Open-source eCommerce platforms are a great option for those organizations with the capability and desire to implement their own systems. If you are a ‘Do It Yourselfer (DIY)’ with a willingness to ‘roll up your sleeves’ and jet the job done, Open-source platforms can you a load of money. Even if you are a complete ‘Newbie’, installing and configuring the WooCommerce shopping cart on a WordPress site is a breeze.
When evaluating shopping carts, consider some of the most problematic aspects of your business and ensure that the cart you select addresses those needs. One large benefit of selecting an open-source solution is the availability of community contributed ‘plug-ins’ or ‘extensions’ to close functional gaps in the platform.
CS-Cart
Ecommerce Templates
Magento and Magento 2
OpenCart
osCommerce
PrestaShop
VirtueMart
WooCommerce
ZenCart
Exhaustive eCommerce – CS-Cart is the best shopping cart solution for building an ecommerce website of any size: from a small web store to a virtual shopping mall. A ready storefront, support for many payment and shipping options, full inventory control, unlimited products, promotional tools, and other ecommerce software features out-of-the-box.
Built-in Content Management – With our ecommerce software you can create, edit and publish all kinds of web content including static pages, surveys, newsletters, contact forms, graphic and text banners, customer testimonials, and many others. Handy menu-builder makes the storefront navigation convenient and clear to your web store visitors.
Search Engine Optimized – CS-Cart shopping cart software offers a search engine friendly environment that involves the table-less layout, customizable META tags, friendly URLs and Google sitemap. This all contributes well to the proper indexing of your web store and generally improves its ranking among the popular search engines like Google, Yahoo! Search and Bing.
Customizable PHP Software – CS-Cart is PHP shopping cart software that uses MySQL to store data and Smarty template engine to build the website’s look and feel. And its 100% open source code, hook-based modular architecture, modern design technologies, impressive flexibility and development API make CS-Cart a perfect platform for custom eCommerce requirements.
Learn more about CS-Cart Shopping Cart Software > HERE. or see Additional things we like about CS-Cart
What is Ecommerce Templates? Ecommerce Templates provides a powerful shopping cart software solution integrating into the main HTML editors; Dreamweaver, Frontpage, Expression Web, GoLive and CSS layouts. It is also possible to use our Generic version to integrate into your existing site.
What is the cost? The price is (check current pricing here) for the shopping cart software. The software behind all the versions is the same, only the front end changes. The purchase price is a one time fee, there are no monthly costs as you are free to choose where you want to host your store. The purchase comes with 6 months of free support and updates which can be renewed if required.
What do I need? Apart from our shopping cart software you will need a host with database support. We offer ASP versions which require an Access database and PHP versions for mySQL. The software is integrated with the major payment processing companies such as PayPal, Google Checkout, authorize.net and many more.
Learn more about Ecommerce Templates Shopping Cart Software > HERE.
CartSpan is THE top-rated accounting integration tool for Magento 1.x and Magento 2.x
See for yourself on the Magento Connect site where users objectively rate Magento extensions based upon the three categories of Usefulness, Functions as Described, and Developer Support. Click here to see reviews of CartSpan on Magento Connect.
CartSpan supports Magento Community (CE) 1.x and 2.x versions in your chosen hosting environment. CartSpan does not currently support integration to Magento Go or Magento Enterprise implementations.
Most CartSpan implementations run against the free Community edition. There is no charge for the Community addition; which is a very robust platform containing most of the base functionality as its ‘bigger brother’ Enterprise edition.
Magento is a feature-rich, professional open-source eCommerce solution that offers merchants complete flexibility and control over the look, content, and functionality of their online store. Magento’s intuitive administration interface contains powerful marketing, merchandising and content management tools to give merchants the power to create sites that are tailored to their unique business needs. Completely scalable and backed by an extensive support network, Magento offers companies the ultimate eCommerce solution.
We also offer native support for some very popular community extensions:
M2E Pro – Enable single-point integration of your Amazon and Ebay merchant accounts with Magento. See our blog post at tinyurl.com/d84pc6v detailing native support. CartSpan is the only solution on the market that effectively manages the cross-reference of item codes and multi-pack configurations passed-in to Magento via M2E.
Delivery Date by AdjustWare – Lets your customers choose delivery date and time and manage available delivery days.
Subscriptions and Recurring Payments by aheadWorks – Accept recurring payments and sell subscription products in your Magento store. CartSpan fully recognizes the extension-specific product types used within this module.
Advanced Product Options by MageWorx – Simplies the process of adding configurable options by not having to utilize configurable products. Use this product to quickly add options to your existing simple products. Each configured option can have its own price, SKU, weight, inventory quantity, and image. User consensus is that APO saves extraordinary amounts of time.
