e-commerce software?

[bitesoftwarecom]

Has anyone used either osCommerce or ZenCart to make e-commerce sites? Any feedback would be appreciated as I've not used either and would like to use free open-source software for some new work. Thanks,

 

[swasa11]

I recommend zeuscart which is the best free open source shopping cart software.

 

[ecenica]

Have you considered using PrestaShop? We have lot's of users who've built successful shops using it. PrestaShop is open-source, so free to use.

You can learn more about PrestaShop at Ecenica Help & Support site. Includes links to PrestaShop forum and official website.

See How to install PrestaShop

In case you, or any fellow UKBF readers are looking for web hosting, our UK Linux Web Hosting plans include free one-click installs of all major ecommerce software, including osCommerce, Zen Cart, Magento and PrestaShop. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

All the best,

Rich.

 

[See Web Solutions]

We use Zen Cart for alot of ecommerce work, our latest sites are;

www.seeinteriors.co.uk
www.mobile-gear.co.uk

And we also offer web hosting with one click installation of Zen Cart

 

[Toni Anicic]

osCommerce is an old dinosaur. Consider modern open source eCommerce solutions such as Magento.

 

[GotLiveChat]

Prestashop has a good support community and a decent cart system. Magento appears to be the more popular product to go with.
Consider what type of community support is available when selecting an e-commerce solution (especially open source) as you'll need their help if you run into trouble.

 

[Deleted member 106254]

In my experience Zen-Cart is quite limited and overly complicated for what it does and there's a limit to how much you can change the look of the site. I believe OSCommerce suffers from the same thing.
I am a great believer of custom-made e-commerce sites, a good bespoke site should do everything you want it to quickly and easily and hassle free without a huge learning curve. I've yet to see an off the shelf solution that does everything I want from an e-commerce site.

 

[webhostuk]

I will suggest you to take a look at magento script.

 

[Prodigal]

I will suggest you to take a look at magento script.

I second the option of taking a look at Magento

A little description about Magento:

"Magento is a robust e-commerce software application designed to be simple to customize."

1: Widely used
2: Good community Support
3: Free!

 

[evocart]

Zen Cart is a good cart for editing html etc, however I always found that you need to keep up with the security updates and learning how to do the basic things such as add product attributes can have you screaming at your computer screen.

Magento looks good, however I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner unless they have plenty of time and patience to learn how to create a decent site, or if they can afford to use a Magento developer.

Prestashop is good and easy to use, however it seems to be lagging behing OpenCart on the theme and module front - or at least it was the last time I looked.

All our clients use OpenCart which is easy to use, is secure and has a great support forum. Plus our clients don't have to worry about installing mods, themes or security updates as we take care of all that

So it really depends what the OP is looking for, may be an Idea to install all the ones discussed and see what they prefer.

 

[Martfox Hosting UK]

osCommerce is an old dinosaur. Consider modern open source eCommerce solutions such as Magento.

I wouldn't recommende Magento on a shared server. The CPU usage will kill the server and your site might get suspended.

 

[robmcnicoll]

Hi there,

When I was hunting around for an e-commerce solution my developers recommended OpenCart, and so far is has been excellent.

It's really easy to work with (even for a non-techie) and it works well for SEO, which is really important.

Thanks

Rob

 

[Martfox Hosting UK]

Hi there,

When I was hunting around for an e-commerce solution my developers recommended OpenCart, and so far is has been excellent.

It's really easy to work with (even for a non-techie) and it works well for SEO, which is really important.

Thanks

Rob

Yes, OpenCart is great, but have a look at the 'Extensions' prices... If you will need more features like payment gateways, shipping addons etc. it may cost $xxx.

 

[evocart]

Sorry but if your not prepared to pay a few dollers for extensions then how are you going to make a success of your online store, we're talking $10-$40 not $100s. Plus there are lots of free ones as well.

 

[edmondscommerce]

I wouldn't recommende Magento on a shared server. The CPU usage will kill the server and your site might get suspended.

Shared hosts that specialise in Magento though are fine and can be both affordable and offer high performance - mainly because they have taken the time to optimise the server for Magento so it runs nice and fast and doesn't hog resources

 

[JennyGW]

I'd like to add a word of caution to using off the shelf software for any form of web site.

You may find yourself having to operating your business processes in the way the software dictates. That may not suit you, and more importantly, may not suit your customers.

Many web sites that have been created using off the shelf software look like all the others that have been created with the same software.

By having a shopping cart developed specifically for your business means you have more chance of standing out from your competition and you can guarantee the site will function and look just how you want it to.

Just my two penneth!

Jenny

 

[evocart]

That is fine if the store owner has hundreds or thousends of pounds to invest in thier new store, however a lot of people don't. There are other ways to stand out from the croud, you could have a unique ecommerce template designed which would really make you stand out from the croud, however from a testing out a business standpoint a standard ecommerce store and template is fine.

Our clients do well with "off the shelf" ecomemrce carts and templates and there are many wonderful ecommerce stores out there that are run by fraudsters and customers don't always look at design, there are pelnty of major brands that have ugly, plain or simple sites.

So it's true that not all people want the same look and feel, however out of thousends of search results, what are the chances of your customers finding the same design on several sites during thier shopping search.

 

[marcuz88]

If you are searching for an ecommerce software, I can recommend you to this shopping cart software site. They have information of various shopping cart like Magento, Zencart, Oscommerce and more for better comparison and evaluation. You can review their features and functions to decide which software fits your ideal business.

