Yahoo Stores vs. MonsterCommerce???

[chelseaandco]

Opinion time: Which one is better a Yahoo Store or a MonsterCommerce one?

Pros and cons?

I need to find a new host for my site that has grown too big for CityMax and I'm stumped.

Help!
Michele

[chelseaandco]

Help...please...somebody...

Ok, I still don't know what to do. I've wasted so much money on bad solutions the last couple of years I'm afraid that I'll make a huge mistake.

Has anyone used 3Dcart.com? Any input on them? I'm concerned about SEO primarily.

Thanks all,
Michele

[incrediblehelp]

I haven't used either one. I know at least with Yahoo you can "SEO" the website to a point. My friend was using Monster Commerce 1-2 years ago and you couldn't even change titles tags for each page, yikes.

Have you looked at OS Commerce?

[chelseaandco]

Incrediblehelp,
Thank you so much for helping me out. I did look as OsCommerce, but I'm looking for a total solution, similar to Yahoo stores, where hosting and a site builder is included and you pay a monthly fee for everything.

This is stand alone software right? Am I correct in thinking that I would need to have a website designed and then add OsCommerce to it, and then find a web host?

Thanks,
Michele

[chelseaandco]

Incrediblehelp,
Oh, I forgot to ask something. I'm now looking into Volusion and 3Dcart.com.

Have you ever had experience with either of those, or heard any feedback about them?

Thanks,
Michele

[CarolineBogart3]

Hi chelseaandco,

I don't think you need to narrow your choices to those 2 shopping carts. Last time I looked yahoo took a bite of every sale. Monster, I think, is part of network solutions now. shudder.

What you should pick depends on your expertise and budget.

OsCommerce right out of the box is a good choice. If you were willing to go with yahoo or monster commerce I think oscommerce is a better choice.

I've also done a few virtuemart stores. That's a component to Joomla CMS. I'm on the fence whether I like that or oscommerce better.

If you're going to customize the project maybe you could share more about the store's goals?

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by chelseaandco

Oh, I forgot to ask something. I'm now looking into Volusion and 3Dcart.com.

No I have not, sorry.

I agree with CarolineBogart3, laying out some goals and what exactly you want the website/webstore/hosting to do is the best way to match up to the "all-in-one" product you need.

[ryanfritz]

I really enjoy MonsterCommerce...

ryan
www.irongorilla.com

[jcisar]

Originally Posted by chelseaandco

Help...please...somebody...

Ok, I still don't know what to do. I've wasted so much money on bad solutions the last couple of years I'm afraid that I'll make a huge mistake.

Has anyone used 3Dcart.com? Any input on them? I'm concerned about SEO primarily.

Thanks all,
Michele

Chealsea&CO,
You wrote how you are primarily concerned with SEO. If this is a primary concern for you, I would not recommend a Yahoo Store. In terms of site SEO, storefronts hosted on such "turnkey" sites like Cafepress or Yahoo Stores attribute more to the credit of the provider rather than to the hosted storefront. In all my experience, I've never seen a all-in one, turnkey store perform at the top of the SERPs.

[ryanfritz]

Monster at least has some SEO fields and such included with their software. They at least take it into consideration. Certainly better than Yahoo...but I only have experience with Monster Commerce. I do however get me site such as chandelierparts.com in the top search engine results for many chandelier terms like, of course "chandelier parts"

[jester]

I wouldn't rule out some like vectorcraft either. They are a small out fit but are working on some great features for both users and managment of your content. Fine grain seo control with superior product and contennt management i promise you its worth looking to.

Check out their eCommerce solution. An example site is Bath Accessory Store

[jungledsales]

After a lot of research of osCommerce vs. Yahoo vs. Joomla vs. volusion vs. anything else on the market, we have found that Americommerce is the best website management tool and top of the industry for SEO. Yes, it's a bit pricy but it will put you ahead of your competitors. Plus, their customer service is as good as any. They will even design and program a whole site for you for a reasonable price.

I have watched all their videos, interviewed existing users, and signed up for the demo and I like everything I see. Even if I have something that needs to be customized, they will do it for me. Probably the biggest benefit is that I can use the same "warehouse" for as many websites as I want. And since I already have a few sites and am currently developing a couple more, this was the feature that attracted us the most.

