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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Posts
    640

    Best shopping cart for this setup? (ink store)

    I need to categorize like this:

    Manufacturer > Name of printers > List of cartridges for that printer

    However, in the "name of printers" category, I want to "group" them together. For example, the deskjets should be in one group, the inkjets in another group, the laser jets in a third group, etc. Even though all printers will be on that one page, they will be separated into groups by printer series.

    My question is, what cart can do this "grouping" of subcategories? I looked at osCommerce and do not see any type of feature to "group" subcategories together.

    Also, aside from this feature, what cart would you suggest for this type of store. I know there are some good ones such as osCommerce, x-cart, squirrelcart, etc. Please suggest which one I should try since I am new to e-commerce. Price of cart is not an issue, I just want something that is stable and can be well customized (i assume most are). I'm willing to pay $300 if needed. However, that doesn't mean I won't use osCommerce (or zen) if you guys think they will better suit me.

    Opinions?

  2. #2
    Hi Azo -

    I see youve decided on a compromise approach since our last discussion...

    Using manufacturers and then grouping by type - interesting idea...

    Do you think this can be accomplished by additional subcategories?

    ie)

    Manufacturer
    - Deskjest
    ** - DJ1
    ** - DJ2
    - Laser
    ** - LP1
    ** - LP2

    Even though all printers will be on that one page, they will be separated into groups by printer series.
    You wont really get this effect with this approach - but rather come to another "selection" screen where the shopper can narrow their selections down 1) manufacturer, then 2) type

    If this approach would work for you - then pretty much any of the carts would work - osC, Zen, etc...
    www.cartika.com
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Posts
    640
    Hi Gargoyle,

    I know what you're saying, and appreciate your feedback. I have actually thought about that before, and it would work. However, I'd prefer to have all of the printer models on the same page for one very good reason, less clicks.

    I have heard many times that it is important to make sure a visitor reaches the page they are looking for in as little clicks as possible, that is what I hope to accomplish.

    I'm hoping there is a cart that can split my subcategory into "groups" and display all of these groups on the same page.

    I don't think it's a "rare" feature per say, because it seems like something that would be done on many e-commerce sites. I'm just not sure which cart will accomplish this for me.

  4. #4
    Hi Azo,

    It can definately be accomplished with something like osC or Zen - but, it would require some custom coding....

    There are many good companies that can do this for you... Id say your budget is about right for the amount of time it would take..

    You are correct in your logic about # of clicks - but, still thought it was worth mentioning as an alternative...
    www.cartika.com
    www.clusterlogics.com - You simply cannot run a hosting company without this software. Backups, Disaster Recovery, Big Data, Virtualization. 20 years of building software that solves your problems

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Venice Beach, Ca.
    Posts
    83
    There are a couple of addons for osCommerce that would help in your situation...

    There is an osCommerce contribution called "Master Products". It allows you to create a Master product with multiple Slave items.

    To reduce the number of clicks, you can install the "Categories Main Page" contribution, which shows all of your top-level categories, as well as their sub-categories, on the main page.

    Or, you can install a DHTML-based Categories contribution, which would give you dynamic category menus. I.E. when you mouseover a top-level category, it displays all of the subs... mouseover the subs, display the next level of subs, etc... That way, your customers could navigate directly to the product they need with a single click.

    Plus, with osCommerce, you can not only browse by category, but you can also browse by manufacturer.

    I hope this helps.

    -R
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