Basic Ecommerce Websites
Freetimers is an ecommerce specialist. We design, program and develop both simple and complex ecommerce websites for a wide range of clients and sectors. There are a lot of very small businesses and sole trader/freelance developers out there who will say they can do you an ecommerce site super-cheap and fast too. The difference between them and a firm such as Freetimers is when they're busy and you need them, you'll find that often they're not available. Also, many claim to be 'developers' these days without really understanding the technology, and we meet website owners regularly where clearly their developer was very limited in their capability. Because we're a 'proper' agency, when you need us we will be there, and this is important when you're doing ecommerce and something isn't working. We also have an inhouse programming team with great depth and breadth of knowledge.
If you are looking for professional ecommerce capability then look no further. How we develop your website depends greatly on what you want or are doing, and whether or not you see your ecommerce evolving to any significant degree. We have oftern started out with a simple ecommerce website only to find that with success much more is needed, so we'll need to assess with you how we think it will go. Then we can agree with you a path that will serve you well now and into the future. Doing this right can save you a lot of money and disruption down the road.
Platforms and Shop Options
For 'basic eCommerce' we are talking about a simple online shop. Usually, this means simple products, with each item being sold either discreet or with not more than one or two options each, such as colour or size CDs or T-shirts are examples of what we call simple products. If your requirement is for basic ecommerce how we set you up will also take into account what you want to do with it later, in terms of expansion into new sales channels (multi-channel ecommerce) or in terms of management control systems, such as stock control, back to back purchasing, online trade account management or debtors and payments.
If your requirements are basic and there is not the need in future for complex management systems then a starting option could be for us to help you set up on one of the online hosted solutions now available, including systems such as WIX, GoDaddy and Shopify, to name but a few. These are 'one-size-fits-all' systems that can be very inexpensive to run once they have been properly set-up, but they can be very limited in many of their capabilities, and customisation or expansion is also very limited. We can set up the account for you, establish and customise the design choice, create pages and set up the shop with product categories and products. Subsequently, we can help you manage the site, deal with the provider over issues, plus we can help you market and SEO it.
Hosted Ecommerce Website Solutions
If your requirements are a bit up from the most basic, where you will need to have your own hosted website, then there are a number of systems available that we can use, develop and support into the future. These include WordPress using Woo Commerce, Xcart and PrestaShop (to name just a couple), where only limited future expansion is envisaged in future, and Magento or our Entegra ecommerce system for when significant future expansion and management system development can be envisaged.
As mentioned above, finding the right ecommerce system for you may not be a straightforward as you think. To avoid costly mistakes it is best to talk to us before you've made a decision. We have years and years of ecommerce experience so use us at the start to help you make that important decision. Contact us today on 01604-638421.