Open-source software has really made a name for itself in recent times, now prevalent in the form of multimedia players, operating systems and web applications. In fact, companies around the world are leveraging this type of software to maintain their day to day business operations. Open-source programs can suite a variety of needs across a broad range of industries and market segments. One area this software has truly settled into is e-commerce, in particularly, the shopping cart.
Open-source shopping cart software offers a cost effective alternative to traditional commercial solutions. Perhaps the biggest draw to these programs is that they provide the online merchant with the ability to customize the software to satisfy the unique requirements of their business. This is all made possible active communities that make templates, modules and various other components widely available in addition to their continuous efforts to enhance the project.
What to Look for
When shopping for any software, open-source or proprietary, it is important for merchants to thoroughly research and evaluate the product before sending it into deployment. Because there is no single solution that works for every store, it is crucial to select a cart based on individual needs. With that said, here some critical features you want to look for in an open-source product:
Product Capacity - An online store owner must be able to determine limitations for their product capacity. For instance, if you have a catalog compromised of more than 500 products but the shopping cart only supports 200, you should know right then and there that the software cannot suit your requirements. The good thing is that most open-source shopping carts offer support for an unlimited number of products.
System Performance – A lagging, sluggish online store is one of the fastest ways to send your customers surfing to the competition. For this reason, you need to perform due diligence to make sure your shopping cart delivers an optimal performance. A lot of this depends on server configuration, but the software itself should definitely be evaluated for performance before you make the final decision.
Community Support – An open-source shopping cart usually comes with no official form of technical support or customer service, which essentially means that there is no hotline to call up whenever you experience problems. Therefore, you need to find a piece of software that is backed by a strong community of developers and users who solidly back the project. While the quality of support can never be guaranteed, it is still a good idea to check online in the appropriate forums to access the atmosphere and measure how long it takes for users to generate a response.
Payment Gateway Compatibility – If you want to be able to accept and process credit and debit card payments, then you will need an open-source solution that supports third-party payment gateways. Although this needs to be considered in your research, it should be comforting to know that many open-source shopping carts are compatible with the major payment gateway service providers.
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:48 pm
For you who is the best Shopping Carts (open-source) at the moment?
Great post!
Bye from Italy!
Andrea