Basic online sales requirements
Discussion
A family member is looking to offer items for purchase from an existing brick and mortar store. Some cosmetics and clothing accessories.
They have a social media presence but no website (although they have domains registered).
I’ve been asked to look into selling online but my experience of e-commerce ends at selling on eBay. Whilst an eBay store would work perfectly well I don’t it would be the solution here.
Instantly I go to the other extreme of a purpose built website/store but I imagine that is total overkill in this scenario.
Is there a good solution in between that has all the functionality (and security to process payments) of eBay but is better presented to the customer?
Something that is:
They have a social media presence but no website (although they have domains registered).
I’ve been asked to look into selling online but my experience of e-commerce ends at selling on eBay. Whilst an eBay store would work perfectly well I don’t it would be the solution here.
Instantly I go to the other extreme of a purpose built website/store but I imagine that is total overkill in this scenario.
Is there a good solution in between that has all the functionality (and security to process payments) of eBay but is better presented to the customer?
Something that is:
- Secure
- Doesn't look or feel DIY
- Decent analytics
- Low Fees
- Scalable
- Low maintenance
Shopify is good but the whole thing is a little impersonal.
Take a look at Shopwired its UK based in Birmingham. Support is fantastic especially if you are coming into it without a lot of exper
Both ,with a little effort,can be made to look professional. Spend time on Logos and product images and the site will look good.
I run shops on both platforms and IMO prefer Shopwired Monthly subscription is about the same when you take into consideration Shopwired does not take a piece of your sales you just pay card processing fees of approx 1.5% + 20p ish . It’s especially good for higher value products. Due this fee structure.
No link with either just a happy customer of both
Take a look at Shopwired its UK based in Birmingham. Support is fantastic especially if you are coming into it without a lot of exper
Both ,with a little effort,can be made to look professional. Spend time on Logos and product images and the site will look good.
I run shops on both platforms and IMO prefer Shopwired Monthly subscription is about the same when you take into consideration Shopwired does not take a piece of your sales you just pay card processing fees of approx 1.5% + 20p ish . It’s especially good for higher value products. Due this fee structure.
No link with either just a happy customer of both
Redarress said:
Shopify is good but the whole thing is a little impersonal.
Take a look at Shopwired its UK based in Birmingham. Support is fantastic especially if you are coming into it without a lot of exper
Both ,with a little effort,can be made to look professional. Spend time on Logos and product images and the site will look good.
I run shops on both platforms and IMO prefer Shopwired Monthly subscription is about the same when you take into consideration Shopwired does not take a piece of your sales you just pay card processing fees of approx 1.5% + 20p ish . It’s especially good for higher value products. Due this fee structure.
No link with either just a happy customer of both
+1 for shopwired - top service - uk based company with human supportTake a look at Shopwired its UK based in Birmingham. Support is fantastic especially if you are coming into it without a lot of exper
Both ,with a little effort,can be made to look professional. Spend time on Logos and product images and the site will look good.
I run shops on both platforms and IMO prefer Shopwired Monthly subscription is about the same when you take into consideration Shopwired does not take a piece of your sales you just pay card processing fees of approx 1.5% + 20p ish . It’s especially good for higher value products. Due this fee structure.
No link with either just a happy customer of both
Agree with above comments on Shopify and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it (We have no links to it, it's just our preferred platform of choice 99% of the time).
It's also worth considering scalability over the long term... Shopify is by no means the cheapest platform available, but offers a huge amount fo functionality out of the box.
You have the ability to be totally self sufficient from day 1, and tap into a huge database of external providers who can help with any manor of things if/when you need to.
I would always discourage going for anything too niche, as you will risk you being pigeon holed down the line as things scale (assuming you want them to and e-comm is a long term move). This generally ends in needing to migrate (to Shopify or similar) when frustrations become too great, by which point it can be very costly in terms of time, development costs when you're ready for external help / support, and the lost revenue from a poor user experience or bigger issues once you've outgrown the previous platform.
It's also worth considering scalability over the long term... Shopify is by no means the cheapest platform available, but offers a huge amount fo functionality out of the box.
You have the ability to be totally self sufficient from day 1, and tap into a huge database of external providers who can help with any manor of things if/when you need to.
I would always discourage going for anything too niche, as you will risk you being pigeon holed down the line as things scale (assuming you want them to and e-comm is a long term move). This generally ends in needing to migrate (to Shopify or similar) when frustrations become too great, by which point it can be very costly in terms of time, development costs when you're ready for external help / support, and the lost revenue from a poor user experience or bigger issues once you've outgrown the previous platform.
Quite a few options out there as already mentioned, there is Shopify, ShopWired, EKM, Ecwid (best with a WordPress site) and Create.net.
I would stay away from the likes of Wix and Squarespace as they really don't live up to their marketing hype. I've reviewed most platforms that are suitable for UK based businesses if you fancy taking a look https://www.ecommerce-gold.com/
I would stay away from the likes of Wix and Squarespace as they really don't live up to their marketing hype. I've reviewed most platforms that are suitable for UK based businesses if you fancy taking a look https://www.ecommerce-gold.com/
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