Choosing a website platform

[jamila]

Hello all,

I am in the process of launching a small online fashion boutique and am currently looking for a platform. I am not very html savvy. I'm at an early stage and funding the whole thing myself so would preferably like a free/cheap platform.

Kind regards,

Jamila

 

[Nuno]

If your core criteria is free/cheap it ain't gonna work.
Fashion is image centered so you will need very good pictures put together by an experienced fashion designer. Fashion is also very competitive so you will need you designer/developer to build a site that converts.
These skills are in demand and so are not cheap. And we haven't touched on SEO or Adwords yet...
The platform itself is largely irrelevant.

 

[jamila]

@Nuno
I will be putting the pictures together myself. I'm an experienced photographer and recent marketing graduate. In my final year i studied digital marketing so i have knowledge of SEO and Adwords etc so will also be doing that myself. I just need a platform for my website, so it is relevant to me

 

[Faevilangel]

look at this sticky, gives you an idea on all the platform types available and the pro/cons of each

 

[Nuno]

@Nuno
I will be putting the pictures together myself. I'm an experienced photographer and recent marketing graduate. In my final year i studied digital marketing so i have knowledge of SEO and Adwords etc so will also be doing that myself. I just need a platform for my website, so it is relevant to me

Out of interest: when did you find the time to become an "experienced photographer"? Did you do Digital Marketing as a mature student?
Just asking as in my experience taking fashion shots, optimized for web, is a specialized skill, and one which takes time to master.
Anyway, good luck.

 

[cleaningstuff]

Jamila, working on a similar (but different) idea. Also looking for a platform, and researching the area. PM me if you wish.

 

[ryedale]

Some nice Opencart fashion themes

http://www.mojo-themes.com/item/olivia-opencart-ressponsive-theme/demo/

http://themeforest.net/item/pav-fashion-responsive-opencart-theme/full_screen_preview/6550283

http://www.mojo-themes.com/item/luxurina-premium-opencart-theme/demo/

 

[mixtureofmarket]

hello! Wordpress would be a great platform for you. It is very simple and easy to use, even if you're not knowledgeable in web design you can easily built your website. Plus it has SEO and woocommerce features that helps you in ranking your site and handle the business part in your site.

 

[Charlie McBroom]

Hi Jamila

Great question - there are a few options out there but you will need to a little bit of study just to learn how to set these up - but I promise it is not that hard, just takes a little time.

(All these options are free, you will just need a domain, a host and possibly a theme)

Option 1. Wordpress with WooCommerce - nice easy way for ecommerce startups, it is easy to work with but I don't usually recommend it as it doesn't scale very well when it comes to selling on multiple channels and building up your range - I think you will out grow this, but then you can choose to move on from here.

Option 2. Open Cart - a nice free ecommerce platform, quite straight forward to set up - I would say look at spending some money on a nice theme for it though.

Option 3. Magento Community Edition - it is a little resource heavy (basically you will need to spend a little more on a higher spec host to maintain the speed) but it is the most scaleable out of the 3 I've mentioned. Again I would say look at a nice professional theme for it.

If you have any questions Jamila please feel free to ask me anytime

I would love to know a little more about your business!

All the best,

Charlie McBroom
Ecommerce Specialist @ Linnworks
@McEcommerce

 

[fisicx]

...so would preferably like a free/cheap platform.

The platforms can be free/cheap. Building the website that sits on that platform can cost a lot. Marketing that website can cost a lot more.

A lot depends on the type of products you are selling. The higher up the price/exclsivity scale you go the higher the cost of marketing and the more expensive the website.

 

[antropy]

I think the platform does matter, but I would agree that unless you're a talented designer and photographer it's going to be very hard to make it a success on your own.

 

[JamieM]

Hello all,

I am in the process of launching a small online fashion boutique and am currently looking for a platform. I am not very html savvy. I'm at an early stage and funding the whole thing myself so would preferably like a free/cheap platform.

