Author Topic: Ecommerce (Read 4220 times)

Shmelly · « **on:** February 20, 2013, 03:48:56 PM »

Anyone else here run an ecommerce website? It can never hurt to have a sounding board to bounce ideas and questions off of.

RoboJam · « **Reply #1 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:16:59 PM »

Quote from: Shmelly on February 20, 2013, 03:48:56 PM

Anyone else here run an ecommerce website? It can never hurt to have a sounding board to bounce ideas and questions off of.

Very interested.
I had this idea a while back, didnt really do much about it but maybe someone will.
An affiliate based, aggregated shopping site, geared for jewish shoppers. You would sign up as a publisher for stores like gap, macys, etc and use feeds of their items to put together only items that would be appropriate for Jewish customers.
I find my wife spends much too much time browsing pages upon pages of useless items. Until you find just what your looking for, so much time is wasted going from one site to the next looking for a decent top or a nice black pair of pants... If i can limit the choices to those that better fit our shopping style and guidelines it would be a big time saver.
Instead of setting up a traditional eccomerce site i would just direct the customer to the source site like gap etc to checkout.
Profits would be as an affiliate with a commission from the retailer on each transaction.
Not really an eccomerce idea but pretty close..

Shmelly · « **Reply #2 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:21:56 PM »

Very interesting concept and I can even visualize how it would work, but way too niche for my tastes. You're limiting yourself to a tiny demographic.

yuneeq · « **Reply #3 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:26:16 PM »

There's no way to make money running a website like that just off of affiliate links. Though I do like the concept.

RoboJam · « **Reply #4 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:27:50 PM »

Quote from: Shmelly on February 20, 2013, 04:21:56 PM

Very interesting concept and I can even visualize how it would work, but way too niche for my tastes. You're limiting yourself to a tiny demographic.

THAT is the probably the only reason it did not materialize, would not be worth my time.
Although, if anyone half decent with website setup/design, api and feed knowledge wants to do this, it could be an easy income.

Shmelly · « **Reply #5 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:29:37 PM »

This thread was really inspired by a conversation on another thread about ecommerce platforms. I've either used or researched many of them, so feel free to ask any questions.

yuneeq · « **Reply #6 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:34:57 PM »

Quote from: RoboJam on February 20, 2013, 04:27:50 PM

THAT is the probably the only reason it did not materialize, would not be worth my time.
Although, if anyone half decent with website setup/design, api and feed knowledge wants to do this, it could be an easy income.

If I had the knowledge to easily streamline the process of running such a website, I would definitely not be the one building it. My time would be worth so much more.

RoboJam · « **Reply #7 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:35:51 PM »

Quote from: Shmelly on February 20, 2013, 04:29:37 PM

This thread was really inspired by a conversation on another thread about ecommerce platforms. I've either used or researched many of them, so feel free to ask any questions.

Which platforms have you used? Which closed source platform is your favorite? Have you used Megento Enterprise? Im really considering migrating to a Megento-like platform any suggestions?

Shmelly · « **Reply #8 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:37:40 PM »

I currently use Magento Enterprise. TBH, I'm not 100% sure its worth the $14K/year, but they have a cheaper package now (Pro? Go? They're always changing the names). Its excellent in that its very scalable and can be customized to do just about anything.

yuneeq · « **Reply #9 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:37:47 PM »

Quote from: Shmelly on February 20, 2013, 04:29:37 PM

This thread was really inspired by a conversation on another thread about ecommerce platforms. I've either used or researched many of them, so feel free to ask any questions.

Thanks!
What platform would you recommend for a small-but-growing online clothing retailer? I've heard Magento is the most recommended, but I'm interested in hearing other options.

Shmelly · « **Reply #10 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:38:55 PM »

Quote from: yuneeq on February 20, 2013, 04:37:47 PM

Thanks!
What platform would you recommend for a small-but-growing online clothing retailer? I've heard Magento is the most recommended, but looking to hear other options.

Volusion without a doubt. You'll be somewhat limited in how much you can customize, but its very affordable and a child can use it. Amazing reporting capabilities.

RoboJam · « **Reply #11 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:43:22 PM »

Quote from: Shmelly on February 20, 2013, 04:38:55 PM

Volusion without a doubt. You'll be somewhat limited in how much you can customize, but its very affordable and a child can use it. Amazing reporting capabilities.

+1000. Volusion is the only one i recommend to clients/freinds looking to setup/upgrade their site. They've really come a long way from way back in early 2000s when it was just a buggy platform with some really bad templates...

Shmelly · « **Reply #12 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:45:25 PM »

Volusion is also the easiest platform to find cheap developers for.

RoboJam · « **Reply #13 on:** February 20, 2013, 04:46:31 PM »

Quote from: Shmelly on February 20, 2013, 04:45:25 PM

Volusion is also the easiest platform to find cheap developers for.

Good ol India to the rescue

smurf · « **Reply #14 on:** February 20, 2013, 05:10:05 PM »

Would magento hold up with a website of over 200k items?

Shmelly · « **Reply #15 on:** February 20, 2013, 05:11:34 PM »

Don't have experience with such a large product line but don't see why not. What concerns you?

RoboJam · « **Reply #16 on:** February 20, 2013, 05:13:04 PM »

Quote from: smurf on February 20, 2013, 05:10:05 PM

Would magento hold up with a website of over 200k items?

you mean 200K SKUs? Thats hella lot!

smurf · « **Reply #17 on:** February 20, 2013, 05:39:10 PM »

Quote from: Shmelly on February 20, 2013, 05:11:34 PM

Don't have experience with such a large product line but don't see why not. What concerns you?

site speed, quick search results

Quote from: RoboJam on February 20, 2013, 05:13:04 PM

you mean 200K SKUs? Thats hella lot!

Lots of variant skus

RoboJam · « **Reply #18 on:** February 20, 2013, 09:56:13 PM »

Quote from: smurf on February 20, 2013, 05:39:10 PM

site speed, quick search results
Lots of variant skus

Site speed wont be any more of an issue than if you had only 10 SKUs. Its not like they give you a dedicated server, you share the same server as any other Mom & Pop website. Same goes for quick search results.
Volusions servers are pretty reliable and as long as you dont have 20K customers clicking to your site at once, they should be able to handle that sort of SKU volume.

yitzf · « **Reply #19 on:** February 20, 2013, 10:36:54 PM »

@RoboJam what's your connection there, I see you'r on their home page