We have always used our own software for our ecommerce sites from the beginning. Since then the system has been added to and modified as and when required to add or improve functions on a very ad hoc basis. We had been planning various upgrades to the system in order to improve it’s functionality and capabilities, but I quickly came to the conclusion that perhaps there was a better way to go.
After spending some time looking around for open source alternatives to our system (which there are some extremely smart packages out there i.e. magento, etc), I felt that these solutions would become more of a problem than a solution. We would need to invest a significant amount of time into familiarizing ourselves with the code and how the system works and the processes involved. Without this it would be very difficult for us to make changes to the underlying system if we needed to add to the functionality to meet a clients needs.
Deciding that our current system wasn’t up to the job and the open source alternatives weren’t going to be suitable for what we needed, I took the decision to completely redevelop our software from scratch. This would enable us to eradicate any problems from the old system, implement new functionality and most importantly, improve the usability of the admin area to make it as simple to use as possible.
I will be building the new system alongside and around the ecommerce experiment site, this will enable us all to personally use the system day to day as part of the experiment, so we will quickly be able to iron out any bugs or usability issues.
The plan for the development is to build up a basic framework for the admin area and the database, ensuring it is functional and robust enough for our needs. I will then work with Ryan to integrate the new design for the site with the system, whilst completely rewriting the code that deals with the checkout process, making the flow from basket -> checkout -> order confirmation much more simpler for the customers to use.Technorati Profile
I’d be most curious about how you are going to handle CMS function within the e-commerce system.
Will content-management functionality be fully integrated?
Or will the e-commerce system sit alongside a separate CMS?
It’s often what I find most challenging as clients want e-commerce with powerful CMS (adding new pages, etc.) at the same time but don’t want two different systems with which to do so.
I’m yet to find a decent open-source e-commerce system that is intuitive from both user’s and developer’s point of view, flexible in terms of adding bespoke functionality and one which provides powerful CMS functionality. It sounds like you have had a similar experience.
Hi Richard,
As I’ve mentioned we will be rebuilding our current system from scratch and we will be looking to vastly improve on the CMS functionality, as our system currently lacks a cutting edge in this area. I’ve actually written a new post just about this, which you can find here.
In terms of flexibility, the new system will be well set out and extremely extendable making it a lot easier to add that bit of bespoke functionality that the client is after, which in turn can only lead to further improvement on the system as a whole.
I think it is likely that this new system will actually be v1 and that whilst we are using it in the eCommerce experiment, we will carry out ongoing reviews in terms of functionality and usability. Then we can write up on here about the things we liked, and things we didn’t like, and what we are going to do to improve it, and what we want to add. ☺
Cheers
Chris
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