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Which e-commerce service should i use?

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ash213

Need to open a web shop

100 individual products with variations of sizes/colours of each product.

prices ranging from 15-25£ per product.

do not want to use paypal, would like to use google checkout as there are low fees with it.

i have looked at bluepark and volusion so far, are they easy to set up? do you need to be a web designer to actually make it look decent?

im happy to pay those firms for the hosting service etc, but i would like one where i could kind of set it up myself if straight forward enough.

please advise, thank you all in advance.
 
As per my Experience ,you should use Prestashop,but total integration and professional look is needed for any e-commerce website along with security.I can help you in this matter ..just pm me ..:)
 
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As always I would suggest taking a look at Magento for a best fit solution
 
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Can I ask why you do not want to use PayPal and prefer Google Checkout?
 
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Currently use Opencart + Vidahost :)

Vidahost have a 1-Click Install for Opencart which makes it very easy to setup.
 
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bascially i do not want to use paypal services as i have had bad experiences with them

with opencart/vidahost and magento is there templates to use? and can you integrate google checkout easily?
 
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ash213 said:
bascially i do not want to use paypal services as i have had bad experiences with them

with opencart/vidahost and magento is there templates to use? and can you integrate google checkout easily?
Click to expand...

Great Themes Here:
http://themeforest.net/category/ecommerce/opencart

Google Checkout Extension:
http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=extension/extension/info&extension_id=18

OpenCart Extensions:
http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=extension/extension

OpenCart Support Forum:
http://forum.opencart.com/


Should be all you need :)
 
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thank you for the links

im now actually thinking shopify could be the one for me! how do you integrate google checkout into shopify tho?
 
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Brightpearl offers an all in one package that lets you integrate your online shop with your back end functionality such as stock control as well as syncing automatically with you accounts, order management, CRM and more. We have recently added Magento and eBay integrations too so you can manage multiple sales channels via the same system. You can find out more or try it for free for 30 days at www.brightpearl.co.uk
 
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Hi,
I would add that PayPal is a must for online shop. You could force your customers to pay with other providers, but everyone is just got used to seeing PayPal logo on the e-shops.

I have worked with Prestashop for a while and could say that it has everything what is needed (some plugins are paid, however).
 
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I would advise a primary gateway that is integrated into the site, and the likes of PayPal / GC as secondary options at checkout (if picking one of the two go PayPal every time)
 
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Unless you can bring the skills of a professional to building your online business from which you're looking to make a living, find a local professional designer/developer to help you. If my boiler broke down I'd call a gas fitter.
 
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Deivas said:
Hi,
I would add that PayPal is a must for online shop. You could force your customers to pay with other providers, but everyone is just got used to seeing PayPal logo on the e-shops.

I have worked with Prestashop for a while and could say that it has everything what is needed (some plugins are paid, however).
Click to expand...

I agree. Many e-commerce sites use Paypal. I think its a must.
 
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There are several robust, secure and ecommerce cart platforms available including Magento which is well supported in terms of themes and developers capable of building such online shops. But they vary in terms of how complex they need to be for your business. Your choice should depend on the nature of your business, and the reporting requirements of your back end.

If you need to integrate with your sales order processing you'll obviously need a platform to cope with this. It's a chat with a developer who can understand your business requirements. No point in choosing say, OpenCart if in 6 months time your business has outgrown it or it's proving more difficult to support.

Think about what your business needs your ecommerce platform to do and then source one which fits your needs.
 
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You don't have to have PayPal, but you'll lose a lot of sales if you don't. Think about it from the customer's point of view - surfing the web, spot something you like, add to basket, go to checkout, damn, what's my credit card number? Oh my wallet's in the kitchen and I'm comfy here.... of they go. PayPal encourages a lot more impulse buys because they don't need to remember anything or have anything to hand other than their password.
 
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About 40% of our customers use Paypal - huge increase over the last 12 months. I love using it to0 for exactly the reason fruch gives below - means I don't need to go hunting for my handbag!
 
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You can also try out CS-Cart Shopping Cart Software. Google checkout is integrated with it by default and you will be able to set up variations of sizes/colours.
 
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We have used Big Commerce. Its a US based platform but really good for the complete novice as we were/still are. Lots of online advise, videos etc.
 
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In my humble opinion, Volusion is not that easy to use - we our currently running our website through it, but as complete novices didn't find it that easy to set up. There are various support options, including manuals, livechat, phone & support tickets, but the advice that you are given isn't always correct and is sometimes contradictory. Also all the support & hosting is in the USA.

