E commerce shopping cart

[joeyt]

I am looking to get an e commerce store for my company. We sell small gift items and we ship all of our packages with FedEx. Does anybody have any suggestions about a good software package for me.

I found one Biz Shopping Cart (http://www.bizshoppingcart.com) and I think that I will go with this one, but I have not signed up yet. Does anyone have a recommendation?

Thanks,

Joey

[stftk14]

*** NO SELF PROMOTION ALLOWED - please read the rules and keep offers to the appropriate section of the forums ***

[e3servers.com]

Have you looked at oscommerce? www.oscommerce.com

It is open source software which seems to be fairly well received. It also has some add-on modules for federal express rate calculations.

[asm]

my opinion - look here, i wrote it already http://forums.webhostdir.com/showthread.php?threadid=2791&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

[theodore]

You may want to take a look at www.ikobo.com. Worked out for me so far. Cheers!

[murdah]

oscommerce is my suggestion. a few words of warning though. if you plan to use this default then you are ok to go!

however, if you want this to really work for you, you need to be an advanced php coder.

oscommerce is one of the most powerful shopping carts that my company has implemented for others. its also has a lot of the built in basics for those that want to start something and eventually learn it.

murdah

[john2004]

oscommerce is my suggestion. a few words of warning though. if you plan to use this default then you are ok to go!

however, if you want this to really work for you, you need to be an advanced php coder.

oscommerce is one of the most powerful shopping carts that my company has implemented for others. its also has a lot of the built in basics for those that want to start something and eventually learn it.

murdah

Yes, it is difficult to get any support from them because they are free. On my opinion, it's a good decision to use unexpensive carts such as ExtCart ExtCart Shopping Cart (http://www.ext-cart.com) , ShopFactory (http://www.shopfactory.com) , 3DCart (http://www.3dcart.com) etc. You can find more unexpensive shopping carts using Google, yahoo (http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Business_to_Business/Retail_Management/Online_Store_Builders_and_Shopping_Carts/) or visiting special sites as http://www.onlyphp.com/browse-22.html.

John

[theodore]

Well, I for one would also recommend using OSCommerce. I know for a fact it's a good solution since I have some friends using their interface along with the ikobo plugin (http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,2440/page,7 ) for OSC. You may want to give this a try, could be what you need.

[davemanson]

We use ekmpowershop (http://www.ekmpowershop.com) and cant really fault it, the system is very easy to use (even my own mother could manage our shop when we went on holiday a few weeks ago, which is very impressive as she can hardly turn on a machine) and has a great amount of features such as Multiple Currencies etc...

Also i read in Internet Works magazine that it has been awarded the best shopping cart for beginners and start ups.

[theodore]

Wow, that's great indeed... but as with everything that looks too good to be true, it probably is. Nice story about your mother and all. Good marks for the effort and artistically impression. I'm sorry, but I for one can't really believe all of this, but who knows, I could be wrong, and your mother could indeed be a merchant guru (no offense on your mother's part).
About the award, if it were so, I'm sure they would have plastered it all over the website....

[Katty]

Hello Theodore! Can you suggest what is a better way for merchants willing to use ikobo service – to set up ikobo’s shopping cart or to use any other service to create my own shopping cart and then use ikobo only for accepting payments?

[theodore]

First of all I want to say I'm no expert at this, I'm just making a suggestion.
Ok, as you probably already know ikobo has a pretty good shopping cart available to use for everyone but that still means you have to create a site with good design and so on and also include this shopping cart into it. Not all that hard, but to someone with limited programming knowledge (or limited time) it can prove to be a hassle.
There's another way, that is to use the already created OSCommerce interface (helps if you know a little PHP) then use this (http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,2440/page,7). It's a plugin to enable the use of ikobo's CC processing capabilities and integrate it with OSC.
I hope some of this helps.... ask away if you need to know more.

