Starting an online store - Help!!!

[Spizzo]

Ok, my brother is starting a clothing company, and wanted to get an online store going. Whats the best way to do this??? For starters i am thinking of just going through PayPal because they are secure, and offer free "buy it now" links on your page.

Is there a better way of doing this? His budget is pretty limited. (I'll be developing the site for him). Maybe some template software? What else is needed? A secure server i assume.

Any and all suggestions are welcomed. Thanks in advace!!!

 

[Blue Velvet]

Not tech advice...

...but a shopper gives her 2 cents worth.

• A size guide is always valuable i.e. with simple diagrams & charts so that people can measure themselves in the correct places and so order the correct sizes for them.

• Tricky thing clothing. You need a robust, transparent returns system & policy as people will order clothing which looks ok on screen but when they try it they may not like it.

• Closeup shots are always valuable. If the garment has a particular design or detail, then provide a closer view.

• Keep stock levels up-to-date as much as possible on the site. It's extremely frustrating to order something and then to get an email a few days later saying the item is out-of-stock and may be delayed.

• Better to start small & practical and scale up when time, cost & resources allow. The amount of online shopping ventures that quickly collapsed under unrealistic plans & expectations are untold.

• Even though PayPal may seem to offer an easy process for you to receive money it would give me pause for thought when buying anything from a business which brings me onto my final thought...

• It's crucial to have a real-world address and telephone number. Vital.

 

[caveman_uk]

• It's crucial to have a real-world address and telephone number. Vital.

Trying finding that on Amazon UK's website

I had to google for it when I wanted a rant

 

[Applespider]

Those 'Card Not Present' transaction fees can be expensive - especially setting up an online merchange account.

Depending on the level of business expected through the site initially, if he also has an offline business, he may be able to persuade his card processor to allow him to take the orders online but process offline putting the card through his system there. Lots of small online retailers work this way for the first 6 months at least.

Rather than Paypal (I know I don't intend joining them and I wouldn't just to buy an item of clothing), there are companies like Worldpay where your checkout process merges into theirs. You send them the amount that your customer needs to pay, the customer uses their secure system etc and then Worldpay send you confirmation that it's gone through.

 

[Vanilla]

I'm in the middle of setting up my own ecommerce site (selling soft toys):

1. I'd definitely go with WorldPay to start off with. Once you have built up some history you can then switch to one of the major banks and get a much better deal, but they always prefer dealing with a known entity first.

2. If this is a UK site, consider getting the site accredited to the "Internet Shopping is Safe" service, as it provides a nice level of comfort for people coming across the site.
http://www.imrg.org/8025696F004581B3/pages/imrg+Resources

3. Definitely have a good long hard think about a returns policy, plus how you intend to keep customers informed of an orders progress etc. Good customer service will be critical.

4. As for a shopping cart solution, if you go with WorldPay I would recommend starting small and simple with something like FastCart. They have great integration with WorldPay and its brain dead simple to setup. If and when you start dealing with hundreds of orders a week etc. then you'll need something a little more sophisticated and linked to a stock control system etc,. but for only £4 a month (free if you purchase your worldpay acount through them) this is a no brainer to get off the ground.
http://www.fastcart.co.uk/

5. Again, assuming this is a UK based site, dont forget signing on to the data protection act. Its £35 pa
Data Protection Information
Data Protection Registration

Hope that helps.
Cheers
Vanilla

 

[Spizzo]

Alll good information. Lots to think about i see. I'll pass this all on to him.

Thanks to all for your input.



Bless!

 

[VegasMac]

Here's another option which doesn't seem to pricey, online ecommerce earthlink offers one that doesn't seem bad. https://store.earthlink.net/cgi-bin/wsisa.dll/store/main.html?type=ehost&subtype=ecommerce

Or I would actually start small, get a host like yahoo's geocities, or earthlink so you can build a quick site, and like you said just drop the Paypal html. you can even do shoppping carts with paypal. Well good luck.