Bit lost on ecommerce solutions - advice needed

[connx]

Not sure totally what to put. Basically just launched a product and about to invest in some sublimation and transfer printing equipment so that we can produce t-shirt and mug type products to sell online which we can advertise on the packets of the product we will have out there in circulation.

Just looking for an e-commerce solution so we can have a shop online to test the waters with without having too much of an outlay initially (dont mind investing in printing equipment as we would still have some value in it but bit loathe to spend too much on website initially without knowing what returns it might bring)

Im not very techie but something like tigercommerce looks suitable for our needs at the minute in that it will allow us to have a shop out there without a big outlay and it doesnt look like we would be tied into a long contract.

Has anyone had experience with tigercommerce (good and bad) - in recent threads on e-commerce i see it hasnt been mentioned at all - what other solutions might be suitable?

As mentioned we would use this kind of simple solution (hopefully simple) as a tester but if things went well we would probably be looking for a more bespoke solution if needed - are there any major problems with using one of these cheaper methods initially with a view to investing in a more costly solution later down the line?

Hope this makes sense

 

[Paul Norman]

I know nothing of Tigercommerce either way, but I am going to encourage you to think of two points you raised.

1. You have no idea what returns you might get. Before you invest time in this you should form an idea. It is important. Is this a serious business, or just a hobby?
2. You are reluctant to invest in the main, indeed, potentially only route to market - your e-commerce platform. This will be a key plank of your business. I am not saying you should spend huge amounts of money on it, but getting an ecommerce business off the ground is not easy. It will require a massive amount of time, energy, resourcefulness. And maybe just a bit more cash than you are expecting.

 

[Deleted member 69689]

Magento, OpenCart, OS Commerce to name but a few.

If designed and built correctly these off-the-shelf solutions can compare to a bespoke system in many ways and can grow with your company.

Like I've stated in other posts you don't need to go for bespoke development unless you really, really need a specific feature.

Again, even with off-the-shelf solutions you can still have a bespoke design.

If you need any further help or advice feel free to get in touch.

 

[connx]

I know nothing of Tigercommerce either way, but I am going to encourage you to think of two points you raised.

1. You have no idea what returns you might get. Before you invest time in this you should form an idea. It is important. Is this a serious business, or just a hobby?
2. You are reluctant to invest in the main, indeed, potentially only route to market - your e-commerce platform. This will be a key plank of your business. I am not saying you should spend huge amounts of money on it, but getting an ecommerce business off the ground is not easy. It will require a massive amount of time, energy, resourcefulness. And maybe just a bit more cash than you are expecting.

My key business and product is unrelated to e-commerce it is related to the newsagent/cornershop/convenience store network which i distribute to via supplying wholesale and van sales - as much as i sometimes have fun with my work it is a 'serious' business and not a hobby.

The idea of e-commerce is I have space on a packet and when i next print the packs would like to advertise a web address to see if this has any upsell opportunities via an ecommerce site - I cannot predict what the uptake will be if any but aim to find out in as relatively cheap way as possible. If things look like they are a goer then I am happy to invest more in terms of employee time, my time and money but not off the bat without an indication of likely returns - in some ways i am looking to open up a cheap online store as my market research.

 

[Vision2]

depends how you define 'cheap', expect a couple grand to begin with + marketing, as you have labeling already to promote it you could i guess substitute this for time being until it makes it's own money.

If you are looking to spend less than a grand, don't bother in essence, never works. Save up, put cash aside and do it properly to begin with.

 

[Sam Boogie]

If you are looking to spend less than a grand, don't bother in essence, never works. Save up, put cash aside and do it properly to begin with.

Does anybody else agree with what Vision2 is saying here?

I would be interested to know as I'm currently deciding between shellling out £1k+ on getting just what I want or going with something like tigerCommerce, accepting the limitations but having something cheap and quick to get up and running.

 

[Kev Jaques]

heheh Sam, depends on what you want to get out of it at the end of the day. You could do well with just 1 landing page depending on product being sold and use split testing to increase conversions.
Marketing is going to be the main issue with anything you use tbh.

 

[Sam Boogie]

Cheers Kev, Although Im starting this on the side I am planning to build it up enough for me to quit my day job! Im planning on selling what might be called high-end street fashion so the look and feel of the site is going to be incredibly important. Have a look at these guys for an idea of what I might sell (http://www.digitalgravel.com)

Funds are reasonably limited so a grand saved on putting the first site together is another grand I can spend on stock. A hosted solution would only be a temp measure as I imagine I'll come up with lots of little bespoke touches I want to integrate.

I currently work as a SQL developer and basically re-engineer processes for a living so it wont take long before I'm going to want to full access to everything in my store but right now I just want to get selling so am happy to sit there doing everything through the UI!

However, if the limitations of a hosted solution are going to make it that much harder just to get the sales then I'm happy to fork out the money required for customised off-the-shelf model.

Basically, theres no point in me getting up and running with a hosted store if its not going to sell anything!

