e Commerce

[Anuviel]

Do not know if this is the right place for this post but here it goes:

Is it feasible and or practical / worth developing e-commerce site in FM.

A real e-commerce site with shopping cart and all of the features of, for example, aspdotnetstorefront (www.aspdotnetstorefront.com).

I understand that php, xml or so will have to be involved. The reason I'm asking is that of all online e-commerce providers - their db management, and fee structure always leave something to be desired or provides something not needed. Might as well get someone to develop the thing specifically for what is needed and be done with it.

I am a novice in FM so I would like to get Pro and Con opinions on the matter from experts at the forums.

Thank you.,

[twinrivers]

Pro 1: FileMaker Server makes it easy to get up and running real fast.

Pro 2: FileMaker's client software is very user-friendly and pleasant to look at (from a data viewing standpoint)

Pro 3: FileMaker plays somewhat nicely with FLASH, php, XSL

Con: When the traffic picks up, FMPSERVER is too top-heavy to keep up with the pace, so there tends to be a lot of stalling. I have potentially 2,000 users wanting to login into my system at any point. FMPSERVER can can technically handle 100, but in reality only about 20 get a "real-good" experience.

Conclusion: I would recommend FMPSERVER when your potential customer base is under 3000. Of course this statement could be argued over in so many ways, but that's the productivity I'm seeing in my system.

[FMWebschool]

We have a couple of live FileMaker e-commerce sites online - if you would like to test them please feel free.

One is a pretty basic site

http://fmstudio.pointinspace.com/APPAREL/

This one offers some nice advanced features

http://fmstudio.pointinspace.com/DolphinPro/

To learn more about how the sites were created -

http://www.fmwebschool.com/reference/Dolphin_Cart

I hope this is helpful and gives you a couple of examples to work with. Both sites are hosted at a professional FileMaker hosting company.