[Katty]

Thanks Theodore for your quick reply. I s there any other shopping cart ikobo can be easily implemented with? I am interested in the shopping cart service that offers nice design so my website could be attractive for possible users

[theodore]

I wouldn't know, I suppose there are since ikobo has third party shopping cart support...
But you can customize OSCommerce any way you want to make it look as nice as you want. It's not a fixed design that everyone uses. The choice is yours and there are a lot of templates out there. :)

[Katty]

I wouldn't know, I suppose there are since ikobo has third party shopping cart support...
But you can customize OSCommerce any way you want to make it look as nice as you want. It's not a fixed design that everyone uses. The choice is yours and there are a lot of templates out there. :)

Thanks. I have still have to gather more info about ikobo and oscommerce before setting anything up. My website is not ready yet so I am not in a hurry :) .

[theodore]

Well, maybe you can find something useful here (http://forums.oscommerce.com/index.php?act=ST&f=20&t=111522). It's a discussion about the integration of ikobo's merchant facilities into the OSCommerce interface. Folks really seem to start using this combination...

[Katty]

Thanks Theodore for your help. I will follow the link, hope to find a lot of useful info there. I will come back with more questions. Thank you once again.

[theodore]

my pleasure, I really hope you can make something good out of this ikobo and OScommerce combination. They're supposed to work really well together, and since it's basically free to set up a store with these 2, I think a lot of people may take this option into consideration.

[Katty]

Hello I have followed the link provided by Theodore and found a lot of useful things. But frankly speaking I still hesitate if it would be better to use OScommerce or ikobo's shopping cart :err:

[theodore]

Well, it's your choice actually. Both options are good. The general idea is that OSCommerce is an option for people who don't want to spend so much time doing everything themselves and like something pre-made. That doesn't mean it's no good ar anything, because it's a pretty solid option.
On the other hand ikobo's shopping cart provides more customization and you can tailor it to match you personal needs. This also is a good option in its own right.
So you see, it's not a black and white situation, it's matter of personal needs. ;)

[Elluscient]

**mod edit**
Removed, no self promotion allowed. Please read the forum rules.

[Katty]

we are a very affordable and ethical company and can help you with your ecommerce needs. We can create a custom plan and will work with you and your budget. contact us at sales@elluscient.com

Hello! What kind of services do you provide and why is it better from others already discussed in this thread? Thanks.

[theodore]

we are a very affordable and ethical company and can help you with your ecommerce needs. We can create a custom plan and will work with you and your budget. contact us at sales@elluscient.com
I'm not saying it isn't or anything, but you have to consider one thing; you're affiliated with them in some form or other, so I think you can understand me if I can't trust what you say 100%. I personally prefer the opinions of actual users of various services as opposed to those of a marketing agent. I hope I don't seem to rude, but it's just the way I feel about this.
Anyway, I'll take a look at it and see what it's all about, who knows, I may add it as a second option to ikobo. ;)

[Katty]

So, Elluscient, are you advertising your company or you are just it’s user? And I repeat my question once again: Why do you consider this service to be better from others already mentioned on this forum? Thanks.

[theodore]

Probably because he's working for them. :p
It's not very nice to signup only to post a couple of thse marketing messages and not even answer questions. Maybe we really were interested in this service you're promoting... care to give us some details so that we may compare it to those we are currently using, such as ikobo? Thanks!

[Katty]

Elluscient, where are you? You may come here and just say that you are an advertiser and don’t want to tell anything else about your company and service it offers.

[sahtabir]

So, Elluscient, are you advertising your company or you are just it?s user? And I repeat my question once again: Why do you consider this service to be better from others already mentioned on this forum? Thanks.

I don't think he was talking about payment systems. He just wanted to offer us his ecommerce services.

[Katty]

I don't think he was talking about payment systems. He just wanted to offer us his ecommerce services.

I am interested in different services offering shopping cart facility as I am going to review some of them and then decide either to use both ikobo’s shopping cart and merchant account or integrate ikobo with any other shopping cart.

