ecommerce for selling books

[pudseyowl]

Hi,

Newbie here so apologies if this has already been asked.

I sell books online and currently hold an inventory of around 10,000

I would like to set up my own website and drive traffic through my existing customer database.

What ecommerce platform would best serve my requirements (preferably free or cheap to start with whilst I experiment)

I would like to sort the books by category ie - Biography, fiction, sport

Thanks in advance

Pudseyowl

[awebapart.com]

Where are you currently selling online? If you are not already using Amazon Marketplace for selling books (http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=490763) then this might be a next channel to explore before setting up your own site.

[pudseyowl]

Hi,

I have been selling on Amazon for a while

[awebapart.com]

I have been selling on Amazon for a while
Good. In that case you are probably looking for a semi-bespoke (http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=278560) ecommerce solution, using a system that can practically manage (http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=371812) that amount of products (thousands), supporting bulk upload with bespoke development work carrried out so you can bulk upload your inventory to the system. So rather than looking at an ecommerce system in isolation, you might be better off looking for a bespoke ecommerce developer/solution provider who can provide an overall solution (perhaps posting in the tenders section of this forum). At a glance, a semi-bespoke solution based on Zencart might be a good starting point to investigate.

[pudseyowl]

thanks for that

[osicsophie]

What ecommerce platform would best serve my requirements (preferably free or cheap to start with whilst I experiment)

I would like to sort the books by category ie - Biography, fiction, sport

Thanks in advance



Hi Pudseyowl,
You can try open source shopping cart software which is free to download. Now all existing shopping carts can meet your need--bulk products upload and category settings,etc. And you can contact the technical support team for professional help during your installation and configuration of the software.

[TartanCactus]

I design websites for small businesses like yours, and i'd probably recommend you use an open source package called Magento. Its very easy to use and set up.

[nineseven]

Use Magento - http://www.magentocommerce.com/

Its free to download and looks good straight from the box. Its really easy to use and has great SEO functionality.

Really cant recomend it enough!

[ginantonic]

We are actively looking for businesses willing to dropship for us, and we are struggling to find a bookseller. Is this something you may be interested in? If so, please PM me. Thanks.

[bmvproperty.biz]

Virtumart is a free ecommerce package

[bmvproperty.biz]

Virtumart sits on joomla which is open source and also free

[Waveney Books]

Hi

'Chrislands' is especially for booksellers.

Its something that I'll be looking at once my inventory is larger.

Many of the Amazon UK sellers use it.

Hope this helps, Tina

[Astute Visions]

Personally, i would suggest you to go for a ready made hosted solution for starters.

Note the fact that i have a web development company which specializes in E-Commerce platforms. If you are wondering why then not have us build you your site, here are some reasons why.

1. You need to concentrate on the business needs and leave the accounting, ordering and other stuff to be handled by a reputable company. Going open source with either Virtuemart, Oscommerce, Zencart of Magento will require time which early on is not well spent on the technicals.

2. I would personally say, start from hosted, grow ur biz and then when it is ready to be scaled and you know its working , get a custom development done to suit your needs.

3. It is easier to start from a hosted solution , rather then build it and maintain it.