 

[bitesoftwarecom]

Thanks for your recommendations all,

I've heard of Magento before but I had a closer look at the community edition and I liked the look of it. Opencart is a new one for me but I was impressed, and liked the look of it.

It comes down to personal preference as much as anything I think, and I have to test both installations properly before really knowing which is for me. But thanks for your comments all the same!

 

[marcuz88]

yeah no problem. Good Luck then.

 

[dotcouk]

Oscommerce and Zen are ok but difficult to make them look pretty or add add-ons. I would suggest installing Joomla then adding VirtualMart - you'll end up with something that is easier to update and easier to add content and features

 

[Fresco_Creative]

Has anyone used either osCommerce or ZenCart to make e-commerce sites? Any feedback would be appreciated as I've not used either and would like to use free open-source software for some new work. Thanks,

I currently manage a ZenCart website, which I have taken over just today

Based on the fact it is free, I am impressed. However, I wouldn't necessarily pay for the software. The downside of it is it is somewhat fiddly to get right and there are a million navigation modules.

 

[INZU]

I would just like to introduce INZU.net to you all, we offer a cart system that uses a very straight forward API for you to manage your shop, with no installs required on your server and all the payment systems are built in, other sites section are also up datable via the API such as galleries, news, about us etc.

Setting a site up using the system can be done in just a few days so is very good for new businesses.

 

[IInfluence]

I think people saying not to use off the shelf software are missing the point. They aren't meant to be left as they are but are basically there as a template for the software. As the cliche goes, there is no point in reinventing the wheel.

As for them always looking like the original software, that's rubbish as well. It's up to the designer/developer to alter teh original design.

Here is a link to two that my company have done over the last few years.

https://www.runninghome.co.uk/
http://www.localfarmbox.co.uk/

I would say both of those aren't obvious to people which software they use. Now I appreciate to the trained eye that you can work it out by looking at the code, but it's not obvious to the end user.

 

[JennyGW]

Thought I'd make a final posting on this thread, so spam me your flames all you like, lol

Yes, there is a lot of off the shelf software out there that I am sure does a very good job.

However. In my 30+ years in IT I have never come across two businesses that operate in the same way. It naturally follows that businesses will have specific requirements for their e-commerce web sites that are unique to them.

Sure, you can grab any one of a huge number of off the shelf packages as long as you are prepared to compromise, because it is highly unlikely that any off the shelf package will exactly match your business.

By having your web site developed from "scratch" will mean you get exactly what you want, your customers will be happier and you will be able to better manage your on line business.

In reality, bespoke packages are developed using a developers existing code resources saving both time and money.

When comparing the cost of off the shelf software against bespoke, consider the cost of compromise as it will almost certainly cost you more than spending a little more at the outset to get what you really want, not what someone has tried to guess you might want.

Jenny Gavin-Wear

 

[dx3webs]

Jenny has a point. However, taking Magento as your starting point ticks nearly all the boxes you can think of. After that you only need to pay a coder / developer to add the specifics you are missing not to build the entire site.
My main concern wth Jenny's approach is that you are highly reliant on that particular coder moving forward. If you fall out or they move on you could be left with un-documented code splat which could take another developer days to get their heads around.

 

[IInfluence]

I agree with [FONT=verdana,geneva,lucida,arial][/FONT]dx3webs and think Jenny has it wrong slightly. I appreciate that no two company requirements are exactly the same but the worlds biggest software company have made billions with making software that is generic and works across companies.

The out of the shelf software whatever version, should be treated as a starting point. It can still be bespoke to what you need, but it already has lots already complete, and lots that you'll never need. The great thing is that it'll have been tested a lot more than most small development teams could do as well.

The idea is to get your store doing what you want it to do and looking how you want it to look, the fact that you've started off with a working script already neither slows that down or hinders the direction in which you can take it.

 

[edmondscommerce]

Also agree, yes there is a massive variance in business models, processes and requirements but there is also a lot of commonality and that common ground is best covered quickly and efficiently by using high quality existing solutions such as Magento

 

[JennyGW]

Jenny has a point. However, taking Magento as your starting point ticks nearly all the boxes you can think of. After that you only need to pay a coder / developer to add the specifics you are missing not to build the entire site.
My main concern wth Jenny's approach is that you are highly reliant on that particular coder moving forward. If you fall out or they move on you could be left with un-documented code splat which could take another developer days to get their heads around.

As I said in my posting. Even with a bespoke web site, the developer will have a large resource of "common" code.

Importantly, because the developer has produced every line of code he/she is in a position to easily modify/add to it to meet a customer's exact requirements.

The awesome thing about Coldfusion, which I choose to develop with, is that it would even be easy for a new developer to take on the web site. (Unlike some, my code IS documented!)

I say again, off the shelf software will be good for some businesses, but not all. It really depends on the amount of compromise a business is prepared to accept and what impact they feel that compromise will have on their success or failure with an on line business.

I am by no means saying that bespoke software is the only way, I'm saying it is ONE way, and it happens to be the way a huge number of web site businesses choose to go!

Jenny

 

[zilabee]

Hi there,

Magento and Prestashop are both very good Ecommerce platforms. Depending on your requirements, we can provide a quote for you?

Please visit our website at www.zilabee.com, we can show you some examples of Magento stores if you wish. Can you fill the quick brief on our website and we can start some consultation and learn abit more about what you are looking for.

Thanks

Laura

 

[marcuz88]

I've been hearing a lot about Zencart and Oscommerce. They are great shopping cart software, easy to use, highly customizable and FREE. And there are a lot more than that. You could check them out at this shopping cart software site for more of their information.