Website for a company

VidaLoca

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right place or not.

I am looking to get a website developed for a retail shop. I have no idea where to even go about this. Who are the top web developers for the irish market ?

Any advice and help much appreciated.

VL

counterpointaud

You will probably get more helpful info if you give some info on the following:

- What should users be able to do on the site?
- If site is displaying or selling products, how big is the inventory?
- Do you already have good digital branding, photographic content, and text copy, or does this need to be included?
- Who manages the site when it is done?
- Budget (roughly)?

a fat guy

If it's taking stock of inventory and allowing people to buy online, you'll want to look into some CMS (Content management system) software.

If they just want an online presence, something like rails would suit them pretty well (quick to get it started up and easy to bang out something simple with it).

Graham

a fat guy wrote: »

If it's taking stock of inventory and allowing people to buy online, you'll want to look into some CMS (Content management system) software.

If they just want an online presence, something like rails would suit them pretty well (quick to get it started up and easy to bang out something simple with it).

huh?

A CMS may be appropriate for an online presence/brochureware type site.

E-commerce software would be appropriate for selling online (including stock control if required)

Rails would only be even remotely appropriate if the OP is looking to have something custom written from scratch. Not to be recommended unless the requirements are so specific they can't be met by an out-of-box product.

a fat guy

Graham wrote: »

huh?

A CMS may be appropriate for an online presence/brochureware type site.

E-commerce software would be appropriate for selling online (including stock control if required)

Rails would only be even remotely appropriate if the OP is looking to have something custom written from scratch. Not to be recommended unless the requirements are so specific they can't be met by an out-of-box product.

If I'm honest I was replying to this pretty late last night and thought that the OP was a developer 😂

VidaLoca

Nope, not a developer.

Basically, I was asked to look into getting a website setup for the company my wife works for. A small retail shop selling bags and wallets. He wants to get an online presence and really doesn't know where to start.

Initially he wants just a website where he can show his goods and then people come into the shop for purchase then work towards setting up online purchases.

- What should users be able to do on the site?

See the items for sell and later on down the road be able to order online

- If site is displaying or selling products, how big is the inventory?

Id say 100 active items ,

- Do you already have good digital branding, photographic content, and text copy, or does this need to be included?

No online presence at the moment at all


- Who manages the site when it is done?

I am looking at it being managed by myself if possible

- Budget (roughly)?

Not a clue, but in the region of less than €500 (but no idea really! so open to advice here)

Birdie Num Num

Need to be taking it a bit more seriously than thinking a budget of €500 is going to crack it. Enterprise boards are offering a €2000 grant towards the building of a website provided it is a website that sells product rather than just a brochure site. €1200 would be on the low side for a half decent brochure only site. You need to factor in more than just development. Design and photography need to be good too. You can easily waste modest amounts of money on a site that gives no return rather than getting it right from the start and investing in it. Think if it the same way as a physical shop/shop window.

Graham

You're not going to get a 'top developer' for your budget. Not even close.

You're in the pocket money/student territory if you're lucky in which case dictating the platform will mostly be academic. They'll more than likely use whatever they already know.

Aswerty

Websites for retailers typically come in two varieties: brochure (basic website) and e-commerce (online store).

It sounds like for the initial requirements a brochure website might be sufficient. Brochure websites are websites which are just an online version of a brochure you might get through you door at home. So they might have a handful of pages about things like business hours, location, type of inventory you're selling (along with some examples), images of the shop front, reasons to buy from your store, a bit about the owner/staff, and so on. With a brochure website you can set it up and you don't really have to pay to much attention to it after that (saying that - it's good to keep a website up to date and maintained regularly).

An e-commerce store is more involved an undertaking (typically pricier) than a brochure website. E-commerce websites are the online equivalent of a brick and mortar store. With these sites you need to keep stock and price information up to date, you need to be able to ship the product once it's purchased, and you need to provide customer support for the online purchaser. So all in all e-commerce stores aren't something you build and forget about - they require constant attention.

Both types of sites have features so you can update and change information such as putting up Christmas opening hours or changing the price of a product. For a brochure site this is done via a CMS (Content Management System) and for an e-commerce site you might do it through an admin panel (this might also be paired with a CMS).

It's possible to upgrade a brochure website to an e-commerce site but the result can often feel less polished than if you built for e-commerce in the first place.

