recommendations for an ecommerce site provider

[glasgowrob]

the wife is starting up a small business selling scents and perfumes etc atm she's just doing it locally via facebook and word of mouth but is looking into getting a website to sell from.



anyone suggest a good provider for a very simple to use ecommerce provider?


ideally looking for something that requires zero knowledge or setup other than uploading pics prices and descriptions and offers paypal and credit/debit card payments had a look at godaddy who seemed to offer most of the above but wondering if theres anyone better before she takes the plunge?

[Bikerjon]

Shopify, Volusion and BigCommerce are some of the usual recommendations. Not sure that they require "zero" knowledge, but certainly seem designed with ease of use in mind. Most have free trials.

[elephantstone]

Ive used shopify. The support has been great for the "how the fk do i do this?" Moments. I have little to no knowledge and once i found my way round it is dead easy. Link in my bio.

[akirk]

I run a web company - but we no longer code eCommerce websites for clients - too much complexity / risk v. low cost to use one of the online providers as suggested above - shopify and bigcommerce are the two main contenders at the moment - we have chosen bigcommerce for a number of clients in the last couple of years...

I would suggest that you look at bigcommerce and have a play with it - you can sign up for a free trial and see how you get on - it is very non-technical to use / lots of good guidance online / very helpful staff at bigcommerce if you have an issue

top tips:
- avoid customising beyond the built in customisations and then you won't need a web company to help = much cheaper
- spend as little cash on this as possible at this stage in the business - you won't see a return on your spend v. putting some time into an online solution and just getting up and selling
- key factor in success is not the eCommerce solution - it is getting people onto the website & having something they want to buy once there - bigcommerce / shopify are both very professional solutions so won't put your punter off...
- think about payments - and your market - will they prefer paypal / credit card - consider putting both in you can always drop one in the future if not used as much...
- make sure the theme you use is responsive so that it works on mobile as well as on the desktop - some of our clients have 80-90% of their website visitors on mobile now...
- just get in there, set it up, don't get too hung up on the system, just get going
- use really high quality photos - makes a huge difference
- make sure descriptions are very detailed
- get friends to test it

just get on and do it - total cost other than time should be a few hundreds if that

[X-Factor]

glasgowrob said:

the wife is starting up a small business selling scents and perfumes etc atm she's just doing it locally via facebook and word of mouth but is looking into getting a website to sell from.



anyone suggest a good provider for a very simple to use ecommerce provider?


ideally looking for something that requires zero knowledge or setup other than uploading pics prices and descriptions and offers paypal and credit/debit card payments had a look at godaddy who seemed to offer most of the above but wondering if theres anyone better before she takes the plunge?

Hi glasgowrob,

Just use woocommerce, it is simple but it is not too powerful. For hosting, I use hostforlife.eu. Woocommerce is good for beginner and dont know much about codin. Another good cms for ecommerce like nopcommerce, magento, prestashop. I have also tried them. For me, magento is the most powerful CMS for ecommerce site.

I also tried BigCommerce, but they are very complex.... I have to admit, the features are powerful. If you just start build your online store, I believe that you dont need to start with them.

Good luck

[jammy_basturd]

akirk said:

I run a web company - but we no longer code eCommerce websites for clients - too much complexity / risk v. low cost to use one of the online providers as suggested above - shopify and bigcommerce are the two main contenders at the moment - we have chosen bigcommerce for a number of clients in the last couple of years...

I would suggest that you look at bigcommerce and have a play with it - you can sign up for a free trial and see how you get on - it is very non-technical to use / lots of good guidance online / very helpful staff at bigcommerce if you have an issue

top tips:
- avoid customising beyond the built in customisations and then you won't need a web company to help = much cheaper
- spend as little cash on this as possible at this stage in the business - you won't see a return on your spend v. putting some time into an online solution and just getting up and selling
- key factor in success is not the eCommerce solution - it is getting people onto the website & having something they want to buy once there - bigcommerce / shopify are both very professional solutions so won't put your punter off...
- think about payments - and your market - will they prefer paypal / credit card - consider putting both in you can always drop one in the future if not used as much...
- make sure the theme you use is responsive so that it works on mobile as well as on the desktop - some of our clients have 80-90% of their website visitors on mobile now...
- just get in there, set it up, don't get too hung up on the system, just get going
- use really high quality photos - makes a huge difference
- make sure descriptions are very detailed
- get friends to test it

just get on and do it - total cost other than time should be a few hundreds if that

I agree with all of this. I stopped doing ecommerce sites over a year ago for much of the same reasons.

