E-commerce platform?

[benjamin_c]

what is the best E-commerce platform? i'm thinking of using Tigercommerce, it looks pretty good. also how good is oscommerce? thanks. :)

[bluedreamer]

There is no "best", different systems cater for different needs.

Never seen Tigercommerce. It's a hosted solution which means you're pretty tied in to what they give you. OSCommerce works, but is very outdated.

If you can provide a list of specific features you need it will help people offer better solutions :)

[seedstotal]

im very happy with mine, www.webeasycommerce.com, the support is fantastic

[benjamin_c]

im very happy with mine, www.webeasycommerce.com (http://www.webeasycommerce.com), the support is fantastic

i like the layout of your shop :) i would want mine to be of a similar layout. thankyou for the link, i'll have a look at the details.

has anyone delt with 'venda' before?

[imaginarynumber]

As stated OScommerce hasn't moved on much for years.

I use Zencart which is open source- has a good support forum and lots of free plugins. It is very stable.

I also have a joomla/zencart site which also has a good support forum (rather the joomla side is good and the virtuemart less so). Again it is open source but there are fewer free plugins. Less stable

My latest toy is Magento- this is free but not open source and relatively new- it is not suited to use on most shared servers- forum is okish and most plugins are paid for- they do offer paid support. Seemingly stable thus far but feels fresh when compared to all the others

[Brightpearl]

Hello Ben

If you want to get on with running the business rather than spending hours building a website and hassling with plugins, then we do a super straight-out-the-box offering. It can be a simple free theme like this (http://jackscats.pearlsoftware.net/), or else with some HTML and CSS knowledge you can turn it into one of these (http://www.bathroomvillage.com/).

http://blog.thisispearl.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/bathroomvillage_thumb.jpg (http://www.bathroomvillage.com)

The Pearl cart system comes with complete back office processing, CRM and Accounting all in one package :)

[quikshop]

Or, if you are selling 25 products or less you can set up and run a basic Starter Shop (http://www.internetretailer.biz/sell-starter-shop.aspx) for free, and upgrade at any time if your idea takes off.

[webhostuk]

Hello,


I like Magento store..

[RBS]

Hello Ben

If you want to get on with running the business rather than spending hours building a website and hassling with plugins, then we do a super straight-out-the-box offering. It can be a simple free theme like this (http://jackscats.pearlsoftware.net/), or else with some HTML and CSS knowledge you can turn it into one of these (http://www.bathroomvillage.com/).

The Pearl cart system comes with complete back office processing, CRM and Accounting all in one package :)

Does this cart let buyers buy products without registration or logging in?

[Christiane]

im very happy with mine, www.webeasycommerce.com (http://www.webeasycommerce.com), the support is fantastic

Never heard of them so had a peek, their admin demo has a '404 not found' page :rolleyes:

As someone said, it really depends on the features that you want.
I looked at a few over the last couple of years but there's always an issue.... The last one I was interested in didn't allow for customers to buy without creating an account, which is about 50% of my customers. They come back but they don't want to create an account.

[Brightpearl]

Does this cart let buyers buy products without registration or logging in?

Rob, no it doesn't. But we do have lots of people ask for it. We feel that it's one of those features that, although perhaps does increase sales volume a little bit, impacts against the business in a greater way due to lack of customer information and sales history, and it makes accounting a bit tricky with the way we have the system set up at the moment.

If you really need guest registration, Pearl is not for you. Our clients put a lot of effort into generating close relationships with their customers for longer term repeat custom, and therefore require a "contact" to be created in CRM as well as just a "sale" being created for the one-off order.

That said, if there's enough demand, we will add it. I would be very interested to see hard stats on the benefits of guest registration.

[RBS]

Whatever you say, its a MUST have feature. People hate registering and you can loose sales, a lot of sales. Its all about fastest possible buying, not letting customer be destructed and changing his mind, being too lazy to register.

So many people dont understand this thing forcing customers to register.

[cmcp]

Why can't you copy customer details into the CRM without them registering?

[Christiane]

Whatever you say, its a MUST have feature. People hate registering and you can loose sales, a lot of sales. Its all about fastest possible buying, not letting customer be destructed and changing his mind, being too lazy to register.

So many people dont understand this thing forcing customers to register.

