Time for a brand new store

[Christopher Parrett]

Yes, I have been a MIVA user since 2006.
Have had stores in V3, V4 and V5.
I am ready to upgrade a V4 store to V5.5+

Am looking for a "High Speed-Low Drag" Miva consultant to replace the guy I had been working with for 7 years who has left the industry.

While I am talking with MIVA directly about possibly using them to help me create a new store, I am also interested in talking to independent developers.

My current store has 36 commercial after-market modules installed.
I have a good graphics guy who can create all of the required eye candy, but I need a coder to build the store and handle all of the customization.

My store consistently generates about 3,000 invoices per year, so it is NOT a high traffic store.
But I am looking for the best possible customer experience I can provide to them moving forward with this new store.

I am NOT looking to simply migrate a current V4.x store over to V5.x
I want a completely new store from ground up with an entirely new look & feel.

I have stayed with MIVA all these years because I like the HIGH degree of customization I can get with the product Presentation/Display/Photos ect. While I am no coder, I am very happy working in Adobe Dreamweaver/Photoshop to create the product content.
Here is your chance to pick up a new long term customer!
Make me your best presentation of WHY I should work with you!!

AVOW-LOGO-2.jpg

[Christopher Parrett]

Re: Time for a brand new store

There is something ODD going on in these forums.
As I read through all the threads I see VERY VERY few replies.
And now I am getting replies from developers via PM.

I run two large (90,000+ member) forums as part of my business.
Why aren't people discussing things in these forums???

[Christopher Parrett]

Re: Time for a brand new store

That would explain it.
Its been a few years since my last major MIVA upgrade.
What I recall from years ago was that MIVA was like a bare Christmas tree.

You bought the tree and then went SHOPPING for all the decorations you wanted to hang on the tree in the form of custom modules.

Dangerous business model to compete directly against your developer base.

Is that why I seldom see MIVA listed on any of the top 10 Merchant Software Programs any more?

[Christopher Parrett]

Re: Time for a brand new store

Ya, I was just out cruising all of the comparison sites again just now.
MIVA doesn't come up on any of 10 different sites I just checked.
Good Grief.
Has it fallen off the face of the e-commerce world?

[Rick Wilson]

Re: Time for a brand new store

Christopher almost all of those top 10 sites are pay to play and we refuse to play or pay for that.

Talk to:

Phosphor Media
Glendale Designs
Leslie Kirk
NetBlazon
AarcMedia
Ebusiness Express

Or go to our partner section www.mivamerchant.com/partners and call them or email them off forum to see what they think off the record.

You'll be happy with the results and I don't think a company with something to hide would respond this way.

For comparison go to the BBB or Facebook pages of Volusion or BigCommerce to see how those "Top 10" players truly treat their customers.

We do have PS as you know but we're more expensive as a rule than the independents and we never advertise custom PS work in our admin nor on this forum.

Chuck is bitter for different reasons that I'm not going to go into here.

[Rick Wilson]

Re: Time for a brand new store

Also FWIW, the only "legitimate" comparison sites we've found for Shopping Carts haven generally been User Reveiw sites like:

http://www.shoppingcartreview.com

[Christopher Parrett]

Re: Time for a brand new store

Also FWIW, the only "legitimate" comparison sites we've found for Shopping Carts haven generally been User Reveiw sites like:

http://www.shoppingcartreview.com

THANK YOU for taking the time to jump in here on this thread.
I have been a LONG time MIVA user/supporter.
And as I get ready to make a major investment in a whole new store I AM interested in coming up to speed on what MIVA has been up to over the last several years since I had to delve into it.

Will go take a look at that site.

[Christopher Parrett]

Re: Time for a brand new store

1. AgoraCart (5.00) AgoraCart - The powerful "Free" Open Source ecommerce shopping cart software solution offers you a very wide range of features that allow you to setup an online storefront or shop ranging from a simple template based store for novices to the integration of complex web design concepts created by your web designer



2. Ecommerce Templates (5.00) Shopping cart software solution integrated into Dreamweaver - Frontpage - Expression Web - Golive - CSS ecommerce templates with ASP and PHP versions.




3. CS-Cart (5.00) CS-Cart is a comprehensive ecommerce software solution with easy-to-use interface that allows you to start selling online immediately. It's feature set worls well for small single-product shops to full-featured on-line stores. Designed for ease of use along with flexibility, CS-Cart is equipped with the latest ecommerce innovations (like one-page checkout, AJAX-based web interface, block manager and others) built into a highly configurable sales and promotion engine.



4. Miva Merchant (4.94) E-commerce solution that is flexible, reliable, expandable and easy to use. Miva Merchant is a well established solution with many add-ons and a significant development community to rely on.



And everything there rings true to what I have known since 2006.

[Christopher Parrett]

Re: Time for a brand new store

Most interesting little detail on that review site.
MIVA is the only product in the top ten list with anything even approaching a real voter base.



1. AgoraCart (5.00)
6 total votes.



2. Ecommerce Templates (5.00)
6 total votes



3. CS-Cart (5.00)
5 total votes



4. Miva Merchant (4.94)
36 Total Votes!



5. Zen Cart (4.40)
5 total votes



6. Fortune3 (4.38)
13 total votes



7. PDshop ASP (4.00)
5 total votes



8. Ashop (4.00)
4 total votes.

[nottheusual1]

Re: Time for a brand new store

#1 and #3 aren't that great. Honestly. It's like comparing a calculator to a spreadsheet.

[lesliekirk]

Re: Time for a brand new store

I run two large (90,000+ member) forums as part of my business.
Why aren't people discussing things in these forums???

For the most part, the Miva Merchant forum is a place to come for help. Over the years, a number of developers have willing offered that help. Even store owners have jumped in with great tidbits. You'll also find that members of the Miva Merchant Professional Services sharing code and the Miva Merchant Support team jumping in to help were needed.

I myself am rather jaded when it comes to working with Miva Merchant since Version 1. Yes, I've looked at a few other carts but in some cases just trying to figure out how to integrate a custom look & feel made my head spin. Or if I went to post questions in a users forum I wasn't treated as kindly as I have been over the years here.

So we come here to discuss all things Miva and occasionally we go "Off Topic". You will find that "we" developers prefer to discuss a store owner's needs one-on-one instead of in a public forum.

Many thanks!
Leslie

[Christopher Parrett]

Re: Time for a brand new store

#1 and #3 aren't that great. Honestly. It's like comparing a calculator to a spreadsheet.

Ya, I am quickly coming back up to speed on who the REAL players in the market are in 2013.
MIVA has changed and evolved, no doubt about it.
Its not the company it was when I first dove down the rabbit hole.

The whole "Module" system seems to have been greatly reduced while the core program has become much more robust.

[lesliekirk]

Re: Time for a brand new store

MIVA has changed and evolved, no doubt about it.
Its not the company it was when I first dove down the rabbit hole.

Definitely! And this is a GOOD thing.

[Christopher Parrett]

Re: Time for a brand new store

Definitely! And this is a GOOD thing.

If you don't mind, TELL ME WHY??

[Dan - Glendale Designs]

Re: Time for a brand new store

I will refrain from throwing in my personal opinion here, but Christopher, I think we can definitely assist here if you have not obtained a developer to fit your needs. Feel free to contact us via the information in my signature.