Suggestions on Purchasing Shopping Cart Software

[Grafiti4u]

I have been a web designer for quite a few years, but I just can't get into using PHP. I can do it - but its such a struggle! I have created 2 websites using OS Commerce, but whenever a change is needed, it is so frustrating to me and takes me much longer than a programmer. And time is money! I have also used PayPal shopping cart with luck, but this gets to be a tedious process on a site with a lot of items to post.

So . . . I am looking for a shopping cart software. I have decided if I am going to build anymore e-commerce sites, I want to have a software I can use efficiently, and my customer will just have to pay the monthly fee to have the cart hosted.

What are some good shopping cart software products out there, that don't have outrageous monthly fees, that are easy to work with? I use DW CS3 to build my sites. Thanks!

Kristi

 

[sheanhoxie]

Hey Kristi,

Ive used a few different shopping carts Miva, Yahoo, Prostores and OSCommerce.

Yahoo is a beast, if your not comfortable with PHP in Oscommerce, I would not even attempt RTML with Yahoo.

Miva is nice but has limitations and if you want a new module expect to pay handsomely for it.

Prostores is nice if your selling items on ebay. Im a newbie though so I couldnt dive into it and explain pros or cons

Oscommerce in my opinion is my favorite. Yes its based on PHP and at first is very complicated when trying to change something, but once you get the hang of it and learn where everything is its actually quite robust and easily customized. The fact that there are a TON of free add-ons also helps with my choice as favorite.

-----Some questions to consider before deciding-----
How many items will your customer be selling?
Do you intend to build a site and cart as separate entities?
Does your customer intend to keep inventory online?
If they are selling one stock online and at a storefront do they need to keep inventory synched?
Are they using accounting software like Quickbooks or Mas90 to manage their inventory?
or are they using an inventory managment software program like StoneEdge to manage their inventory?

These are all questions you should look at when deciding which shopping cart to choose. Unfortunately since there are a thousand different ways to sell a product there isnt just one cart that can handle all situations well.