As mentioned in Part 1, I need to solve the first three problems. I discussed this idea with one of my good friends, and he suggested that I give it a try. He offered to let me sell his products as he owns a factory that manufactures items such as phone mounts suitable for use on motorcycles, bikes, and cars, as well as rifle accessories.

To set up an online store, the first thing is to find a fitting domain. By chance, I registered the domain hilltroll.com a while ago, and I also registered trademark "HillTroll" in both of the US and China. However, I have never used it before.

In Chinese culture, the term "Hill Troll" may not be well-received by most people. While I may not be an expert on Western or other cultures, I'm unsure of the impression it would give. On the other hand, considering I plan to sell outdoor products and hunting gear online, if a domain like "monster.com" could be a famous recruitment website , why would "hilltroll.com" be any different?

Once I settled on the domain, I started considering whether to use Shopify or develop my own website using Django.

Shopify:

Pros:

1. Easy and quick to start.

2. Affordable service fees.

3. Large ecosystem, community and wide range of plugins.

4. All-in-one solution.

Cons:

1. Limited flexibility for custom functions.

2. Can't directly solve software issues (if any).

3. Difficulty in creating a unique website due to widespread use of Shopify.

Since I am a senior programmer, I have made the decision to develop the program myself.

After a month of development, building upon my existing e-commerce codes, I successfully launched the beta 1 version of the website online. It shares similarities with other online store websites, offering features such as product listings, detailed product information, a shopping cart, a wish list, and a whole checkout process.

I have set PayPal as the default payment method for the website. While I would have preferred Stripe, it is not available in mainland China. I am considering using one of my Hong Kong companies to create a Stripe account in the future. For now, PayPal (with credit cards) will be the only payment option.

And one more thing, I have intentionally avoided placing any banners on the website so far. The reason behind this decision is that I've noticed many large banners on websites that don't seem to be very effective. Additionally, for a small website like mine, having a static banner that remains unchanged for a long time may not be the most impactful approach.

But I'm unsure about this decision since banners are widely used and so popular on e-commerce websites.

Okay, then the layout of my website's home page and list page is as follows (no banners):

I have developed a small recommendation feature for the home page and list page of my website. This feature displays products based on the visitors' behavior and preferences.