Hello all!
I'm glad I found this forum site because I need some advice from people that have done this before. Anything that you can throw at me would be great.

so this is my story:

I was recently asked to do a makeover to a medium sized business, that sells well over 5000 products.

-Im not sure if Im allowed to mention the site in this post, so until someone tells me its ok to do that, or I read that its ok, I wont do that for now-

so, I started evalutaing it, and I have no idea what these people have been doing, but I think it needs alot of work.

- as of now, the site has the following:

1) uses ASP
2) includes WYSIWYG program for marketing to make changes
3) uses CART32 for eCommerce

I was looking it over, and I didnt find cart32 to be too great.


they want the site to have a new feel, and to be able to do the following things that are not in place:

1) ease of use (already in place, haha silly me)
2) integrated shopping cart with inventory mgmt
3) able to purchase giftcards online and use them online or in store for purchases
4) CRM tool that allows customer login and holding of their info for future purchases and so on.
5) Loyalty program for customers
6) Search feature for all our products

I think those are all the main things we are trying to accomplish.

Unfortunately, the Stote owner seems to be a bit stubborn, and dont seem to like the idea of changing hosting companies or changing servers and the like.

This is what I thought would be best, and some of the ideas I threw at him. What can you guys tell me about the best ways to do what we want, and also how can I convince the owner that a change is necessary (if you think it is, which I do) unless you think working with what we already have is a better choice.

my ideas were mainly:
1) change from ASP to PHP
2) change shopping cart to Cubecart OR ViArt

The owner seemed a bit hesitant when I told him that it would have to be moved to a new server that supported PHP scripting. and that we would change our shopping cart and our hosting company. Obviously, he doesnt understand all that goes into websites.

What is the easiest and best way to make this change? and am I on the right track in choosing to switch to one of these 2 carts that require PHP instead of ASP? I personally would rather work in PHP anyways.

I would rather use Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash, and the rest of the CS3 products from Adobe. and I dont feel like having the easy to use WYSIWYG program for the marketing dpt to be necessary... furthermore, I could add Contribute CS3 to do the same thing that they are able to do now with what they currently have and their marketing dpt can still make necessary changes that way.

What is the best way to explain to the owner WHY it is a good option to change, and how can I break it down to him better so it doesnt scare him!.. I wish I was a better people person!.

I would love to hear any suggestions and comments about:

1) what you would do in order to have a smooth transition
2) what route would you take to make the necessary changes possible
3) What shopping cart would you use for a well established company (15 years plus) with well over 5000 HIGH END beauty and cosmetics products
4) How would you handle the owner, and what would you tell him?


Thanks everyone in advance, and I look forward to reading your ideas.

-mars

Hi,

Welcome to the forum. Let me see if I can help you.

To answer some of your questions and give you a little advice I've included my reply below.

1) What you would do in order to have a smooth transition.
--First I would make sure I fully understood what moving the site to a new server would entail. Having a company(such as your hosting or ecommerce hosting company) help you would be great. Remember moving from one server to another will cause some small downtime as the DNS updates for you domain.

If you are just going to move over the products and don't really need to transfer anything else(like your email if you can just recreate that at your new hosting provider) then the move should be alot easier.

What I would do is see if you can get your ecommerce solution setup at your new provider and see if there is a way to be able to add the products to the new shopping carts database before moving your site(this will save downtime for your clients after the switch).

Prepartion is key:).

2) what route would you take to make the necessary changes possible
--I would start by developing a plan. First mark down everything you would have to do and then break each item on your list down into smaller goals, concentrating on each goal separately.

I would also make a back up of either your current site or database just to have. Also I would ask alot of questions to your new provider to make sure they are the right one for you.

Plan:-).

3) What shopping cart would you use for a well established company (15 years plus) with well over 5000 HIGH END beauty and cosmetics products
--The best thing to do is to find a shopping cart that fits your needs. How? Simply start listing what needs you have and check to see if you can find a shopping cart that comes close to this. Remember each shopping cart will have it's pros and cons, the questions is what can you live with and what can't you live without. Contact the developers/business you are interested in and ask questions about support, updates, features etc.. Don't make price your number 1 concern because if you do it may cost you in the end.

Research:-).

4) How would you handle the owner, and what would you tell him?
--Explain to him the benefits of the move by making each benefit clear to him. Put it in simple enough terms to understand and give him as much as you can/need. It may be better to put him in touch with the actual company you are going to switch to so they can help explain this.

For our own eCommerce Customers we try to work with them closely explaining the benefits of using us and try to make it clear to them why they should switch. Just remember because it is clear in your mind doesn't mean it makes sense to the owner.

Take the time to sit down with him outlining the features and by building a plan of action you can show how you will minimize risk & downtime and in the long run show them how it will benefit their business. Stay calm and cool, you'll do just fine.

Hope this information helps you out.

Also feel free to email or pm me if you have any more questions or need any more help. I'm always glad to help out someone:-).

how do I pm someone? I tried to click on it but it said I was not allowed. Do I have restrictions for some reason?

3 steps

1. Select a new ecommerce shopping cart system
2. Get new system up and running
3. Write a bridge between old and new system to transfer data

Visit the following websites to get an idea
www.megatronicstudio.com
www.toptechbuyers.com

1) what you would do in order to have a smooth transition

I'd set up a parallel site with new shopping cart systm, importing products and data. Once everything is tested and working correctly copy the whole thing over to the live domain.

2) what route would you take to make the necessary changes possible

Look at all the options for carts that meet the requirements. there is a lot of choice, especially with php based systems. This will require some research by you but it's worth spending time finding the right one to do the job.

