wordpress for ecommerce

[ladybee]

Does anyone else find working with wordpress to set up an ecommerce retail shop hard? I just want a blog as my homepage and categories afterwards????? maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan this is complicated!

 

[j600com]

Wordpress is for blogging. If you want an online store you need to be looking at an eCommerce platform (plenty to choose from) then bolt a wp blog onto it for your blog section. If ecommerce if your primary requirement you've started on the wrong foundations by using wp.

Hope this helps.

 

[ladybee]

Wordpress is for blogging. If you want an online store you need to be looking at an eCommerce platform (plenty to choose from) then bolt a wp blog onto it for your blog section. If ecommerce if your primary requirement you've started on the wrong foundations by using wp.

Hope this helps.

Yes i've realised that now....Thanks for the heads up...

 

[bargainmania]

Plenty open source (free Carts) out there that any decent host would set up free for you

ali

 

[ladybee]

Hi. Thanks. Just wondering what you wouold suggest as the best 'cart' to begin with?

 

[bargainmania]

Personally, we prefer zencart for beginners as its fairly easy and straight forward to use.
Others would suggest opencart, Best thing is to try a demo of each and see which you prefer before you think of a template etc, i can even install each on a hosting account for you to try them if you want?

ali

 

[ladybee]

Personally, we prefer zencart for beginners as its fairly easy and straight forward to use.
Others would suggest opencart, Best thing is to try a demo of each and see which you prefer before you think of a template etc, i can even install each on a hosting account for you to try them if you want?

ali

i have a hosting account...but was advised to use wordpress by mistake. just wanted ecommerce site with a blog as my home page. thanks though...

 

[bargainmania]

very easy to do then, install wp as your main domain and cart on a sub-domain call it shop or similar, How many products do you have btw?

ali

 

[ladybee]

Well its retail, amount of products upto 100 or more at a time. If i cart on a subdomain it wont be attached? I want visitors to be able to blog and buy at the same time....

 

[bargainmania]

take a look at http://cakekraft.co.uk/ and http://cakekraft.co.uk/blog
its just other way round

 

[ladybee]

Great, thanks, this is harder than i thought it would be although have built temp sites and found it easy. take a look at.bank rupt fashion co uk I like the cakecraft though and find wordpress doesnt have many options re colours etc...

 

[bargainmania]

Skirmish is not the nicest of themes, Its very easy to match a zen and wp template, there are plenty of free or cheap templates about aswell or if you wanna spend some cash get it custom built. Like i said best thing is to have a play and see what you prefer

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Zen Cart really isn't the best option.

There have been lots of topics on this recently, but OpenCart is normally seen as coming out tops as long as it provides the functionality you want.

PrestaShop is also highly rated.

Here's a topic where shopping carts were discussed:
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=266259

This looks like a good fashion theme if you're happy to pay for one:
http://gege.su/shablony-opencart-15x-ocstore-1x/your-fashion-store-opencart-shablon/

Here's the demo:
http://gege.su/demos/your-fashion-store/

Here's the whole selection:
http://www.opencart.com/index.php?route=extension/extension&sort=rating&path=1_13&order=DESC&page=1

You can filter this by free and commercial.

If you're willing to pay for a theme then you're likely going to get a higher quality result with a lot less hassle.

I hope that helps Lisa.

If you need any more help then just let us know.

Good luck!

 

[Ali-v-8]

Dont know if any of you are fans of Top Gear, but a certain episode pops to mind.
Jezza and co convert a combine harvester into a snow plough. It did the job, with loads of modifications and not that well I must say.
Wordpress now has some ecommerce software. IMO - still needs a lot of work.

Try open cart instead and add a blog module - much much better solution.

 

[Oakleaf Studio UK]

If ecommerce is your primary requirement you've started on the wrong foundations by using wp.

Agreed.

WP has it's uses, in fact a recent demographic of 1000's of web designers in the UK showed more and more were using WordPress (even moving over from Expression Engine) for not only blogs but as the basis for a full content managed website (yes WordPress is not just a blog platform anymore).

However, when it comes to ecommerce it's not quite the golden product people hope for. I've trialled most ecommerce plugins for WordPress and they all seem to be lacking unfortunately.

 

[Deleted member 27344]

"wordpress is for blogging" <~ always makes me laugh.

There's nothing wrong with integrating WordPress and ecommerce but it totally depends on what your needs are.

 

[inspiredworx]

Have you considered Jigoshop for WordPress ecommerce? It's been around for just over a year now and works a charm - it might not have everything you need but it's worth looking at, they have loads of add-on's too.

I'm using it for my clients' sites at the moment and it's working great.

I do think though that Magento is the 'daddy' of them all, perhaps that may be more suited. I suppose it depends on what you need it to do.

I don't think WordPress is just for blogging anymore!

 

[j600com]

"wordpress is for blogging" <~ always makes me laugh.

There's nothing wrong with integrating WordPress and ecommerce but it totally depends on what your needs are.

Sorry I should have said its main purpose is blogs and CMS sites (but still not eCommerce). I am yet to see a decent wp based eCommerce site (I've seen lots of blogs trying/failing miserably at being an eCommerce site though).

If you're not 'serious' about selling online, e.g if your a band and you want a tiny part of your site to sell your merchandise (bit you're not rally bothered) then wp would be okay (e.g the balance being 95% information and 5% retail). Other than that type of scenario, it's the wrong foundations/platform.

 

[j600com]

Ps. If you try hard enough you can hammer a nail in with a spanner, it doesn't mean you should use a spanner for the job just because technically it's possible (especially when there's a toolbox full of hammers at your fingertips)

 

[j600com]

I suppose it depends on what you need it to do.

I don't think WordPress is just for blogging anymore!

I agree completely, but still think if you're main aim is eCommerce then wp still isn't suitable for people who are serious about selling online.

If you're not 'serious' about selling online, e.g if your a band and you want a tiny part of your site to sell your merchandise (but you're not really bothered) then wp would be okay (e.g the balance being 95% information and 5% retail). Other than that type of scenario, it's the wrong foundations/platform.

Couldn't edit my post, on my phone and had a few spelling errors from tip-tapping too quickly

 

[lennondevid]

According to me, wordpress is best to use a E commerce. It is very easy to use and its themes and plugins, need to be upgraded all the time.

 

[jaydenharris98]

Wordpress is best for create website but it has a many limit so there are many open source technology in market like drupal, magento, prestashop.

 

[ITsoldUK]

According to me, wordpress is best to use a E commerce. It is very easy to use and its themes and plugins, need to be upgraded all the time.

no, no, no , no, no...

Square peg, round hole dude.

WP is best used for what it was built for...period

I would never use my frying page to boil me pants now would I...

 

[ITsoldUK]

Does anyone else find working with wordpress to set up an ecommerce retail shop hard? I just want a blog as my homepage and categories afterwards????? maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan this is complicated!

Dunno if you are still going or just happy to have added your 'link' in further into the topic (I am a sceptic aren't I...)

BUT, if you struggle with WP boy are you gonna struggle with Zencart.

Good luck with your choices.

 

[ladybee]

I just found WP hard to deal with for ecommerce, zencart....dont go there wtf, my head span. Tried so many different things i ended up breaking my url link. Ocart is quite simple though so have decided wp for blog linked to my ocart and vice versa, for sales/to drive sales........

 

[ladybee]

Hey. Using wp for blog but when i try to change header image to my own it comes up blank. However if i use the custom ones thats fine??? is it my picture size or am i jus **** with wp!