What Management systems to choose for an online business?

[FunGuy]

I am thinking of starting an online business. My team and I are wondering to sell gadget online, but at the moment I am bit confused of what management systems to choose. We soon will be selling stationery online. At the moment we have two suppliers and everything is shipped through local shippers or post.



I want to choose a flexible e-commerce software. So the question would be what would you suggest to choose as open source flexible e-commerce software to incorporate with our web site. Also, we are willing that our company will take off in the near future so we would like that this software could be able to handle quite great loads of information. But what interests me the most is this management software which at the moment I am a little bit confused about. I can find a lot of them something like order management system, inventor management system, supply chain management system, order tracking system, financial-invoicing system and more.


So I would like to know what is the best combination of e-commerce system or plug in (open source or cheap) with those management systems that I mentioned above. Maybe you could mention what combination of these software you use for your business?

I heard of Quickbooks a bit. Maybe somebody is using it? Something else?

Thank you.

 

[sania12]

Hello,

I use management tools and softwares from [FONT=&quot]Open Source Collaboration, Free Document Collaboration, PDF Document Collaboration, Real Time Document Collaboration, Microsoft SharePoint Alternatives etc.

They are one of the [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]emerging companies in this field. I have no complaints from them....

regards
Sania
[/FONT]

 

[OptiRick]

We use Zencart and can't really complain.

The admin area and product attributes are a bit of a headache at first but only because there are many options available.

 

[principleweb]

For eCommerce, you'll find there are lots of options, including open source, free and paid.

Some of the main ones: VirtueMart (in Joomla), ZenCart, osCommerce, CubeCart, Actinic.

There are many similarities between them, and then differences that depend on how the development has been progressed and their particular focus. There are also differences in how they might integrate into an existing website or be configured for a new one.

Before you start think what you want your website to do. Is is just to sell products, or do you need other features and pages? This may influence your choice, as there are differences about which can be extended easily to add more features or pages.

Equally, think about the design. Does your choice of eCommerce package allow you to set-up and change the design easily? Bear in mind your business, and therefore website, will change and grow. Can your eCommerce package and the way you set it up? Or would have have to start again?

Also, think about whether you have the skill and time to create and maintain the design and content, as well as run your marketing campaigns, process your orders and maintain customer service. Depending on your skill level and confidence, it can sometimes pay to buy this rather than try to do it and allow other more important aspects of your business suffer. For example: you're going to use Royal Mail or a courier to send your products. Why? Because it's what they do. And you couldn't do it better for less. So is building your website, trying to learn PHP, HTML etc., integrating shopping cart software and learning to be an SEO expert really how you want to spend your time? And whilst it's cheaper because it's your time, is it comparable?

If you already have some / all of the skills necessary - fine. If not, and you're serious about growing a successful business, I recommend using a professional web designer who can develop it for you.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you need anything further.

 

[giedriuskri]

You can also check OXID eShop available at oxid-esales.com

It is very rich in features, has ecommerce engine (pricing, discounts,
user segments, shipping sets, payment methods etc.), but requires
adaptation to a local market because at the moment it is best prepared
for Germany.

 

[sitedesign]

Hi,

I would reccomend taking a look at Joomla.

It is a good, stable content management system which has pleanty of different plug-ins available such as:

Ecommerce shopping cart - Virtue Mart
Invoicing and basic accounts - Nbill

(all pretty reasonably priced too!)

I use it to develop many different kinds of websites, all of which are based on the same platform.

Its great for a new developing business as if you need a new feature, there is probably something available to just plug-in.

I've got some example sites if you want to see some in action, just let me know.

David at SiteDesign-Group dot co dot uk