Totally agree. Half of my returning customers don't want to register. I even tried to entice a few of them by telling them they'll get a discount if they sign in, but no, not interested. Some people don't want to remember yet another password.

If I buy from a website for the first time, I'd want to try the service first and not being forced to sign in.

[RBS]

Online shop must have BUY and ADD TO CART buttons next to product. If customer clicks on BUY, he must be taken to page where he can enter his details and click ORDER. End of story - no clicking silly questions and other buttons. DO NO LET customer away, if he clicked BUY button, you have to do everything to get him to click that ORDER button ASAP. Two click shopping.

If he clicks ADD TO CART, then he shouldnt be taken to shopping basket to distract him from buying some more products.

Thats just my opinion on online shopping.

[cmcp]

In my experience that confuses the user too early.

You should present them one clear path to purchase, one page to enter customer details with the option to add a password to register, or enter a password to use an existing account.

[Brightpearl]

Why can't you copy customer details into the CRM without them registering?

That's the intention if we do go down the route. Currently if a contact is in CRM, the next visit will prompt them to "log in", but they'd not registered! There's also the situation where you add a load of contacts after a trade show, for example, for follow-up in CRM, then one comes along to buy online.

"one page to enter customer details with the option to add a password to register" - that's the key. The only difference between "guest" and "standard" checkout for a new user would be a password field and probably some variation to the language used on screen. A guest user still has to enter all the same address and delivery information as a registering user.

It will come, but our clients site certainly don't seem to be missing any trade as a result of it not being there. A number of clients have come over from other ecommerce engines (EKMpowershop for example), lost the ability to guest sell, and yet increased revenue substantially.

Would need hard evidence of it being beneficial for it to come in to Pearl soon. Does anyone have any references? (ie stats)

And yes, we've nearly finished our 1-page AJAX checkout process.

[benjamin_c]

i agree with the people who said it's important to give the customer an option to register if they wish to but not force it upon them. it could also reduce the number of impluse buys for low value items. i do like the look of the pearl system but the fact that it isnt able to allow customers "2 click buying" is a put off tbh.

[cmcp]

I don't mean to cause any offence, but if ecommerce was my main business I wouldn't be asking my potential userbase if they have any information on checkout dropoffs. I'd be knowing as much as I could to back up why I chose my system not to handle a feature.

[benjamin_c]

I don't mean to cause any offence, but if ecommerce was my main business I wouldn't be asking my potential userbase if they have any information on checkout dropoffs. I'd be knowing as much as I could to back up why I chose my system not to handle a feature.

sorry i didn't actually know what checkout drop-offs where :) thanks for informing me though, i had a little google and found a usfull slideshow on it http://www.slideshare.net/getelastic/checkout-report-webinar-by-elastic-path-and-netconcepts :redface:

[KateCB]

Online shop must have BUY and ADD TO CART buttons next to product. If customer clicks on BUY, he must be taken to page where he can enter his details and click ORDER. End of story - no clicking silly questions and other buttons. DO NO LET customer away, if he clicked BUY button, you have to do everything to get him to click that ORDER button ASAP. Two click shopping.

If he clicks ADD TO CART, then he shouldnt be taken to shopping basket to distract him from buying some more products.

Thats just my opinion on online shopping.

Totally agree and have ALWAYS maintained that no-one should have to register to purchase - delivery address is given at the time of order, along with email address etc and all you have to do to collect that data is include in your T&C's that their email address will be added to a databse so that they receive offers etc - which of course they can opt out of at any time.

I am having a new website/shopping solution written which will allow my customers to purchase as normal without registering - if they want to register however they will then earn loyalty points which can be used against future purchases - returning customer don't mind registering if there is a benefit to them, however a NEW customer wants to try the service without jumping through hoops - I won't shop online if I have to register with the website until I have used them, am happy with them and of course if there is a benefit to me for doing so!

[cmcp]

sorry i didn't actually know what checkout drop-offs where :) thanks for informing me though, i had a little google and found a usfull slideshow on it http://www.slideshare.net/getelastic/checkout-report-webinar-by-elastic-path-and-netconcepts :redface:

I was talking to Pearl, but no problem :)

[realex_jonathan]

never heard of tigercommerce but i know a lot of our clients use OScommerce and are very happy with it

[quikshop]

A number of clients have come over from other ecommerce engines (EKMpowershop for example), lost the ability to guest sell, and yet increased revenue substantially.

