I know there are tons of eCommerce software programs out there. My question is I am being approached about doing web stores. I would like to dive into this field. Where is the best place to start. I'm looking for answers mostly to these questions:

1. What are some good eCommerce software programs out there and the issues using them.
2. What's a good way to estimate the amount of hosting they will need.
3. What will be my level of maintenance on the site once I have set it up.

Any help here will be get folks...and thanx in advance.

Originally Posted by snapcridge

What are some good eCommerce software programs out there and the issues using them.

It depends what you mean by "good". There are a lot of decent carts available but each has it's strength and weaknesses so you really need to make a list of all the features you want first to find the best one for your business.

Whenever ecommerce is mentioned you'll always get the "free for all" crowd shouting "OSCommerce" at you but beware as it's getting very old now and hasn't seen an update in years. It works just fine but if your business is critical to your livelihood getting the best you can afford, free systems rarely have developer support (you're on your own) whereas commercial systems do - if your site stops working you will want to get it back up and running asap!

Post a list of your requirements and you should get some good suggestions...
- what's your budget?
- what skill level are you with HTML, CSS and PHP?
- what features do you need for your shop
- what types of payment do you need?

Originally Posted by snapcridge

What's a good way to estimate the amount of hosting they will need.

Normally I'd allow 100mb disk space per 200 products and that's very generous. Data transfer wise most shopping sites might use 5-10gb a month, if you start getting busy that will be more. Whatever happens look for a web host that allows you to upgrade when you need more resources.

Originally Posted by snapcridge

What will be my level of maintenance on the site once I have set it up.

Once your site is ready to go live you will most likely have daily task to do

1. Checking for orders
2. Fulfilment of orders
3. Promotion
4. Adding/editing products
5. Dealing with enquiries

Okay...
-The budget is not yet determined. This will be for potential clients for my web design business, not for my own site.
-HTML skill level: advanced, CSS skill level: advanced, PHP skill level: Beginner
-All payment types

I want to be able to help get these set up for clients and then allow them to be able to do the daily tasks, since, of course it will be there business.

Hosting is not an issue. I am a hosting reseller with the capabilities to increase space and bandwidth without issue. By the way the host I use has Agora Shopping Cart built in. Never used the features. Anyone have an pros and cons to using this system.

Ah sorry it's for a customer of yours

OK, one of the most important things here is to find a cart system with a backend/admin that your client can understand and use easily. The easier it is the less support you'll have to give them!

I've not really used Agora so can't comment.

To find a good cart system have a look at those listed at http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Script...rts/index.html
- these carts generally have a good reputation...

Ecommerce templates - not used
Squirrelcart - not used but looks ok
Avactis - currently building a site with it, not bad, more improvements coming soon
ViartShop - not used
SunShop - not used
Digishop - not used
X-cart - have used, tons of features, very popular, crap coding!
CS-cart - not used
Pinnaclecart - not used
JShop server - used often, my personal choice, very flexible

Make a list of all the features you need and see which carts match your requirements, pay attention to things like templates, and how friendly the admins are!

What about Zen Cart and osCommerce. I have heard and read good things about those in the past.

i highly recommed osComerce simply because its easy to use and modify, there is a HUGE support forum for oscommerce, and there are hudreds of thousands of additional modules and features you can download for free and install to make your store more unique.

a good place to learn would be to first choose which script your going to use, then find a support forum for that script, and just read through the forum. good luck

oscommerce for ease of install, update and modify ... I know several happy users running their stores for good time period and no complains.

Cheers
GS

osCommerce seems to be a classic example of shopping cart software :-).

However i myself prefer non-free solutions that come with official support service and updates. So you can be sure you won't be left with your problems face to face.

I would recommend you to check X-cart software http://x-cart.com, it has a lot of features and have a professional support team. By the way a new version was released recently, so they are working on the software constantly and improving it.

I hope you will make a right choice for your business. Cheers

I'd like to learn how to add a shopping cart with a admin panel, too -- have dabbled with online one's but never with one I installed myself and this is almost a "must know" these days when making web sites for people.

But...going thru that list, my word, how do you decide which one to use!? I see that many of you are recommending OsCommerce but I'm with Distant -- not all that into free scripts of this importance. Love 'em for other things, but this is something you want to be perfect. On the other hand, I purchased a script from Gentle Source and was desperate for help last week, e-mailed them 3 times (couldn't find a telephone number) and never did get an answer so something even that can backfire.

Well, I'm going to look into this OsCommerce a bit more but that list on hotscripts - - how do you even begin to sift thru that??

Originally Posted by snapcridge

I know there are tons of eCommerce software programs out there. My question is I am being approached about doing web stores. I would like to dive into this field. Where is the best place to start. I'm looking for answers mostly to these questions:

1. What are some good eCommerce software programs out there and the issues using them.
2. What's a good way to estimate the amount of hosting they will need.
3. What will be my level of maintenance on the site once I have set it up.

Any help here will be get folks...and thanx in advance.

I am biased as i run the company, but you could try eCGenius from Fisher Technology which is .NET SQL Server and XML based. If you are interested in building a business as a developer using our tools to roll out solutions to your clients we would be interested in working with you ..

Originally Posted by snapcridge

What about Zen Cart and osCommerce. I have heard and read good things about those in the past.

Yes they are good carts and work well. However as you're building the site for a client it's very important that they can understand and use the cart administration facilities. This is where you need to sit down and choose a short list of cart systems match your requirements, then sit down with your client and show them the back end functions to see which on they prefer and can use without constant support requests to you.

OSC or Zencart might fit the bill, and be free, but you should be aiming to give your client the best possible product for their budget.