How to get a almost free webshop running in no time?

Yes, it will help your business, if you set up a webshop and start selling your items on the internet. You will be able to attract more customers, that do not lieve in the city where you have a 'real' shop, and you will also sell to those people, that do not have much time, to drive downtown to your shop and shop there.

You will find a lot of free scripts for a webshop, but I would like to write about the OsCommerce script. The script is open source, that means that you can freely (almost) use it and redistribute it. Before you can really use it, you need to buy some pace on a web server. On this space you will have to upload the script, so that others will be able to use it. You can get it at one of the many free providers, or, if you would like to have a bit more control and most important avoid the usual ads on the free sites, you can go for a cheap hosting plan. This is not a big expense, and I believe you should do it. You need to be sure, that the hosting provides php and mysql for you.

Just ask them before you buy. If you are really serious about your shop, you also have to buy a domain. That is the web address, that your clients will have to know before they will be able to enter your shop. You need to think about the domain for a while, because it is really important. Try to find something short and catchy, so that it is easy to remember and that everyone will know exactly, what you sell in your shop.

After you have done that, you are all set to start up your shop. You will need to extract the zip file that you have downloaded from the oscommerce website and upload all the files that are in the file to the ecommerce web hosting plan, that you have bought. You have received information from your host provider, and somewhere on that page you will find an ftp address and a password. Use a ftp program (like filezilla) to upload your script. Now all you have to do is to enter your domain into your web browser and add the /install/ at the end. The script has an easy to use installation form. Before you do that, you need to make an mysql database. Contact you hosting provider on how to do that. An mysql database is the place where the script stores all the info about your show, your selling items and your customers. Now just follow the instructions from the installation page, and your webshop is ready to use. If you point your web browser to your domain, you will see the shop.

All you have to do now is to log in into the admin area (www.yourdomain.com/admin) and add the items you would like to sell and their description, a picture and a price. Add billing and shipping options and you are all set.

By: Preseren
Published: 12/07/07