Having to register before placing an order is one issue among many along the checkout decision-funnelling, but if you are implying that forcing potential customers to register before completing an order is beneficial to checkout conversion rates then you perhaps have a better understanding of software rather than Ecommerce.

Only large trusted brands or pure niche players who both expect repeat custom due to market share or rarity of product can get away with pre-ordering registration without it impacting on conversion rates.

Its like putting another door in the way of someone trying to leave a house with the item they've picked up... the open window without the item becomes an easier solution for them :p

[CaffeineFrenzy]

I'm on Tiger Commerce, and currently looking for other options. It will be great in some circumstances, but if you want to use it for the eBay channel it is listed as offering, I'd be surprised if you find you're happy with the functionality. Other than that, sign up for a trial and take a really good look at whether or not the delivery options work for you, they're proving problematic for a number of us, but in fairness work fine for others.

[benjamin_c]

i doubt i will be going down the ebay channel tbh, i've just taken a look at your tiger shop "CaffeineFrenzy (http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/member.php?u=47835)" and i really like the layout :) did you design the layout and graphics your self or did you get somone else to do it for you? what are your reasons for wanting to leave tiger? when you say delivery options what do you mean?

[CaffeineFrenzy]

I initially took an entry-level design option from Tiger, some of which remains. Mark at Eagle Imagery (I'd link if I could) recently designed the new logo, and I'm now trying to integrate those colours more fully into the site.

The layout is default Tiger - the shop can have 3 different layouts: 1, 2 or 3 columns. Most of the shops I've seen are using 3, I have seen a couple with 2. Within the layout, the "boxes" you see in the left and right columns in my store can be added/removed, moved around etc., and there are a few I'm not using.

Delivery options do not allow you to set Free UK delivery at stock item level and charge postage for delivery outside the UK - not an issue if you don't want this functionality. You can set Free Delivery at item level, but the item is then Free Delivery worldwide (or to those countries you've enabled). So if you want to set Free Delivery on some of my items in the UK, but charge to ship them to Europe, you can't.

You can set up a Free UK delivery option that the customer has to select at checkout (effectively making all stock Free Delivery), but then can't offer Free delivery on only specified items/ranges. So then you have Free Delivery to the UK, charged delivery to Europe for example. Also, if you implement it this way you'll have to mark up every individual product page yourself if you want "free delivery" noted on the page and not just at Checkout.

Since you can't specify which delivery services can be used at stock item level, if you have a high ticket item you only want to dispatch under a signed-for method, you can't prevent the customer selecting 2nd Class postage if you've added that service for use with other items.

There are a few other things that have been stacking up for me, and I think perhaps I've just gotten to the stage where I want more control. I've just discovered that 301s are a chargeable service with them (can't believe I overlooked this) so now feel that shop structure/category redesign is going to be stifled in the future since there will be an associated cost.

[benjamin_c]

I initially took an entry-level design option from Tiger, some of which remains. Mark at Eagle Imagery (I'd link if I could) recently designed the new logo, and I'm now trying to integrate those colours more fully into the site.

The layout is default Tiger - the shop can have 3 different layouts: 1, 2 or 3 columns. Most of the shops I've seen are using 3, I have seen a couple with 2. Within the layout, the "boxes" you see in the left and right columns in my store can be added/removed, moved around etc., and there are a few I'm not using.

Delivery options do not allow you to set Free UK delivery at stock item level and charge postage for delivery outside the UK - not an issue if you don't want this functionality. You can set Free Delivery at item level, but the item is then Free Delivery worldwide (or to those countries you've enabled). So if you want to set Free Delivery on some of my items in the UK, but charge to ship them to Europe, you can't.

You can set up a Free UK delivery option that the customer has to select at checkout (effectively making all stock Free Delivery), but then can't offer Free delivery on only specified items/ranges. So then you have Free Delivery to the UK, charged delivery to Europe for example. Also, if you implement it this way you'll have to mark up every individual product page yourself if you want "free delivery" noted on the page and not just at Checkout.

Since you can't specify which delivery services can be used at stock item level, if you have a high ticket item you only want to dispatch under a signed-for method, you can't prevent the customer selecting 2nd Class postage if you've added that service for use with other items.