The one point I'll add to what's been said above.
- Know your business model - Low margins = no customer service and high volume. High margins = good customer service. 90% of the internet is a race to the bottom in terms of price, so shun that and look for high margin sales and differentiate yourself with excellent customer service.

Also, you don't need to have any single item you sell online. Pick what you think will attract customers and sell well. Use high margin accessory items as add-on sells to get a profit.

Lastly, DO NOT use Magento if you're just starting out. It is not for SMEs.

[akirk]

X-Factor said:

Hi glasgowrob,

Just use woocommerce, it is simple but it is not too powerful. For hosting, I use hostforlife.eu. Woocommerce is good for beginner and dont know much about codin. Another good cms for ecommerce like nopcommerce, magento, prestashop. I have also tried them. For me, magento is the most powerful CMS for ecommerce site.

I also tried BigCommerce, but they are very complex.... I have to admit, the features are powerful. If you just start build your online store, I believe that you dont need to start with them.

Good luck

I wouldn't recommend woocommerce - it means installing wordpress, then woocommerce - you are responsible for maintaining all the plugins and making sure they work with each other...

the two big companies are shopify / bigcommerce - you want a hosted ecommerce system for now so that you put minimal time into the code / software, and maximum time into building the business / marketing / making sales - don't go down any other route!

once you are a big established company and have specific needs the online systems can't handle, then fine, revisit your options, but that time is not now.

bigcommerce is really not complex - I have clients with no technical knowledge happily using it - and you can do a free trial...

[joeroot09]

I’m in the same boat and have been asking myself exactly this question. My partner is also starting a small business and wants something super simple where you can just upload pictures, add prices/descriptions, and start selling without having to mess with code or complicated setup. Having built-in support for PayPal and card payments is a must for us too. I’ve been looking at a few options as well Shopify keeps coming up because it’s very beginner-friendly, but it’s a bit pricier. WooCommerce with WordPress looks powerful but maybe more than what a true beginner wants. GoDaddy’s solution seems easy, and there are others like BigCommerce, Wix, or Squarespace that all advertise “zero setup” stores. Really interested to hear what others recommend for something that’s truly simple to use and affordable.

[Mr_Megalomaniac]

joeroot09 said:

I m in the same boat and have been asking myself exactly this question. My partner is also starting a small business and wants something super simple where you can just upload pictures, add prices/descriptions, and start selling without having to mess with code or complicated setup. Having built-in support for PayPal and card payments is a must for us too. I ve been looking at a few options as well Shopify keeps coming up because it s very beginner-friendly, but it s a bit pricier. WooCommerce with WordPress looks powerful but maybe more than what a true beginner wants. GoDaddy s solution seems easy, and there are others like BigCommerce, Wix, or Squarespace that all advertise zero setup stores. Really interested to hear what others recommend for something that s truly simple to use and affordable.

Holy thread revival Batman!
Yes Shopify and Squarespace are helpful as they have integrated payments providers (for better or worse), whereas Wordpress you have to set one up yourself.
Stripe is very popular as a plugin for that btw.

[DSLiverpool]

joeroot09 said:

I m in the same boat and have been asking myself exactly this question. My partner is also starting a small business and wants something super simple where you can just upload pictures, add prices/descriptions, and start selling without having to mess with code or complicated setup. Having built-in support for PayPal and card payments is a must for us too. I ve been looking at a few options as well Shopify keeps coming up because it s very beginner-friendly, but it s a bit pricier. WooCommerce with WordPress looks powerful but maybe more than what a true beginner wants. GoDaddy s solution seems easy, and there are others like BigCommerce, Wix, or Squarespace that all advertise zero setup stores. Really interested to hear what others recommend for something that s truly simple to use and affordable.

It’s Shopify, if £25 a month and 2% card processing is too much rethink the business model.