Cart Webstore
Powerful Options for Affordable Shopping Cart Software by Alexandria Marx
Powerful Options for Affordable Shopping Cart Software
If you’re thinking about setting up an e-commerce webstore, your biggest problem will be in figuring out which software to purchase. Comparing apples-apples isn’t as easy as a simple Google search. There are a number of concerns that should inform your decision. Of the many options and features available, consider the following: bandwidth, payment gateways, monthly fees and support. There are seemingly endless bullet lists to consider when shopping for affordable shopping cart software, but these are some of the main features to consider when deciding. Here are a few vendors to consider when deciding which software is best suited to your needs.
Free is Cheap, Ain’t It?
If you absolutely need affordable shopping cart software, the first thing you should consider is your hosting account. Most, if not all, host servers offer shopping carts as part of their package deals. The only question remaining is to qualify what is offered. Again, this depends on your needs for your store and your sales volume. Is the bandwidth going to be enough? Be sure to check with your hosting account before you go off and buy a shopping cart. Another issue to consider if going the free-with-hosting option is customization and SSL certificates. The shopping cart button may look simply garish against your theme. Get a visual demonstration if You Can, and simply uninstall if you don’t like it. Ask your hosting company if they offer any support for their cart, or any upgrades or customizable features. Also be sure to ask what the extra cost will be for any such upgrades. As an example, JustHost offers ZenCart, CubeCart and OS Commerce.
Open-Source Shopping Carts
Alright, so perhaps you don’t like your host server’s choices for a shopping cart for whatever reason, now what? Well, no worries, there are still open-source or shareware (i.e.: FREE) shopping carts to check out. These are all customizable, but depending on your technical skill, this may be a can of worms you don’t want to mess with. Nonetheless, all have online communities offering free support and FAQ’s. There are 8 listed in a review at this link http://webtecker.com/2008/04/22/8-best-open-source-shopping-cart-solutions/ that you may want to try. I have already mentioned three of them above. There are dozens, if not hundreds to choose from. Don’t forget that Google offers GoogleCheckout, and there’s always Paypal to consider as well. Both are “free,” but charge a little percentage of your sales revenue like a regular merchant account vendor.
Downloadable for Purchase
If the free option isn’t what you were hoping for, let’s take a look at a few other contenders that you can purchase online. Quikstore, available at quikstore.com, and ShopkeeperUSA.com are two such shopping carts that have unlimited bandwidth and payment gates. Out of the “box,” as it were, one is $199 as of this writing. ShopkeeperUSA.com is less with a 90-day free trial period. Nice. Another competitor is RomanCart, which has varying packages ranging from free (fewest options and bandwidth, etc.) to $739 in USD per year. Their standard “gold” package runs about $399 per year, with 10 gb/month bandwidth and handles about 2,000 products per month. Volusion, which offers a complete package with site building and everything, charges $1200 or thereabouts per year, or $99/month. As you can see, there are great differences in price, all of which tied to bandwidth and things such as products available in your product manager, etc. It really depends on your need and volume.
When folks ask for affordable shopping cart software, I am the first to suggest giving the open source carts a fair shake. They aren’t of poor quality by any stretch, and most are customizable. If you find something cheaper, let me know. Otherwise, if you want less hands-on or simply want features that these other vendors offer, then you have multiple choices on affordable shopping cart software. Happy hunting!
About the Author
Alexandria Marx is a professional advertising copywriter, web designer and Internet marketer with two decades of experience helping small business people succeed on the Internet. Working with over a thousand clients while facing injury and illness, Marx writes about overcoming challenges in business, as well as, at home to make life the best it can be. Visit DM-Creative.com for help with Web Design and Hosting. Discover Marx’s personal perspective about life’s challenges on her blog Being Grand.
Free webstore,No really free shopping cart and webstore, free ecommerce webstore, not a trial, no ads, unlimited free-ness
|
|
e-Start Your Web Store with Zen Cart This book will show you how to use the free and open source Zen Cart shopping cart software to set up and run your own online store. Written in a step-by-step manner and accompanied with numerous screen shots, you will learn to use the latest version (1.3.7) of Zen Cart to: * set up an online store on your local machine for testing and familiarizing yourself with the software. |
|
|
The Holy Infant of Prague $12.47 The Infant Jesus of Prague is a famous statue located in the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Malá Strana, Prague. Its earliest history can be traced back to the year 1628 when a small, 48 centimeters in height, exquisite statue of wax Infant Jesus was brought into Bohemia by Princess Polyxena von Lobkowicz, who became greatly attached to the Discalced Carmelites. The princess had been given th… |
|
|
The stage lighting handbook $14.95 A practical lighting guide explaining the process of designing lighting for all forms of stage production and describing the equipment used. This sixth edition discusses the latest equipment and its impact on working methods…. |