good ecommerce site builder?

[aeroflash]

Hi, I noticed someone mentioned Miva Merchant system in another post, so here's a new one (so that thread doesn't go off-topic)

Good ecommerce site builder system, and I've been looking at plenty. Miva's looking pretty good right now, only cause their site has loooots of meat, that is, demos of this, demos of that, documentation, tutorials. Geez, you can become a Miva expert just from the lookin at the site.

Right now, I'm developing a site using a software called shoppingQ, it's pretty good but ain't flexible enough for a potential client of mine. Ah, and I have NO programming skills, as I came across a few cheap ones that require you program asp to connect to the gateway. Their salesteam wasn't great help though in providing info.

Does it sound like I'm kinda lost? Absolutely! I have no real ecommerce hours under my belt, but hey, that's why i came to the experts.


Happy friday....

[Fantrom]

I designed and developed these sites using Miva:

http://www.ibmega.com

Built in 2000 in Miva recently converted to ASP.

http://www.agasmfg.com

Built in 2002 in Miva. Its actually a Miva Mall consisting of 5 different sites.

http://www.kesara.com

Just did the code on this one... done in 2003.

I coudl answer some simple questions as I'm in the middle of creating 5 sites and am extremely busy.

If you have any... shoot away.

[cartoon guy]

mmm...

OK, here are some questions.

Is miva a shopping cart or a shopping cart builder?

What is required of you to know in order to build shopping cart using miva and others like it?

I am a web designer, have been freelancing for a while. I usually tell my client I don't offer e-com. I always thought you had to build your own e-com system.

So, enlighten me here, can I offer my clients e-com, with out the knowledge to develop one?


thanks in advance

[aeroflash]

Yes, it looks like Miva gives the client the capability to add his own products or categories. That's what i'm looking for. I've HTML-built a site where I used a shopping cart system to build the links, but I had to do the pages myself. Argh, that was a nightmare (I don't know how to program asp, php, etc). What I plan on doing now is modifying the templates (Miva calls it "look & feel) so the page looks consistent with his identity, and the client does the rest.

I found this site offering Miva, it looks like a killer deal (considering miva kinda pricey)
http://www.e-businessexpress.com

I've used another one called shoppingQ, it copies all the templates and forms into your server,then you can download the templates used for the database and modify them, it's pretty decent.
http://www.shoppingq.com/

[aeroflash]

Originally posted by Fantrom
I designed and developed these sites using Miva:

http://www.ibmega.com

Built in 2000 in Miva recently converted to ASP.

http://www.agasmfg.com

Built in 2002 in Miva. Its actually a Miva Mall consisting of 5 different sites.

http://www.kesara.com

Just did the code on this one... done in 2003.

I coudl answer some simple questions as I'm in the middle of creating 5 sites and am extremely busy.

If you have any... shoot away.

Yes I do! How did you create the products page with 3 columns, as we see here:
http://www.ibmega.com/index.asp?cs=21137

I could not find that option on the miva demo, and the sales folks told me I have to incorporate 3rd party design modules, that miva does not support.

[Fantrom]

Attended BD4D last night and working on some projects so I'm a little pressed for time but here's some quick answers.

Q. Is miva a shopping cart or a shopping cart builder?

A. It's a shopping cart. Once is set up on the server you can do everything from within your web browser or ftp. You want to use a hosting company that specializes in Miva though as when you have problems they will have the right answers to your problems especially when your client is breathing down your neck.

Q. What is required of you to know in order to build shopping cart using miva and others like it?

A. Not much. Its fairly easy to learn. At the beginnig the hard part is integrating your design into the shopping cart. But there are modules now that help out with that... they were none in 2000.

Q. I am a web designer, have been freelancing for a while. I usually tell my client I don't offer e-com. I always thought you had to build your own e-com system.

A. Not really. The first thing is to learn the limitations of Miva... the pros and cons. Then when approached with an e-commerce project you can access if Miva is the right tool for the job.

Q. So, enlighten me here, can I offer my clients e-com, with out the knowledge to develop one?

A. Yes. Miva gained so much momentum that Dell back in 2001 transferred all their e-commerce clients from a shopping cart called Mercantec to Miva. Mercantec was the shopping cart IBMega was being considered under before I arrived. But after some research I believed Miva was the one we should go with.

Q. Yes I do! How did you create the products page with 3 columns, as we see here:
http://www.ibmega.com/index.asp?cs=21137

A. I created the design in Dreamweaver then integrated it into the Miva engine. You can do just about any design and then put it in Miva. As a matter of fact the Kesara.com designer placed an ad looking for someone to integrate her design into Miva. I had never seen the design before. I had to use what are called tokens since the owners of the site wanted the exact look and feel the designer had created for them.

Q. I could not find that option on the miva demo, and the sales folks told me I have to incorporate 3rd party design modules, that miva does not support.

A. Miva has never supported 3rd party modules for obvious legal reasons but they know thats the lifeblood that propelled Miva to where it is today. So much so that through the years they have adopted into Miva many features that were previously modules. Modules are discussed daily on Miva's own messageboards where module developers offer solutions to module questions or questions in general with Miva techs chimming in once in a while.

You can do a lot of the same things without modules but you would have to hardcode it. Basically hack work and you would need to know a little Mivascript (Miva's scripting language) at least to modify the look to the way you want it.

I know a lot of the developers personally as they helped me through the years to adapt their module to my designs to give my clients the site and features they wanted.

Modules save you time and money trying to do something that could take you days or longer within a few minutes.

I'm in the middle of developing a few sites and am pressed for time but I will see about putting up some screenshots of inside of my Miva engines to try to explain modules a little better and how I got the design inside.

Hope that clears up things just a bit.

[J-Luv]

how is the shipping worked out when dealing with ecommerce? do u have to set up an account with ups or something??

[gadawg]

This dependes on what e-commerce software you are using. With Miva Merchant you can connect to UPS, FedEx, and USPS to get accurate shipping cost. There are also modules that you can use your shipping account and actually print out shipping labels, etc....