Configurable product ecomm
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- detritus
Not to distract from Hans_Glib's post —
Can anyone recommend an eCommerce package that handles 'confgurable products' well?
Essentially, we have 'one' highly configurable product, wherein dimensions, colours and features all affect the price.
I've dug through loads of solutions, none of which seem to offer this functionality either out of the box or with a handy plugin module.
I'd really like to keep the bodge-coding to a minimum, otherwise I'd just do it myself in my typically hokey fashion.
Thanks!
- ********0
What Web Framework are you using?
- ********0
If you're looking for something wrapped into Wordpress this works well: http://getshopped.org/
- obviously LAMP-based********
- horrendous showcase on their site though********
- better example of that plugin http://payd.net/how-… in use********
- obviously LAMP-based
- detritus0
erm, thanks for the response - but surely a WP-based solution is in the exact-opposite direction from that which I want?
- vaxorcist0
Question.... Does each configuration result in a different stock number? i.e. like ordering size 10 shoes in black, vs size 11 shoes in brown?
or does each configuration keep the same stock number and result in a specification list?
- vaxorcist0
argh, this sort of thing may force either special coding, or text-field dumping of specs, like ordering a whopper with extra tomato and no ketchup....
does each config change result in a different price?
- ********0
What you're failing to recognize if the fact that the plugins which can be used by Web Frameworks like Drupal, Joomla or Wordpress are easily configurable. Unless you have an absolute reason to have this in some proprietary locked down customized system.
- WP isn't proprietary? Just seems like I'd be adding in an entirely redundant layer is all! Thanks.detritus
- Could be, but it could also nail down your requirements. All of the tools mentioned are Open-Sourse dude********
- detritus0
I guess all I'm looking for is the code that packages up a request in such a way that PayPal etc can process the order and return some kind of confirmation. I just don't trust myself to not miss some vital detail that would allow The Nefarious to undermine the system, is all.
I doubt I even need full cart functionality - just security and usability.
- vaxorcist0
hmm..... I did find WP-Ecommerce more customizable than I thought it would be, worth a try....
I'm sure there are some Drupal frameworks that are pretty extendable, so it's hand-coding within a framework, rather than hand-coding from scratch(risky if dev leaves!) .... but if you've never worked with Drupal, find somebody who has to get you started.....
- vaxorcist0
This sort of thing can be:
1. hard to estimate2. important to control oddball cases from taking over your time... i.e. 10% of users cause 90% of complexity... for those, just say "special order text field"
3.the business rules are the cause of HUGE complication, i.e. are there restrictions and limitations like "anything over x,y dimensions cannot contain z feature or be finished in leather, only cloth"
- 3. Yes, there are a couple of limiters.
Hand code it is. Thanks for your help, Vax!
xdetritus
- 3. Yes, there are a couple of limiters.
- vaxorcist0
one more rant....
Years ago, I worked on a team of programmers/designers who made a very complex ordering system in apple's WebObjects, it was complicated and elegant (a rare combination) and very carefully thought out.... we spent a LOT of time figuring out how phone ordering people would take an order and dealt with as many cases as possible, but for political reasons, we weren't allowed to talk to the actual phone reps (huge error!)
SO.... when we had actual customers use our web app,they were too busy to actually spend time customizing things, they just wanted to pick a few things, and like 90% of them wanted one of the top 3 things, the rest of our work was for like less than 10% of users who really wanted to spec like crazy....
We ended up making a new menu system, literally A,B,C or click here for custom options...
The cost-benefit was all backwards, we could have simply coded A,B,C and had a text-field ordering system that handed off to a human who called you back... which is what they wanted anyway, as we didn't figure out till later that the phone reps were the ones handling all the complexity and the customers didn't want to do it themselves at all....