There are a few other things that have been stacking up for me, and I think perhaps I've just gotten to the stage where I want more control. I've just discovered that 301s are a chargeable service with them (can't believe I overlooked this) so now feel that shop structure/category redesign is going to be stifled in the future since there will be an associated cost.


Thanks a lot for talking your time to advise me :) as for the delevery i will only be shipping to uk so this isnt an issue, for the logos and design i will have a play with illustrator and photoshop and see what i can come up with then may ask a friend who does graphics design at uni to see if he can better it for me.

by 301's do you mean redirected domain names? because if you do this can be done for free if you register with a different domain name provider, you can also get unlimited free email forwarders.

what are the conversion rates like with tiger? and do you use ppc or organic seo?

thanks again :D

[lynxdeoisgud]

there is no particular "best" ecommerce solution, it really depends on what you need. According to TopTenReviews (review site) bigcommerce is the best, maybe give it a try.

[liams7]

Hello Ben

If you want to get on with running the business rather than spending hours building a website and hassling with plugins, then we do a super straight-out-the-box offering. It can be a simple free theme like this (http://jackscats.pearlsoftware.net/), or else with some HTML and CSS knowledge you can turn it into one of these (http://www.bathroomvillage.com/).

http://blog.thisispearl.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/bathroomvillage_thumb.jpg (http://www.bathroomvillage.com)

The Pearl cart system comes with complete back office processing, CRM and Accounting all in one package :)

I would second this system. VERY VERY GOOD

[Daniel McNamara]

I am currently using TigerCommerce. They are good, but you are restricted to what you can do to the site. As it's a fixed template and you can only change simple graphics etc.. But why not see how you like it, I am sure they still do the 7 Day Free Trial.

If I would move over to a different E-commerece platform it would be either Venda or Pearl.

[CaffeineFrenzy]

Pearl does look interesting, but I found the options less than clear! Is the ecommerce option in addition to one of the plans with boxes around them? Or is it a bundle of the options that you feel are needed for ecommerce? Do I need the CRM option, or are the basic elements I might require from that already included in the ecommerce option? Same point with stock control really.

Your features page also seems to explain your plans somewhat, but not your ecommerce option? Is it a recent addition, is it fully integrated with your other options, or are there things on the roadmap that haven't yet been delivered?

Is there something you can point me to that fully outlines the delivery functionality?

Are the meta keyword tag, description, title and the URL automatically assigned, and can I override them to exactly what I wish? Is there access to the website root directory, as I'm finding lack of this with Tiger really annoying, with simple things like dropping verification files in not possible for the shop owner. How are redirects handled, etc?

Anyone out there on Pearl care to comment on strengths and weaknesses, support experience etc?

[Jheath]

No one has mentioned Actinic Ecommerce, it's well extablished and widely used and very customisable. Are there things it can't do that turn people off it? We've used it for years and never really though of changing. Old habits die hard!

[zigojacko]

We offer an ecommerce platform 'LiquidShop' feel free to take a look and I am happy to answer any queries anyone may have :)

Info - http://www.sitemakers.co.uk/liquidshop-ecommerce/29/
Demo - http://www.liquidshopdemo.com/index.php
Portfolio - http://www.sitemakers.co.uk/portfolio/30/

[edmondscommerce]

No one has mentioned Actinic Ecommerce, it's well extablished and widely used and very customisable. Are there things it can't do that turn people off it? We've used it for years and never really though of changing. Old habits die hard!

You have to run it on a desktop machine..

Most systems these days are run entirely from the server and are accessed via a web browser. This makes them much more scalable and often a lot cheaper.

There are lots of other reasons as well.

[CaffeineFrenzy]

We offer an ecommerce platform 'LiquidShop' feel free to take a look and I am happy to answer any queries anyone may have :)

Well you have a pretty website, but I can't find pricing, any mention of other channels (eBay, Amazon, etc?), or detail on most of the issues already raised above? :)

[zigojacko]

Well you have a pretty website, but I can't find pricing, any mention of other channels (eBay, Amazon, etc?), or detail on most of the issues already raised above? :)

No, you're quite right. The website is not my remit so I personally can't update it and there is much more information that needs to be on there, the website is currently being worked on to accommodate for many more queries that visitors will have that what it currently mentions.

Feel free to contact us thouugh if anyone wants to discuss whether LiquidShop can offer everything you want out of your ecommerce platform.