[theodore]

I guess that since ikobo offers third party shopping cart support, you could do whatever you please... even create your own shopping cart. ;)
I, however, suggest that if you don't want to use their shopping cart, for whatever reason, you should consider OSCommerce since it's free and quite functional... The choice, however, is yours.

[sahtabir]

I would also consider X-Cart or Zen-Cart but I don't really know if they can be ikobo powered. Anyway, it doesn't hurt to have a chat with their customer support service. You might be lucky because, as Theodore said, ikobo can be used with any sort of shopping cart.

[Katty]

Is there any web developer who integrated ikobo payment processing with another 3rd party shopping cart instead of using the standard ikobo shopping cart or Oscommerce?

[theodore]

I suppose you could do a Google search to find out what you need, or speak to ikobo, or speak to the different shopping cart providers and so one. Personally I don't see the point, since with OSCommerce and ikobo you get a pretty good package and the cost is almost zero (at least for start-up it is). Of course, someone else may want some other form of shopping cart, but for me this is pretty much all I think is necessary.

[Katty]

Thanks, I will try a Google search as I need all the info related to ikobo and possible shopping cart services ikobo may be integrated with. I don’t want to follow the cheapest or the simplest way, I am going to find the best option that could satisfy all my needs.

[sahtabir]

Good luck and please keep us updated

[theodore]

Thanks, I will try a Google search as I need all the info related to ikobo and possible shopping cart services ikobo may be integrated with. I don?t want to follow the cheapest or the simplest way, I am going to find the best option that could satisfy all my needs.
You do that, but I really don't think that OSC is such a bad choice, or even ikobo's own shopping cart. However, your needs are our needs, and I suppose it will take more than these services to "satisfy" you.... or maybe you?ll realize these are your best choices and go for one of them (saves a lot of money too) ;)

[Katty]

I have reviewed what different services offer and decided to stay with ikobo and will try to use it’s shopping cart. Why not to test it? It’s quite free and I believe I can stop using it anytime I wish.

[theodore]

So eventually you came to my conclusion, right? Eh well, I suppose it's understandable since it's free to try it out and not all that bad. ;)
Give it your best shot, and let us know if it lives up to your needs.

[Katty]

Unfortunately my website is not ready yet (as I have already menioned before) :( , but I will try to set up ikobo’s shopping cart once it is ready. I will also convert my personal ikobo account to merchant so I will be able to use it for accepting payments :p .

[Katty]

As far as I understand ikobo provides single item purchase and shopping cart features. As I am new to the sphere of online business I am planning to sell only some items when starting, so it seems single item purchase would be better choice for me. But what will I do in case of increasing the number of items?

[greys]

u can get your storefront made and hosted from b2bparadise.that’s my suggestion.support is fine, price as well. Hope it may help you.

[sahtabir]

You can always try:
ZENCART
OSCOMMERCE
Mambo phpShop
All of them support ikobo as payment gateway. They are also free to use.

[theodore]

As far as I understand ikobo provides single item purchase and shopping cart features. As I am new to the sphere of online business I am planning to sell only some items when starting, so it seems single item purchase would be better choice for me. But what will I do in case of increasing the number of items?
You could start by using single item purchase, and later on, if you require it you could move to either ikobo's shopping cart, or some other 3rd party solution such as the ones shatabir mentioned. I personally think OSC would be a good choice, then again, I'm not very familia with the others. I only they support ikobo now...

[sahtabir]

You could start by using single item purchase, and later on, if you require it you could move to either ikobo's shopping cart, or some other 3rd party solution such as the ones shatabir mentioned. I personally think OSC would be a good choice, then again, I'm not very familia with the others. I only they support ikobo now...

Using the single item purchase is like using ikobo's shopping cart because it's the same thing. So my advice is to take it slowly, using ikobo's shopping cart,as theodore said and only if your store is a success, only then you will have to think of another way to sell your products like online store scripts and stuff.

