Product user flow with different design options

I've got a local print shop and I've been considering setting up a website to make the ordering process easier for my customers. Problem is, every eCommerce platform I've tried is not setup in a way that facilitates the standard printing order process. I was hoping someone here would be able to tell me if Zen Cart has similar limitations or if what I'm looking to achieve is possible somehow. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I basically have a number of design templates that my customers can choose from. I've got a number of 'front' designs and a number of 'back' designs. Technically speaking, each 'front' has one or more matching 'backs' but my customers will sometimes want to have a completely different or non-matching 'back' design paired with their selected 'front' design.

So within all of the other platforms I tested, I was stuck having to setup something like 'business cards' as a product. And then when I wanted to present customers with my design options, my only choice was to make a gallery of 'fronts' and a gallery of 'backs' available somewhere. My customers would need to see the design gallery links in the description, before ordering. Then they'd need to visit separate pages to browse and select the designs they want to use and make note of the design ID. They'd then need to return to their order, and would select the design ID's from drop downs that were set as product options under the parent product of 'business cards'. It technically works, but its very cumbersome and requires way more clicks than necessary. I also do not like the idea of making the customer visit many separate pages just to select a design.

Instead I'm looking to achieve something that's a bit easier on the customer. Customer would come to the site and select 'business cards'. From there they'd see an image grid containing all of my 'front' designs. There would be filtering on the left side to make it easier to narrow down the choices. Once they identify their 'front' they'd select it and would be taken to the next step allowing them to select their 'back' design. The grid for backs, would essentially show the intended 'matching backs' first at the top of the list, and after some sort of page break or separator, they'd be able to see and also filter from all available 'back' designs. Once they select the back design, they'd go to the final page where they can select their finishing options, quantity and shipping methods before checking out.

Does anyone know if my method for product building is possible within Zen Cart, or through a third-party plugin?

Something like this? http://tinyurl.com/olubn9o

Yeah something very similar to that. I'd prefer to have the 'front' designs on one page with filters, and then have the 'back' designs on a second page, again with filters and specific options shown at the top that match the 'front' selection. But the link you sent is the closest thing to what I've been looking for that I've found so far. Is that a solution that comes included with Zen Cart?

xdozex:

Yeah something very similar to that. I'd prefer to have the 'front' designs on one page with filters, and then have the 'back' designs on a second page, again with filters and specific options shown at the top that match the 'front' selection. But the link you sent is the closest thing to what I've been looking for that I've found so far. Is that a solution that comes included with Zen Cart?
Yes, that's a built-in Zen Cart feature. You create product that uses attributes; one attribute uses an option named "Front Design" and another an option named "Back Design".

When you customize those options, you use the Catalog->Option Names Manager to identify that any product attributes that use this option name will display "Attribute Images"; set the Images Per Row to a non-zero value and then enter the "Image Style" (dbltoe's example uses the value 3).

Now, when you add those options to a product using the Catalog->Attribute Controller tool, scroll down to the bottom of the page where you can assign an "Attribute Image Swatch" to display for the specified attribute. You'll need to do this for each of your front & back designs.

Also, I personally don't like having to change pages to finish a selection. Having the front of the card on one page and the back on another is going to turn a lot of folks off. I would do my best to categorize at least the front and split those up even if I had to add all the "backs" to each page.