0207 099 1002

We do have a number of product data feeds that are automatically generated by the system ready to be uploaded directly to Ciao, Amazon, Shopzilla etc etc (we are currently looking into eBay integration)

[bumperman]

edmondscommerce said...........
Most systems these days are run entirely from the server and are accessed via a web browser. This makes them much more scalable and often a lot cheaper.

There are lots of other reasons as well.



>Can you explain these "other reasons"

thanks

John

[edmondscommerce]

I wouldn't want to start a flame war...

Lets just say that I don't regard Actinic as feature rich

[quikshop]

Lets just say that I don't regard Actinic as feature rich

It is restricted compared to good server-based package but that's not to dismiss Actinic as an excellent solution - we use it now for a high-volume business to great effect.

There is also a wide community of developers who can help enhance the software to become more than the off-the-shelf product.

[KateCB]

Web based seems to be the way forward- nearly into the relams of 'cloud computing' and it is faster, sleeker and less costly in most cases than 'install this on your own server' type e-commerce software; Actinic used to be a leader, but expensive and at the time i last looked was based on how many products you sold; so expanding your product line could cost you a lot more than you bargain for if it pushed you into the next 'product break'!

[edmondscommerce]

for me its a no brainer

[los_design]

Actinic comes into every equation when we speak to clients until we ask how many products they have and the answer goes above 500...

I have worked on Actinic stores for years and if you run a low SKU based business without the need for wishlists and online account management then it is fine.

Otherwise, it is as EDC states, a no brainer.

As a sub-note, it [Actinic] is excellent when used for an affiliate store ;) with no direct purchases required...

[stasilo]

what is the best E-commerce platform? i'm thinking of using Tigercommerce, it looks pretty good. also how good is oscommerce? thanks. :)
Magento or Joomla+VirtueMart.
both are very popular and open source free solutions.

[soundbite]

I had Actinic and experienced so many problems with it. The support is terrible and I was paying £45 per month just for support on top of the cost of the software which is overpriced and very outdated. I would not want someone to go through the time and effort I wasted on it as there are better options available.

I would recommend any web based ecommerce system as you don't have to deal with the technical and hosting problems. If you look at software like sage and Actinic (which is installed on your local computer/server) you will see they have overpriced support packages. Good web based systems do not charge much for support because if their software is good (like Kashflow & Bluepark) you will never have to call them about any problems because they manage the technical stuff.

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

Actinic used to be a leader, but expensive and at the time i last looked was based on how many products you sold; so expanding your product line could cost you a lot more than you bargain for if it pushed you into the next 'product break'!

Actinic still is a very good package and worth considering. It is not the cheapest product on the market, but the pricing is not dependant on the number of products, although
The pricing is:
Actinic Catalog: £399 + VAT (available for £320 + VAT through an authorized reseller)
Actinic Business: £799 + VAT (available for £645 + VAT through an authorized reseller)

The current version is V9 (2 years old) and V10 is due out in the coming months. I personally have not had any problems with Actinic but would not pay for the Actinic Support options.

It is starting to look a little dated when compared to some of its competitors and the 'out of the box' templates certainly need bringing upto date.

It is desktop based rather than server based, but personally I prefer that, although realise many prefer the online based packages.

I am unsure of the official maximum number of products but I think sites with 5,000 - 10,000 products start to experience a slow down and certainly wouldn't want to run a shop with 20,000 products on Actinic, although they do have a SQL based version called 'Enterprise' (very expensive) which is designed for larger sites as the standard versions are MS Access based.

Another package I have heard positive reviews about is 'Interspire' which seems very good out of the box.

[iphone137]

try BigCommerce, they offer a free trial on there site.

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

try BigCommerce, they offer a free trial on there site.
BigCommerce and Interspire Shopping Cart are very closely linked, I believe BigCommerce is a hosted platform but shares many of the features of Interspire Shopping Cart.

[soundbite]

I have read so many bad reviews about poor support for Interspire. It has lots of amazing features but I wouldn't recommend it. Check out their forums and see what you think. I would rather get Actinic as it is sold in the UK and doesn't have as many problems as interspire. I have tried the trial for Bigcommerce and it looks really good. You can get a nice looking website up and running in no time.

Bigcommerce seems like a much better package. Ok it isn't as feature rich as Interspire but I'm sure its a product that works without any problems as it is a hosted version.