Customer Credit by MageWorx – This extension allows you set credit amounts in Magento for a specific customer. This new ‘Internal Credit’ payment method can be used for full or partial payment during checkout.
One Step Checkout – This well-reviewed extension allows consolidation of your checkout into a single page. CartSpan recognizes and imports a user-supplied Purchase Order number (if applicable); which is critical for companies engaging in B2B operations.
Reward Points+ by Magestore – A well-reviewed loyalty program extension by Magestore that helps you keep your customers coming back. Customers earn ‘points’ for their purchases and can redeem these points as discounts against future purchases. CartSpan appropriately picks-up the discount from Reward Points+ supporting tables and includes it in the import process. This extension is value-priced and very cost-effective relative to other loyalty program extensions.
Reward Points Pro – A well-reviewed loyalty program extension by MageWorld (Here) that helps you keep your customers coming back. Customers earn ‘points’ for their purchases and can redeem these points as discounts against future purchases. CartSpan appropriately picks-up the discount from Reward Points Pro supporting tables and includes it in the import process. Though more expensive than other reward points extensions, this extension offers more extensive features including tie-in’s to Social Media.
Sales Reps and Dealers – A well-reviewed sales rep extension by Amasty (Here). Standard Magento CE does not support the association of a sales representative with specific customers. This extension allows you make these associations and CartSpan will import the username assigned to the sales rep (in Magento ) into the Sales Rep ID field on the order/invoice in the accounting system. This is especially useful for companies utilizing Magento as an order entry front-end and manage sales commissions out of the accounting system.
Sales Representative Commission Manager – A well-reviewed sales/commission tracking extension by Lucid Path (Here). Standard Magento CE does not support the capture of an internal sales representative when Magento is utilized for inside sales. This extension allows you make these associations and CartSpan will import the username assigned to the sales rep (in Magento ) into the Sales Rep ID field on the order/invoice in the accounting system. This is especially useful for companies utilizing Magento as an order entry front-end and manage sales commissions out of the accounting system.
eCommerce Gamification Suite – A well-reviewed sales rep extension by aheadWorks (Here). This extension takes the concept of reward points to a whole new level. If you sell a product that lends itself to communal engagement, this extension allows your customers to ‘compete’ with each other in a way that promotes your product. Customers are rewarded for reviews, referrals, and purchases and can redeem ‘points’ at the time of checkout.
Learn more about Magento’s Community edition Shopping Cart Software > HERE.
OpenCart is an ‘Open Source’ eCommerce solution for establishing your online business.
OpenCart is packed with useful features that are not typically included in standard open-source offerings. These features include: Pricing/quantity discounts by customer groups, capture of item-level product options (a.k.a. ‘variants’), gift certificates, and affiliate management.
During the development of the CartSpan integration we found the configurable product options to be especially flexible in that they allow multiple selection mechanisms to be utilized; mechanisms such as radio buttons, free-form text, and drop-down lists. These user-selected options are conveniently appended to the base description of the item during the import process. Note that there is no 1-to-1 mapping capability, with respect to Item IDs, for the potentially large number of product combinations that a store could configure. The encouraging qualifier here is that, for any variant items actually configured in the accounting system, the appropriate Item ID can be easily selected from the detailed description imported.
For businesses that track online sales by sales representative or affilitate, OpenCart provides a small but useful feature, differentiating itself from other carts. Rather than providing just an integer-based reference of the affiliate, OpenCart allows a meaningful ‘code’ to associated with the affiliate. This code can then be expressed as an actual Sales Rep ID that can be perfectly mapped to the QuickBooks/QuickBooks POS/Sage 50 U.S. import.
From a broader development/implementation perspective, OpenCart has had the foresight to support multiple stores within the same database. So, if you are a merchant with multiple storefronts, and would like to handle them from within one administrative environment, OpenCart is a viable option.
If you are a PHP coder/developer, OpenCart seems to have a good reputation in the marketplace for overall product design and development. If you need to somehow extend the product to meet any unique business requirements, this aspect of solution selection should make your work easier.
Learn more about OpenCart Shopping Cart Software > HERE.
osCommerce Online Merchant is an Open Source online shop e-commerce solution that is available for free under the GNU General Public License. It features a rich set of out-of-the-box online shopping cart functionality that allows store owners to setup, run, and maintain online stores with minimum effort and with no costs, fees, or limitations involved. With over 8 years of operation, osCommerce has built a showcase of over 12,700 online shops that have been voluntarily added to the live shops section, and powers many thousands of more online shops worldwide.
Learn more about osCommerce Shopping Cart Software > HERE.
