Running an online business can be difficult, especially if you work a regular job during the day. Not only to you have to process your orders but you also have to handle your inquiries. This can be a daunting task if you do receive many inquiries per day. Many online systems used to process orders can confuse and end up taking you longer to process orders than it needs to be.
But to start from the start, how do you choose an e-commerce system that is right for you, helps you manage your business when you are not there, and ultimately save you time to spend with your family or friends?
There are literally thousands of options out there, ranging from free open source solutions to large commercial enterprise solutions. So, depending on the amount of capital you have to start your online venture, you have quite a lot of choice when it comes to finding the right product. But where to start.
We have compiled a list of E-Commerce programs out there, and their prices to help you make the right choice to find the right system.
Entry Level - Limited or no budget.
Open source is a great option for you, however the downside to open source is that you need to setup, install, manage and support the entire system yourself, if you are tech minded and this thought does not scare you then see the list below.
OSCommerce - www.oscommerce.com
OSCommerce is quite arguably the most popular open source e-commerce in the world. Its popularity is based on the sheer volume of websites using the system. There are hundreds of thousands of plugins, themes and addons for this software, however to the discerning shopper it will look the same as every other OSCommerce store on the block. It does contain some good features, but would require teaching yourself how all of the features work. This system is not perfect but can adiquately get you online at no cost. See the demo-ZenCart - www.zencart.com
Similar to OSCommerce this system is a little more user friendl, but less popular. It does also have many addons and plugins, but the same as OS Commerce, requires a lot of knowlegde into web software to install and setup correctly. No demo available - see site for live store links.
- Magneto - www.magentocommerce.com
This software does have the most attractively designed preinstalled shop front. And is less known in the world of open source. If you are looking for a good system to start with this would be a recommended look. See the demo
Mid Level - Budgets up to $5000.00
ActivCart - www.activcart.com
ActivCart is our online e-commerce program that comes in many varieties. It is flexible, reliable and can be modified for almost any purpose. Entry level systems are very competitive, and if you already have your own static HTML website that you do not want to change you can use our plugin systems to add e-commerce to any website.More coming! - Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Enterprise Level - Budgets greater than $5000.00
More coming!
So now you know where you can start, but what features do you really need? This can be a hard question to answer. But if you analyze is simply it comes down to a simple question - What am I selling, and how do I want to sell it? Answer that question for yourself and you will have a good start. Another option is to call a reputable web development agency and ask if they can give you some information on direction to take. Sometimes it is easier to ask a simple question face to face or over the phone to get a better idea as to which direction and which system is right for you. Be sure to call a few places to get a good range of systems, prices and comparison. See if any of them recommend the same thing.
We are happy to answer any questions here, simply post your question in a comment below and get a straight forward answer.
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