Should I switch to an ecommerce solution?

[fabsquad]

I've been running a small beaded jewelry website for the past 6 months and am thinking about switching to an ecommerce platform such as oscommerce or zen cart or cube cart (as these are free and in my hosting package)...but I don't want to lose the look and feel of my site, www.fabsquad.com Is it worth it to switch over and how hard is it to configure so that the menus and div's would all look the same as the current site?

[Corey Bryant]

As far as configuring - it depends on your knowledge of PHP. A lot of sites have a different look for a shopping cart actually. Some people kind of expect it. And a lot of sites are also built around the cart as well.

[fabsquad]

my knowledge of php is very limited, I wrote all of the code for the site pretty much by hand asa dreamweaver really doesnt work all that well across various browsers...now i know a bunch of css, but I'm not really looking to spend 250 hours configuring something...I checked out zen cart but it seems to be difficult to config so that it would be a seamless look from my site now.

[Corey Bryant]

Honestly, it could be very difficult then for you to make changes. I do know what you mean though. I know the HTML and CSS. ASP - I know enough to get myself into trouble :) - that is what I have my developers for.

[my74]

I think Mal's ecommerce is a good option for you. You can design the cart to match the look of your site and incorporate Paypal as a payment option. Oh, and it's free too.

[walker]

No offense, but I think it might be time to look at updating your website -- it looks a little 'Frontpage-ish'. You have some nice elements, but you might see what I mean by comparing your site to many of the sites you link to.

Osc is powerful, but it is a lot of work to change things around and implement the contributions you want. It helps a lot if you can bring yourself to live some of the defaults.

Zen prides themselves on being easier to change the look and feel, and having more base functionality.

You might also want to take a look at eCommerceTemplates and the templates at algozone.com to see if they have something you like.

[walker]

No offense, but I think it might be time to look at updating your website -- it looks a little 'Frontpage-ish'. You have some nice elements, but you might see what I mean by comparing your site to many of the sites you link to.

Osc is powerful, but it is a lot of work to change things around and implement the contributions you want. It helps a lot if you can bring yourself to live some of the defaults.

Zen prides themselves on being easier to change the look and feel, and having more base functionality.

You might also want to take a look at eCommerceTemplates and the templates at algozone.com to see if they have something you like.

[erima]

After taking a look at your site, I am glad that you are thinking of taking to the next level and using a more robust e-commerce method. Zen Cart and OSCommerce are very functional and either would provide a solid platform ... but on a site like yours which might have 100 - 200 items, you might want to also consider agora cart which is also an open source project. A site like www.chainreactionjewelry.com would give you an idea of what can be done using agora.

[soho360]

Hello

OSCommerce is a good ecommerce platform given that it's open source and therefore has many developers worldwide working on it to make better. Now I would recommend using a shopping system such as OSCommerce, XCart, ClickCartPro and Yahoo! Store for a few reasons.

Such a platform would make managing your online store and it's inventory easier and the many integrated functions that come with many of these platform ( newsletters, coupons, discounts, store memberships and etc ) will making promoting and serving your customer easier as well.

As for design, I would recommend that you get a good web designer for the job because you are competing with other website that are professionally designed and therefore should do your best to be on the same level.
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Douglas Paul
Soho360
All Angles, All Solutions, All for Small Business
Soho360 | Great Brochure Design Means Nothing Without Great Brochure Placement

[maha]

If you have little or no knowledge of PHP, I would think twice about using Oscommerece or Zen Cart. Both require you to know PHP. If you have none, than you could be stuck and getting no where when you try to setup your website.

If you have some basic PHP knowledge, OsCommerece is the best.

Consider using Yahoo's shopping cart if you don't want to mess around with programming in PHP.

[soho360]

If you have little to no experience with PHP and MySQL, then programming a shopping cart yourself would not be wise.

I would then recommend Yahoo! store or Paypal cart.
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Soho360
All Angles, All Solutions, All for Small Business
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[roban]

I use Cube Cart and have had very good luck with it and when I started I knew nothing about php. When you choose a cart you MUST look into the support you'll get. With Cube Cart I can attest it's first class. My experience with OsCommerce is very negative. Zen Cart is ok too.

I would not let lack of php knowledge stop you from using it. It's a good language to learn and is not that difficult. You can work on your site off line and then put it up when you are ready and as I have mentioned, the Cube Cart support is incredibly helpful as far as coding and modding go.

[adbart]

I've used OSCommerce before and found it to be great. Although if you're a novice at PHP, you might run into a lot of issues.

From the looks of your site, you're not selling a vast selection of products - if you're willing to pay for e-commerce shop hosting then I would recommend the following people:-

http://www.ekmpowershop.com

I don't really like them for making larger sites (see other thread on this), but in your case they might be just what you need.

[a12c4magic]

Originally Posted by maha

If you have little or no knowledge of PHP, I would think twice about using Oscommerece or Zen Cart. Both require you to know PHP. If you have none, than you could be stuck and getting no where when you try to setup your website.

If you have some basic PHP knowledge, OsCommerece is the best.

Consider using Yahoo's shopping cart if you don't want to mess around with programming in PHP.

I disagree wholeheartedly. Oscommerce requires no prior skills in php. There is a huge forum and contributions section. All you require is the ability to read, understand, use a text editor to edit files (if required) and importantly ask questions of the oscommerce community forums should you have a problem. We had no prior experience in php before we made our site, although we are still improving the site as we learn or have new ideas.

The oscommerce forums are friendly, informative and down right helpful and supportive.