CS CART - good or bad?

[josmolka]

Hi there

I made a decision to open up my online shop using a cart software purchased for a one off licence fee (with or without a hosting package).

The one that I am currently looking at is the CS Cart.

Do you know this software?
Is it easy to install?
Does it give you SEO managament?
Any bad experiences with it?

Would be grateful for any useful comments about it to make my decision slightly easier.

Thanks.

Jo

 

[mit74]

Hi there

I made a decision to open up my online shop using a cart software purchased for a one off licence fee (with or without a hosting package).

The one that I am currently looking at is the CS Cart.

Do you know this software?
Is it easy to install?
Does it give you SEO managament?
Any bad experiences with it?

Would be grateful for any useful comments about it to make my decision slightly easier.

Thanks.

Jo

As a developer I can tell you CS Cart is VERY good and very easy to install and customize. I haven't looked at the new version 3 that came out this month but I am very impressed with its GUI, ease of use and built-in functions. The block system makes simple changes easy to implement and the backend is well designed for us programmers so development costs will be cheaper compared to something like Magento.
I haven't spoke to any store owners about what they like/dislike but personally I don't like the Smarty PHP they use for templating (that's a coding thing though) and the language integration is a bit more time consuming than it should be.

 

[webhostuk]

Yes its a good software .. only thing is if you are expecting good traffic for your site dont go for shared hosting. On dedicated resources CScart will work perfectly fine.

 

[Page]

Unless it is your world and you want to go techie then do not waste time learning about the software install etc etc

It goes on and on

And that is part of the charm of cs-cart you can get your hands into the code - I know because I have done this a few years back and loved it

But it was not now I look back good use of my time since I was learning lots of technical stuff for a one off operation

The structure behind it is right and the community used to be great and active - lots of others messing about like me - lol

Support was great

But if you do not require anything fancy and bespoke then magento might be a more sensible commercial use - more and more other software is linking into it

The community is not as active/chummy (near dead?) but there are far more off the shelf add ons that are built to a high standard

It is what we are planning to move to

I have not upgraded to recent cs-carts but it used to work fine on shared hosting so was virtually free - whereas Magento needs some serious hosting to make it feel smooth to use

As always it depends what you are after

I would love to be back hacking around cs-cart and sharing help on the forum but you may find you do not have good time to do that and populate your site (the dull bit)

 

[Websitehandyman]

I am updating my site to cs-cart at the moment. I've had the shop for over ten years so I understand what I need and I've had the license for cs-cart for over a year so I've had plenty of time to understand that too.

I think it's great, it's very easy to the most advanced things. Say for example if you want to design a t-shirt shop where you need lots of product options. All there to do. Perhaps you want filtering like show all one colour, size, price as a menu option ? it easy done. Say you wanted to place some html code or java somewhere on the page and have it only show for one category ? Easy done and cs-cart works on a grid system so you have something like 16 x 16 content grid where you can place blocks of content.

Problem is with all these options is can take time to setup and a lot of thought needs to be done as what options you want. And obliviously with this freedom if you put something in that uses a lot of resources you'll need to know what affect that will have on the speed of site. I don't agree however that out of the box it is anywhere near as resource hungry as cart like Magneto.

It's not an option I would suggest for simple sites for the same reason I would recommend a hammer to crack a nut. But if you need multi dimensional product options I think it's great value and the support is also good. I reported a bug in the latest version Saturday Night, we had the solution Monday morning.

 

[Page]

It is fine for simple sites just dont get involved in any coding
But then the option sits there for future

I would suggest you just go ahead and purchase a license

Rather than possibly spend more and more time researching and researching

It is very good and good enough to do that with confidence

Plus the structure of the business is right etc - this needs to be key in your thoughts for the long term - are they going to be around and developing

What matters more is thinking where you fit in on developing it all - are you a techie - do you want to get into all that world - if not find someone to help get you going - it will save you weeks/months

 

[antropy]

I'd say if you haven't already, have a look at OpenCart.

I've reviewed a lot of the popular FOSS (Free Open Source Software) carts and it comes out on top: http://www.antropy.co.uk/blog/shopping-cart-review/

It's a very valid point above that the total cost of ownership is affected by how difficult a cart is to work with - Magento is quite complex and takes developers time to work with.

OpenCart is coded in a far cleaner and simpler way, which also means it runs extremely fast even on shared hosting with a high volume of traffic.

 

[NuBlue]

We have some customers using both Open Cart and CS Cart with positive results. Both are lighter to host that Magento and if you don't need quite as much functionality as Magento, they can be good, easier choices.

 

[Websitehandyman]

Well here's a long comparison of magneto v CS-Cart

http://www.alt-team.com/magento-vs-cs-cart.html

I don't know if I agree with all of it as I'm very much in the cs-cart corner based on experience both of running and setting up carts. But it must be remembered that it's often not a one fits all when it comes to carts. But for me cs-cart comes out on top in the area where it matter most.

Cs-cart out in front on basic speed but throw resources at Magneto and that resolves that. Result pushes cost. Same is true about development, not much Magento can't do that CS-Cart can but it'll cost you more if you move away from the defaults of Magneto then it would if you did the same with CS-CArt. So again it's down to money.

But I suppose if you throw enough money at any cart it'll compete with any other on the market, then you have to consider if a full development of your own solution would turn out cheaper then Magneto.

 

[thegascupboard]

We switched to CS in february after 4yrs with oscommerce and i can highly recommend. We have had quite a few custom mods made for us such as instore epos - the software is the heart of our business and depend on it every day.

