Help with CMS

[AshMcD]

Hi everyone. I was wondering if some of you might be kind enough to help me.

I'm looking to set up an online CD/Vinyl retailer (Nothing to compete with HMV etc, it's highly specialised).

I need something where I can add details of all of the products we stock. We do have around 2000 of them so I realise it might take a while to input the data but that's ok.

So, I need a back end where I can input the data and a front end where I can have popular sellers/new releases and categories etc.

Is there something I can buy off the shelf or will I need a custom job costing many thousands?

I would sincerely appreciate any help.

Regards

Ash

[webgeek]

Joomla with virtuemart comes to mind...

Why is it you want a CMS and not a shopping cart?

[Red Eye Media]

We can help.
£29.99 per month. Easy.

[Monica_ChilliApple]

Hi Ash,

I'd say a custom solution would be best to go with, reason being it will be made according to your needs from the beginning, also if needed it can be altered at a alter stage without investing much, though it could be a bit expensive. But then why not run a business with business costs & keeping the logic of long term benefits in mind, that's what a customised solution would give you.

If you want some off the shelf solution keeping its low cost cost in mind, that could also be achieved but with my experience I can say they're not always the best solution to go with in the long run.

If you need a further help or wanna chat, please PM me or e-mail me at monica@chilliapple.co.uk

Glad to help :)

Thanks,
Monica

[Flying Hippy]

Hi,

IF you got the money around £900 I would recommend using interspire shopping cart comes with a complete CMS.

If you talk to nublue who are on this forum I am sure they will help as i have found them very usefull.

[hostedweb]

Our hosting packages come with a few shopping carts ready to install with a single click. They also include SSL for free. We can also customize the shop for you at any time at set rates. PM me if you require any further info.

[los_design]

Hi everyone. I was wondering if some of you might be kind enough to help me.

I'm looking to set up an online CD/Vinyl retailer (Nothing to compete with HMV etc, it's highly specialised).

I need something where I can add details of all of the products we stock. We do have around 2000 of them so I realise it might take a while to input the data but that's ok.

So, I need a back end where I can input the data and a front end where I can have popular sellers/new releases and categories etc.

Is there something I can buy off the shelf or will I need a custom job costing many thousands?

I would sincerely appreciate any help.

Regards

Ash

I would suggest you look at

1 Actinic
2 Joomla/Virtuemart

With your suggested item count Actinic would be my fav. You can view samples of both via my sig.

However, in the interests of fairness and consistency I must point out that there are many products out there.

You may want to consider the following when deciding on a cart

1 Does it offer complete control of the HTML (including the head section)
2 Does it convert elongated url into SEF links
3 What payment modules can be integrated
4 How easy is it to add products (bulk or otherwise)
5 How secure is it
6 How well supported is it
7 Can it grow with my company
8 Can I extend the feature set if I need to
9 Can members register and return
10 How much is it? ;)

As a rough price guide, I would suggest you pay something in the region of

a) If buying cart software expect to pay around £600 for the cart, up to £2k for the design and around £150 a year for hosting*

b) If using Zencart/joomla etc you can pay around £100 for a pro design template and as above for the hosting (you can view some samples across on my site if you wish)

*Hosting is VITAL. Beware of the 'all you can eat' brigade as they are generally oversold and offer poor contention rates on your sites performance.

I suggest using an ip tool to discover how many sites are hosted on a VS. Aim for under 150.

Hope this helps.