Open Source Shopping Cart

What is an open source shopping cart? In this ecommerce software review we will take a look at what an open source shopping cart is, who makes the best open source shopping carts and what the benefits are of an open source shopping cart over other shopping cart software. Open source means that the you will have access to the source code for the software, allowing you to make customizations, changes, etc. without paying someone else to do it for you, or not being able to make any changes at all do to copyright laws. Open source is sometimes referred to as "free" which it is, you don't pay to download the software, but it is different than just a free shopping cart that comes with your paid web hosting. Thus, open source shopping cart and free shopping cart are not really interchangeable.

What is an Open Source Shopping Cart?
As mentioned above, an open source shopping cart is simply shopping cart software that comes with access to the source code. The shopping cart software comes as a free download, some developers may ask for a monetary contribution to help them cover development costs but it isn't required. If you are familiar with how to install, customize and use open source software, this may be an excellent option. If you are not familiar with code or how to implement it, you may end up paying more money than if you purchased shopping cart software because you will likely be paying someone to install and customize the software for you. If you are pretty tech savvy you may be able to get enough help from the open source community or forum to make this a viable option, but again it will depend on how much time and effort you want to put into it.  In comparison, free shopping cart software is not always open source. Many web hosting plans will include free shopping cart software and even provide support in installing it, but you are limited to the features it comes with and don't have a lot of room for making changes or customizations.

What are the Benefits of Open Source Shopping Carts? 
There are many benefits to open source shopping carts, the big questions is whether or not the benefits are applicable to your needs. In other words, being able to customize your cart through the source code allows a great deal of customization, not only in the look and functionality of your shopping cart but also in integrating your system with your website, payment gateway, and other applications. However, if you cannot make these customizations without paying out a lot of money, the benefits of an open source shopping cart may not be of that much value to you. There are so many shopping art options out there that if you know what you need, you will likely be able to find compatible shopping cart software that does not require any modifications. The more you understand about the functionality of the shopping cart software you are considering, the easier it will be to determine if the benefits of an open source shopping cart will apply to your needs.

Who Makes the Best Open Source Shopping Cart?
Determining who makes the best open source shopping cart software is obviously a matter of debate and will depend on your needs. Some of the most popular open source shopping carts include Zen Cart, osCommerce, and Magento. Finding the best open source shopping cart solution for your individual needs will take a little research on your part. Read some shopping cart reviews about each company, check out the forum or community pages to learn more about the pros and cons of each shopping cart software option, and then decide which open source shopping cart will best fit your needs.

How to Start an Online Store

If you are looking for more information on how to start an online store, you are in the right place! There are many steps to take when you are first considering opening up your own online store. To get started, you will need to have your business name, model and inventory already established. Once you have those aspects of running a business in place, you can begin the online portion of the process. Keep reading to learn more about what you need to learn how to start an online store to sell your products and services on the web to an expanded market.


Step Number One: Start a website to get your online store up and running. You will need to choose a web hosting plan that offers business shared web hosting or business VPS (like BlueHost), depending on your level of web hosting needs. You might want to consider starting out with a smaller web hosting package if you have a smaller business and upgrade from there. You might also want to go with the business web hosting options because often times e-commerce tools like shopping carts and other e-commerce tools are available and included for free with the package.Read some web hosting reviews to find the best web hosting service for your needs.

Step Number Two: Choose an e-commerce software package that suits the needs of your online business. If you choose a web hosting plan that includes some of these shopping cart tools, SSL certificates and more, you are already on your way to having all of the tools you need to starting up your own online business. However, you might quickly find that once you start bringing in more business than you originally anticipated that you will need to find a more comprehensive e-commerce software or shopping cart solution provider for your online company. Having an e-commerce provider that is able to provide all of the tools and services that you need to build an online store is one of the most important parts of running your online business. Not having these e-commerce tools to help you manage your sales, transactions, shipping, billing, etc is a sure way to complicate the process of running a business. When your priorities should be around getting new inventory and working on marketing, you shouldn’t have to worry about all the complications of trying to find an online shopping cart provider. You want to find an e-commerce solution that offers you a shopping cart as well as awesome design for your online store. This is a great way to impress your customers and help them to feel confident in doing business with an online store that is both safe and secure as well as sure to offer them quality products and services. For a hosted shopping cart solution we recommend BigCommerce.


Step Number Three: Work on marketing and start a blog to help enhance your web exposure as well as capitalize on your ability to reach out to a variety of customers and online audiences. This is a great way to bring aboard more and more customers to your regular shopping clientele and build your online business. Finding a great e-commerce solution and shopping cart provider can help you build your blog and even sell products and services directly from that blog if you wish! This is also part of the reason it is so important to find a great web hosting service as well so you can find a web hosting company that also works with a blogging service like WordPress so you can easily install your blog and get started marketing and making even more money with your online store. Don’t wait to get started learning how to start an online store today with these helpful starter tips!

PHP Shopping Cart

PHP Shopping Cart
What is a PHP shopping cart? PHP is a scripting language used in web development to create dynamic web pages, command line interface, or graphical applications. PHP can be used in conjunction with virtually every platform and operating system free of charge. This doesn't not mean that every program, software, or application that is based in PHP is free; there are many programs that are created with the PHP script that you will pay for. You are paying for the application as a whole completed work, not for the PHP itself. A PHP shopping cart is one such type of application. There are many different types of shopping cart software available and a PHP shopping cart is just one of them. But because PHP is compatible with most operating systems and web hosting platforms, it is one of the most popular types.