PrestaShop consists of 100 developers, designers, and professional e-commerce addicts. Headquartered in Paris and Miami, we are a leader in everything e-commerce and are committed to staying free and Open-source. As most developers know, inspiration begins with your customers. Each merchant and community member carries out projects large and small that contribute to not only their personal growth, but also the growth of PrestaShop. We continue to work hand-in-hand with the community and are passionate about creating features, modules, and templates according to their needs. The success of our software is thanks to countless hours by numerous contributors from around the world. We want to make sure every merchant is successful and in the process we ensure it is easy to sell online by providing over 275 features and an overall software that can be customized to each business’ needs.
2011 Best Open-source Business Application – For a second year in a row, PrestaShop is proud to be the winner of the 2011 Open-source Award. The award is a testament to the contributions of our growing community base. This award is an “Open-source” of pride for the nearly 300,000 PrestaFans who have helped us reach this point with their code contributions, suggestions and encouragement.
Learn more about PrestaShop Shopping Cart Software > HERE.
VirtueMart
VirtueMart is an Open Source E-Commerce solution to be used together with a Content Management System (CMS) called Joomla!. Joomla! and VirtueMart are written in PHP and can be used in typical PHP/MySQL environments. With its fully-featured eCommerce engine, VirtueMart is perfect to sell your Goods online and drive your Business to new Heights. VirtueMart software powers large Online Shops providing the Performance, Usability and Security you expect from professional Software. VirtueMart is the leading Online-Shop for Joomla! (more than 2.5 million downloads so far!). And the best: it’s free! You can download, use and modify it without any restrictions (License: GNU/GPL) – just as Joomla!.
CartSpan supports the following unique business cases with it’s Virtumart integration:
Dynamic SKUs from configured options – Suppose that you sell a basic item with a SKU named ‘SHIRT’ in the shopping cart. Suppose that you also offer this item with user select-able options of color and size. While standard Virtuemart does not support a dynamic SKU creation, CartSpan can be configured to import this purchase item as “SHIRT-BLUE-LRG” based upon user selections. The feature eliminates the need to configure a separate item in the shopping cart for each possible combination item/options and presents an improved shopping experience for the user.
Learn more about VirtueMart Shopping Cart Software > HERE.
WooCommerce is a robust WordPress plug-in offered by WooThemes. WooCommerce has been specifically designed to maintain the ‘look and feel’ of the WordPress environment, thus presenting a seamless shopping experience for your customers.
WooCommerce is especially well-suited to the businesses that will be selling a smaller number of products and want to avoid overly complex configuration environments. Administration of WordPress sites is already a fast process. If you are just starting to consider your online business, this process can be made even faster by using WordPress as your Content Management System (CMS) and selecting a site theme that has WooCommerce pre-configured for use.
While aesthetics is always important, it is equally important to select a cart that supports your business process and the types of products you will be selling. In addition to supporting the ‘simple’ product type, WooCommerce supports some additional product configurations that address a broad-range of business requirements. The most impressive of these types is the ‘variable product’ configuration. eTailiers that sell products with multiple characteristics (i.e., size, color, etc.) will find this feature indispensable. WooCommerce provides a clever little algorithm for automatically configuring all of the possible combinations (SKUs) from the characteristics that you define; an otherwise confusing and unwieldy task if you have more that a couple of characteristics.
Another attractive feature of WooCommerce is the ease with which taxes can be configured. In a straight-forward manner, the developers of WooCommerce allow you to establish tax rates by State, or on the more granular level of zip/postal code. The support of tax by zip/postal code is somewhat of a farsighted development consideration given the current shifts in taxation of Web-based sales. This functionality marries well with CartSpan, as it too recognizes tax definitions on this level. As a bonus, CartSpan will properly allocate this tax to any configured sub-authorities during the import process.
Learn more about WooCommerce Shopping Cart Software > HERE.
Zen Cart truly is the art of e-commerce; free, user-friendly, open source shopping cart software. The ecommerce web site design program is being developed by a group of like-minded shop owners, programmers, designers, and consultants that think ecommerce web design could be and should be done differently.
Some shopping cart solutions seem to be complicated programming exercises instead of responding to users’ needs, Zen Cart puts the merchants and shoppers requirements first. Similarly, other shopping cart software programs are nearly impossible to install and use without an IT degree, Zen Cart can be installed and set-up by anyone with the most basic web site building and computer skills.
We also offer native support for some very popular community extensions:
Reward Point Full Suite – A robust reward points extension, with over 14,000 downloads, in-use by Zen Cart users since 2008. Keep your customers coming back to redeem earned discounts. See more detail at: > Reward Point Full Suite.
Learn more about Zen Cart Shopping Cart Software > HERE.
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