Best ecommerce shop host (i.e Shopify, 1&1)

[Paul92]

Hi all,

Just a quick question, in your opinion, which company is best to use to set up a estore?

Ive heard much good about shopify, and I like its professional look. Though its a bit expensive and I am not so sure on how simple it is to use.
Ive heard many horror stories about 1&1, but it looks very simple to use and cheap.

Now, I am not asking for me, just asking for a relative who is looking to make an online shop. She thinks however, that the 1&1 sites look quite basic and cheap. The shopify ones look great though.

Plus she wants to be able to purchase her own domain for the site. It must have an easy to use interface for listing products and dealing with transactions. Also things such as search engine optimisation.

Thanks in advance

 

[webhostuk]

You can find many such ecommerce ready to use scripts like Magento,Joomla, Zencart, cubecart most of the hosting provider will offer you one click auto installers for this scripts.

 

[webgeek]

If you're self-installing, I personally have found the ECT (ecommercetemplates) to be one of the easiest to install, configure, customize and use. It does SEO friendly URL's, most payment gateways, and (if you buy the right version) can be edited in Dreamweaver, making it design-friendly.

For smaller shops, there's always the option of going Wordpress with an ecommerce plugin. Some family and friends have done this on sites with less than 100 products and they turned out wonderful. Think ECWID when you look at this option.

For hosted solutions, I have had a few customers using Shopify and felt it met their needs.

Finally, many people are now doing social commerce and using Facebook as the place to sell. Get an account and the Payvement app and you're suddenly cooking with gas!

 

[Paul92]

Thanks for your replies.

Shpoify looks a really good package. I'd be interested to take a look at anyones wite with them on here. One thing that is concerning me, everything is in dollars. Does that means if she was to set up her site, her shoppingcart would be in dollars? Along with all the listings?

 

[Paul92]

Thanks for your replies.

Shpoify looks a really good package. I'd be interested to take a look at anyones wite with them on here. One thing that is concerning me, everything is in dollars. Does that means if she was to set up her site, her shoppingcart would be in dollars? Along with all the listings?

 

[CarlosUK]

Hello Paul. My tuppence worth -

Its not clear what sort of shop your relative needs from the details given. Eg, when a client asks me the same question we would look at their own level of technical ability, what the products are, where they wish to sell, how they want to take payment, and what integration they need both now and in the future (accounts software, VAT returns, stock levels, Facebook, twitter, linked in etc)

Taking all this into account would then help a decision to be made. (Im not an ecommerce reseller partner, so not tied to any brand of software)

I would suggest you largely ignore the shops design at the beginning - design is subjective, some people will love a given design, others will hate it. Its much better to get a good looking site up & running and **making money** and then look at tweaking the design.

Getting an eshop ( of any kind) up and running is relatively straightforward, but some structures are better for SEO than others. Its getting paying customers to it afterwards thats the difficult part, so if its a consumer product we work with a few brands who integrate your stock listing with amazon, Facebook, and ebay to give maximum exposure with minimum fuss - once the store is live, having to tell people manually about your new products across multiple channels is a right pain!

Ive published a 30ish page guide about all the above and look at some different vendors, marketing options and things to avoid. Very happy to send you a free copy if you send me a PM with your email address.

Regards Carl

 

[webgeek]

FYI, with Shopify you can easily configure prices to be in Pounds Sterling.

 

[flare91]

I was going to go with shopify, but their support network is in Canada? And you have to pay just to call the technical department?

I've since settled on Volusion. Its cheaper than Shopify (£15 per month +VAT), and there is no transaction fee, like Shopify does.

There is also Mr.Site, which is quite cheap, but only if you pay for the whole contract in one go.

Volusion is good in that is is a monthly payment. If times are hard, and you use other avenues for sales, you can cancel for a month or so. Be warned though, they brag about it being 'simple and convenient', but theres a 450page manual that goes with it! So far, it's been going okay. Tech support is in USA, but is an 0800 number, and staff are quite friendly!

 

[flare91]

I should also point out, that there are loads of design templates. A lot are free (and quite good looking), but prices range from free to £650+VAT. I of course settled for a free, simple design (all white). If you know how to deal with HTML and such, I hear its easy to edit them. I have no clue when it comes to such things!

