The Best Online Store Software/Program?

I'm preparing to debut my online store and would like tips on the best online store software out there. I've looked all over the web and have come across some pretty decent companies, but nothing I'm really sold on.

I would like something similiar to this layout/organization/with these options
www.couturecandy.com

Tips are welcomed and thank you!!

[ Message was edited by: bhartzer 05/23/2006 11:17 am ]

There are dozens of good ones. Choice is dependant on what server type it will be hosted, your budget, how much time you are prepared to put into the design (i.e. the more you pay, particuarly by purchasing add-ons, the more featured the shopping cart. So, I might buy a 3rd party module for $25 which, with half an hour configuration time, replaces 3 hours of work that I would have to do to achieve the same result without using the module), your level of experience and time availability to get down and dirty under the hood, what features you must have and what features you would like, whether you primarily use Dreamweaver, Front Page or some other WYSIWYG editor, how complex your shipping options and charges are, whether you have just a few products or many thousands, whether your products have attributes and options and if so, how complex they are, whether you use inventory control or not, whether you want the shopping cart to track inventory, whether you have export restrictions on certain products, what % of your sales are likely to be international etc. etc.

In other words, how long is piece of string?

If you can provide detailed requirements as above, we can be a lot more helpful.

One of my clients discovered prostores.com and was impressed by it. I've suggested it as one to consider several times since then and have been told it was the best one each of those searchers had found and at least one went with that solution.

Have you ever came across x-cart.com
I have been using it for the past 4 years and i have never had any problems with it.They sell you a fully funtional website and you can get add ons when you are making enough money to do that.They have a very decent customer service as well.

Whatever you decide to use make sure shipping costs and options are displayed early in the buying process. Few do this. At a minimum they must be shown in the shopping cart (although this will cause a high abandonment rate as potential buyers put things in the cart to find out what the total cost is).

Do not use any solution that asks for any personal information or that makes it mandatory for visitors to create an account or log in before they can see total cost.

Once someone decides to buy they won't mind providing personal information. Before they decide many will leave instead.

Mary Elise, we need more info from you.
I've done many stores and have worked for some majors.

One thing you need to decide first is how are you going to fulfil your orders. What is your projected sales volume and is your backend fulfillmet scalable,(if your doing it in your garage it will not be scalable) another words, you need to chose a system that won't crash as you grow.

If your a beginner, I would check out bigstep.com (or a simular 3rd party online cart), use your own frontend and just connect to their cart on the backend. This keeps your investment small and makes things simple.

I for one would never do my own shipping again, I now use a fulfillment center, they have great security, a programing staff, reports, my inventory is insured, they have a robust call center that can take 1000's of calls and internet orders per day, my frontend connects to there cart, and shipping is done at consolidated prices. It costs a minimum of $2000 per month, but they are scalable, 20 orders or 2000, they can handle it. Compare the cost to set up of inventory and accounting systems, website security, hiring people to pick and pack, insurance, osha, floor space etc etc.
I just mamange my inventory and website and marketing endeavors, they do the rest.

i know i'm running on but I'm compelled to share.

I had a client that literally did their shipping in the barn, they had 2 phone lines and answered 40 to 50 calls per day. It took all day and night to pick, pack and ship 60 orders a day. I moved them to a call center and we found out the first day they were actually getting 250+ calls per day. For years they were missing all those sales. Good thing we had moved them to the fulfillment center, they were never overwhelmed.

just some food for thought.......

I know this is a bit of a bump on this thread, but I wanted to say - excellent post there mj1256!
It's a very good point you are making about managing success successfully!

Another solution to check out is Volusion. They have some cutting edge features such as one click checkout and a more intuitive interface than some others I've seen.