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Am I in over my head?

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Feb 07.2009

Hello all,

I was wondering if I could get a bit of guidance on a site I’ve been asked to put together.

Some friends that run a small clothes store have decided they want to sell their goods online – they’ve asked me to put together an ecommerce site for them.

Having never done an ecommerce site before, I was a little unsure how to go about it, so said I’d do some research.

I’ve looked at ZenCart and osCommerce and both look pretty good – I showed them, and they said what they do is great, but not fans of how it looks. Given the nature of the store (very fashion concious – needs to be very stylish site – not just a shopping cart) they asked what their other options were.

So here we are – they’re keen for a ecommerce site, and I’m eager to take on the job. But am not sure what size of a task I’ve taken on.

Should I go about hacking up and re-skinning one of the existing carts? Or is it feasable to create my own system?

Not really sure which is the best way to go about this.

Any advice/guidance would be greatly appreciated.

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3 Comments(s) ↴

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@FangFeb 07.2009 — Whether you use an existing ecommerce package or write one yourself, you will always have to create a template first. Look for a free template that closely matches your requirements.
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@Eye_for_VideoFeb 07.2009 — Better also check with your client about which bank and/or type of merchant account they have already set up to handle credit card sales. Nearly all banks have very strict rules and regs on which shopping cards gateway will work with their systems, sometimes know as the compatabilty matrix.

For example my bank uses:

http://www.authorize.net/

So before you get too far down the road, make sure it will work when you get to the other end.

Best wishes,

EfV
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@toicontienFeb 12.2009 — After you've got the banking figured out, go with Fang's advice. Almost all shopping cart systems allow for some template functionality. What your clients are complaining about is the look and feel, not the gutts of the application. You might also try XCart. I have a friend who uses that (www.fortwestern.com). They are a clothing outfitter too, as fate would have it. XCart uses Smarty templates for PHP. Very, very flexible. You can pretty much have any design you want.
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