meccabooks Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I have been trying to find a way to get a app for prestashop store, after doing research I came across Shopgate, Mobi-Cart and KanCart. Between all of them Shopgate was the possible option, however I notices there outrageous pricing and I didn't pull the trigger. Other 2 options even though little cheaper but were not as fully featured. Today I came accross a crowdfunding project ( link below). Which seems like will be a good alternative, however I am little hesitant to fund it as they have not listed any features or cababilities. Do any one of you know who might be doing this, and if the developer can join this thread and not only start a discussion about the project, but also gather support so we can get this funded so all of us can benefit. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/let-s-create-a-way-so-every-prestashop-store-can-have-an-app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Dalton Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 $500.00 gets a 50% discount. Are they serious? Good luck on that. Personally I'd prefer to buy a bridge in Brooklyn. Gotta hurry ... the guy told me it was going fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meccabooks Posted May 10, 2014 Author Share Posted May 10, 2014 $500.00 gets a 50% discount. Are they serious? Good luck on that. Personally I'd prefer to buy a bridge in Brooklyn. Gotta hurry ... the guy told me it was going fast. You are right, it will only make sense if you buy $1000 package so can atleast get at full price, or spend $2000 package to save $500 over all.. Pricing sucks though.. however if he is able to justify with the features and quality we can talk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWcoins.com Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 @meccabooks: Thank you for contacting us. Yes we are really trying to bring an app to market which will allow store owners who use Prestashop the ability to have their own app, without the need for core file modifications, at a price that is much more affordable then the alternative now available. We are a LLC based in Texas and have used Prestashop for years, both in our own store, and in support of other stores. We see the trend of the rise in app usage and know how valuable it will be to have an app. The features will include: A full self contained App for either the iPhone or Android (you can pick one or both) Your logo will be displayed and your store name will be displayed. It will look and feel like your app. We will not divert or "hijack" any data. Meaning will will not skim your data for our collection purposes. The App will only communicate between your customer's device and your store's server. In fact, iTunes makes the covert diverting of information prohibited and they have a very detail review process. If for whatever reason, your app, is not approved by the app stores we will 100% refund your money. Therefore we will not be able to accept stores (at least for iTunes and maybe Android as well) that sell tobacco products are adult themed, etc. If after 30 days you do not like our app... we will 100% refund your money. Your users can download the app (for free) and browse your store, create an account, make purchases, use loyalty points, refer products to friends, etc. You will have your own App entry and App link. You will give us the keywords and descriptions. We will take care of adding it and getting it approved into both app stores. The app will be optimized and useable for both phones and tablets. This app WILL NOT be just a simple mobile web browser version of your store. (The best thing to compare it to is think of the eBay App. You can do pretty much everything on the App that you can on the website but it looks and feels like an app... that idea is what we are going for.) The plans will be good for that version only. So for example. Version 1... your app will get all version 1 updates. 1.1, 1.2. etc. If and when we release another major version "version 2" then like other software packages (think Quicken) then that will become a separate product. You will not be forced to upgrade. @Bill Dalton - I am sorry you find our "perks" not to your liking. The idea is to get this project finished and off the ground. If one were to contribute $500 (which we already have had and am very thankful) and with 50% off then the basic plan which we plan to offer will only cost them around $249. That is it! You compare that to the existing solution and you are looking to spend over $6 Thousand Dollars in just your first year! That does not even include the 1% take of gross sales they will snag from you. So yes, is $649 (which will be one of our top tier plans) a lot of money? Sure. but that is about ten times less then other solutions. So as far as cost reductions savings go... not bad. Plus it is a flat fee... you will never get another bill from us again. period. The purpose of the perks is to be fun. If you don't like them... ok. If you think we are selling BS, ok, just wait and see. When we do launch and set our plans and pricing all doubt will be erased. You still may not want our app. That's cool. However, we believe that a lot of people would rather pay a flat $649 (for the top tier plan) then $6,000 + 1% + ongoing fees. I assure you we have no bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Side note: I have never even been on the Brooklyn Bridge nor have I ever pondered buying it... did not know it was for sale. Anyhow, we merely have an innovative idea that has been 100% funded by us up to this point (several thousand dollars thus far). We need a little help to get us to market and launch with the Android app as well as the iPhone App. This is a huge project but one we are actually quite close to finishing. Being a Prestashop Moderator I must say I am somewhat disappointed. I would think Prestashop, who sells modules