The best shopping cart system?

[kwoods]

Hello everyone! Yes I have, yet again, another question...

I was asked to help out on this web site:

http://www.threadrebellion.com/

They are looking for a way to sell their t-shirt and garment designs on their site, but I've never worked with e-commerce before.

What is a good shopping cart system to use? Preferrably free/open source. I've looked into OpenCart and might try that out. Has anybody used this before? I'm hoping for something simple to set up (although I know this isn't always guaranteed). I've worked with BigCartel.com before but they want people to be able to purchase items right off their site. I realize bigcartel has a premium account that allows you to use your own domain; would this be an easier solution?

If it helps at all, they said they like the look of http://www.negrete.co.uk/. They use bigcartel integrated into their web site.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance

 

[Phreaddee]

The "best" is a loaded question.
Everyone has their preferences.
I use bc, magento or zencart depending on the needs of the business.
Open cart is ok, i dont like big cartel.

 

[kwoods]

Thanks Phreaddee! I've done some reading on magento as well but thought maybe it was even more advanced for me than it's already proving to be.

 

[Phreaddee]

Its got a bit of a learning curve but its very flexible.

 

[chrishirst]

The best shopping cart system?

The answer is; The one that meets YOUR requirements.

Why not start off with something simple like RomanCart? It can be 'retro-fitted' to existing documents quite easily and does NOT need to pay for specific hosting which ties you to a single provider.
Sure, Magento is an amazing tool, but total overkill if you only sell twenty or thirty products, as are most catalogue systems.

 

[kwoods]

The answer is; The one that meets YOUR requirements.

Why not start off with something simple like RomanCart? It can be 'retro-fitted' to existing documents quite easily and does NOT need to pay for specific hosting which ties you to a single provider.
Sure, Magento is an amazing tool, but total overkill if you only sell twenty or thirty products, as are most catalogue systems.

I looked into RomanCart and it looks like it's exactly what I need!! chrishirst to the rescue again!

One of my concerns now is if I can have multiple carts on one page/web site... Because I think the people I'm helping have their shirts on one page, their hoodies on another, etc. I suppose I could put them all on one page and just separate the different types of clothing by heading.

Also, they have more than 10 items so I wouldn't be able to use the Product Manager with the free version. But it looks like I can work around that by sending the product details to the cart with my 'Add to Basket' links or buttons. Or maybe I'm reading this wrong.. Here's what it says on the 'How the Shopping Cart Works' page:

Add your product details to the RomanCart Product Manager and click on show me the code. (Recommended as it makes it really easy and allows you to use stock control, follow up emails, coupons and other advanced functionality).
...or...
You can send the product details to the cart with your 'Add to Basket' links or buttons.

Have you used RomanCart for some of your projects chrishirst?

 

[chrishirst]

Have you used RomanCart for some of your projects chrishirst?

A long time ago, yep. For a site that sold 'one offs' so didn't need inventory control and if your project doesn't have a need for stock control you could just implement "Buy it now" buttons passing the buyer to several different payment gateways.

'shopping carts' are only necessary if customers are likely to buy several different items in one transaction. If most sales are single items or multiples of one item all that is needed is a catalogue and a 'checkout system'.

 

[kwoods]

...if your project doesn't have a need for stock control you could just implement "Buy it now" buttons passing the buyer to several different payment gateways.

'shopping carts' are only necessary if customers are likely to buy several different items in one transaction. If most sales are single items or multiples of one item all that is needed is a catalogue and a 'checkout system'.

That's a good point, actually. I will bring this up to them and maybe they'll be alright with a simple 'buy it now' option. I suppose it depends on how high the chances are that people will buy more designs at one time or not.

Although, I have finally access their 'control panel'... found out that they use Weebly Pro and there is an option to implement a Paypal shopping cart. I guess this is also an option... (?)