Kind regards,

Jamila

Hi Jamila,

Have a look at Shopify if you aren't too html savvy. It's very easy to set up and I think you could create a decent enough site on your own to get started if you can do your own photography.

Check out fashion site http://www.blackmilkclothing.com/ which uses Shopify.

 

[Charlie McBroom]

Again Shopify and Bigcommerce are great products but have a monthly subscription fee.

Their fees are similar, again I would suggest having a look at both.

Charlie McBroom
Ecommerce Specialist
@McEcommerce

 

[jamila]

@Nuno

I'm 24, studied photography at college and do photo shoots in my part time for extra money. So now i've given you my life story, have you actually got any advice or do you simply troll these forums to try and poke holes?

 

[jamila]

@ryedale

That is perfect, just what i'm looking for! Thank you for your help

 

[ryedale]

You're welcome

 

[Nuno]

@Nuno

I'm 24, studied photography at college and do photo shoots in my part time for extra money. So now i've given you my life story, have you actually got any advice or do you simply troll these forums to try and poke holes?

I worked in and with the photo industry for quite a few years. I worked some of that time in catalogue, helping to shoot fashion, here in studios, and two or three times a year in Spain, Tenerife or Italy. I still know several working photographers: the sort with their own studios and agents and stuff, in London. I know a little about the process. Thats a part of my life story, dull as it is.

So I'm not trolling. I'm expressing a view that you will need excellent photography to sell fashion of a page, not just technically good but art directed to reach a core, identified demographic. In all the years I worked with with the photographic industry I never once saw anyone with sufficient, constant, professional expertise to risk their work on a money making venture if they were not a full time working professional. Furthermore I have seldom seen student work worth diddly in commercial terms. As in most areas you pay for professional results.

That's why I said that the platform was irrelevant: unless you have the background or can hire the skills such as photography, design and UX you can use anything you want and it will likely fail in a highly competitive arena like fashion.

If you feel this is a personal attack on your photographic skills, so be it. What you feel won't change the punters' expectations.

 

[LittleFish01]

Jamila. As everyone has pretty much covered there are many options. Personally I think that it depends on how fast you think your business will grow. Do you have a niche or unique offering? Do you have a plan in place for the best case scenario? - i.e lots of people love what you do and visit your website. If you are as confident as you seem about what you do, would you be able to cope with your best case outcome? It is fine to do it cheap but what if it goes so well that cheap cannot handle the number of customers/ traffic to your site? There are many potential outcomes but I would suggest start cheap but have a plan in place for the best case scenario. If you start getting a large amount of custom, have a company there and ready to go to develop/ manage your own site. That way you have an initial "shop window" but also the ability to take it to the next level. So many businesses fail because they don't prepare for everything going too well. My moto - prepare for the best but expect the worst. Good luck with your venture Jamila!

 

[Claudia_A]

Hello Jamila!
Since by now you probably went ahead with an option you considered most suitable, I wanted to suggest Joomla! for you. It's open source, it's easy to use (the latest versions totally simplified the installation process) and it's perfect for small-to-medium websites. If you ever have technical trouble with its features, the official Joomla! forum is very friendly and the people there help out even the noobest of noobs
Best of luck!

Claudia A.

 

[Charlie McBroom]

Hi Claudia,

What would say the benefits of using Joomla over Wordpress with a ecommerce plugin are?

All the best,

Charlie McBroom
Ecommerce Specialist
@McEcommerce

 

[Claudia_A]

Hello Charlie!
A few of the most important benefits would be the following:
1. In Joomla!, it is very easy to implement shopping cart and no-problem box features. Most of the online shoppers find it quite appealing.
2. Since payment security and verification are crucial for buyers, Joomla! offers a wide palette of plugins or extensions for their transactions, as seen in the official Joomla! Extension Directory (I would provide a link, but I am a new member and I need to reach 30 posts to do that, sorry ).
3. Amazing support! It's one of the most responsive, friendly and professional community of freelancer developers and volunteers out there. The official forum is the place to go if you ever get in trouble with maintenance and implementation.
Now, just because I'm a Joomla! fan and it kind of goes with the job description ... doesn't mean that I don't see value in other platforms. To be perfectly honest, however, the strongest eCommerce sites built so far run on Magento. The downside is that Magento sucks up a lot of resources, so it's more commonly used on large scale businesses, such as OMG Jeans or Fred Perry.
Wordpress is the most easy-to-use of them all, but the initial purpose was for blogging. I'm afraid that I haven't gotten a chance to look at an eCommerce site built on it. So maybe it does have other advantages that I am not aware of.
Hope this was useful for you, Charlie.
Thanks,
Claudia.

