Best Ecommerce website creator?

emilyka

Good Morning,

I hope someone can help me and please feel free to move the post if I am in the wrong place!

I am looking to start up an ecommerce website however have very little web design/creation skills so need a way that I can create my own bespoke-ish website using templates/ web design software. I have previously looked into 123-reg.com however have found that within the templates you cant make enough amendments to 'customise' your website.

Has anyone used such a site/ software? Can you recommend anything? Ideally free but if not as cheap as possible whilst maintaining the desired functionality!

Thank you very much in advance.

Emily

tonynw

Try this you have a 30 day money back guarantee, very easy to set up and manage.


http://www.store2go.net/


tonynw

billypre

Well, first find the cart you want to use, there are plenty free carts out there and i personally use Prestashop and oscommerce. Prestashop is new web 2.0 stuff and is great seeing as only been around a short while. You can get lots of open source "templates" which you then add to your store to change the look from the standard style. You can also get "Pro-templates" which can start as little as $5 but what's the point in paying when there are literally hundreds of FREE open source templates for ALL open source carts.

With a little bit of reading/learning you can then alter the sites to create your own bespoke site.

p.s If you are worried about having a similar site to others, then don't !! The web is so vast that the chances of you finding anyone else with your exact template are minimal. I understand you want to be unique, but functionality and the "feel" of the shop come first. I mean, lots of B&M shops have the same "template" don't they ? It doesn't bother you when you shop..... just look at bakers, or supermarkets etc. All pretty much the same design.

For that reason i would NEVER pay a lot of cash for a bespoke site when you can get them open source just as creative.

buglawton

I used Cubecart to set up a shop site years ago. At the time it was good and well supported. The site is still running but I am not developing it any further.

cwtaylor

I would use joomla for basic use. Once you get your head around it it is very easy to use and there is a plethora of templates out and about. If you are feeling a bit more adventurous try having a look at magneto. It is extremely customizable and you can find some free templates if you look hard enough.

Joomla is probably the best option and some cheap hosting. Justhost are who I use and are excellent, free domain i believe as-well.

emilyka

Thank you all for your replies. I had looked at Open Source but it looked quite complicated- I will look into it further after what you have said. I dont agree with paying for a bespoke site- especially when I cant be sure my business idea will work!

buglawton

This review of Cubecart is a very fair one and matches my own experience:

http://www.websitepublisher.net/blog/2007/10/05/a-review-of-cubecart-4/

...not sure if the totally free starter version is still available, but at USD 130 it is well worth a punt to get your show on the road quick.

Practically all the Cubecart PHP code is non-encrypted so it is doddle to tweak (or have tweaked). It is the "Model T" of shopping carts.