 

[merchant-account-review]

Small sites with less than 100 products I would look at word press as very easy to use and update yourself
However, If your looking for an all in one package look at ekmpowershop £20 per month gives not only the templates to build your web pages including hosting & very good technical support they look very good too & easy to build!.. Additional features also include links to accountancy products – operational stuff like delivery notes and labels for couriers etc, easy to upload your products and very easy to pick a payment partner – they are already integrated to the major payment providers.
When you want to start trading - message me I would be more than happy to demonstrate how I can beat the high banks on transactional rates SAVING YOU A PACKET J via gateway and merchant account – no matter which platform you use!
Good luck
Best Wishes

Chris Richardson
0845 3226545
Merchant-account-review.co.uk

 

[ash213]

can you easily integrate google checkout into volusion for free? without fees on google and without fees on volusion?

please advise,

need a store open and want to use google checkout

thank you

 

[flare91]

I have to be honest with you, I have not integrated my store with google checkout. But here is an article on how to do it. There are no fee's on volusion sides. You would have to check with google, but I doubt it. The article tells you how to integrate your volusion store with google checkout. Of course, it may seem complicated as you don't have the store yet, but it seems relatively easy. At least it can give you a sort of idea:

http://support.volusion.com/article/setting-google-checkout

Also, they have great support. Sometimes a little slow, but they really do help you out. Phone is usually better than their live chat (window that appears in your browser) as they're usually more attentive. It's based in the USA, but they give you a 0800 number, unlike shopify.

 

[flare91]

I have to be honest with you, I have not integrated my store with google checkout. But here is an article on how to do it. There are no fee's on volusion sides. You would have to check with google, but I doubt it. The article tells you how to integrate your volusion store with google checkout. Of course, it may seem complicated as you don't have the store yet, but it seems relatively easy. At least it can give you a sort of idea:

http://support.volusion.com/article/setting-google-checkout

Also, they have great support. Sometimes a little slow, but they really do help you out. Phone is usually better than their live chat (window that appears in your browser) as they're usually more attentive. It's based in the USA, but they give you a 0800 number, unlike shopify.

 

[ash213]

im tempted to go with volusion.

it has eveyrthing that i need..

but

the free templates are bloody awful

 

[davidmichaelkeenan]

Thanks for your replies.

Shpoify looks a really good package. I'd be interested to take a look at anyones wite with them on here. One thing that is concerning me, everything is in dollars. Does that means if she was to set up her site, her shoppingcart would be in dollars? Along with all the listings?

No you'll definitely be able to change the currency to pounds sterling. Most e-commerce products will let you do that easily and if they don't I'd stay well clear.

That said, Shopify isn't the cheapest option, but it will get you up and running quickly. If you want a shop quickly, and you want it hosted for you, then you could do worse than Shopify. As you say, the templates are professional looking. Also the support is very good. You get your own assistance when you open a shop to help you with any problems and give advice.

On the other hand, if you want to save money, then it would be cheaper to host your own store and use an open source product such as Zencart or Opencart. You will have to invest a little more time doing it this way however.

Basically, you have quickness and convenience versus the cheaper option of doing it yourself. If you want the quick convenient option, then you can't go wrong with Shopify.

The fact that Angry Birds use Shopify for their store says something I guess.

 

[davidmichaelkeenan]

...also. I've not used 1 & 1, but I have seen their advert and templates. It looks like they spent all their budget on advertising and forgot to hire any web designers. Pretty bad stuff.

 

[flare91]

Ash: I don't think *all* of the themes are terrible. I use "white light", but i also like 'graze', 'trinket' etc. I used the general theme of white light, but customised it by adding the buttons of graze. It's just a matter of saving the image to your computer, then pasting. I'm naturally a minimalist, and so White light was exactly what I wanted, before I had even heard of volusion! Here's a link to my site (this is purely innocent) so you can see what I did with the place:

http://www.empireteaandspice.com/Default.asp


Also, you of course get a 14day free trial, so perfect time for you to check it out. Plus, any changes you make get transferred if you decide to go ahead with it.


David- I did check out shopify. I made a simple word document comparing all of the services out there. Although shopify is pretty good, There is a transaction fee. And the monthly price is higher than Volusion. The free templates on Shopify are rather more attractive than Volusion however.

 

[LeAnn79]

I find PrestaShop easy to work with but it is more suitable for a smaller store.

 

[ash213]

Ash: I don't think *all* of the themes are terrible. I use "white light", but i also like 'graze', 'trinket' etc. I used the general theme of white light, but customised it by adding the buttons of graze. It's just a matter of saving the image to your computer, then pasting. I'm naturally a minimalist, and so White light was exactly what I wanted, before I had even heard of volusion! Here's a link to my site (this is purely innocent) so you can see what I did with the place:

http://www.empireteaandspice.com/Default.asp


Also, you of course get a 14day free trial, so perfect time for you to check it out. Plus, any changes you make get transferred if you decide to go ahead with it.


