Ecommerce Website - use a host or get a site developed?

[Nina20]

Hello,

I’m starting a business, the business will sell one type product to start with. If this product is a success more product lines shall be added.

I am looking into websites. I am wondering whether I get a site developed (development costs plus on going hosting costs etc) or whether I use a host ecommerce site like BigCommerce.com where I would pay a monthly subscription.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

opencart and hi hosting are the most reliable and value IMO

Opencart is great but not for the faint hearted: developer knowledge is really recommended for the open source route.

As you are starting out and testing the waters, so to speak, you could start with a hosted, SaaS solution which you can manage yourself. There are many choices. Squarespace is one, which offers a DIY ecommerce solution
www.squarespace.com/tour/ecommerce-website

Shopify is an ecommerce specific company which is gaining popularity too. Only used these as a customer but the shopping experience is very good. www.shopify.co.uk

You could also start by selling the product on a ready made platform such as eBay, amazon or Etsy if applicable.

If you don’t have time to tinker with templates, and have a large budget, hiring a developer is an option. She/he will take care of the technical aspects for you, including hosting.

When I started my online business (also an ecommerce) I made the mistake to employ a developer instead of going with a hosting service. BIG regret on the money I spent on the development. A developed solution will require a lot of knowledge and time from you to keep updating the website and keep up with security and add-ons needed. It's a massive job on top of promoting the website itself and taking care of stocking and etc. Unless you have someone dedicated to admin the website go to a hosting solution. I ended up doing that after a lot of frustration with the developer ecommerce solution and I'm much happier! I host mine with WIX, btw, and they are great. Good luck!

Hi there.

Please please please DON'T go to a developer!! As someone said earlier, there are many customisable platforms now which are brilliant, easy to follow and you are totally in control at all points.

I am an artist with my own business and recently I've been making some squarespace websites for my clients. You can have one set up and ready to roll for about £450 including training on it.

Let me know if you'd like more information but I hope you get this before you make any decisions.

Very simple answer, if you are just starting off - 1 product etc, want to keep costs down etc use ECWIDS , the easiest tool you will ever come across. Build your product, options, colour etc, add in your PayPal details (or whatever payments you want).

In then gives you 5 lines of text. Copy / paste that into ANY website - and hey presto - your ecommerce shop will appear. Get a few more domains - bluewidgets.com , redwidgets.com - copy / paste the code - hey presto the same appears - but on a different website.

The KILLER feature though is that you can integrate ecwids directly into FaceBook. FaceBook users never even have to leave their facebook session to visit your website. It is the #1 ecommerce tool for FaceBook - no brainer.

The trick is - you sell car tyres for example, use FaceBook to geo target car lovers in your area. Sell wedding stuff - geo target women who have changed their status to engaged (getting married)

www.ecwids.co.uk
www.facebook.com/ecwids - Facebook demo
www.facebook.com/ecwids/app/251458316228/ in action

No technical knowledge needing, no coding and it is updated automatically - I advise anyone to use it. Will save you a fortune in having to pay a developer, website builder etc

www.ecwids.co.uk is coming up with a privacy error. I won't click further.

Hi,

I just set up my own business earlier this month, I used names.co.uk and bought my domain name. I built my website by myself, they have support if required but I couldn't believe how easy it was!

Ruleof4

Only just logged back in after a long while - www.ecwids.co.uk loads fine and I see the padlock symbol etc