You have to do some research before you purchase a product. Ring up companies that use the sofware and see what they think. Also check out the forums. If you look at the Actinic forums generally people are moaning about the lack of functionality. If you look at the Bluepark forum it is littered with positive reviews for the software and developer. Not too long ago somone started a post about how great the software was and so many people responded in such a positive manner. You'll have a job trying to find a similar post on the actininc forums.

[cornish hosting]

all are customers use oscommerce we have updated all the shops for security and loads of add-ons to make them user friendly and all the customers love them

[TWD]

Hi i have hosting options avaible please pm me for more info are hosting packages are from £4.99 unlimited categorys and products pm me if your interested.

Regards Wesley

[limessl]

all are customers use oscommerce we have updated all the shops for security and loads of add-ons to make them user friendly and all the customers love them

I used osc to build some shops a few years back, but the software's become dated now and whilst it is free the whole project seems to have fallen behind its competition.

I wouldn't totally discount it, but with the web moving forwards at a rapid pace it is starting to look a bit outdated. Also a lot of the really good functionality is in the form of add-ons and contributions - some of them need tinkering with and there is a huge issue with compatibility of some extras, which required me to code a lot of php.

[cornish hosting]

I used osc to build some shops a few years back, but the software's become dated now and whilst it is free the whole project seems to have fallen behind its competition.

I wouldn't totally discount it, but with the web moving forwards at a rapid pace it is starting to look a bit outdated. Also a lot of the really good functionality is in the form of add-ons and contributions - some of them need tinkering with and there is a huge issue with compatibility of some extras, which required me to code a lot of php.

all are oscommerce shops have been updated and loads of add-ons added so they have no security problems at all. also the new version will be out soon plus you can use sts template system so you can change the whole look of the shop with one click.

[los_design]

As with all ecommerce queries, you ask which is best and you will get 50 different opinions, many from peeps who have a vested interest in the result.

What I would suggest AND what I ask prospects BEFORE I accept a project OF ANY TYPE IS....

What do you want your store/site to do, what are the 'key features' for you, what do you see as vital customer interactions outside of the norm (if any), what kind of support will you need after sales, where are you based (UK etc) and where is the support based (usually India LOL) and so on....

when this information is gleamed, you can then go ahead and state which suits best.

There are so many small time carts, white labelled carts (children of OS such as osc etc) and big time carts such as X Cart, Actinic etc so you must make sure it suits you first and foremost.

Sorry to chime in guys but how many times do I read the same theme and then see 100 posts, mine is best this is best etc without fully gauging what the full story is....

IMHO to answer the OP's question...

The one that suits your needs best ;)

Regards
Daren

(ps, to help prove my point, check the number of posts from the majority of people offering services ;-))

[los_design]

Take into consideration that web hosting is a global service. It does not matter what country you are located in; US, UK, Canada, Australia or Romania. It is good to note that the cost of hosting services in most countries is generally a little more expensive in comparison to the same services in Canada and the United States. Specifically, American web hosts offer a much better value for money than any local hosting.

Nonsense!

Point 1. If you are selling to the UK only, you are BEST ADVISED to host your services in the UK

Point 2. American hosts may well offer cheaper hosting, but vetter value for money? Come on....search this forum for godaddy support* and read up dude! I f you are running a UK business, your site goes down, then what? Call up your local host at 5pm EST etc.....give me a break.

Pay pennies in america and guess what you get...oversubscribed, under supported and potentially poor SEO peanuts that's what!

You are welcome to your opinion as I am, but please do not make it out to be a fact!

JMTC and of course, all are my opinion based on over 15 years experience in the e Marketplace.

*GODADDY are used as an example after forum feedback from other members and may well offer great services elsewhere to US and NON-US clients

[quikshop]

What I would suggest AND what I ask prospects BEFORE I accept a project OF ANY TYPE IS....

(ps, to help prove my point, check the number of posts from the majority of people offering services ;-))

Oh, can I borrow your soap box after you ;)

[los_design]

Oh, can I borrow your soap box after you ;)

LOL

I have sent it using Fastway so you should get it just in time for Good Friday ;)

[Free Radical]

I have read so many bad reviews about poor support for Interspire. It has lots of amazing features but I wouldn't recommend it. Check out their forums and see what you think. I would rather get Actinic as it is sold in the UK and doesn't have as many problems as interspire. I have tried the trial for Bigcommerce and it looks really good. You can get a nice looking website up and running in no time.

