looking for genuine advice on e-commerce

[big bad bruce]

hi all just joined to get some advise from real people not a salesman after commission or a job
if your a web designer reading and seeing a prospect don't bother i don't have a few thousand spare right now...no matter how much it is an investment or will earn its money back ten fold in the first year

that out of the way I have built a few e-com sites over the last 8 years my first quite successfully ironically on the most featureless platform ever freewebstore ! which admittedly i think got as far as i could with limited tools but I got 50+k turnover and a few top pages on google even one prime top slot in organic. Since then i have tried to create better looking more functional etc... but my latest on big commerce seems to be falling apart at the seams if i hadn't invested so much time id already have moved kind of hoping i am wrong and there is a glitch.

enough of that my question is has anyone used BC with success. am i just unlucky? or just over tired? and should i stick with it the glitches may be soon dealt with or are my suspicions of they just manipulate and lie to you the customer however they can to milk you for everything you have....

second question do any platforms like this work well with effort and careful analysis if so whats the best i have used a few in the past but would love to hear genuine opinions from similar people to me
once again web designers i know the thoughts going round in your head custom custom custom ....not going to happen unless your happy working for next to nothing or a reasonable monthly subscription.

many thanks in advance
c

 

[Novevan]

I think it is ok, no matter shopify, Bigcommerce, zencart... the function is almost the same.
And the most important thing is that you can sell your products or service, so you can earn profit. Thanks!

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

If you are questioning it you must have some doubts. Have you 'dabbled' in any other ecommerce platforms - open source such as OpenCart, WooCommerce, Magento etc? If you prefer hosted solutions then you could try ECWID.

 

[james_firmsites]

Assuming I am looking at the correct website, the one with Industrial pipe reborn at the top?

The first thing that jumps out is its quite flat, the site feels generic and frankly the product it sells is quite specific. If your going to inspire people to buy then something a bit more personalised (which can be hard to do on the DIY platforms) would be a good idea. Speaking as someone who does offer monthly packages (albeit more than bigcommerce et al) I would say the main thing is you need to have a plan to actually return more than the platform is costing you out. The key thing here is to consider time as part of your cost, shopify and BC can be cheap but cost lots in time and thus are not as inexpensive as they may make out.

I would say look for a proper developer who can help advise you on building a site driven for sales, get a really slick site in place and then try google adwords and see if you can get conversions.

If you want an idea of prices etc feel free to drop me a PM, but there are proper developers within reach of your budget you just need to ensure its part of a wider plan to convert actual sales!

 

[antropy]

I got 50+k turnover and a few top pages on google even one prime top slot in organic

£50k but you still won't spend £3k on a decent website? Why not?

 

[james_firmsites]

£50k but you still won't spend £3k on a decent website? Why not?

£50k turnover is irrelevant. We have no idea if they made a profit!! But I do agree with the sentiment that its a false economy

 

[antropy]

We have no idea if they made a profit!!

True. OP, what was the profit on that £50k?

 

[Calvin Crane]

OP you haven't told us what your problem is a lack of a feature or something can you tell us a name to google as we know you cant post a link. I am keen to always read this kind of post as I like to get peoples real use cases for e-com sites.
@Novevan urgggg no matter how thin your replies (and I want to be kind) and your links the strategy is making me really NOT want to click on your links. I like to think I can erradicate spam through education. It won't go down well but you guys are wrecking the internet.

 

[antropy]

@Novevan urgggg no matter how thin your replies (and I want to be kind) and your links the strategy is making me really NOT want to click on your links. I like to think I can erradicate spam through education. It won't go down well but you guys are wrecking the internet.

Agreed, @Novevan needs to actually contribute something useful or get banned.

 

[Anderz]

I had limited success with even been able to login BC and had to cancel credit card to stop their charges otherwise..

With Shopify it rocks on every day and it should not make a difference at all as long as you are moving forward. If the business needs work and you are making it then you should put back in the business so it works spot on.

 

[Steven001]

I would say look for a proper developer who can help advise you on building a site driven for sales, get a really slick site in place and then try google adwords and see if you can get conversions.

Agreed. Custom built websites are the way to go if you want to tailor the product to the customer. I'm not offering my web development services so don't worry, I have enough on my plate as it is!

 

[intellectoutsource]

I think it is ok, no matter shopify, Bigcommerce, zencart... the function is almost the same.
And the most important thing is that you can sell your products or service, so you can earn profit. Thanks!

SAS platforms are best for ecommerce business

 

[kev598]

I think that BigCommerce is quite overpriced. Reading reviews about it, people complain that it has a fair number of bugs. To be fair, I like the idea of the Cloud platform, but I think that Shopify is better compared to BigCommerce.
However, everything depends on your business size and goals. As I understand you want a simple platform or at least simple plan as Shopify or BigCommerce suggest. But there are so many other platforms, so I think you should consider some open source platform like PrestaShop or Magento.