I've been putting this off for a while. I've got to find a way to brush up our actual website. Currently we are relying more on Etsy (and I'm checking out ArtFire) to bring in new customers, so the website is sitting around for repeat customers that have bought from us in person.
Right now the website is set up with Domain Direct, it's okay - but the store and the website are separate. I don't like that at all. Plus not only are they separate but I cannot get a template for both, there's templates for a website and completely different templates for the store. So the store looks like it's a completely different site.
I'm looking into other ways of doing this now. Currently I'm looking at Mal's eCommerce since I know someone that has it and she's happy with it. I know there's others out there, I just need to find them, then check them out and compare.
Considering both hubby and I work full-time outside of our business we need something that is simple and relatively painless. Some day we'd love for the business to be able to support at least one of us, but right now the business is on the side. Someday...
If anyone that owns an eCommerce site reads this, I'd love to hear what you use and what your opinions are.
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3 comments:
Hi,
Saw your post and thought you might be interested in a service called Magento. It's open source software that may fit your needs.
I'm also about to launch an ecommerce training site which will give top quality training on all aspects of running an online store.
We're covering everything from set up, design, strategy, SEO to email marketing, product description, internal link structure and much more.
If you're interested in being a Beta tester or would like some more info, head over to Web Mums and specifically this thread http://webmums.ning.com/forum/topics/do-you-work-in-ecommerce-or
Hope this helps you, good luck with your ecommerce store,
Nikki
Founder
Web Mums
Gah. I tried to commment last night but something bombed and the post didn't go through.
Anyway.
I've used Mal's before, back when I had my jewelry website. It was excellent. I had absolutely no problems setting it up, and it suited my needs perfectly. I loved it, and if (when) I get back into selling jewelry, I'll use it again.
One thing that I loved about it is that I could set it up to process the order, but allow me to invoice the customer at a later date. The way I did my custom jewelry, I would take a deposit for supplies, then the balance before the order was shipped (I did custom wedding jewelry). Most other e-commerce solutions don't allow you to do that - they only take immediate payment, and that wasn't going to work for me.
If you do decide to use Mal's, I think you'll like it. All you need is a very basic understanding of HTML, and you're good to go.
Thank you two so much. Your beta sounds great Nikki! I might have to peruse it a bit.
Kim, you're awesome - that's something I didn't know about Mal's.
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