Comments on: WordPress As An E-Commerce Platform – Hits != $$$ http://billhamilton.com/wp/wordpress/wordpress-as-an-e-commerce-platform-hits/ Personal opinions of Bill Hamilton and friends Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:27:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Bill Hamilton http://billhamilton.com/wp/wordpress/wordpress-as-an-e-commerce-platform-hits/comment-page-1/#comment-39 Bill Hamilton Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:31:58 +0000 http://billhamilton.com/wp/?p=35#comment-39 I've used ZenCart previously in an earlier version of my sites. Building the site from the shopping cart wasn't something that felt pleasing to me. For my particular applications, the customers were likely to make one transaction in our relationship (or one per year), but expect ongoing support, how to articles, frequently asked questions for reference, demonstrations, etc. 99% of the site is about the product and the relationship and only 1% was the actual monetary transaction. Thus, a CMS was the better answer and for those who share that situation, I share my experience as a "serious vendor" who uses WordPress by choice. You do bring up a great point: it is a conscious decision to use WordPress and I will try to expound on the reasons why that decision makes sense - for some. I concur that it's not for all, but I also believe that serious vendors can make use of it. Thanks for pointing that out - I'll pursue it further in a future post! Bill I’ve used ZenCart previously in an earlier version of my sites. Building the site from the shopping cart wasn’t something that felt pleasing to me. For my particular applications, the customers were likely to make one transaction in our relationship (or one per year), but expect ongoing support, how to articles, frequently asked questions for reference, demonstrations, etc. 99% of the site is about the product and the relationship and only 1% was the actual monetary transaction. Thus, a CMS was the better answer and for those who share that situation, I share my experience as a “serious vendor” who uses WordPress by choice.

You do bring up a great point: it is a conscious decision to use WordPress and I will try to expound on the reasons why that decision makes sense – for some. I concur that it’s not for all, but I also believe that serious vendors can make use of it.

Thanks for pointing that out – I’ll pursue it further in a future post!

Bill

]]> By: That Software Guy http://billhamilton.com/wp/wordpress/wordpress-as-an-e-commerce-platform-hits/comment-page-1/#comment-38 That Software Guy Sun, 08 Jun 2008 03:16:17 +0000 http://billhamilton.com/wp/?p=35#comment-38 You're so much better off picking a shopping cart that works for you and integrating content management later - or even running both a blog and a cart. There are no free lunches here - you're going to have to put some effort in if you expect to be successful. If that means running multiple websites and learning multiple platforms, well, so be it. Some carts have content management components built in. Others allow you to integrate RSS/Blog content into your cart - for instance, Zen Cart has a contribution that allows you to display RSS feeds right in your cart: http://www.thatsoftwareguy.com/zencart_blog_integration.html Both these options are reasonable. But starting with a CMS and tacking on some shopping cart functionality is likely to disappoint the serious vendor. That Software Guy You’re so much better off picking a shopping cart that works for you and integrating content management later – or even running both a blog and a cart. There are no free lunches here – you’re going to have to put some effort in if you expect to be successful. If that means running multiple websites and learning multiple platforms, well, so be it.

Some carts have content management components built in. Others allow you to integrate RSS/Blog content into your cart – for instance, Zen Cart has a contribution that allows you to display RSS feeds right in your cart:

http://www.thatsoftwareguy.com.....ation.html

Both these options are reasonable. But starting with a CMS and tacking on some shopping cart functionality is likely to disappoint the serious vendor.

That Software Guy

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