Ecommerce Websites

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Anne Williams

  • #1
    Hi Folks,

    I have read alot about people on the forums and I am sure most of you have, but there seems to be a growing concern over many people asking the same questions over and over again.

    Hence, the need to post this thread on ecommerce websites. Most people here on the forums are simply looking for cheap solutions, sorry not to criticise anyone in particular but working for a highly reputable ecommerce and web design agency I felt that there needs to be some common ground on this topic.

    Ecommerce is not a simple topic and development takes in a lot of research, resources and is highly technical when it comes round to bespoke features. Every client is different and will indeed require bespoke features to meet their business needs.

    I want people to be aware that its not all about launching cheap ecommercer sites but more important are the customers buying your products. You need to put yourself in the position of your customer and ask would you buy from this shop? An ecommerce business can indeed be successful if you have the right product, look and feel and branding to convey to your audience.

    Then there is a massive debate on which ecoomerce solution shall I go for? This really does not matter to some extent, will your customers think, I do not want to buy this product because this site was developed using Prestashop or Magento? Certainly not!

    My view is that different design agencies have just adopted to technology they prefer or have more expertise in and would rather continue their research in that area to make them specialists. For example those who know alot about Magento Commerce because they have chosen to build their customer sites using Magento is not a bad idea.

    Bear in mind that Marketing is the key factor when it comes round to selling your products too, not necessarily SEO but others such as word of mouth and networking.

    All the best!
     
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    3

    360 olive studios

  • #2
    Most people here on the forums are simply looking for cheap solutions and yes there are plent out there but what you need to ask is what content are the consumers really interested in the product and product info. Good imaging and info is a must as stated will your customers think, I do not want to buy this product because this site was developed using Prestashop or Magento? Certainly not! All there interested in is what there looking for and how good it looks. Great Thread
     
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    j600com

    j600com

    Free Member
    Apr 27, 2011
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    North East, UK
  • #3
    Great thread - I think there's so many "low end" / cheap solutions getting banded about as most of the regulars on here (from what I've seen in the short time I've been here at least) are very small web companies, not really eCommerce specific as such. The solutions I've seen promoted are usually a quick template over an out of the box eCommerce package - which to be honest we spend most our working days rebuilding.

    I seen someone ask "what does an eCommerce site cost?" and a guy reply with "the same price as a car" which I thought was a perfect answer. The difference in a £500 car to a £5000 car is vast, but they are both cars and do a similar job.

    For me it comes down to time, if someone is going to charge a few hundred pounds for a site then the chances are they aren't going to spend much time on the project. And in my experience you get out of ecommerce what you put in to it; invest little and you'll usually get little return.
     
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    B

    bargainmania

  • #4
    How many times have you seen the exact opposite? Web design companies charging thousands when there work is so below standard that they should not
    be charging more than £100. Just recently we had the honour of building a customer a second site because they wanted our zencart/facebook shop. There original designer had charged them £4000 for a fully custom eCommerce solution that was supposed to be all singing and dancing. Infact it was an absolute pile of crap. Url's all over the place and a host of other problems, The customer ended up being more successful with our far less expensive option. This is just one example of problem VERY overpriced eCommerce sites that we have to sort.

    Alistair
     
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    ManWithBagOverHisHead

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    Aug 3, 2010
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  • #5
    bargainmania said:
    How many times have you seen the exact opposite? Web design companies charging thousands when there work is so below standard that they should not
    be charging more than £100. Just recently we had the honour of building a customer a second site because they wanted our zencart/facebook shop. There original designer had charged them £4000 for a fully custom eCommerce solution that was supposed to be all singing and dancing. Infact it was an absolute pile of crap. Url's all over the place and a host of other problems, The customer ended up being more successful with our far less expensive option. This is just one example of problem VERY overpriced eCommerce sites that we have to sort.

    Alistair
    Click to expand...

    Perhaps you could provide the URL of the shop as your links are down for me?
     
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    j600com

    j600com

    Free Member
    Apr 27, 2011
    752
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    North East, UK
  • #7
    We've only ever lost one client who thought they could "do it on the cheap" and they got a couple of freelance magento developers on the case, built the site behind the scenes then less than a week after launch came back to us asking for the old site to be put live again (bottom fell out of their sales).

