[wp-pro] Ecommerce

[Richard Brown]

Hi All

I need some advice and also a developer who is happy to work with me 
over a period of time.

I have been working to create an ecommerce plugin called wp shop. I ran 
into some difficulties when the original developer pulled out and left 
the plugin unfinished. However, I have hired a further developer who 
has promised the plugin will now be finished on 18th October 2006. 
Phew!

Since then I have had two clients who want to develop their ecommerce 
sites further. They are interested in full crm (Customer Relations 
Managers) and ecommerce packages. They require a website that will 
allow them to sell online and have a backend that will manage all 
invoicing, shipping, suppliers and customer management. I have looked 
at various other offerings - oscommerce, Zen Cart and various Open 
Source solutions and have yet to find anything that really fits the 
bill. I have looked at buying software and the cost for apps that most 
fit the bill are £7,000 plus per year!

So what I am wondering is what you guys out there think? Is this a 
doable project for Wordpress? Or would you say use a different cms more 
suited to this? The roadmap I plan would be to create several plugins 
and then have them linking together. The plugins would be:
WP Shop plugin
Customer plugin
Invoice plugin
Shipping plugin
Accounts plugin
Supplier plugin.

The process roughly goes like this. The customer can buy via the wpshop 
or through an order form or by contacting by phone. The order is 
processed and
item requests made to a supplier. Those items arrive together with an 
invoice. The invoices are processed. The items are then sent to the 
customer and an invoice generated. The invoice is marked as paid (if 
bought through wpshop) or left outstanding.

Reports can be generated for invoices outstanding, accounts on a daily, 
weekly, monthly etc. Invoices outstanding in respect of Suppliers, etc.

Is this project to big for Wordpress please? Would it be better to use 
one of the existing packages and enhance if necessary? Will it be ok to 
do separate plugins and link them together? Is there anyone interested 
in working with me on this one please? Or can you offer another 
solution please?

Many thanks
-- 
Rich
http://www.cregy.co.uk
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 
Romans 12 v 1