What is the best e-commerce strategy for a small business?

[Oliphante]

What strategy should I employ in getting my smallbiz website up. It will likely have under 1000 visitors per month and handle accounts of about $400 dollars annually.

I would like to have my own design (which I created in PS as a blue print) rather than some lame templates from a host. What is the smartest way to undertake this.

i.e. What should I tell the developer to do in terms of the e-commerce integration?

 

[chrishirst]

What should I tell the developer to do in terms of the e-commerce integration?

If the "developer" doesn't already know how to do that you should be looking for a better one.

I would like to have my own design (which I created in PS as a blue print)

Get a developer who can turn the design into a HTML layout

 

[Oliphante]

I don't have a developer and I am not extremely well versed in coding. I don't know which questions I should specifically address to the developer to vett credibility and I do not know what to suggest in terms of strategy. I am trying to find a suitable strategy I can take to the market and get bids on...

 

[Oliphante]

If the "developer" doesn't already know how to do that you should be looking for a better one.

I have done enough due diligence to understand there is an extremely varying way of approaching this both in terms of CMS companies, portals, and proprietary implementation. I don't know enough to effectively decide what is right for me. Also, I don't want to handcuff myself to something that may become obsolete, not deliver, or otherwise fall out of favor with the community.

What are some good questions to put to the developers when I put my site out to bid?

 

[Phreaddee]

Well I guess you should ask to see their previous ecommerce work. And not just hooking a site up to PayPal; any schmuck can do that. A seamless cart and payment gateways at least require some effort, And if they've never done that before your bound to run into problems.

Ask them about their process, don't get too caught up in cms talk; EVERY developer will try to sell you on their preferred option... Although if they speak about "web builders" such as wix or yola. RUN!

Ask them if they've worked with designers before, and how they prefer Files to be setup. Any "slicing" a pad>HTML talk and you should run from that too.

Ask them about mobile commerce, and they (if they are any good) be able to give you stacks of different options to work with. It will cost more no doubt but it's a wise conversation to have.

Ask them about browser support and their methods of supporting such; particularly ie.

Finally you get what you pay for, if they're too cheap you'll probably end up with a pretty average result. Likewise don't get taken for a spin and get roped into an outrageously expensive option either. That'll be overkill.

 

[Edge]

Some good questions:
What e-commerce sites have you built before?
What technologies/software were used and on what platform?
Will design be mobile/tablet friendly (i.e. responsive)?
How much did you charge?
How much would you charge to develop a site based on these templates (provide) with this functionality (provide)?
What will be the cost and type of hosting?
Who will host?
What after sales support will you provide?
Can I contact any of your clients for references?
What is your upcoming availability and expected lead time and project duration?
What are your terms and conditions?

*edit* Phreaddee you posted just as I did so apologies for repeating anything you said!

 

[Oliphante]

Guys,

Great responses, you have given me a lot of information to go on already. Firstly, will begin my jog away from wix, yola and any slicing.

It does sound like I would want a cart as well as a payment gateway. Another developer suggested zoomla with virtuemart. Is virtuemart a payment gateway, and does this sound like a reasonable strategy?

 

[chrishirst]

A "shopping cart" is only the bit of the system that holds the purchases until checkout and payment.

A payment gateway is the bit of the system that the "checkout" passes the product details and the price to the credit card processor, then sends a success or failure response back to your checkout system.

Virtuemart is a Joomla! extension that is a catalogue system that has inventory control, a cart system, a checkout and predefined payment gateways for the most common card processors.