in the hundreds of dollars, would be more encouraging about a loyal customer (as we use Prestashop ourselves) and a developer expanding the feature base in a way that is more affordable for everyone then the current offerings you have. Also, we picked you because we believe what Prestashop stands for and know that you have a solid product that is really the best. Either way, we respect your opinion and hope to win you over with time and deed. To the community at large: Though I appreciate @meccabooks post on this forum and respect his due diligence I wish to note that we had nothing to do with this post. We are not soliciting your business nor promoting our pending product. We are merely answering a question posted by a member of this community and addressing quite sarcastic comments by a moderator who we feel should have gotten a bit more info before blasting us. To be fair, we are sarcastic dry witty people ourselves... we get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWcoins.com Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 @meccabooks I also forgot: you will be able to either choose to send us an icon to use for your store app or pay a bit more and have use design (with unlimited revisions until you are happy) the app icon which will be displayed on customer's devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Dalton Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 (edited) Personally I wish you would give more information about useful products that you have made in the past, or useful projects that you have contributed to in a useful way that might help me or others to understand that you have a good track record for delivering quality and useful software. So far you have posted that other software, that exists, is expensive, and that your software, that doesn't exist, but will cost much less. That's Great! Here is the sum total of your online information, https://www.indiegogo.com/individuals/6772645/campaigns You have 2 campaigns, and have been an avid coin collector for about thirty years. Feel free to add to that. I don't think I'm being unfair with wanting to know whom I may be investing in. If you think I'm attacking you I'm sorry. Edited May 10, 2014 by Bill Dalton (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meccabooks Posted May 10, 2014 Author Share Posted May 10, 2014 @swcoins thanks for your response, however if you could be more specific in what will be your features of the app, you said iOS version is almost complete. Can you share some screen shots and designs? How will the backend work? will it be completely separate admin from Prestashop? When you go to Shopgate website you will see they have Product Highlights, Product Features, Marketing Tools, Payment Method etc. Where they talk about very specific things are available in the app. Can you also provide specific details like that? To be very honest I am already sold on your general Idea, it is amazing. Maybe I like it more than other people because I have been searching for this for past few months. But if you can be more specific, it is going to help. I think it is also good for you to use this thread as feedback and ask people what they would like in the app, and use that feedback in the app so you get a best product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWcoins.com Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 @Bill Dalton Fair enough. I think perhaps it would help to know how this post came about and the back story behind it. @meccabooks sent me a message via the Indiegogo messaging system asking some questions and letting me know about this post he started. As soon as I saw it I promptly responded and my goal was to address his legitimate questions some of which were not listed here. Though I greatly respect @meccabooks for asking the questions he did I did not choose this forum. I don't mind it but my first response was mainly geared to making sure I addressed all his questions he sent me. As to your legitimate concerns and to clarify with a bit more specificity the app we are creating, once done, will allow Prestashop store customers (the buyers) to use the app to navigate fellow store owner's shops. The app will essentially allow the user to do anything in the front office that the stock Prestashop v1.6.x comes with and do it in such a way that "feels" like an app. I have gotten a lot of questions on that and excuse me but some things are better seen then said. I guess the best way to picture this is that this app will not be a mere regurgitation of the default mobile theme that comes standard with Prestashop. It will be a stand alone app with it's own user interface. Our aim is to provide the most feature rich front store app and be the most affordable with no long term contracts, no monthly fees and no access to the clients data. Yes a strong marketing point will be our cost because other solutions are so dang expensive. I know we can do a great job, provide a great app, and at a fraction of the cost. As to the other part of your question. I have been programming for about 20 years. My first "project" was a rewrite of the MS Basic Gorilla Banana throwing game where I made the explosions nuclear in size and even added different weapons and targets to hit. I have worked for Raytheon and Tivoli (now a subsidiary of IBM). Most of my work included internal projects and security related programming and testing. I have, through the years, done custom web development for numerous individuals... everything from simple store web fronts to specialized web applications and almost all on a fairly informal basis. I have never failed to complete a paid project that I have started. For various reasons that have nothing to do with disagreeing with the mission, I have not been big in the open source community. So there is really not a project I can point to and say: "Hey, I contributed that part." However, yes I do own an online