My 2 cents.

[jestep]

Take a look at http://www.applepiecart.com/

I have heard very good things about them as far as SEO is concerned. It isn't the cheapest out there, but it does offer the all-in-one package you are looking for.

[chelseaandco]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Everyone!

I have been looking at all these other options and appreciate the feedback you've all given me.

I do have another question, though. Alot of these differt webstore/cart solutions seem to offer the same things, such as Volusion, 3Dcart, Applepie cart, etc.

How does one decide?

By the way, I've decided against MonsterCommerce or a Yahoo Store.

Thanks,
Michele

[ryanfritz]

I found it impossible to decide if youre comparing apples to apples of each and every cart. Eventually you have to simply pick which cart you think will fit best. Thats the problem we find is that we want to "try" other carts but there is time and a learning curve involved with each one. Why did you decide against monster? Only curious as we happen to be using it...maybe theres something I need to know about Monster!!

[DrTandem1]

I don't know anything about MonsterCommerce, but I have experienced Yahoo Stores and I would avoid them.

If you just want a shopping cart to integrate with your site, SquirrelCart appears to be an inexpensive solution.

[Mekchoudi]

Hello Chelsea,
Have you looked into Actinic? I have been using it for 2 years, a very well optimised products. It is computer based so you do not pay fees to anyone apart from your web hosting company.
Regards, Nicolas

[Coinman]

We proccess a couple of thousand orders a month thru Monster commerce. They offer a very good product but may not be the best for SEO. We are in a very competitive field and have mixed results with SEO with them. We actually left Yahoo stores for monster a fews ago when they started taking a cut of the sales. I believe they stopped that practice though.

[CarolineBogart3]

Re: my VirtueMart mention. I'd say don't go with that. I don't like the SEO aspect.

To your question, how does one decide? Based on what you've done with your current store, I'm guessing the following are important to you:

SEO: good keyword url's, lots of human and search relevant content spots and site map generation. I modified VirtueMart to display the product names in the title tag. Creating these title tags was a huge boon to the Google results. See if you can find or hire this feature as it was a powerful move. And Yahoo still reads meta tags so make sure you have control over these.

Products: Unless you are spreadsheet-phobic you'd do well to export your current inventory to a CSV file and upload it to the new store. I don't know your skill level here, you also might either hire someone to do this or input the products by hand. The better the cart's import intelligence the less work/money you need to spend.

For marketing reasons I think you want a mass mailer or an ability to capture customer emails. All you want here is an HTML email tool attached to the store or an ability to dump the store emails to an opt-in list management tool. A built in opt in management tool is better.

Web Design - what's up with the current design? Do you want to keep it? If so you need a template based solution. If you're happy with pre-made templates that don't necessarily promote your brand then any store will have that.

Modifications - does your store do any processing that a typical shopping cart package doesn't have? If you plan to modify the software on a budget go with a PHP-based store. Microsoft/ASP.Net programmers are more expensive (I know, I do both PHP and ASP.Net).

Hosting - {{blatant self-interest warning}} you might want an all in one hosting/ecommerce package, or you might need to make template and behavior modifications to your shopping cart before you go live.... In other words, you might do well to find a programmer to support your initial setup and then do the backups, hosting and maintenance as part of the monthly fee.

Where is the basket/cart on the page - do you have a preference for where the basket is positioned within the user experience? In my opinion it should be on the right side of every page, but there are other opinions (put something in the basket and then show the user the basket). So look at this feature according to how you shop. Maybe you could ask your current customers what they like or dislike about their ecommerce experiences.

User experience -- play with the shopping cart software demos, pretend you're a customer. How do you feel about navigation and information? Are you likely to abandon the cart? If you are so is your customer. Find a cart that works with you, not against you.

Payment, Shipping, Taxes - how comfortable are you setting up the cart's payment options? Can you flip a switch to enter your authorize.net transaction ID? Do you want real time UPS prices? Will you ever have a complicated tax zone problem you'll want to solve? Play with the admin area of the demo carts to get a feel for these solutions.

Wholesale pricing - do you have one price for everyone, or do you need any special features for different customer types?

hth,
Caroline