Book Image

Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition

By : David Mercer
Book Image

Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition

By: David Mercer

Overview of this book

<p>The book can be read from front to back, but each chapter is self contained so the reader can skip chapters to read those that they are interested in. Each chapter will move from basic to advanced where applicable and also relate what the administrator (reader) is doing to how this affects what the client sees on the site.</p> <p>So, for example, the customization chapter will start off with a discussion on the concept of design and how to relate this to your business. Once the reader has a clear idea of what they need to do, we look at some really simple changes such as modifying the site's language, before moving to some advanced modifications which may involve some PHP programming. At the same time the discussion will demonstrate how the changes made affect the site.</p> <p>Throughout the book, much consideration is given to the "right" way to doing things. Readers will have the great advantage that they begin, from the very start, doing things properly. This will save them a lot of time and effort in the years to come as they build on and modify their site. Utilizing best practices and sound methodologies is a great asset for beginners and experienced users alike.</p> <p>At all times, the coverage given in this book pays homage to the fact that, ultimately, the reader has a business goal in mind. To this end, the material never gets bogged down in technical issues or long discourses, but rather focuses on what is practically important for the online business and then moves on. To complement this, there are plenty of suggestions and hints as to how and where to look for further information.</p>
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Building Online Stores with osCommerce: Professional Edition
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
Foreword
Introduction
Index

Chapter 12. Building Your Business

So you find yourself sitting with a well developed, sophisticated piece of online retail software, which is fully capable of selling to hundreds of thousands of customers all over the world. You have a great product, which you just know is going to be popular if only everyone out there knew about it—but nobody does. Your main consolation in this situation is that you are not alone. In the US, each year thousands of new Internet startups fail because they simply cannot generate enough revenue from their online sites. The reasons for this can be varied, but whatever they may be, you can be quite sure that one of the main factors is the site not gaining enough exposure.

The difference between success and failure is really a numbers game, when it comes to dealing with e-commerce. Unless you already have a select, loyal client base from which you can draw enough sales to keep you going, you are going to have to market and advertise and do just about anything...