Help for absolute beginner to start a new food business online

Healthy_Matters

Being someone that is quite passionate about locally produced organic food (that hasn't flown from the other side of the world sprayed with pesticides) I want to start an online business selling UK food produce online. I don't have a large budget to spend on a website but I wondered if anybody could give some tips as to go about creating an ecommerce website. I don't need anything fancy but orders will be made online, a delivery service option, stock control and be able to set up a loyalty points system.
Most important I need to ensure that the website comes up on search engines.

I also have a domain name in mind but haven't purchased it as I just needed to find out if I should purchase it seperately to the ecommerce website builder or should I buy it as a complete package.

Any help will be greatly appreciated as I have several British farmers ready to supply me and would like to get going asap.

Many thanks
Edee

steve1980

Sorry to birst your bubble but how are going to compete with the major supermarkets that already sell "local" food?

Healthy_Matters

The meat and veg etc that I will be selling is actually cheaper than the supermarket. There are many like-minded people just like me that do not buy these items from the supermarket & I already have a local box scheme up & running in my area but am looking to expand it and by having it online as it would save me time rather than collecting orders as I have been doing by phone.

If you purchase food from a Farmer's market & buy the same item from the supermarket and it costs the same amount I don't think you would bother buying from the supermarket again as the quality is far more superior. People are a lot more concious about where their food comes from & I will be providing all the details of where the food I sell is produced & what farm it has come from which you wouldn't from supermarket bought goods.

I am not even too concerned at making a huge profit to begin with anyway I just feel we are so brainwashed into thinking the supermarket is the only convenient option but my website will also have a home delivery option.

Sorry if I'm going on a bit!

Gothicfairy

Taking away from supermarkets is great but what about local veg box schemes ? Local farm shops ? Local meat boxes ?

There is also more then one organic supplier of meat on the net, even that Jimmy guy has a site and ships to the whole of the UK.

How will you make sure it is fresh when it arrives ? How can you make sure the meat is not off if stuck in a depo over a bank hoilday ? How will you go about it if your customer is not in ?

A very interesting venture and I am sure there are sites out there that would help get the word out but the product must be up to it.

Healthy_Matters

I am based in a part of London that has no local farm shops. I actually purchase my meat and veg from Farmer's markets and another online scheme similar to what I want to do but is a 30min drive away. I already run a local veg box scheme but I don't have the time to expand it and hence the need for a website. I have colleagues in different parts of London that will be responsible for the deliveries in their area plus I will be selling other items such as natural skin products and cleaning products that are not available in the supermarkets. The meat is delivered by the supplier or collected by myself from the farm every Friday morning ready for delivery on the Friday afternoon or Saturday morning. It will never be stuck in a depot.

I have all this part of the business sorted (I have run a restaurant plus I am a qualified nutritional therapist) however I just need some tips with how to start up a website.

Can anybody help with this please?

steve1980

No one can advertise their services on MSE.

There are loads of web designers on this forum. Just click their username and see if they have a homepage.

How much are you thinking on spending when it comes to the website?

Healthy_Matters

I was looking at around £300 initially. Perhaps I am asking for advice in the wrong place? I have seen companies such as Moonfruit, volusion etc but being a complete novice to this kind of thing am not sure if they are any good. Like I have already explained I don't need anything too sophisticated, just a site where I can have my orders processed online, stock control and loyalty points system and payment via Paypal etc. I have played about with Moonfruit and is easy to navigate around but is it any good for what I want to do. Finding customers is not my main priority for my website as my customer base will be more localised rather than national and I will be targeting customers via flyers and already have a few local restaurant businesses that make orders regularly.

Hope this provides more info.

paddyrg

prestashop is free, zencart is free, both will require a bit of technical nous to set up but are very powerful

steve1980

To be honest, no. Moonfruit, webeden, or the devil known as Google Sites are not what you need!

How technical are you? Could you work your way around database of items in a one click ecommerce site? Or woukd you need someone to do it for you?

The other thing is that you have already said you're too busy at the moment to deal with anything.

£300 is enough to get you started initially and then build it up at a later date.

Healthy_Matters

I am proficient with Word and Excel but I have no experience with websites but can put together a database. I have photos, images etc ready that I want to use and have a general design of how I want the pages to be set up. Just had a look at zencart and prestashop websites and will look at them both tonight once the kids have gone to bed.

Thanks for this
Edee

Healthy_Matters

I have had a look at a few ecommerce packages and like the look of Magento. Does anyone have any experience with Magento. Would the package they provide be suitable for my requirements?

Many thanks
Edee