coin retail store and am a Numismatic Nut. Prestashop works great for my store and I am very thankful Prestashop is here. I realized early on that an App would be a huge advantage because as far as I can tell no other pure numismatic online coin store offers a mobile app. Then I think you can connect the dots and see how I ended up here. I also wish to clarify that it is not just me. I will freely admit that I neither am the world's best programmer or even an excellent programmer. I know enough to get by or at least get me into trouble. However, my real talent comes from the ability to manage projects and pick people who are very good at specific tasks and then bring them all together to accomplish a task that is better than the sum of it's parts. As a specific example, I am a horrible graphic designer (you do not want me to even draw you a smiley face), however, I have found and attracted talent and thus far his logo samples for this program look pretty darn good. So this is not just SWCoin's project. This is a team effort. I am the marketing face behind it and the manager directing the controlled chaos but no means am I alone or doing this solo. It is a team effort. Lastly, yes I do have two campaigns going right now. The first one was a crap shoot trying to get my store launched. It did not work and I adapted and overcame. Where I admit weakness in some areas such as graphic design I feel that I have good business skills. Despite my first campaign stalling and failing I still managed to launch by store, create my business, and am on track to, at minimum, break even for the year. The same drive and dedication I have devoted to SWCoins is being devoted to this project as well. Will this campaign work? I don't know. Too soon to tell. Of course if it does it will make things happen a lot quicker and we will be very thankful to those who stood up and helped us out. We have no desire to rip anyone off and are fully committed to making sure those who helped us get the service, perks, recognition and product they deserve. This campaign is just merely one way to help move this project forward. If it fails, I will find another way, for that I am sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWcoins.com Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 @meccabooks I will work on getting some screen shots posted to the campaign website as soon as possible. This is a front end app. There will not be a "back end" per say. With that, the general work flow will work like this: 1) Prestashop store owner picks a plan they want 2) They create an account on our site 3) They upload required information such as: key words, description, logos (if needed), etc. 4) We then take that information, compile a specific app for you, upload it the stores and wait for clearance. 5) Once approved (you will know because you will see it) your users then can download it to their prospective devices and use that App to browse your store, create an account on your store, manage their accounts on your store, track order history, send you messages via the Prestashop customer service feature, and of course make purchases from the App using Paypal. As stated, no Prestashop core files will need to be altered or changed. Your Prestashop store backend will remain the same. This is not an App for managing Prestashop as a store owner but rather an App for your users to use the front end from their mobile platforms. As to the specifics on how the App will interact with the Prestashop store, at this time, we are not ready to divulge that as we feel like we have come up with an innovative solution. However, again we can assure, that 1) it will be very easy to set up 2) it will be 100% compliant with Prestashop v1.6.x 3) No core files, no core admin files, no core theme files, etc will be changed or overwritten. 4) You will NOT need to provide us your SQL database login password, FTP login password, etc. The only "personal" information we will need is the URL to your shop. I really wish I could tell you more because it is pretty cool... but at this point we are just not ready to divulge that level of detail into our project. However, the last thing I can assure you of, is that when the project is ready, there will be no secret as to how it works. We will not ask you to install a mystery black box because frankly we wouldn't do it ourselves and thus don't expect too many people would either. To your last point, I agree and want all the feedback as possible. As we move forward to getting closer and closer to the actual launch I/we would greatly value store owner's feedback. I have not posted this on this forum because I did not want to take the chance of running afoul with Prestashop. I respect their terms and respect their mission. With that said, of course, any ideas that will make this project better for you will absolutely be given due consideration and if feasible I see no reason why we cannot include it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinum Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Hi, We have an offer to create app for mobile device (for the moment only for android).Here is the link: http://www.vinummaster.com/en/home/37-create-android-apk.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWcoins.com Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 @meccabooks and @Bill Dalton: After thinking over your feedback and crunching some numbers I just wanted to update you that the $500 level perk will apply a 90% discount to any purchase once we launch. Since others have already bought it I cannot change the text but posted an update and also updated the main page so that it is plain and clear. Thank you for your suggestions. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/let-s-create-a-way-so-every-prestashop-store-can-have-an-app/x/6772645 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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