David- I did check out shopify. I made a simple word document comparing all of the services out there. Although shopify is pretty good, There is a transaction fee. And the monthly price is higher than Volusion. The free templates on Shopify are rather more attractive than Volusion however.

hi

for your brand and what you do that is a nice neat layout, but still lacking IMHO.

it looks a little bland, and something my business couldnt get away with.

my brand/shop is a site selling clothes, with the target audience of 18-40 year olds with a street edge, urban edge, if this makes sense.

shopify templates seem to fit my bill.

i would happily use a cart primary plus Google check out.

i WILL NOT use paypal, they suck and could quite happily freeze thousands of pounds for fun. dont want to gamble with that.

cheers all

 

[SuperiaCommerce]

Hi - we've got a couple of templates which are comparable to Shopify's and you can customise it yourself with no technical skills. Please PM me if you'd like more details.

From what some of our customers have said, 1&1 is just too basic. Volusion is good but can be a little pricey. Shopify is a nice idea and the system itself is great but having to pay the transaction charges and add on (and pay for) apps plus the transaction charge, can quickly add to the cost of what is, in essence a pretty limited system.

I'd highly recommend using something other than Google Checkout, it's pretty awful to be frank. I'd go with Paypal Express over GC anyday and I'm not that keen on Paypal, for the reasons you've mentioned. I'd go with an internet merchant account and payment gateway, the money will be deposited into your account within a few days and the interfaces are a lot slicker.

 

[IzzoNet]

Hello,

i recommend you to check more services. dont go on the cheaper one, because the cheaper sometimes can cost a lot .
do your full research, hear recommendations and then decide.

good luck!

 

[JPMiddleton]

Shopify is a nice idea and the system itself is great but having to pay the transaction charges and add on (and pay for) apps plus the transaction charge, can quickly add to the cost of what is, in essence a pretty limited system.

Sign up for the free trial, take a look around for a few days.

I've just been offered a 15% discount if I pay in advance for 12 months, plus features that are on a higher plan and also no transactions fees.

 

[zigojacko]

You may find my answer (top one) to this SEOmoz community question on the best shopping cart to use with my view, explanation and recommendations of which ecommerce cart to use.

 

[Pavitra Dillinaidu]

I Hope Magento to be the best and easy to access...

 

[SuperiaCommerce]

There really is no 'best' per se...it all comes down to what works for you and your business. I'd recommend that a business owner concentrates on what they need to sell their products - if they need to offer personalisation with a product that needs to be factored in.

It may not even come down to features but how the backend works or the flexibility of the front end in creating the site you want.

 

[jonny1975]

Hello Paul. My tuppence worth -

Its not clear what sort of shop your relative needs from the details given. Eg, when a client asks me the same question we would look at their own level of technical ability, what the products are, where they wish to sell, how they want to take payment, and what integration they need both now and in the future (accounts software, VAT returns, stock levels, Facebook, twitter, linked in etc)

Taking all this into account would then help a decision to be made. (Im not an ecommerce reseller partner, so not tied to any brand of software)

I would suggest you largely ignore the shops design at the beginning - design is subjective, some people will love a given design, others will hate it. Its much better to get a good looking site up & running and **making money** and then look at tweaking the design.

Getting an eshop ( of any kind) up and running is relatively straightforward, but some structures are better for SEO than others. Its getting paying customers to it afterwards thats the difficult part, so if its a consumer product we work with a few brands who integrate your stock listing with amazon, Facebook, and ebay to give maximum exposure with minimum fuss - once the store is live, having to tell people manually about your new products across multiple channels is a right pain!

Ive published a 30ish page guide about all the above and look at some different vendors, marketing options and things to avoid. Very happy to send you a free copy if you send me a PM with your email address.

Regards Carl

Hi Guys, just wondered if Carlos had provided his 'report' on the various ecommerce vendors? Or if anyone else had a good 'comparison' matrix with a UK focus?

I'm currently looking at:
- Volusion
- Shopify
- Big Commerce
If anyone has a good comparison matrix, that would be incredible?

Thanks
Jonny

 

[Holopainen]

BigCommerce is currently the best hosted cart. They made a huge step forward in a last few months from fancy site redesign to adding such features like integration with Facebook.
Moreover it is very intuitive, has nice and professional templates and so on and so forth.
BigCommerce offers much more out of the box features then Shopify and doesn't take any additional fees for transaction.
Volusion in last time is very unstable. In two months their servers went down twice. I don't think you will really like that.

 

[rashisree]

ZS Cart is the hosted & easy to use ecommerce shopping cart software to create your store easily.

 

[SkyBlueSilver]

I have been using Moonfruit and you can have unlimited products and the help system is prompt and well - helpful!
It seems cheaper to upgrade than shopify and 1&1, but you are limited in seo management etc. Very easy to adapt one of their templates to your own design, just by altering colours, titles etc. lots of useful info on the site too. You can try them out for free until you want to add more products etc.