Our site went live with them last week and we have had several major issues with them, including a error box on our shopping cart page for the last week, which no-one at Volusion seems to be able to fix, and which is obviously losing us significant levels of sales everyday. I certainly don't believe in company bashing and this may just be a one off unlucky experience, but I would advise researching them thoroughly before you consider going with them (you may want to look at the forum as well).
 
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ash213 said:
do not want to use paypal, would like to use google checkout as there are low fees with it.
Click to expand...

PayPal is widely used and trusted. It's also relatively easy to integrate, with good documentation and lots of features, so it is definitely recommended.

Google Checkout is the same price, if not more expensive. It is not as widely used, particularly if your customers are overseas (its mostly used in UK and US).

Why choose between them? Implement them both!
 
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Paypal is definitely a must.

Skrill is also very good - no monthly fee and you can accept all local payment methods. For example, iDeal for the Netherlands, sofortuberweisung for Germany, and so on.

I'm also a big fan of Amazon payments. It gives a huge amount of trust to customers and they can checkout super fast without making an account.

In terms of shopping cart software, I'd recommend CS-cart. It's so easy to use and has so many features out of the box, that I was able to launch 3 online shops that are all doing and looking great, without any previous knowledge. CS-carts forum and knowledge base are all great - everyone is helping each other. Version 3 will be launched soon and it looks awesome - with grid layout and megamenu. There is a free community version you can try, but even the 250 dollar or so for the pro version is a bargain.

Only go the Magento route if you are willing and able to spend, spend, spend on development and server - it's difficult to work with (impossible if you're not a programmer) and super server heavy.

I would never go with a hosted solution like shopify. You'll be totally depended and not able to tune to your liking.

Hope this helps!
 
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merryscanlan said:
Magento is a free to use open source web development software which does not need any monthly fee like other shopping cart software. This feature is one of the unique features of the Magneto which attracts consumers to optimize for customized application development services.

To develop a Magento site is somewhat harder than developing other platforms, but Magento Extensions and the Extension Community have set platform apart from others in developing the site with best features.
Click to expand...

It's not unique at all. Prestashop doesn't require a monthly fee either.
 
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fruch said:
You don't have to have PayPal, but you'll lose a lot of sales if you don't. Think about it from the customer's point of view - surfing the web, spot something you like, add to basket, go to checkout, damn, what's my credit card number? Oh my wallet's in the kitchen and I'm comfy here.... of they go. PayPal encourages a lot more impulse buys because they don't need to remember anything or have anything to hand other than their password.
Click to expand...
This is important - and it's why Amazon, Apple, Ebay etc are well positioned in selling us stuff going forward i.e stored payment information and authorization. These guys make paying for things really easy, and as a merchant, if you can utilise this, your sales will see the benefit also.
 
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ash213 said:
Need to open a web shop
i have looked at bluepark and volusion so far, are they easy to set up? do you need to be a web designer to actually make it look decent?
Click to expand...

Don't know about bluepark, but volusion is limited system.
We have a number of clients who migrate from volusion to Magento.
 
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slowly going towards shopify myself...

it looks SO good tbf...

and every $1 u spend on google adwords you get $10 off you're transaction fees with shopify!

sounds good to me...


can you use £ sterling easily on there though?
 
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The thing that I do like about SHOPIFY is that the templates are really good and look professional. If you are able to have a custom built site, I would not recommend shopify at all. However, if you want to create an off-the-self site, shopify allows you to save a lot of money.
 
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ash213 said:
thank you for the links

im now actually thinking shopify could be the one for me! how do you integrate google checkout into shopify tho?
Click to expand...

It should be easy enough. After you subscribe to a Shopify account it takes you through a setup process that covers everything from adding products to setting up your preferred payment method. You also get a helper assigned to you that will contact you via email for any queries.
 
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LeAnn79 said:
The thing that I do like about SHOPIFY is that the templates are really good and look professional. If you are able to have a custom built site, I would not recommend shopify at all. However, if you want to create an off-the-self site, shopify allows you to save a lot of money.
Click to expand...

True that it is fast and it has good templates. With regards to saving money, remember that Shopify does have a reasonably large monthly fee, so in the long term it might not be that economical. It's a good place to start however. There's nothing to stop someone using Shopify to test out an idea, then moving to something else in future.
 
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