Shopify is an amazing web 2.0 application specifically for hosting stores.
I was partway through designing Barb’s Art when I discovered Shopify. I took a few days to check it out but it was still pre-release software. I went back to designing and building the site until I got to the point of putting in the shopping cart.
I was strongly considered using Paypal for my shopping cart. It was really not what I wanted, so I checked out Shopify again. I was blown away by the improvement in such a short period of time. I threw out the old design and got back to work. What you see is the result.
Shopify is excellent for getting small stores such as ours going. The software is still fairly early and the guys are working very hard to add functionality. This means it is constantly getting better! They have a very vocal community whom they keep in touch with and I am generally all around really impressed.