all we expected from it, plus more. My only, very minor grip is the hours their telesupport people keep - US biased.

I have a standalone store built on Bigcommerce but use Ecwid for another store hub which I then embed on many related websites; Ecwid has chameleon skin and automatically integrates with whichever site it's embedded in. It's very impressive and it's getting more refined by the day.

Would recommend to anyone interestedin setting up an online store.

With regard custom stuff, Ecwid staff developers can do it for the op' at a decent rate; I imagine.

[Digga]

red_slr said:

Would you mind sending me a link to your store so I can have a look at it? I am intested in using it. Cheers

Happy to put it up here for anyone else that's interested. Don't think it breaks and forum rules. Basically, we 'embed' it into our website, as LDN says below, but there is also a starter site.

See the "BUY NOW" bit of the website: www.digbits.co.uk

Starter Ecwid site: https://store7656708.ecwid.com

LDN said:

I have a standalone store built on Bigcommerce but use Ecwid for another store hub which I then embed on many related websites; Ecwid has chameleon skin and automatically integrates with whichever site it's embedded in. It's very impressive and it's getting more refined by the day.

Would recommend to anyone interested in setting up an online store.

With regard custom stuff, Ecwid staff developers can do it for the op' at a decent rate; I imagine.

What's really handy too is that you can create 'category shops'. We've done this to put products onto their relevant pages, like these ripper teeth: http://www.digbits.co.uk/heavy-duty-ripper-teeth.h...

So say you had a shop selling trainers, you could have a page for "Adidas" and create a category for Adidas products and show only them on that page, but the same products can also sit in your main, catch-all "Shoes" category.

We don't use it for all our products, but for the easier to order/understand digger buckets it's useful.

[red_slr]

Thanks very interesting its pretty responsive too which I like.

Is it considered mobile friendly by google do you know?

[Digga]

red_slr said:

Is it considered mobile friendly by google do you know?

Ecwid says it is. Although there may be different versions of it that are more mobile friendly I guess.