Bigcommerce seems like a much better package. Ok it isn't as feature rich as Interspire but I'm sure its a product that works without any problems as it is a hosted version.

You have to do some research before you purchase a product. Ring up companies that use the sofware and see what they think. Also check out the forums. If you look at the Actinic forums generally people are moaning about the lack of functionality. If you look at the Bluepark forum it is littered with positive reviews for the software and developer. Not too long ago somone started a post about how great the software was and so many people responded in such a positive manner. You'll have a job trying to find a similar post on the actininc forums.

Thanks for this invaluable round-up. But from what I gather Interspire and Bigcommerce are one and the same company, difference being Bigcommerce is the hosted brand. Interspire is the parent company.

btw Los design, I take your point about each website having unique specifications. But talking in general terms is very useful as some platforms are good for nothing, others are worth every penny. Some people may not have such a concrete brief as you would like and this discussion helps to us to weigh up the various features available whilst at the same time comparing the ecommerce options.

[seiretto]

I have read so many bad reviews about poor support for Interspire.

Please elaborate on this....?

I would be very interested to know any good or bad experiences you have with Interspire.

[ICEY]

Please elaborate on this....?

I would be very interested to know any good or bad experiences you have with Interspire.

I can't speak for the hosted version but there are big issues with VAT compatibility for Interspire.

Basically the situation as I saw it was as follows:-

* Display prices excluding VAT and add VAT on at checkout for relevant EU countries - works ok, is a ball ache to set up but does work. However prices for UK (& European) consumers should show including VAT (according to trading standards).

* Display prices including VAT as standard. However, it *cannot* deduct VAT for countries outside of the EU. This just doesn't work and thus far Interspire had declined to acknowledge this as a problem.

There were lots of other issues with it but for me the main one is the legalities surrounding the VAT compatibility.

It is a great, feature rich package but it isn't VAT compliant and this is a big issue if you are VAT registered (unless you want to either ignore that VAT isn't deducted for all orders outside of the EU which isn't legal or you you manually produce invoices with the correct VAT deductions and refund that amount to the customer each time).

I did not have good experience with Interspire's support, however, their UK reseller who in my opinion is stuck between a rock and a hard place with this was brilliant and did try very hard to come up with a solution.

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

One thing that puts me off Interspire is that they only allow existing customers access to the main areas of their forum so you don't get to see or read negative comments and discussions from its users.

[seiretto]

ICEY - Thank you for your useful feedback.
(see, even without access to their forum you have been able to aire your views)

[kitschagogo]

i like the layout of your shop :) i would want mine to be of a similar layout. thankyou for the link, i'll have a look at the details.

has anyone delt with 'venda' before?

Hi there, I'm new to the forum - so browsing through.

I've been using Venda since Aug 09 - and am really on the fence about it. I'm an eBay powerseller and wanted to attract buyers to my website rather than eBay (whilst managing the same inventory for both) - Venda have a massive reputation with enterprise clients like Tesco, DeBeers, Arsenal etc. but the small/med businesses is completely new ground to them.

Unfortunately, this shows - I was 'sold' the software as eBay integrated, but very little of the eBay functionality actually works in reality. This meant I lost 8 months of eBay ranking and am now back to juggling stock by running my eBay store and my website seperately.

Because of this I haven't had to pay any monthly fees (which is the only reason I'm still with them). Normal price is £50pm.

They only integrate with PayPal - so you can't use better/cheaper providers. No google checkout, streamline, etc.

On the plus side, it's easy to load the system and thier WYSIWYG editor is good. Staff are very helpful, and there is no contract.

If you have any specifics, let me know and I'll be happy to share my experience - to see my Venda site type 'kitschagogo' into google.

I'm interested to hear of recent views regarding eSeller Pro and Channel Advisor?

Tony

[lesliedocherty]

look at www.visualsoft.co.uk ,quite impressive

[kitschagogo]

look at visualsoft, quite impressive

Thanks - I think I have come across them before - I love their design work and their websites look great - also looks like their clients have been up for a few awards - another one for my list of potentials ! ;)

[GroundHog]

Hi. I like WebAsyst Shop-Script. A great e-commerce solution - 100% opensource and superable support team.