 

[PDC]

I find it amazing that there is still no simple 'go-to' site for this. Its one of the biggest missed opportunities out there.

We've bounced through a couple of store options over the years and all have had pros and cons. While I realise its very difficult to create something that is one size fits all every system we've ever used has been let down by one thing or another.

It really comes down to thinking about exactly what you need from a cart and then going from there.

 

[curiousWS]

We've now used Magento, Shopify and EKM Powershop.

Of the three, I'd prefer Shopify. It's a little more expensive, but you get value for that extra.

Magento (Community) is cheap and you can do whatever you want with it. But you will end up paying for support. I'm pretty IT literate, but still could not work out everything myself. If you do need support, I suggest looking on freelancer.

EKM is simple to set up, but ultimately limiting. Also, support is inflexible and pretty unhelpful. They recently issued an update to their shipping model that resulted in the £15 surcharge we add to overseas orders being missed from orders! I rang support, they admitted that they had not properly communicated that this might be a potential consequence of how they updated the system, but did not feel they should give . Luckily we caught it after only one order - so were only out of pocket by £15. You'd have thought they would have given me £15 credit as a goodwill gesture, but despite complaining they didn't take any responsibility.

Shopify support is outstanding (and cheesily enthusiastic!). Always willing to help and will even step beyond what they are supposed to help with if they feel able - for example I've had help with coding issues for a bespoke part of our site from them, even though this goes beyond the support they are supposed to offer. Templates are awesome! Also, great links with other software/systems.

As we renew sites, we'll be moving all to Shopify for sure.

 

[BigTree]

I would highly recommend BigCommerce for a hosted eshop.

We started with self hosting and customising using OSCommerce, then 3 years using OSCMax but I got fed up with having to be a web designer/coder when I could be spending my time on running the store.

I tryed Magento (both hosted and self) and it was terrible. Had to look at expensive hosting to get it to run quickly and it's back end is very difficult and slow to use.

Decided in the end it was a toss up between Shopify and BigCommerce which are very similar. Trialed both and BigC won on price, features and style.

Support has been superb with online chat being instant or email taking max a few hours usually. Very knowledgeable staff who go out of their way for you. They're based in Australia so language isn't a problem and support hours actually work in my favor being a late worker!

I've occasionally considered Shopify since due to the only fact they're so popular I think I might be missing something but every time I compare it it's a no brainer.

Tip. Due to the trial I get shopify newsletter and blog articles and they are very useful.

 

[antropy]

There are lots of great hosting companies out there but what you'll find is that most will refuse to help when something goes wrong with the website software, be it WordPress, OpenCart, Magento. This does make sense because there are a potentially infinite number of platforms custom edits and configurations, so they couldn't possibly be expected to support them all.

However it could be worth hosting with a company that also supports your chosen platform. For example we mostly design and build OpenCart sites and also host them. When something does go wrong, our clients have just one point of contact (us) and we make sure that whether the problem is with the server or the website code, it gets fixed very quickly.

 

[Stevie Wonder]

I am currently comparing the services mentioned in this thread as well. I have used 1&1 previously (but not for several years), but this provider doesn't seem to have been considered much in this thread? Is this for a specific reason?

My online store will have around 100 products (possibly less), divided into around 7-8 categories... I would like it to look smart of course, but I also need it to be user friendly/easy to use as I am not experienced... Also I was thinking of using SagePay for payment processing... Are all of the service providers compatible??

 

[ryedale]

1and1's support is appalling

Don't just look at the big names, you'll nearly always get far better support from a smaller well established company, usually on a one-to one basis. Especially as Antropy says, if they specialize in the software you are using.

 

[BigTree]

I've been with 1&1 for 10+ years now and have tried them for every conceivable type of website. There support has always let me down and I now only use them as a domain registry and website testing. Wouldn't use them ever again for a site that'll cost me money of it's down.

I've had their top packages and found there support useless and very unhelpful. Always very clear that the person is just reading from their help pages and have no idea at all to what they're referring to. Some support agents have even refused to discuss and issue if its to do with setting up the hosting to fit your package as it's seen as a website issue and not supported.

I have a large vBulletin forum and changed to Nimbus Hosting as they're UK based, very friendly and helpful and understand the package your using and go out of there way to fix issues even if its not necessarily a server issue. They also specialize in Magento hosting so well worth comparing.

 

[Tom Porter]

Shopify is great although can be very costly. It depends how many products you will be listing too.

Woocommerce for low amounts of products
Opencart for a medium level
Magento for anything over that