3) What shopping cart would you use for a well established company (15 years plus) with well over 5000 HIGH END beauty and cosmetics products

Checkout some of the carts listed at http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Scripts_and_Programs/E-Commerce/Shopping_Carts/index.html

4) How would you handle the owner, and what would you tell him?

I'd explain the limitations of the current cart system and the benefits of upgrading. At the end of the day every business needs to adapt and evolve to move forward.

how do I pm someone? I tried to click on it but it said I was not allowed. Do I have restrictions for some reason?

Hi,

Yes. I believe you have to get to 5 posts before you are allowed to pm. I believe you can still use email though:-).

aco ecom, bluedreamer.. thanks much for your input..
bluedreamer, thanks for the link with shopping carts to look through.

ofcourse, i must do my own research on teh shopping carts, but I would still like to hear some peoples suggestions of some possible shopping carts to use.. Giving me some adv/disadv of the cart you mention. I just wanna get a feel for what some people may suggest, and also research myself and see what I come up with. There may be a couple good names that I may have overlooked, which is why I am asking for some suggestions.

:agree:

Hi,

No problem at all. The best thing to do is to write down(for yourself and here) all the features you are looking for so others can input their own suggestions based on what you are looking for.

There is a great article about the different shopping carts out there(Paid Vs. Free) from one of our Partners Merchant-Accounts.ca at the link below. It may give you some insight on what cart is best for you.

http://www.merchant-accounts.ca/merchantaccountsblog/payshoppingcarts_vs_freeshoppingcarts/

1) ease of use (already in place, haha silly me)
2) integrated shopping cart with inventory mgmt
3) able to purchase giftcards online and use them online or in store for purchases
4) CRM tool that allows customer login and holding of their info for future purchases and so on.
5) Loyalty program for customers
6) Search feature for all our products

I think those are all the main things we are trying to accomplish.

These should definitely be the features. You might have to tweak existing open source solutions to get the desired results, or you can go for a retail eCmmerce solution that has most if not all your desired needs.



Unfortunately, the Stote owner seems to be a bit stubborn, and dont seem to like the idea of changing hosting companies or changing servers and the like.

What is the best way to explain to the owner WHY it is a good option to change, and how can I break it down to him better so it doesnt scare him!.. I wish I was a better people person!.


I can understand how some clients can be like that. The easiest way to put it to them is to talk about money. The new servers will definitely add value to his store, which will mean more visitors (rightly done marketing and SEO should help) which in turn will mean more money..



my ideas were mainly:
1) change from ASP to PHP
2) change shopping cart to Cubecart OR ViArt

The owner seemed a bit hesitant when I told him that it would have to be moved to a new server that supported PHP scripting. and that we would change our shopping cart and our hosting company. Obviously, he doesnt understand all that goes into websites.

One of the reasons you should go to PHP is because of choice. You have a huge selection of shopping carts, open source and free. Many of them should sufice your needs, and once the owner sees the potential for growth, I'm sure he'll come around.





1) what you would do in order to have a smooth transition
Have a page where all the new features are listed as well as common tasks on the site documented. This helps ppl understand systems better.


2) what route would you take to make the necessary changes possible
Switch over to PHP, customize the look, give detailed FAQ's on site for old and new customers, market ans SEO site properly. :)


3) What shopping cart would you use for a well established company (15 years plus) with well over 5000 HIGH END beauty and cosmetics products
If customisation is a big isse, i would definitely recommend osCommerce. If you need something more off the shelf, try ZenCart or CRE Loaded. if you have loads of money to spare, try Airvae.. The features are mind boggling.



If you need any help/clarification.. feel free to PM me..

Cheers..

converge--- These should definitely be the features. You might have to tweak existing open source solutions to get the desired results, or you can go for a retail eCmmerce solution that has most if not all your desired needs.




One of the reasons you should go to PHP is because of choice. You have a huge selection of shopping carts, open source and free. Many of them should sufice your needs, and once the owner sees the potential for growth, I'm sure he'll come around.

This is my sme thoughts exactly...




Have a page where all the new features are listed as well as common tasks on the site documented. This helps ppl understand systems better.

- I dont understand what you mean by this comment. can you please explain further?



If customisation is a big isse, i would definitely recommend osCommerce. If you need something more off the shelf, try ZenCart or CRE Loaded. if you have loads of money to spare, try Airvae.. The features are mind boggling.

Cost is not an issue really. Getting the features we want working properly is what we are concerned with. customizing look and feel to make it our own is pretty important, but we can live without drastic look customization. simple would work for us.



aco_ecom

No problem at all. The best thing to do is to write down(for yourself and here) all the features you are looking for so others can input their own suggestions based on what you are looking for.

There is a great article about the different shopping carts out there(Paid Vs. Free) from one of our Partners Merchant-Accounts.ca at the link below. It may give you some insight on what cart is best for you.


-- I dont feel strongly about paid or free shopping cart. I see the advantages of both, and I don't feel like if it is paid or free will really help me make the decision.

I am more concerned with the features we want to work.

Hi marsd,

It is starting to sound like you know what you want and it is good that you are not concerned about the money(whether it is free or paid).

Some open source shopping carts may be good for because you can then customize them to meet your needs, the only down side to this is finding a good programmer who knows what they are doing and have experience working with your shopping cart.

On the other side of it you may find a pay cart(or ecommerce system) which has the features you want, if they don't will they work with you to add these features for you. If they will:

1) How much will it cost(sometimes they'll do this for free & sometimes they won't).
2) How long will it take. Will you have to wait for their next release to get the updates(how long will it be before this next release).
3) Are they willing to do it for you quicker if it is a custom project for you since you are paying for the development etc..

You have to remember that there will not be a perfect answer/solution for you but this doesn't mean(with a little work) that you can't find a perfect solution:).