 

[Kev Jaques]

rofl, they're not doing themselves any favours with those un-ironed t-shirts lol
Marketing/Time/Testing is going to eat up most of your money apart from stock, initial set up.
The world is your oyster with the menagerie of shopping carts out there, looks like a small open source set up would be beneficial in the short term, once the sales start rolling in then look to expand into probably another niche.

 

[cinddy]

Make a website for your products and hire one or two persons how may do some online marketing stuff for you. This way you may get in touch with your costumers as well as give an opportunity to group of your business. Good Luck

 

[brownie]

Does anybody else agree with what Vision2 is saying here?

No I don't agree with Visions statement.

Sam you can setup a usable and reasonable looking store for well under a grand, I would then use the rest on marketing.

A basic Magento, Prestashop or Opencart store with a carefully selected free template will get you going, a visitor is going to be more interested in the product or service you are selling. If you didn't want to setup one of these yourself, using an off the shelf template you could get someone else to the store up for you costing between £200 to £500 depending on the customisation or tailoring required. I cannot talk to anyone else, but it is not complicated and doesn't take long to setup.

I cannot see how the visitor is going to make a purchasing decision based on what template you are using.

Getting the visitors to the store would be the big issue and that's were I would spen the money.

There are plenty of very successfull businesses running out there with very basic stores, they do however have a solid business undersneath.

 

[edmondscommerce]

starting small can be a good idea if you are not totally committed to the idea and want to test out if it will actually work and if you are happy doing it..

the flip side though is that if you don't give it your all then it probably wont work so you are kind of shooting yourself in the foot.

hosted ecommerce platforms have their pros and cons, the major cons being that you are basically locked into them, so moving up from them to something else can be problematic (or basically impossible).

I'm a believer in hosting your own store based on open source technology such as Magento etc and that is what we specialise in.

You could kick things off with a wordpress blog and some paypal buttons - its about as easy as it gets.

 

[quikshop]

hosted ecommerce platforms have their pros and cons, the major cons being that you are basically locked into them, so moving up from them to something else can be problematic (or basically impossible).

A hosted ecommerce platform is an ideal test bed for a new retail idea. No software or hosting to worry about, no long term contracts, easy to use web based administration and often just as effective as far more expensive solutions.

Like all hosted options, our hosted ecommerce software has its strengths and weakness so make sure you get the features and support you want for your business.

 

[FreelanceSoftwareDeveloper]

It does get frustrating when people can't answer a question without trying to sell something completely different!

The OP has asked about a hosted solution to effectively trial an eCommerce solution which isn't their core business. They already have a virtually zero cost marketing plan which is to simply add website details to their current packaging and see if it encourages visitors to the site.

A hosted solution is ideal for this, you could trial this for 12 months for less than a budget ecommerce setup and considerably less than a fully custom setup.

In 6-12 months time you can make a new assessment, maybe you would like the added customisation of a custom design, maybe it's going along OK and there's no really reason to change it, maybe it hasn't worked and you don't continue.

There isn't one magic solution for everything called Magento, like the fool who suggested it for a 1 page / 1 product website last week.

 

[Deleted member 69689]

Shopify.

http://www.shopify.com/

 

[Sam Boogie]

they're not doing themselves any favours with those un-ironed t-shirts lol

Haha! Cheers for your thoughts Kev : )

 

[bluglobe]

hi there

My name is Michael Fontaine. Last year i started an IT company bluglobe.com I can provide a very cost effective solution for you as i have thousands of ecommecre templates of high quality which i offer to clients with free hosting, plus loads more...

You can browse through the templates by going to my site click on 'template shop' then select the 'zen cart category.' Temlplates average around £90. I will configure, modify and maintain it for you at a very good rate. Theres also a monthly payment option. Or payment on sales option.

Give me a call if this interests you and if you require more info.

Michael - 07904 938 718

Not sure totally what to put. Basically just launched a product and about to invest in some sublimation and transfer printing equipment so that we can produce t-shirt and mug type products to sell online which we can advertise on the packets of the product we will have out there in circulation.

Just looking for an e-commerce solution so we can have a shop online to test the waters with without having too much of an outlay initially (dont mind investing in printing equipment as we would still have some value in it but bit loathe to spend too much on website initially without knowing what returns it might bring)

Im not very techie but something like tigercommerce looks suitable for our needs at the minute in that it will allow us to have a shop out there without a big outlay and it doesnt look like we would be tied into a long contract.

Has anyone had experience with tigercommerce (good and bad) - in recent threads on e-commerce i see it hasnt been mentioned at all - what other solutions might be suitable?

As mentioned we would use this kind of simple solution (hopefully simple) as a tester but if things went well we would probably be looking for a more bespoke solution if needed - are there any major problems with using one of these cheaper methods initially with a view to investing in a more costly solution later down the line?

Hope this makes sense

 

[connx]

cheers guys for replies all been interesting and wide ranging and given me plenty of food for thought. At the moment thinking of a sort of compromise between the opinions put forward.