Considering adding an eCommerce section to website

[mark_s]

I've been running an events business targeting car dealerships for a few years now and occasionally I've been asked to provide additional promotional items and hardware to the showrooms, so I'm thinking I might add this to my website. My thinking is that dealerships who come to me looking for an event might buy from the eCommerce side and vice versa.

I'm going to give the website a bit of a revamp (currently using wix and will probably continue to do so), when adding the eCommerce part is there anything I should be wary of. I'll also be drop shipping virtually all the products on the site, I've very little experience in this so again any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Solve My Problem]

Are they likely to buy from your website or more likely to want to send a purchase order?

 

[mark_s]

Are they likely to buy from your website or more likely to want to send a purchase order?

I honestly don't know. As i've not had the sales part on the site before when someone has wanted something I've sent a proforma invoice, taken payment then purchased the item from a supplier and had them send it direct to the client.

 

[Solve My Problem]

Start by listing things you do, see how much interest you get and then look to add ecommerce

Depending on the client, most will want to order with PO's

 

[fisicx]

Why on earth are you still using wix?

If I were a car dealership I wouldn't be buying stuff of of your website. I'd possibly order something and wait for your invoice to arrive in accounts so they can pay using the normal 30-60 payment process. What I'm not going to do is get my credit card out and pay online.

And I'd be buying from you not the dropshipper so if what arrives turns out to be tat I'm not going to use you again. This whole thing seems fraught with problems.

 

[mark_s]

Start by listing things you do, see how much interest you get and then look to add ecommerce

Depending on the client, most will want to order with PO's

I already have a website listing what i do which is why i now want to add something else (which i occasionally do already) to generate some extra income. I've been trying to think of something to do online for a while and this seems to tie on with what i already do.

 

[mark_s]

Why on earth are you still using wix?

If I were a car dealership I wouldn't be buying stuff of your website. I'd possibly order something and wait for your invoice to arrive in accounts so they can pay using the normal 30-60 payment process. What I'm not going to do is get my credit card out any pay online.

And I'd be buying from you not the dropshipper so if what arrives turns out to be tat I'm not going to use you again. This whole thing seems fraught with problems.

I found Wix the easiest to set up and edit myself. I have used someone to create a website in the past which cost a fair bit and i wasn't happy with it plus at the moment I'm not in a position to put cash into a new site so Wix seems the cheapest option.

Ok so it seems it would be better to list available items and take purchase orders from clients, I just thought buying online would be easier for the customer.

In regards to items being 'tat' I will only use suppliers I know / have used in the past so i can be sure of quality. This in my eyes would be a selling point rather than a dealership wanting a particular item and just using someone they find on Google, quality could be good or bad in this instance.

As an example and something that has pushed me to do this.... i had a client who wanted some flags for an event next week, Rather than try to source them themselves they asked me if i could provide them as I have contacts as these are items i use on my events. I was able to use a supplier who could get the items there sooner than most places and they were cheaper by a few hundred pounds than many other companies, even with my mark up.

 

[fisicx]

And that’s exactly how it should be.

What you can do is start listing all the products you can help with. Get some really good images and list all the customisations (eg sizes, materials, printing etc).

Not sure why a simple website like this should cost a lot. A decent developer could easily get you something decent put together in Wordpress for very little. And after a bit of training you would soon realise how limited wix was when competed to the thousands of free themes and plugins available on Wordpress.

 

[mark_s]

And that’s exactly how it should be.

What you can do is start listing all the products you can help with. Get some really good images and list all the customisations (eg sizes, materials, printing etc).

Not sure why a simple website like this should cost a lot. A decent developer could easily get you something decent put together in Wordpress for very little. And after a bit of training you would soon realise how limited wix was when competed to the thousands of free themes and plugins available on Wordpress.

Regarding payment for items, would there be a reason I couldn't list things with the normal way to pay online via credit card or paypal but also make a point that I accept purchase orders if the client would prefer to work that way?

I will have a look at Wordpress, I've heard of it but no nothing about it. I have very limited knowledge of dreamweaver and tat seems to be more complicated than most things so I see no reason I couldn't get my head round something else if its a better option than Wix.

 

[fisicx]

You can offer CC or PayPal payments but why not test the waters with service provision first.

WordPress is doesn't need you to know any code. There are two ways to do things:

1. Get a free site here: https://wordpress.com - and prepare to be amazed at how much better is is than wix

2. Get some cheap hosting and click the button that installs wordpress for you. Same as option 1 above but now with access to thousands more themes and plugins.

If you want ecommerce it's free. Just like almost everything you need from WordPress.

If you get stick there are loads of wordpress experts here on UKBF.

 

[antropy]

Agree that Wix should be avoided for anything other than the most basic sites.

Paul.

 

[mark_s]

Ok well i have my domains, emails etc through 123 so I've set up hosting with them and will use WordPress via their site.

 

[crabnomad]

I would choose Wix for an easy start. The ready templates are super fancy compared to others which I think is necessary for a car dealer.

 

[fisicx]

I would choose Wix for an easy start. The ready templates are super fancy compared to others which I think is necessary for a car dealer.

He isn't a car dealer. And wix is the absolute pits. Avoid where possible.