I'm starting a new project soon, which involves creating an e-commerce site. My involvement with the site will end after the site is created and set up correctly, including adding all necessary products, etc.

 

My client will be solely responsible for managing orders/shipping etc. and although I'm always available to offer help and guidance, whatever system I use has to be very easy to use (and learn).

 

I'm most at home using Joomla, so something like VirtuMart is an option. That said, I'm wary of using Joomla as there is undoubtably a considerable learning curve that I'd rather my client avoid. Also, as this will be primarily an e-commerce site it doesn't seem best practice to use a CMS + Shopping Cart Extension and instead I've looked at fully-fledged shopping cart systems.

 

I've had a play about with the Magneto and OpenCart demos and preferred the former, although both seem very similar in terms of usability. They both still seem a bit complicated for what I need... I'm prepared to learn to work with and use any* shopping cart system so long as the end result involves a very user-friendly interface. Can anybody offer any recommendations?

 

Just to reiterate, I don't necessarily care how complicated the system is for me the designer/coder to work with, I'll learn. The completed system must have a very simple or easy to use back-end for my client to use.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

* - I'm working to a small budget, so I can only consider free software.

The vast majority of shopping cart systems are complicated to some degree, they are required to perform a lot of different functions!

 

I think your best bet would be to source half a dozen or so cart systems (free and commercial) that you may think will be easy enough for your client to use, and manage the product/sales requirements, then demo each one to your client and let them decide. This would also demonstrate any advantages of spending a couple of hundred quid on a decent setup, in all honesty paying £200-£300 for an ecommerce site software is really peanuts in the grand scheme of things.

And still, it is Magento that I'd recommend. I really like this CMS in terms of eCommerce, it's really functional.

And still, it is Magento that I'd recommend. I really like this CMS in terms of eCommerce, it's really functional.

But does it meet the OP's (unknown) requirements?

If simplicity and ease of use is the main concern, consider Shopify.