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Hi,
I have no experience with eCommerce, but I’ll try here for advises first. My background is designing; I use Dreamweaver for HTML and CSS, I copy JavaScript code for here and there, and the most I go with server side scripting is PHP submission forms: not anything more complicated. I am working on a website that I want to make functional with reservations for hotel rooms and CC payment info.
Instead of learning how to script I want to get a web hosting package that has automated eCommerce. I notice many web hosting packages have automated shopping carts. But it’s not a shopping cart that I want, since the reservations are for hotel rooms. I don’t know what’s the equivalent terminology of shopping carts for reservations of hotel rooms. I searched on google for best web hosting packages and tons have options for eCommerce and shopping carts, but now what? …How would I know if their shopping cart can be customized to sell not products but hotel room reservations?!
Also, let’s say the client chooses hotel name, then chooses number of people, then check-marks certain buttons (smoking, non-smoking, etc.) (example: Expedia) and clicks on SUBMIT, or CHECK AVAILABILITY. I want the price to be calculated depending on the check-marked buttons the user did. So, unlike a product with a set price (on a shopping cart) this price will not be set, but instead will be calculated depending on the selections of the user.
Now if things are not already complicated, to make them even more complicated — how about this:
When you sell products — you can set how many products are left available. But here, the user needs to be given information on hotel room availability which the hotel has updated. So, somehow that info needs to be extracted from their database.
At the eCommerce stage — automation — will be priority; I wouldn’t be able to work with the code to change things (MySQL, ASP, complex PHP, I don’t know any of that). So, if certain things need to be simplified, then I and the client will probably be willing to do so. …even if we have to make it look like a shopping cart where we sell products instead of hotel rooms.
Do you have any advises for web hosting companies that specifically deal with this type of stuff, or any other opinions? Thanks.