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Can I build a catalog (using Excel to create the database for an ecommerce shopping cart?

I'm new to web building, and I will either use the "WebBuilder" software that comes with my webhosting account, or I can use "Go-Live", but I want to be able to create and maintain my e-commerce catalogs with "Excel".

Public Comments

1. I wouldn't use Excel for this. Likely your webhosting account comes with some kind of database access, MySQL is very popular as an example. You'll want to use a real database for data access and protection.
2. difficult, really difficult!! that's a mouthful right there! that's a entire system you're trying to build. if you're going to use an excel spreadsheet as a data source, except low response times, really low. You're trying to build a whole catalog system and be a newbie? difficult...
3. A big part of the solution to your problem will depend on the features provided by the company who hosts your website. Because you're trying to develop an e-commerce site, security is essential, so unless you're investing thousands of dollars in hardware to host the data yourself, it's best to leave the hosting up to the website company. You won't want to host the "live" data with Excel, most likely, but you can still use to keep track of your catalog. With all of that being said, you're still wondering how you can use excel to keep track of your catalog. I'd recommend contacting the company that hosts your website and ask them how you can import data into your online e-commerce database. That will let you know exactly what fields of data you'll need to upload to the website. (A field is an attribute of a record in a set of data. For example, one of your items for sale might have fields like "product number", "description," "price.") You can keep track of all of that information in Excel, and then save your file or export it in the appropriate format specified by your web site provider. Again, the company hosting your website is your best source of information in this matter. I hope this helped!
4. You don't want to work with Excel as a backend for a shopping cart, believe me. What you want to do is use ZenCart, which will do a fine job of managing your storefront and handling the business end. http://www.zencart.com