shopping cart software and worldpay

[nikita]

Hello people,

I am lost...I have applied for an account wirh WorldPay, paid all my set-up fees and am waiting for the fourth week to hear from my bank in regards to the business bank account as without it I can't proceed with WorlPay...In the meantime I wonder how do I set up WorldPay on my website, I mean do I have to buy a shopping cart software, for instance ClickCart Pro or what do I do? I do not want to sound stupid but I am open to a bit of teaching here...

[jonno]

basically you have to choose:

a. go for some free/open source shopping cart software. most support worldpay but its worth checkin first. you'll need to find someone with some experience to set this up for you though.

b. buy some retail software. most include some sort of support service as well as low cost installations.

c. hire a web developer to program a bespoke system 100% to your needs and requirements.

it really depends what your wanting to sell! if its just a few products in a simple shopping cart then an open source program should be more than sufficient.

If you require something a bit more "tailor made" to your needs then the second or third options would be best for you to investigate into.

any further questions feel free to drop me an email

[openmind]

Jonnos nailed it really. There are a plethora of options open to you..

As he did point out though, if you wanted your store to be that little bit different, a custom built store is best.

As for getting the money to WorldPay, its actually quite simple.

You simply pass WorldPay certain variables through a form, your WorldPay ID, tha amount, etc and the shopper is then directed to WorldPays payment page. This page is hosted with them so need to worry abuot cad security. The page can also be customised to suit your site design.

WorldPay then do the authorisation andd their system can send what is known as a callback to your site. All this does is allow your site to carry out tasks such as sending an alert to you that an order has arrived. You can adapat the messsages and actions depending on whether the card was authorised or not as well...

Do feel free to contact me if you are looking at a ciustom solution. I've done quite a few sites using WorldPay as a payment solution...

[nikita]

Hello Guys

Thanks for your replies...I decided to use Fastcart as it looks like it will be easy to integrate it with WorldPay especially for the person who is doing a site fore me...He is a student who has never done e-commerce sites before so if it will prove a bit of complicated work for him I will definitely use your services...cheers guys...

[creativespring]

Arrg

I cant believe my eyes!! student + ecommerce + never done it before = recipe for disaster. Your entrusting the main stay of your new business to someone who's got no experience. And if things go wrong? will they be around to support you when you need it?

Anyway i suppose it saves money so good luck but when you want a job done right then its usually best to talk to the experts. Im just off to the witchdoctors to pick up my eye of toad perscription - it cures all known illnesses you know

[JamieM]

Hi Nikita,

I use Fastcart and it's been great. It is very basic but suits me fine.

It does sound like you have made the same mistake as me though. If you apply to Worldpay via LWD Internet (Fastcart) then the shopping cart is free. I too had already applied for my Worldpay account so have to pay a small quarterly fee for Fastcart.

Hope it works out well for you.

[nikita]

TO CREATIVESPRING!

THIS IS NOT A RECIPE FOR DISASTER! WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME THIS??? HOW DO YOU KNOW HE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO THIS?? HAVE YOU SEEN HIS PORTFOLIO??!!! DON'T YOU KNOW WE ALL HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE???!!! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YOUR FIRST E-COMMERCE SITE PRESUMABLY YOU HAVE DONE ONE???? WHY BEING SO RUUUUUUUUDDDDDE???? WHY NOT WAIT AND SEE BEFORE YOU ARE ASKED FOR YOUR REVIEW???? I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW SO-CALLED 'PROFESSIONALS' TURN OUT TO BE SO **********WATCH THIS SPACE!

[openmind]

Whoa Nikita chill out a little...

Creativespring was just putting forward an opinion...

You are right, none of us have seen your guys portfolio and we should reserve judgement until the site launches and I honestly do hope it turns out to be what you want...

But, and this may grate on you a little, the fact that your man has not done an eCommerce site before does make me too a little nervous for you. Its like going to a garage and the mechanic saying "Well I've never changed the engine, but I'll have a bash!" - Not exactly what you would to hear is it?

I'm not doubting your developers experience, knowledge or ability one bit but building an eCommerce site from scratch is not a job for the faint hearted.

I do hope it works out for you though...