 

[BrandUK]

Best option for you is Wordpress with woocommerce

Wordpress is easy you can find someone on people per hour install and design a site for cheap

Also look at the many themes available to enhance the look of your site.

Another option which is very easy but does cost more us shopify. You can have a site up and live in 30mins.

 

[fisicx]

Best option for you is Wordpress with woocommerce.

Not for a fashion boutique.

 

[BrandUK]

Not for a fashion boutique.

Why?

Woocommerce can deal with sizes and colours?

 

[fisicx]

Because of the way woocommerce handles images. Fashion boutiques are very visual, woo commerce needs an awful lot of work to unhook all the image restrictions. It can be done but dedicated shopping platforms are much better suited for this type of website.

So yes you can build a site using wordpress and woocommerce but you conversions will be waaaay down. In anycase, there are far better plugins/themes than woocommerce.

 

[BrandUK]

Ok makes sense.

 

[Charlie McBroom]

Hello Charlie!
A few of the most important benefits would be the following:
1. In Joomla!, it is very easy to implement shopping cart and no-problem box features. Most of the online shoppers find it quite appealing.
2. Since payment security and verification are crucial for buyers, Joomla! offers a wide palette of plugins or extensions for their transactions, as seen in the official Joomla! Extension Directory (I would provide a link, but I am a new member and I need to reach 30 posts to do that, sorry ).
3. Amazing support! It's one of the most responsive, friendly and professional community of freelancer developers and volunteers out there. The official forum is the place to go if you ever get in trouble with maintenance and implementation.

Hi Claudia,

This was very helpful, I know a lot about ecommerce platforms, I wasn't super impressed with WooCommerce and I have always wondered about Joomla.

I may have to create a test site and play around with it.

All the best,

Charlie McBroom
Ecommerce Specialist
@McEcommerce

 

[alexrabe]

As per my experience and knowledge, WordPress will be best for fashion shopping cart because of easy customization and attractive themes are also available.

 

[plumbingpassion]

I suggest you word press Platform.

 

[fisicx]

As per my experience and knowledge, WordPress will be best for fashion shopping cart because of easy customization and attractive themes are also available.

I suggest you word press Platform.

Nope. Read the whole thread

 

[Bonnie Hannah]

I would advise for you to use Wordpress and Woocommerce, there are a wealth of free plugins that will help you set up your online shop, if you already have the product photography nailed there is a drag and drop function for all photos when attaching to products so all you would need to do is optimise the images a little and upload them, and there are free programs for that too. For the parts of your site that you need extra functionality for you can also purchase premium plugins and themes for just about anything you could possibly want to do

 

[fisicx]

I would advise for you to use Wordpress and Woocommerce

Not for a fashion boutque where imagery is everything. Woocommerce image management is pants.

The OP is going to need something bespoke.

 

[Bonnie Hannah]

When the OP, by her own admission, is not neccesarily ecommerce / HTML literate a bespoke option may not always be the best option. Also she was quite specific about a free / cheap platform, wordpress / woocommerce is free and cheap to build upon for what she needs.

Many shops start using the Wordpress / Woocommerce platform and are very successful, moving onto bespoke platforms later as their business grows and warrant such a large investment.

 

[fisicx]

I agree that woocommerce is very successful - but the OP is setting up a fashion boutique. They would be far better off with one of the many dedicated ecommerce themes, some of which have excellent image support and a few offer specialist fashon support.