There really is such a broad scope of options out there that it's a bit meaningless for us to start recommending this or that. You just need to engage with a freelancer or studio who can do a proper look at your requirements. Really, you should be looking at other sites that are similar to what you want and just saying "I want something like that but less of this and more or that and make it blue".

Your budget is fairly shoestring. If you're going for a brochure website, depending on what part of the country you're in, it might suffice if you go with a cheap freelancer. As Birdie Num Num says, the Local Enterpirse Offices have grants for trading online and they also do some workshops you might want to look into.

VidaLoca

Thanks for the information

The main thing I got from all that is my budget needs to be revised. I really didnt know what the going rate was.

Im going to also look at the grant side. Do you have any information about the workshops Birdie Num Num ?

MentalMario

If it's a very basic site they're after, a WordPress site with a decent theme would probably suffice.

Elegant themes are great, and cheap.

Envato Market is a good place to look for WordPress themes too.

If they're willing to upload products themselves, you'd build a basic site in a few hours.

You won't get a top web developer to do it, but she recent grad might do it as a nixer.

Pm me if you want a number for a guy I used last year to build a basic site.

It feels like a facebook page might suffice, for the moment though.

Birdie Num Num

VidaLoca wrote: »

Thanks for the information

The main thing I got from all that is my budget needs to be revised. I really didnt know what the going rate was.

Im going to also look at the grant side. Do you have any information about the workshops Birdie Num Num ?

Get in touch with your local enterprise office, https://www.localenterprise.ie . They role out opportunities to apply for the grant periodically after an initial campaign some years back. I am sure it won't be available forever but I did see something flagged recently about another round of offers. Part of the application means you must take part in a workshop but they also have workshops available to sign up to. I noticed however that within a workshop I attended that there was a big stir towards wordpress and trying to do it yourself. There was also a blurred line between CMS and the actual design/development of a website. Also if you are doing it yourself you won't qualify for a grant.

colm_c

You could also look into using something like shopify -- https://www.shopify.ie

Basic is 29 per month for an online store, you just need to be somewhat tech savvy to set it up. It will honestly be better than 99% of what you will get for your budget if you get a student/intern to build it.

Only problem is that it is quite expensive over the course of a few years.

Aswerty

colm_c wrote: »

You could also look into using something like shopify -- https://www.shopify.ie

Basic is 29 per month for an online store, you just need to be somewhat tech savvy to set it up. It will honestly be better than 99% of what you will get for your budget if you get a student/intern to build it.

Only problem is that it is quite expensive over the course of a few years.

I was going to mention the likes of shopify but since the OP is looking into this for the business his wife works for. I was assuming he didn't want to put in place a DIY solution. But saying that, I would be interested in how the OP has been landed with this responsibility. It seems like the sort of thing the business should be investigating in-house (even if in-house is just the owner and OP's partner). The technical competency, commitment, and availability of the person who is ultimately responsible for the site is a major factor in what solution makes the most sense - and that is information we don't really have.

VidaLoca

Aswerty wrote: »

I was going to mention the likes of shopify but since the OP is looking into this for the business his wife works for. I was assuming he didn't want to put in place a DIY solution. But saying that, I would be interested in how the OP has been landed with this responsibility. It seems like the sort of thing the business should be investigating in-house (even if in-house is just the owner and OP's partner). The technical competency, commitment, and availability of the person who is ultimately responsible for the site is a major factor in what solution makes the most sense - and that is information we don't really have.

I work in the technology sector but my wives boss doesn't so I offered to look at some options that would be available for him. I'm not intending to take any responsibility beyond that but perhaps my wife will. She has moderate tech experience.

I will do a little more research and report back my options on which path to take then.

I have a question on the facebook side.

Is setting up a facebook site easy ?
Can you sell your goods directly from facebook ?

I like this shopify.ie option. Have people used this here ?

Thanks,

VL

StupidLikeAFox

VidaLoca wrote: »

I work in the technology sector but my wives boss doesn't so I offered to look at some options that would be available for him. I'm not intending to take any responsibility beyond that but perhaps my wife will. She has moderate tech experience.

I will do a little more research and report back my options on which path to take then.

I have a question on the facebook side.

Is setting up a facebook site easy ?
Can you sell your goods directly from facebook ?

I like this shopify.ie option. Have people used this here ?

Thanks,

VL

Its easy enough to set up a business page but keep in mind you need a plan to keep it updated or else its pointless.

Shopify has an add on which lets you list your products on facebook

refusetolose

heres another option similiar to shopify

https://www.ecwid.com/

been using this a few years now with no problems