[nikita]

Hello Openmind

I understand what are you saying and I agree with you but the guy who is doing it for me is my brother who can and will support and update the actual site...What surpirses me a lot is the fact that people do not know the circumstances, for example I do not pay for this work so there is no need to suggest it will be a disaster or an unprofessional work that shouldn't even be considered...Do you know how many sites posted here for review I found unprofessional and not just me...even though they were all created by so-called 'professionals'? Just because you know how to change colours and fonts on Os-commerce template and aware how php works doesn't do anything to me...Saw all **** Os-commerce sites with no distinction, blur pictures, total absence of an idea or logo behind it and this is what equals to a recipe for disaster! By the way, my brother is not a web designer but a graphic designer, web design is his hobby and for hobby he knows far more than some graduates and their jobs I've seen...hopefully, it explains whay I felt how I did but you have to answer to be able to answer people back...I mean talk to people the way the talk to you...

[openmind]

Good points well made

I agree that there are an awful lot of designers out there whose work is unprofessional to the extreme and really shouldn't be selling their services! I can't make that comment about any of the designers on this board though...

Its good (for you not your brother ) that you're not paying for the work in that he gets the experience and you don't spend a penny...

As for osCommerce, never used it yet! All my client sites are built from the ground up so they can specify exactly what they want the store to do and how they want it to look.

Again, best of luck and I look forward to seeing the finished article...

[clayts]

I have been let down before by someone on this board who appeared (to me) professional in their approach to dealing with me and to others on this board.

Unfortunately this person then after 4 weeks of development let me down and left me with nothing, despite a contract. This left me in an awful position as I had 8 seperate meetings with potential clients on both sides of the Atlantic I had to postpone and I had to go through the sourcing of a developer all over again.

Therefore in hindsight I would find a developer you trust to tell you when there is a problem. And for larger scale projects I would ensure you draw up a contract which gives timescales and details on cancellations and terminations of contracts on both sides therefore if the developer doesnt complete the site in a certain timeframe this effects the final cost etc (I have found many other developers willing to abide by this so long as its made clear)... overall I trusted this person and was let down very badly but I have learnt a lot.

As for Oscommerce sites, you will find that despite how the site looks if the products right and the price along with the customer support you offer your clients then you will see that clients will buy the product. I use oscommerce for selling our products and we have taken a great amount of bookings with it. I am not debating that if the site was even more improved then we would have more bookings but given that money was tight in the begining I would not hesitate in advising other people to use it to start a business as some people cannot afford the costs of a bespoke system.

Just my 2 cents worth....

[nikita]

Phil

Thank you for understanding...I simply read so many posts in relation to website businesses and posted quite few myself that I do find myself reacting as I did especially after seeing some finished 'works'...And as I said before if I was to find a web designer to create the website for me I'd go for someone who does the individual job from scratch and rather not being familiar with os-commerce ...your attitude and approach definitely suits me ...

[nikita]

Chris

That must have been an awful experience...I'd hate to go through that myself...The good point is that it teaches you some invaluable things, the bad side is the price, in most cases...As for the os-commerce sites I have to make my point more clear. Yes, I have seen websites build on os-commerce but presented and marketed fantastically well...but only ...few.... The majority of os-commerce sites are quite blank and there is no integrity to it or in worst case the whole brand identity thing is missing...If you market your site well and do the most things possible for your budget then good luck to you and as you said when you do have more money then it's wise to make little improvements ...

[Netcomm UK]

Originally posted by nikita
Phil

Thank you for understanding...I simply read so many posts in relation to website businesses and posted quite few myself that I do find myself reacting as I did especially after seeing some finished 'works'...And as I said before if I was to find a web designer to create the website for me I'd go for someone who does the individual job from scratch and rather not being familiar with os-commerce ...your attitude and approach definitely suits me ...

Nikita,

What do you actually have against osCommerce?

For start up businesses it is the ideal solution and as it has thousands of users and developers all over the world it is probably the best supported e-commerce package available. You can add modifications and best of all it's free!

It doesn't actually take too much to design a good looking osC site that is different from the norm when you really go into it. www.oscbooks.com sell some wicked tutorial ebooks and that was from where I learnt how to modify oscommerce from it's out-of-the-box look.

I have to admit I'm not that good but I've seen some very good examples lately, do a search for barefoot_boo...

[nikita]

Hello Netcomm Uk

Please read my post to Chris...I have made my point clear in regards to os-commerce...