Looking to put together a catalog (no payment processing) for a rental company

Hello, I’m looking for how much we’d be looking at to get a rental company catalog created in modX. In many ways, it’d be like a shopping cart, but there’s a twist in that checkout wouldn’t be about payment, it’d be about initiating contact in some form. The idea is to create a catalog of services, rental items, etc. As a rental company, their goal is to get the phone ringing, not to make an online sale. So, there’s no need for payment processing or the like. They ultimately want to have someone pick up the phone and call.

So, instead of a payment-driven shopping cart, we’d like a wishlist feature that would let users spread the word about his/her shopping list to friends (without needing to create an account on the site). I’m thinking about generating sort of permanent link that could be emailed/bookmarked and would basically lead back to the items in the shopping cart.

Content pages will be one of two kinds:

• Free-form landing page content areas, for categories and subcategories that have research info that will show company expertise and show up in search engines. Probably easiest as a WYSIWYG editor where they can make a typical page.
• Layout-specific item pages for specific rental items or services, which have the nitty-gritty of prices, rental considerations, brief descriptions, selling points, etc. Probably easiest for the client if this is a simple form on the admin side that includes set fields such as price, SKU number, description, categories/subcategories (options pulling from existing categories/subcats), and picture uploads.

The other requirement is to make it so that the admin area is as idiot-proof as possible. The client should basically be able to log in, view/edit existing pages, and create new ones. All pages should have a one-stop place for all content, picture uploads, and SEO-related features, too (meta name=description and link rel=canonical tags).


Let me know if there’s questions. Thanks!

Hi,

I have many questions because I’m not totally sure I understand what you want

However, we have done idiot-proof entry systems before. And catalogues, many catalogues. Not needing payment makes it a LOT easier.

Drop me an email (my address is in my profile, I hope).


Ramsay

http://www.zombietuesday.com/

Hi Jeremy,

I’d like to help. I’ve developed a number of websites within the property sector and could deliver a suitable solution for your client.

I’ve listed below some questions which should help me gain a better understanding of your project requirements:
1. Will you require design or just development support?
2. Do you have an established site-map, wire frame or any visuals?
3. What is the deliver schedule?
4. is there a set project budget (range)?

If you’d like to know more about our services please follow links within my signature.

Kindest regards,


Martin

Thanks for the responses so far. I should be in touch soon via email.

Quote from: modx at Sep 03, 2009, 06:46 AM

1. Will you require design or just development support?
2. Do you have an established site-map, wire frame or any visuals?
3. What is the deliver schedule?
4. is there a set project budget (range)?

1. Just dev support. Unless you’re just incredibly efficient and cost-effective at slicing and dicing psd’s into great frontend/design code, we can do it in house.
2. We need to get the job first, but I have some pretty solid ideas in mind. It will basically have three templates: the vanilla company info pages (about us, portfolio, contact info, etc), and the cat/items i described in the first post. By the time you come in, we’ll have a set sitemap and layouts for each template (if not a modx install already in place). You’ll just need to write any missing code and hook up the machinery.
3. Soon. Two weeks max from client approval to delivery.
4. Budget TBD based on what we find out from you, and what the client is willing to pay for.

At it’s core, our dev will need to customize the admin for client simplicity, ensure that the admin is a one-stop for all SEO tags, make sure that inventory management works on the site, and create the conversion actions (contact us, share with friend).

A bit more detail on my thinking on the conversion action...
I want people to be able to submit a quote to the company/email to a friend/return to the cart a month later/do whatever without having to create a login or provide any personal informaton. I like how http://www.seomoz.org/trifecta generates permanent URLs that you can bookmark/link to/email without ever creating an account. Otherwise, we could have them create a very simple login (like, "enter a password to share this cart with your friends, and email them <this link>."