justjackoh

Hello all. I'm new to this forum and am desperately hoping someone can point me toward some helpful references.

First off, I'm a SW developer, most recently with experience building web pages (HTML, Javascript, ASP, VBScriot, etc). I am now in a position to build an online shop for someone, etc, etc. I've found that my searching on the internet for materials to get me started has been more confusing than helpful.

I'm completely new to e-commerce and have been picking up some knowledge from reading articles on the net. But I'm finding nothing that would give me an overall e-commerce picture, not from an end user's viewpoint, but from a developer's/builder's perspective. I'm finding nothing that fully lists and explains the set of features for online storefronts; nothing that gives me an overview of what software components make up an e-commerce site; no table that shows the e-commerce packages and the features they offer, so that I can easliy compare them and narrow them down; no table of providers and what e-commerce software packages they offer.

And then I'm struggling with what makes up an e-commerce software package. At first I thought it was a separate entity from the "shopping cart" componments. But then I read in places where the shopping cart is part of the e-commerce package. But then I also read that you can choose among several shopping carts, that they were somewhat stand alone and cross compatible (in a loose sense of the concept). If the later is true (they are separate choosable items), then how do I find the e-commerce SW and the shopping cart that would be the best fit for me, and such that they are compatible. I heard similar conflicting stories about the "catalog".

I'm trying to get my hands around 'what software do I need to obtain/access in order to launch an web shop, that has a database of inventory/orders/etc that the website dynamically accesses and renders pages (catalog perhaps) to the user (or reports to the owner), can process crefit card purchases, do order tracking, etc'. Do the e-commerce packages also provide inventory capabilities, or do I need to build and populate a separate database and hit that database to render inventory/quantity/pricing info?

With so many of everything out there, I've found it impossible to
(1) find a complete/current list of e-commerce hosting features,
(2) search for e-commerce software packages that provide the features (chosen in item 1) I need, and
(3) search for e-commerce service providers that offer the features and software support that I need. Also, from the list of provider candidates that offer the features I need, I want one that is known as a reliable, top end provider; stable company, great track record for offering quality service, etc.

I'd also like to stay away from web-based builder tools. I need to have flexibility in design, etc.

Anyone have any good pointers/suggestions/recommendations to get me moving forward? A great book? An incredible website? Etc...

I hope that all made sense.....

Thanks,
Rich