[edmondscommerce]

interesting to read about Venda blowing their SME level offering...

I've seen this kind of thing before where companies catering for the bigger spenders try to launch a lower price offering but it just ends up being useless for everyone, them because it doesn't bring in revenue like they are used to and the users because it just doesn't fit.

For ebay integration there are a few that do seem to work well. I know there's one that links up well with osCommerce

[lesliedocherty]

i have received my proposal from visualsoft and going to sign it off over the weekend, was very impressed by their work and cant wait for them to deliver my new site.

[kitschagogo]

i have received my proposal from visualsoft and going to sign it off over the weekend, was very impressed by their work and cant wait for them to deliver my new site.

Cool! What solutions are you going for? And is it rude to ask for a budget/ballpark?

[lesliedocherty]

£10k, and most of the bells and whistles

[kitschagogo]

Wow - that's well out of my league at the moment!

I'm interested to see the changes/new site when it's up! Good luck :)

[jelly3]

Never heard of them so had a peek, their admin demo has a '404 not found' page :rolleyes:

As someone said, it really depends on the features that you want.
I looked at a few over the last couple of years but there's always an issue.... The last one I was interested in didn't allow for customers to buy without creating an account, which is about 50% of my customers. They come back but they don't want to create an account.


That was January 2010 and the situation remains the same in July 2010.

[judy1105]

I don't know if you have heard dhgate, a wholesale online platform origin from China,for wholesaler ,distributer and so on .
As I know it has been known by about 220 countries clients ,especially in the european countries .

[amazestore]

in china dhgate and aliexpress are reletively good

[kitschagogo]

I've just had a quote from Ritecart Multi Channel by Palindrome Software Labs (thinking they would be an economical stepping stone before moving to Channel Advisor or EsellerPro) - at £305 pm (incl. VAT) for a webstore, Amazon integration and eBay integration.

Set up fees are £350. No transaction % fees.

Having such a bad time with Venda SaaS (now named POWA) - I'm hesitant to jump ship - does anyone know of Ritecart/Palindrome?

I've searched for reviews and even called a few of their customers, but can't speak to anyone who is using more than the webstore without multichannel.

[edmondscommerce]

its a lot of money per month, worry about venda lockin (pun intended)

[kitschagogo]

No lock in to Venda at the moment (as I'm not paying a monthly fee for it - due to mis-selling me eBay integration that doesn't work).

I think they are 30 day notice and that's it - I've just had my fingers burnt, so don't want to jump ship without it being the right step!

Tony
www.kitschagogo.com

[amazestore]

I like amazon too

[edmondscommerce]

I meant vendor lockin..

its often more subtle than being physicially locked in.. its to do with how easily you could switch from one vendor to another - how much access to your data, domain etc you have

[kitschagogo]

Good point!

I've decided on a few more - so will draw up a table of multichannel ecommerce features and prices for each one and post on here.

So far I have details for Ritecart, eSellerPro, and Channel Advisor.

Next 3 I'm comparing are:

Orcus Myriad
Intelligent Retail
Etail Systems

Anyone any experience of these three?!

Cheers
Tony
www.kitschagogo.com
retro gifts for when life's a kitsch

[Adam_Watson]

I like Magento store

[jswheels]

I have used Palindrome's services with Ritecart system. Although they were sluggish :redface: initially with delays in delivering modules, but I am glad they eventually did.:)

I found Channel Advisor market their services heavily and product doesn't look like it does all that it says. But in reality Ritecart compared close to esellerpro, who seemed better than ritecart but expensive with commission charges on top. I recommend Ritecart.

[dogdaycare]

The Pearl cart system comes with complete back office processing, CRM and Accounting all in one package

[Jigowatt]

It's got to be Magento. We've built a dozen sites on this platform and find new customers migrating front every other package to it regularly. It's the most stable, flexible eCommerce platform available.

[cosmetics4less]

We use Actinic, have done for 4 years. I think it's great. Very few problems, easily sorted out.

It's very easy to use with great functionality.

[Katie2010]

We are using Magento and it's brilliant. Very easy to manage once it's all set up and looks great.

[TotalWebSolutions]

We have a growing list of shopping carts that work with our EcomMerchant payment gateway. The most popular for our merchants seem to be the likes of Actinic, OS Commerce, Zen Cart and ekmpowershop.