Shopping Cart and Host

[Mighty]

Hi Folks,

I am about to start a new site and for the first time will have to do a site that requires a shopping cart. Can anyone suggest a good ASP shopping cart program and maybe some good hosting providers.

Also, I have another simple/stupid question maybe on how best to set up the system. My client will have this website where customers can buy from a range of products and it will require a means of stating current stock status. Obviously there will be some form of backend database storing all product information for this purpose. However, once stock is shipped from the clients warehouse the stock levels should adjust. My question is basically how do I make sure that the stock levels are always correct. Do I need to use the same database in both locations.

Thanks.

Mighty

 

[Sheco]

My client will have this website where customers can buy from a range of products and it will require a means of stating current stock status.

If you are planning to buy, rather than build your own shopping cart program, look for this inventory stock feature when you choose which software to buy. I wouldn't plan on modifying someone else's software... that could get ugly.

...how do I make sure that the stock levels are always correct. Do I need to use the same database in both locations.

Ideally there will be one copy of the database shared by both systems. However, since you are buying the shopping cart rather than building it, you'll have to take the database that they give you. The database that comes with your shopping cart will undoubtably be designed for sales rather than for warehouses so this is probably not realistic expectation.

Second best choice may be to add triggers in the warehouse database so that you can keep the website up-to-date as you go...

If that is no feasible then you'll have to create some regularly scheduled job to synchronize your data.

 

[pkailas]

and just remember to NEVER put the Cart before the Host!

couldn't resist!

 

[guyphil]

What do yo mean by putting the cart before the host?

 

[pkailas]

it was a joke! I am sorry.. never heard the term "never put the cart before the horse"?

 

[Sheco]

It is humorous a play on words.

There is an old proverb that says, "Never put the cart before the horse.

 

[Mighty]

Sheco,

I was originally going to write my own shopping cart but someone suggested that I buy one. Would you recommend purchasing on off the shelf solution or developing my own. How do you incorporate a shopping cart program with a host. Do you have to find a host that supports the shopping cart solution?

Mighty

 

[pkailas]

Well, yes you would have to make sure that the host can support whatever solution you decide to use. For instance, if your backend database is SQL, you will need access to add a database. If their server is Linux, well, that would be a problem.

If you are coding using ASP pages (ie vbscripting) you will have to make sure that their server supports that.

If this is going to be a small database and they don't have an SQL server, you could use access as your DB as that would not require anything special on their end.

 

[Sheco]

I didn't mean to sound like i was discouraging from buying one. The shopping cart is one cat that has been skinned many times so there is no use re-inventing the cat.

If I were you, the only reason that I would make my own shopping cart would be if the requirments for the integration with the warehouse system forced my hand.

What do they use in the warehouse?

 

[Mighty]

It is a brand new start up company and they don't have a warehouse yet and haven't purchased any systems yet.

Mighty

 

[kenhutchings]

Right - good shopping cart software

http://www.get-trolleyed.co.uk

or take secure payment from your own shop with

http://www.protx.com

Ive used them both and I can say I prefer to build my own shop and use the protx solution

;0)

 

[Sheco]

Oh well thats perfect for you because if you get a shopping cart that runs on the same type of database as the inventory system then synchronizing the two becomes much easier.

 

[Mighty]

Sheco,

As regards the syncronising, do I keep one database in the warehouse and another where the website is hosted and run some routine to update stock regularly - or do I just have one database and have both the warehouse and the website access it??

Can you suggest a good shopping cart program?

Mighty

 

[Sheco]

There are so many different shopping carts that I think your best bet is to wait and see what sort of warehouse database you get and then get one that runs on the same type of database.

If you can run them both off the same that would obviously be the most straightforward because you don't need to keep them in synch.

You'd then have to weigh the relative merit of having your warehouse system located off-site at the hosting facility, or to flip it around... your web-site hosted at the warehouse!

Even if you end up with 2 different physical systems it would be easiest if they have the same underlying DBMS... That way you won't have to learn two different sets of datatypes and SQL flavors.... You might even be able to use the simple built-in "backup and restore" functionality to do a sort of brute-force synchronization. Anyway, you just have more options if they are the same.