Need a website (read below), can I have some suggestions?? Thanks

[gilescoley]

Hi all

Just a quick rundown

My wife and I have started an importing business here in Perth and we are importing african products to Australia. I am looking at either creating her a website/onmline store (a simple one) or get someone else to set one up and then I can manage it from there

I am new to the web design side and I need some assistance regarding which program to use to design the site

I am looking at creating something similar to one of these where I can showcase our products and have people buying our products online.

Africa Shop
The African Store - African Tribal Art, African Artifacts, African Curios, Tribal Carvings, African Baskets & more
SATOOZ - South African Food and Goods - Online Shop in Australia
Products - Just Africa Art Gallery and Retail Shop - Buy Handmade Art and Gifts in Victoria
Africa Products - The Traditional South African Vice - Biltong, Droewors, Boerewors - Home

Can I have some ideas on what would be best to use for this, bearing in mind I dont have any experience with web design...wordpress, Joomla etc????

I am in the IT industry so I do know my way around a PC and understand most technical stuff

Thanks for your help

 

[Arjun]

Hey,

Your best bet in my opinion would be an osCommerce setup.

Simple category wise segregation of your products with each product being cataloged separately too.

So, a user just gets onto your website - he goes through your inventory, "adds" items to a "cart" and goes onto the paying you after a checkout procedure.

You receive money in paypal, he gets a confirmation email, and you're also emailed a summary of the order the client paid for.

Its something most web-developers can handle.

For anything between $300-400, you can get custom osCommerce templates easily.

Hope this helps :tu:

 

[SiberForum]

I agree. Get some web application and then hire someone to customize. In this case you will not need to pay to much and will have everything in order and easy to manage.

 

[gilescoley]

Thanks Arjun and Siberforum, thats very helpful. I will look into it. Are some better than others? Can they be customised to suit my needs, for instance, I would like to put a specific african-themed background and my menus down the left and possibly along the top as well, can the homepage be set up exactly as I would like it?

I found these so I will have a look

osCommerce Australia
osCommerce, Open Source Online Shop E-Commerce Solutions

Let me know if anyone has any "tried and tested" options

Thanks again

 

[Arjun]

osCommerce, Open Source Online Shop E-Commerce Solutions is a prominent name, actually.

There are other scripts too - but I'd say this has been around for a long time now.

 

[gilescoley]

Thanks Arjun, so these guys just do the software/templates, I still need to sort out the hosting, is that right?

I just know some companies include the hosting etc as an all-in-one solution?

Sorry, Im new to all this and some the web design terminology doesnt make a lot of sense to me.

 

[gilescoley]

Can anyone suggest a good place to find some african-themed templates, I have done a lot of searching and can't quite find what I am looking for?

Can the backgrounds and colours be changed to suit your requirements once you purchase the template?

 

[zoomactive.com]

Hello,

You will have a difficult time finding a theme for african product store, most themes are designed with the intent of having thousands of sells like electronics, computers, movies, music etc. I have sent you a message as well.

 

[edesigner008]

Hello gilescoley,
Finding a good African theme may be a difficult option. Rather, you should find an expert graphic designer who will custom design an African background image with his own stock photos. I think, that will be a better option.

 

[gilescoley]

thanks for the advice everyone

 

[localnode]

Hi gilescoley,
I'd also highly suggest getting a graphic designer that can do what you want.

You'll get something tailored specifically to your needs. It can be costly, but it's well worth the investment as it's unique.

Good luck!

 

[gilescoley]

I think all the advice has been spot on, I just need ot find someoone to design something for me, could someone give me some idea on cost?

Just a rough ballpark figure for a custom design will do?? I have no idea.


Thanks all

 

[TechGuy1]

OSCommerce would be a great choice. Its free which is also a plus

 

[gilescoley]

thanks all, closed