Question
My client runs a furniture retail operation and wants to build a new website. I don't have hard numbers as to their annual revenue, but they have 4 locations. Two of the locations are boutiques; the other 2 are larger stores. I'm sure they are open to expanding more, but it doesn't seem to be top of mind, and I don't see them ever going huge like Anthropologie or the likes. Top priority is to get a quality website up and running - nothing crazy or cutting edge, just a nice quality website with some dynamic imaging (probably product draping through Liquid Pixels). They use CounterPoint as their POS system, and it is certainly a "must" to have that integrated into the website. What website platform would you recommend?
Answer
I’m pretty sure the only e-commerce platform that supports Liquid Pixels may be Magento:
However, please call Liquid Pixel to see if they work on any other e-commerce platforms.
Also, given your customer is a furniture store with multiple locations, I suspect they may want to do In-Store Pickup. In order to support In-Store Pickup, you’re going to need to do Location-Based Inventory, which is something we can only do on Magento today. Please read:
I’m going to be brutally honest with you. Do you think you can implement a site in Magento for your client? Magento is a wonderful platform, but it can take a long time to master. We’ve been using it for years and have built nearly 100 websites on it, but I have to tell you, it wasn’t easy. Implementing advanced features like In-Store Pick with Location-Based Inventory takes some serious experience. Sorry, I don’t mean to be offensive or make crazy assumptions, just trying to give you a warning.
You may want to read the following article:
Good luck and let me know if you’d like to get together (we’d be happy to partner with you on building this website for your client). Thanks.