Second Shopping Cart Question

[Mary Ann]

Just signed on and I see someone else has a shopping cart question but my
situation is different....I manage several retail web sites that all have
secure order forms people fill out with credit card info., we then process
the order in the store and ship. We want to update the sites and add shopping
carts but don't know which to use. I've looked into Yahoo carts, Monster
Commerce and others but I would think it's less expensive to buy the software
and do it myself. Question is: which one to buy, I need something easy to
use, that I can use on several sites and inexpensive.

 

[Mary Ann]

You guys always answer me so quick and I was wondering why noone answered
this. I thought maybe because I didn't mention that I was using FP 2003?

 

[Tom Willett]

When and if someone has an answer for you, I'm sure they'll provide it.
In the meantime, you may wish to search this newsgroup as well as the client
newsgroup, where the question is asked and answered on a regular basis.

--
===
Tom Willett
Microsoft MVP - FrontPage
---
FrontPage Support:
http://www.frontpagemvps.com/
===
| You guys always answer me so quick and I was wondering why noone answered
| this. I thought maybe because I didn't mention that I was using FP 2003?
| --
| Thanks, Mary Ann
|
|
| "Mary Ann" wrote:
|
| > Just signed on and I see someone else has a shopping cart question but
my
| > situation is different....I manage several retail web sites that all
have
| > secure order forms people fill out with credit card info., we then
process
| > the order in the store and ship. We want to update the sites and add
shopping
| > carts but don't know which to use. I've looked into Yahoo carts, Monster
| > Commerce and others but I would think it's less expensive to buy the
software
| > and do it myself. Question is: which one to buy, I need something easy
to
| > use, that I can use on several sites and inexpensive.
| > --
| > Thanks, Mary Ann

 

[Dave B.]

You should allow up to 24 hours or so for an answer, these boards are not
staffed, any answers are volunteer.

 

[Mary Ann]

I'm sorry I wasn't being pushy, it's usually so fast that someone answers.
I'm not really in a hurry.

 

[xfile]

Hi,

My two cents,

...secure order forms people fill out with credit card info

I'm not sure if this is done by the existing shopping cart or other means,
but I assume you don't have one.

(1) Business side considerations: customer management, order management,
promotion, and so on. It's up to your company to decide the width and depth
of functionalities.

(2) Technical consideration:
I'd at least consider platform (Windows, Unix, etc), and programming
technologies (ASP, .Net, PHP, etc.). And if you already have a platform,
you may just stick to the current one.

(3) Flexibility: Open source if you wish to modify or customize

(4) Tool: I am not a programming expert, so based on limited experience - FP
is good for ASP but not so friendly with PHP and .Net, and there is a beta
version of MS design tool called Expression Web (search MS site for it)
which is good for .Net and CSS stuffs. But certainly others may have
different opinions.

(5) Optional - web templates: Of course, you can design your own. But
buying design templates (with exclusive or non-exclusive right to use it) is
also beneficial for initial implementation and even for later customization.
We have one case for which we eventually changed everything as time goes by,
but it saved a lot of troubles on initial implementation, and we are still
using many of its elements.

I'm reluctant to provide vendor names, and it may vary depending largely on
your individual needs and skills.

But I'll suggest you to search the net using key words, such as, "ASP
shopping cart", "PHP shopping cart", "storefront software" etc. and you can
start from there.

Finally, many vendors provide pre-sales support and trial products, so don't
hesitate to ask any questions and try their products.

Oh, almost forgot - good technical support is the most important above all.

Hope this helps.

 

[xfile]

Just signed on and I see someone else has a shopping cart question but my
situation is different....I manage several retail web sites that all have
secure order forms people fill out with credit card info., we then process
the order in the store and ship. We want to update the sites and add
shopping
carts but don't know which to use. I've looked into Yahoo carts, Monster
Commerce and others but I would think it's less expensive to buy the
software
and do it myself. Question is: which one to buy, I need something easy to
use, that I can use on several sites and inexpensive.

 

[xfile]

Hi,

Me again.

I apologize for not reading your subject closely and it's for the "second"
one.

In that case, I'd put the highest priority to the compatibility with the
existing one such as, database, programming technologies, instead of other
mentioned.

I have no real experience on migrating to another shopping cart (currently
under planning), but I'd anticipate database would be the most difficult
part of the work.

Sorry again!