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There's Open Source, there's Framework, there's Hosted eCommerce Solutions and then there’s licensed eCommerce Shopping Cart Software.

We are eCommerce Project Managers, Consultants and Experts and remember that what can take you weeks, will take us days. Our time to market is phenomenal, which ultimately results in savings for you. So Hire Us to implement your ecommerce cart and you'll be up and running in no time.

In today’s global market, you need an ecommerce cart solution built in the latest ecommerce infrastructure, that encompasses the latest ecommerce tools and is cost effective. Today’s economy has changed the landscape of ecommerce, for the better and our solution will give your B2C (Business to Customer) or B2B (Business to Business) ecommerce business the jumpstart it needs.

Remember, we are not developers of an ecommerce shopping cart solution, we just know how to make them better. We take ecommerce shopping cart solutions such as, X-Cart and turn them into robust, secure, customer friendly, search engine friendly storefronts that will reduce your time to market with everything you need to operate a successful ecommerce store.

As we mentioned above, there are 4 categories of ecommerce shopping cart software, Open Source, Framework, Hosted and Licensed. Here’s a summary about each type of ecommerce shopping cart solution available.

Open Source eCommerce Shopping Cart Software

Open Source Software offers practical access to the software’s source code.  Source Code allows a programmer to change the code of the software to meet the needs of the organization sponsoring the project.  One advantage of Open source software is that it is free, hence open source initiative.  It allows a community of “programmers” and “developers” to enhance the software.

In the world of ecommerce shopping cart software, there are several open source shopping cart solutions.  These are ZenCart, OsCommerce and others.

Software Framework for eCommerce Shopping Cart

Software Frameworks have distinguishing features that are best suited for enterprise solutions or businesses with a huge budget.  Software Framework applications such as Microsoft’s .NET or Sun Microsystems’s JAVA have complex API’s  (Application Programming Interface) and require considerable development time.  While there are many advantaged to developing an ecommerce shopping cart using a software framework, such as robust features, design and tailoring to meet the needs of the organization.  Some award winning websites built using a software framework include, Pantone.com, LLBean.com and REI.com.  A small business only wishes to have such robust application available, but unfortunately the cost of implementing an ecommerce shopping cart utilizing a software framework is not within budget, but if there’s a will, there’s a way.  3rd party ecommerce solution providers, develop ecommerce shopping cart solutions utilizing Microsoft’s web application framework, .NET

Hosted eCommerce Shopping Cart Software

Hosted ecommerce software cart solutions include, Yahoo Store, Volusion, Commerce Space by Network Solutions, Nexternal and NetSuite.  The benefits of a Hosted ecommerce shopping Cart solutions include, no software to download or install and the security and technology enhancements are generally handled by the Application Service Provider (ASP).  Generally, hosted ecommerce cart ASP charge a monthly fee and some also charge a percentage of sales. In addition, with hosted ecommerce cart solutions, merchants are limited to the feel and look or templates provided by the ASP, very little customization is allowed, which means low maintenance cost of the ecommerce cart.

Licensed eCommerce Shopping Cart Software

Licensed ecommerce shopping cart software is downloaded and installed in a web server.  Just like any other ecommerce shopping cart solution, there are plenty of positives and some negatives to purchasing a license for an ecommerce cart solution.  It is our opinion that the positives outweigh the challenges, not negatives. Here’s a partial list of some licensed ecommerce cart providers, X-Cart, Miva Merchant, Pinnacle Cart and AbleCommerce.  In some cases you will notice that some, but not all ASP’s provide their shopping cart solution as a licensed ecommerce cart solution as well.

Here are some positives about licensed ecommerce shopping cart solutions:

1. Cost, to won the licensed ecommerce cart, it’s a one-time fee, no monthly fees and better yet, no revenue sharing.
2. You own the license and you can host it on any web server that meets the requirements for the ecommerce cart software.
3. You’re able to access the source code, making it possible to customize your ecommerce store, to give it a unique look and feel.
4. The business model for most licensed ecommerce shopping cart software solutions, is buy options, modules or add-ons as you go.  This is beneficial as you can stager your budget and costs.  In addition, there are some modules that you can add to your ecommerce cart, just before you launch your ecommerce store of afterwards.

Here are some of the challenges about owning a licensed ecommerce shopping cart solution:

1. Do you know how to code?  If you’re not a programmer, the customization you want will come at a price.
2. There are technical issues, from ssl certificates, fraud prevention, software upgrades, patches to install and hosting that you will have to stay on top of.

eCommerce Shopping Cart Scripting Language & Relational Database Management System (RDMS)

Open Source eCommerce Shopping Cart Software
eCommerce Cart	Scripting Language	RDMS
OsCommerce	PHP	MySQL
ZenCart	PHP	MySQL
Hosted eCommerce Shopping Cart Software
eCommerce Cart	Scripting Language	RDMS
Yahoo Merchant Solutions	RTML (Robert T. Morris Language)	Unknown
Volusion	Unknown	Unknown
Commerce Space by NS	Unknown	Unknown
Pinnacle Cart	PHP
Nexternal	Unknown	Unknown
Net Suite	Unknown	Unknown
Licensed eCommerce Shopping Cart Software
eCommerce Cart	Scripting Language	RDMS
X-Cart	PHP	MySQL
Miva Merchant	MivaScript	MySQL
Pinnacle Cart	PHP	MyQL

When considering an ecommerce shopping cart solution, make sure it has this must functionality.

Set Up and Support	Merchandising & Inventory	Database and Platform Compatability
Design and Layout	Shipping & Tax	Repeat Customer Accommodation
Customer Service Tools	Sales Analysis & Tracking	Web Based Control Panel
Product Catalog	Payment Gateway & Methods	Security
Product Details	Search Engine Optimization

• Set Up and Support

 

• Design and Layout

 

• Customer Service Tools

 

• Product Catalog

 

• Product Details

 

• Merchandising & Inventory

 

• Shipping & Tax

 

• Sales Analysis & Tracking

 

• Payment Gateway & Methods

 

• Search Engine Optimization

 

• Database and Platform Compatability

 

• Repeat Customer Accommodation

 

• Web Based Control Panel

 

• Security