    But having said that, lots of the sites we've rebuilt haven't been cheap ones. I've seen some awful sites where people have wasted over £5k. I believe the key is making sure the company you use actually understand retail, and eCommerce is their core business. If their portfolio is filled with logo design, brochure websites and so on with very few examples of actual eCommerce projects then alarm bells should start ringing. You need to see lots of examples of successful eCommerce projects - and then talk to their clients. Its the only way to be sure.

    I also advise people to do their homework on the company; find out how many designers/developers/SEO people they employ (worry if it's only one), find out when they started trading (worry if it's months ago and not years) and most of all go and visit your web company and see their setup (make sure they are who they say they are, not a bedroom business or reseller of someone else's services).
     
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    bargainmania

  • #8
    I would totally agree with everything else you have said apart from (worry if it's only one) We all have to start somewhere and quite often it's the smaller companies that can offer that extra personal service and support without charging the earth.

    Alistair

    I also advise people to do their homework on the company; find out how many designers/developers/SEO people they employ (worry if it's only one), find out when they started trading (worry if it's months ago and not years) and most of all go and visit your web company and see their setup (make sure they are who they say they are, not a bedroom business or reseller of someone else's services).
    Click to expand...
     
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    j600com

    j600com

    Free Member
    Apr 27, 2011
    752
    201
    North East, UK
  • #9
    Hi Alistair,

    I can see your point, but in my experience (I've been in this industry a long time now) I've seen far too many one man web developers go bust, go backpacking, go into lecturing, have a change of heart, decide to get a job, decide to have babies and so on to put your business into the hands of one developer - I have employed several of these "companies" they are now developers/designers who work for us. It happens ALL of the time, uni's churn out multimedia grads who love the idea of being their own boss - and within months have a change of heart when it sinks in that building the sites is only a small % of actually running the business.

    In fact, it looks like a current thread is exactly this case (again...)

    http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=221046

    Seriously, i see this on a daily basis as cv's come in and clients stuck in limbo call us.
     
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    j600com

    j600com

    Free Member
    Apr 27, 2011
    752
    201
    North East, UK
  • #10
    I've got clients whereby their site being down for a few hours could cost them £1000's - can you imagine if they'd gone with this company...

    allthingsgifts said:
    Hi
    Does anyone know what has happened to Coppock Media, their website doesn't work, or the email address I had.
    Click to expand...
    Chunkford said:
    She's gone on to do the most challenging thing anyone can do in ones life.... bring up children
    Click to expand...

    Beggars belief! But it's not uncommon, thats the scary thing.
     
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    bargainmania

  • #11
    Hey Tim

    I can see where your coming from and on certain points i simply cant/wont argue. There is 3 of us involved in our company and certainly from the (about) 18 months we have been in business things have been going from strength to strength. You get what what you pay for and obviously a build is only as good as the brief. Just wish the people that are not in it for the long haul or are not as useful as they claim to be would go backpacking or whatever they want to do lol. What we offer people are happy with and so far, have had very little complaints anyway except from 1 or 2 people that decide not to follow advice given :)

    Alistair
     
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    j600com

    j600com

    Free Member
    Apr 27, 2011
    752
    201
    North East, UK
  • #14
    That's good to hear, I wasnt specifically targeting you btw (I didn't know what size company you were) just saying that in general you need contingency should 1 person leave/be ill/be on holiday - so I always recommend being wary of those with only 1. And I completely agree about getting what you pay for too, likelihood is that if you've got low staffing costs your solution will be cheaper (there's pros and cons of low/mid/high value solutions - as with anything in life).
     
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    B

    bargainmania

  • #15
    I know you were not targeting me lol, i am simply enjoying the conversation with someone who i actually agree with most of the points you put accross, Even if we do cater for opposite ends of lets say (the market) We are able to provide low cost hopefully well made lol fully customised templates that our clients are happy with. We find it's all in the brief, the better the brief the quicker and more cost effective the solution. We will also most certainly be around for a lot more years to come.

    Alistair
     
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