[Katty]

I was going to set up ikobo’s single item purchase once my website is ready. But I started to hesitate again since ikobo can be integrated with Zencart and Mambo shop. I am gathering more info about services mentioned. Hope to choose the best variant .

[theodore]

Well, I'm sure you know better than us what's best for your shop. Right now you have several ways to go with ikobo so you're free to chose. Just let us know what that choice is going to be and how is it working for you.

[JenC]

I have experience using XCART and have found that cart system to be efficient and search engine friendly. Oscommerce has been good as well.

[sahtabir]

My experience with ikobo and oscommerce was very good. Many people use oscommerce because (like me), they found that it is very configurable and it has payment plugins for almost any payment processor.

[theodore]

I think everybody likes OSC, but there are other carts apart form it to chose from, such as zencart, mambo, xcart JenC mentioned and so on. Unfortunately I'm only familiar with OSCommerce since I'm using it in conjunction with ikobo payment gateway. I would be interested in learning more about different carts so that I may chose the best one. Can you tell me, JenC, if this xcart is compatible with ikobo?

[sahtabir]

I think everybody likes OSC, but there are other carts apart form it to chose from, such as zencart, mambo, xcart JenC mentioned and so on. Unfortunately I'm only familiar with OSCommerce since I'm using it in conjunction with ikobo payment gateway. I would be interested in learning more about different carts so that I may chose the best one. Can you tell me, JenC, if this xcart is compatible with ikobo?

I don't know if XCART supports ikobo but I know this shopping software is not free at all. It costs money. Which I can't say about oscommerce .... (OSC is totally free, even the plugins). And after I studied xcart, let me tell you that my first impression was not good at all. It has a lousy design. Of course it can be redesigned but it will cost you more money, so what's the point of using it. Any other opinions?

[theodore]

I've just looked at xcart... and apparently shatabir is right. It isn't free, meaning it's got a big disadvantage in front of OSCommerce and the others, which are free. Maybe they offer phenomenal and astounding services to make up for the fact that they charge money where others offer it for free. I don't know, but as long as there will be carts like OSC, nice and free, I don't see any reason for choosing something else... plus, they support integration with ikobo and so far it is the only gateway I can use.

[sahtabir]

What I was trying to say is why choose to pay for something which is not even better than the other free product.
For example, XCART is working on implementing ikobo payment support and osc has it for one year and a half now. Think about the other things that XCART is NOW working on implementing them and osc already has them.

[theodore]

Yeah, I can see your point there, but I suppose there are people who will chose such an option... for god knows what reasons. :)
As I've said, I'm glad there is OSC and that it's free, and it also has a lot of ikobo-related contributions that I can use. Hopefully nothing bad will happen to either of these, so that I may continue to earn a couple of $. :D

[JenC]

Definitely Oscommerce is great. I use it myself on two different websites. It is especially good for semi progrmamers and people who some experience in configuration - in the design department.

I have personally never used IKOBO so others would be much better responding in terms of the ease of transition with Oscommerce.

To be truthful I have found XCART much easier to redesign. Oscommerce uses straight php files and XCART uses smarty templates in Webmaster mode. Both cart systems seemed to be great in terms of responsiveness and speed, as well as ability to hold both traffic and orders.

[theodore]

It's true you have to know a little bit of PHP in order to configure OSC properly, but that can be learned easily, IMO. The good thing is that integration with ikobo works pretty smooth.
I can't say I'm familiar with xcart, bus as I understand it isn't free like OSC is...

[parth]

For the cart you are looking for, I can suggest you one solution provider B2Bparadise, as it will provide you all the facilities you are looking for with many additional benefits.it is a good hosted ecommerce solution. and does cater to the product specified by you.
It will provide you a shopping cart with multiple options in product ranges with the facility of payment methods of ur choices,Easy to use features for item range as well as prices,And finally both cart and hosting in prices you can afford.you should have a talk with them urself before deciding anything.Analyze all the options you have and then pick the best one.