 

[Websitehandyman]

We switched to CS in february after 4yrs with oscommerce and i can highly recommend. We have had quite a few custom mods made for us such as instore epos - the software is the heart of our business and depend on it every day.

If your using royal mail you could export your postage table and let me have them ? save me some time

 

[thegascupboard]

We just have a fixed p&p charge for RM. Not much to export!

 

[Websitehandyman]

We switched to CS in february after 4yrs with oscommerce and i can highly recommend. We have had quite a few custom mods made for us such as instore epos - the software is the heart of our business and depend on it every day.

It's ok, I was only joking really. It's not hard to setup just time consuming as I like to give people all the options. Wouldn't mind seeing your site if you want to pm me the url

I've spent hours and hours on just the SEO tactics for my new site so might be able to pass on some tips if it works. I've basically set the site up for best SEO while also trying to give a good shopper experiance.

 

[josmolka]

Thank you all for your super helpful comments regarding CS Cart. It has taking me ages to make a decision on which cart to use. I am going with this one.

Now I need help with customising it towards my UK needs. And looking for developers who are experienced in CS Cart.

Could anyone suggest some options????

Thanks!

 

[Websitehandyman]

The most time consuming will be the shipping if you plan to ship on total order weight. But most people use the online quotes from DHL or something.

Best tip I can give is setup one product in one category with all the options you need. Export that and use it to create csv files for each top category.

I'm current installing a site, got most the options in just need to update the stock levels. If you send me your IP I'm happy to give you access and you can use me if you want an hand to hold, I don't do customization but I may be able to answer most questions you'll have.

 

[mit74]

i've been working with cs cart for the last 4 months. pm me if you're interested.

 

[antropy]

And looking for developers who are experienced in CS Cart.

If you change your mind and go for OpenCart, let me know - [email protected]

Thanks!

 

[Holopainen]

CS-Cart is really a great choice, you won't regret about it =)

 

[tonyfwa]

Hi, I have recently joined CS Cart but I'm having trouble setting up the postage, could anyone please advise how to set up Royal Mail postage.
I keep getting this message:-

Sorry, it seems that we have no shipping options available for your location.
Please check your shipping address and contact us if everything is okay. We'll see what we can do about it.

Also how do I edit the details below?:|


Delivery time is calculated in business days.
Products in stock will be sent after the payment is verified. Mail service is responsible for the goods during transportation.
Please, open the package delivered under your order the moment you receive it. If any damage is revealed, make claims against mail service.
Any questions? Contact our Customer Service at 123-12-23


Many thanks in advance for your help.


Tony

 

[martfox]

Sorry, it seems that we have no shipping options available for your location.
Please check your shipping address and contact us if everything is okay. We'll see what we can do about it.

Also how do I edit the details below?:|


Delivery time is calculated in business days.
Products in stock will be sent after the payment is verified. Mail service is responsible for the goods during transportation.
Please, open the package delivered under your order the moment you receive it. If any damage is revealed, make claims against mail service.
Any questions? Contact our Customer Service at 123-12-23


Many thanks in advance for your help.


Tony

I'm sure here you will find the aswer to your questions:
http://forum.cs-cart.com/

 

[Holopainen]

It's hard to say if CS-Cart a good solution. Everything depends on your needs.
CS-Cart is your perfect shopping cart if you need:
● Mobile commerce
● Multi-Vendor Store
● Multiple storefronts
● Block management
● Support of main payment and shipment gateways
● Good support and data security.

On the other hand, if you look for the variety of extensions, SMM options and unlimited options for business growth, you will need other solution.

I'd suggest you to check this review and read more about CS-Cart.

Good luck!

 

[martfox]

On the other hand, if you look for the variety of extensions, SMM options and unlimited options for business growth, you will need other solution.

That's wrong, because CS-Cart includes so "many free, included extensions" as no other paid shoping cart. Many of the other carts are "free", but the plugins and extensions will cost more then the CS-Cart license itself which all of these functions includes.

 

[snakeeyes121]

Hi, I have recently joined CS Cart but I'm having trouble setting up the postage, could anyone please advise how to set up Royal Mail postage.
I keep getting this message:-

Sorry, it seems that we have no shipping options available for your location.
Please check your shipping address and contact us if everything is okay. We'll see what we can do about it.

Also how do I edit the details below?:|


Delivery time is calculated in business days.
Products in stock will be sent after the payment is verified. Mail service is responsible for the goods during transportation.
Please, open the package delivered under your order the moment you receive it. If any damage is revealed, make claims against mail service.
Any questions? Contact our Customer Service at 123-12-23


Many thanks in advance for your help.


Tony

To edit that shipping bit go to administration> languages > search for shipping_tips and edit whats in the box then save it.

 

[Cart By Design]

CS Cart is a great solution if you have a good list of demanding requirements, and a developer who can customise it.

I'm sure CS Cart can be quite daunting if you're new to carts and only have basic needs... ie you need to sell your items. If you have no need for 'Multi-Vendor', 'Multi-Storefronts', complex product options and the like, perhaps there is a simpler soluton out there that might be better suited.

 

[stasok86]

Its great system, work with last 3 years. Now its really complete solution for anymore.
Has two awesome templates: cs-cart alexbranding com/ru/shablon-unitheme-ru.html?aff_id=40 or cs-cart alexbranding com/ru/youpi-premium-shablon.html?aff_id=40

 

[antropy]

Is that your theme?

Paul