A frequently-asked
question:
I am starting a web store , I already have a website and pay for the hosting and domain of the website so I am not looking for complete ecommerce solutions. I would like to have a powerful web store builder that allows full website integration. That way I can just copy the script and paste it into my pre existing website.
Other important features I need:
complete inventory control – I need to be able to enter the quantity of the product as I am listing and when people have purchased the total quantity , I need for the product to auto-hide to prevent people from buying an out of stock item.
High powered search and organization – I want people to be able to search products as well as browse through categories
Easy discount management – I am setting up a rewards program , so I want to be able to easily do coupon redeem codes and other similar features.
I need to at least be able to list up to 1000 products at a time , unlimited would be more ideal (although the prices of these packages are out of my budget as far as what I have found)
Customizable appearance of the store front so I can make it match my website.
These are the key features I am looking for , and I am of course looking for something that is affordable especially while first starting out. I am not looking to pay more than 200 USD a year at this time , I have found a few free ones but there are some features missing that are very important to me.
If muncom.com (which has full website integration and is unlimited product listing for free with ads)met with freewebstore.org (which has all the other features I need but no website integration plus costs 45 dollars a month for unlimited product listing) I would have the perfect web store builder for my new business venture.
Any ideas where to look for an online web store builder that meets my specific needs or if you know of one I would greatly appreciate your input.
Thanks in advance
Answer: This is quite a popular question. Free website hosting is probably not for you if you are serious about having a website. Web hosting is one of the most important part of your online presence and can mean the life or death to your business.
Before we answer your question, let us review the 7 qualities to look for in a good web hosting. An excellent hosting:
- does not suspend accounts easily like other cheap hosting,
- gives more-than-enough storage,
- offers no limit on bandwidth,
- gives multiple add-on domains,
- has easy-to-use Site Builder with thousands of unique templates,
- has QuickInstall to quickly install apps like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, OSCommerce, ZenCart and more
- can be easily upgraded to VPS or one of the best dedicated server plans if and when your business require.
To answer your question, many experienced web developers suggest to try Hostgator. If you need an “unlimited” hosting plan, experts usually highly recommend going with Hostgator because they are the best best domain hosting around.
With more than 4 million websites hosted, a “Hostgator sucks” comment cannot be avoided. See the drawbacks of Hostgator in the section below. Objectively, HG has an amazingly long, 45 days money back guarantee so you have ample time to test them out. They are rated A+ by Better Business Bureau which shows their commitment to customer satisfaction. You also do not have to pay for the first month. You can just try their fully functional hosting service – you pay only $0.01 (you need to use the special coupon code). Do you know any other hosting company that can give you that kind of assurance? Anybody can grab an account from Hostgator for almost FREE.
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Hostgator Complaints
No web hosting service is perfect. Some complaints about Hostgator plans include:
- No free domain name included – but you can easily get a domain name from the best domain registrar such as Godaddy or Namecheap for $10 or less. Would you agree that a website is not complete without a domain name?
- You need to pay full price after your first invoice – well, they need to make money too and all the support and great service do come with a cost. It is like they say, you get what you pay for.
If you are still not sure if HG is right for you, or you have specific query about anything at all, try the Live Chat at HG. They are fast and knowledgeable. Just ask and you shall receive.
Magento Community Edition is definitely a good choice for you. The basic features will do most of what you need, and if you have further needs, you can buy extensions at low prices. Magento is so popular there exist an extension for just about anything you need.
For the design, I recommend buying a premium theme. This way your store will look awesome and you will benefit from their support if you have technical problems.
Good luck
OSCommerce has the features, a site like GoDaddy offers it as an installable app under their hosting plan for under $100/year.
Rock_Starr_Angel,
You are asking for the best of both worlds; lots of important features but cheap. I think you are going to compromise one or the other.
For example; I would focus on the 80/20 rule. Choose your 20% of products that will generate 80% of your revenue. Then select a shopping cart that can accommodate that 20% of products under your $200/year budget. See where I am going with this? Launch it, get it off the ground, then move to a higher priced package to allow for more products.
Here is a link to the Top 10 Shopping Carts of 2011:
http://www.ShoppingCartsForWebsites.com/general/hosted-shopping-carts-top-10/
Good luck!
-Daniel O.
eCommerce Developer
See if http://easydch.com/storebuilder has what you need.