Hope it helps you……..and good luck for your venture.
:)

[theodore]

Thank you for your suggestions, I will take them into consideration once I decide to add something else besides the ikobo and OSC combination I'm currently using.

[sahtabir]

Besides the fact that OSC is free and easy to learn, they offer excellent integration support which (over the years) resulted in a wide variety of plugins specifically designed for OSC. And I am talking about all sorts of functionalities like: payment gateways (paypal, ikobo, 2checkout ...), language modules, design modules....

[theodore]

I think OSC helped a lot of folks get their businesses off the ground and start making money thanks to their configurable interface and in no small matter thanks to the fact that it's free. The fact its based on plugins and it can be integrated with ikobo (my case) it makes OSCommerce a pretty good choice for developing a good online shop.

[sahtabir]

You got that right :) I couldn?t have begun my first biz without this combination of free services: OSC on one hand and ikobo on the other hand. You realize my joy when I found out those can mix together. :D

[theodore]

Anyway, apparently for now ikobo has put its processing services on hold... rumors are because of VISA/MC policy which got more drastic or something.
I for one am still using ikobo as a means to receive money from abroad since I also work for a company in another country.

[sahtabir]

You and me both man :) Working for foreign companies I mean.
Regarding VISA/MC rules ... well ... I don't think they come up with these rules for nothing and since ikobo's ikard is a real VISA debit card, they had to follow the regulations. The other payment services did the same thing. They've noticed their users that they are only resellers. At least this is what I've heard.

[marknwm]

Try the Fortune3 ecommerce shopping cart software (http://www.fortune3.com). I have used it for two years. It is a great shopping cart for its performance and features. The only disadvantage is that you have to use their hosting, but I heard that they would soon release their stand-alone version.

[manisman]

I strongly recommend osCommerce solution but a great deal of php knowledge is a must if you want to take advantage of all the nice feautres.

[mancweb]

Cube is better than OS-Commerce, easier to work with, and has all the major shipping methods and payment processors built in already.

V3.00 is now in general release.

I've just move a client off OS commerce onto it, and the customers find it more stable as well

[lucasdean123]

OSCommerce is one of the most mighty shopping carts that my company has enforced for others. its also has a lot of the built in basics for those that want to start something as well as finally learn it.

[scotmajestic]

OSCommerce is one of the most powerful shopping carts that the company took the other. it also has many reasons for those who want to start something, and ultimately learn from it.

[calhounevans]

I s there any supplementary shopping cart ikobo can be without problems implemented with? I am interested in the shopping cart service that offers nice design so my website could be good-looking for possible users

[tonymark789]

It is clear source software which looks to be pretty well obtained. It too has some add-on modules for federal express rate calculations.

[C.KDavid]

just a recommendation: shoppingcartelite.com - Shopping Cart Elite. Reliable cart.

[stageboss]

Well, it's your choice actually. Both options are good. The general idea is that OSCommerce is an option for people who don't want to spend so much time doing everything themselves and like something pre-made. That doesn't mean it's no good ar anything, because it's a pretty solid option.
On the other hand ikobo's shopping cart provides more customization and you can tailor it to match you personal needs. This also is a good option in its own right.
So you see, it's not a black and white situation, it's matter of personal needs

[disolmodo78]

OScommerce is one of the most herculean shopping carts that my company has enforced for others. its also has a lot of the constructed in basics for those that want to start something as well as finally learn it.

[jackendonald]

Shopping cart is atrolly or a carriage.For a e commers site it is widely used.It is a necesity for an ecommerce site because the user has to make many changes.

[zubayrcorleone]

OS commerce is my suggestion. Although a few words of warning. If you plan to use this default, then there is nothing wrong you have to go!

However, if you really want this work for you, you need to be an advanced PHP programmer.

OS commerce is one of the most powerful shopping carts and carried out the company I work for others. They also have a lot of the children in the basics for those that want to start something and learn in the end.

[stewardrobinson]

It is open source software which appears to be fairly well experienced. It also has some add-on modules for federal express rate computings.