Taking the first step into eCommerce?

beginners, ecommerce

[rlancer79]

Hey everyone :)

I was thinking of starting an eCommerce site to sell accessories imported from overseas. But! I don't have HTML knowledge, and don't want to hire someone to do it.

What kind of software would I be dealing with if I wanted to make a site that could be navigated and have a good appearance, with a checkout box? I have looked at my old Frontpage, but I don't think it is working very well for this kind of purpose.

Besides setting up suppliers, the site is the most important, is it correct? As it's the storefront, I'm meaning.

Thanks for answering these newbie questions.

[vincevincevince]

I recommend, as strongly as I can, that you do hire someone to do this. Find a company able to produce a seamless customised ecommerce package and make the investment. You can do it yourself, certainly not with frontpage, but the learning curve is very steep and you shouldn't expect to get a good result any time soon.

To build it yourself, you will need to learn, at a minimum:
- HTML (CSS highly recommended)
- PHP OR Perl OR ASP OR Python
- MySQL OR Access/JET OR Postgres OR ...other reliable DB...
- Image manipulation software (Illustrator / GIMP / Photoshop...)

Whilst your WYSIWYG (e.g. Frontpage) software will help you hammer out some HTML, it will fall flat on its face if you try to integrate your scripting (e.g. PHP/PERL/ASP/Python...) without knowing anything about the HTML you are trying to have the script duplicate.

Using a third party e-commerce system could help to cut down your DIY development time. I'd suggest one of the larger proprietary carts would do you well, but you will still need at least some HTML and CSS to integrate your design through the templating system. At this stage, you should avoid an entirely open source cart because with little technical knowledge you do need to be able to fall back on a contractural eligibility for support.

[rlancer79]

Well, I do already work with Illustrator and Photoshop for my design-side work, so the latter isn't a problem at least.

Would there be any software that would ease picking up the scripting-side? I am really trying to keep the startup costs down and avoid hiring anyone.

[vincevincevince]

I'd recommend starting with any simple book on HTML, then one on PHP and MySQL. If you have a clear idea what you want to build, that's probably the easiest way to to learn.

On the other hand, time spent learning is also money spent. If it takes you 100 hours and you value your time at $10/hour, then consider paying $1000 for someone to do a better job than you would do, and let you get on with your real focus, which is selling.

[minnapple]

I good start here
[webmasterworld.com...]

[kbeertje]

I recommend, you go to a good Web Hosting and Domain company,
( I can tell you no specifics here because of the rules)
where you got your one site builder, and in the same time make lots of money!