Some shopping cart software that are PHP that you may have heard of include  X-Cart, osCommerce, OpenCart, ZenCart, and some others that may not be as well known but that are excellent options as well like SquirrelCart, and PinnacleCart. For anyone that is familiar with the PHP language, choosing a PHP shopping car that is open source (meaning the software must include the source code), ensures that you will be able to make changes and customizations that you want to make the shopping cart have the exact appearance and functionality that you want for your shopping cart system. Even if you don't know PHP programming but you want to find someone that will make the customizations and changes that you want, choosing a PHP shopping cart will make finding a developer a lot easier, and cheap, than for many other shopping cart software options. PHP is so widely known and used that there are many developers out there and the fact that there are so many out there make it so that they have to be more competitive in their pricing.

Another benefit of a PHP shopping cart is that there are many turnkey solutions that are simple to setup and use, even if you don't know much about programming. Often the best web hosting companies will even include these options free in their ecommerce web hosting plans and have tech support available to help you with the setup and install if you get stuck. The web hosting plans that support PHP generally run on Linux servers and are cheaper than other .NET frameworks. These companies are able to get the software and redistribute it at no cost, so they are able to pass that savings on to you, the end customer. Another great feature of a PHP shopping cart is security. Because virtually everything that takes place with the PHP scripting happens on the server and is not affected by the security features of the user interface.

Whether you are making a lot of changes to the actual appearance of the shopping cart or not, having a shopping cart that you can optimize for search engine optimization (SEO) will play a critical part in the success of your website. Using an open source PHP shopping cart will ensure that you have the ability and option to make Meta tag and page title and description changes to optimize your site so that the search engines can find it and rank it according to what your business has to offer. Selling products online requires that potential customers are actually able to find your site to see what you have to offer. Once they get to your site, how easy it is to navigate and use will play a big role in how successful your online sales will be.

Read some full shopping cart reviews of individual shopping cart products, as well as comparisons of some of the most popular shopping carts. This will help you find a cart that offers all the features you want for the price that you can afford. You don't want to spend hours and hours researching all the different options but you do want to find the software that will meet the needs of your business. Before you sign up for an ecommerce hosting plan, inquire about the shopping cart options and particularly if they support PHP shopping cart software.

eCommerce Sites: Become an SMS Reseller

eCommerce sites: become an SMS reseller to sell text message marketing from your online store. If your ecommerce store offers marketing products and services you don't want to forget the mobile marketing. This is the newest type of marketing and it has become very successful. Many companies are seeing a higher return on investment on this type of marketing than any other type of marketing. It doesn't matter what the business is or how large or small they are. There are so many ways to use SMS marketing that virtually any company or organization can benefit from using it.

Becoming an SMS reseller isn't hard; there are many companies that offer white label SMS reseller programs that anyone can sign up for and resell to anyone that is in the market for text marketing. There are a few key things to understand about mobile marketing and how it works so that you can offer packages and help that your clients will need to get started. Some of the best text marketing companies will also provide you with white label marketing guides, video tutorials, etc to cut down on the amount of support you will have to provide to each of the companies that buy the text marketing from you.

As an SMS reseller you don't have to worry about securing a short code, designing the system, or working out the details of how the system works. For many companies you will just need to supply some basic information about how text marketing works, give them some specific examples and suggestions of how their particular business or marketing can benefit from a group text marketing service. Because SMS marketing is an ongoing service where you sell packages of text bundles that renew every month, it will require ongoing interaction and a relationship with the customers. An SMS reseller cannot simply make a onetime sell and be done with it, but that is the way marketing works. It is always an ongoing, changing market.

If you have already established your ecommerce site as a reliable source of valuable marketing materials, it will be much easier to become an SMS reseller. Often people want to hear from someone they know and trust that something is a good idea before they sign up. Just because there is a lot of hype about it doesn't always mean it is true. If you have already developed a relationship with potential clients they will take your word for the fact that SMS marketing is an affordable, viable option for his/her business. Make sure that the text marketing company you sign up with has a good reputation, that they have been in business for a while, and that they follow all MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) guidelines. SMS marketing can only be successful if the people using it are hard and fast about following the rules and keeping it a spam free type of marketing. 

Learn a little bit about text message uses and how a church or school can use bulk text messaging compared to how a band or restaurant will use it. Obviously, the more you know about text message marketing and the more examples you can give the better. For someone that has never used text messaging for marketing purposes will need some concrete examples, within their industry, before they will be able to understand the benefit of using the service. The more you are able to explain to your customers upfront, the less help and support you will have to provide them as they continue with the text marketing campaign.

Online Credit Card Processing

Online credit card processing is important for any online ecommerce website. For many business owners this may seem overwhelming and complicated. With all the new technology and equipment it really doesn't have to be that hard. If you have a simple ecommerce website and are only taking orders online through shopping cart software, you may be able to simply use Google Checkout or PayPal to accept payments online.  For a business that has both online and retail locations, credit card processing may be more complicated. The business may need online credit card processing, as well as on site terminals, mail or phone order abilities and more. There are many things to consider when it comes to accepting credit cards online, in person, or over the phone.

A quick overview of the main elements a website will need in order to effectively implement online credit card processing can give business owners a general idea of what he/she will need. Any ecommerce website that will be collecting personal customer information, such as a credit card number, will need an SSL certificate. SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer and is a process of encrypting sensitive data before transmitting it across the Internet. When the information is received the information is then decoded and processed in a secure environment. Having an SSL certificate lets the browser verify that your business is valid and trustworthy, passing this information on to your customers. Customers are learning to look for the padlock symbol or green address bar to assure them that their personal information will be protected.

Both a payment gateway and merchant account may be required as part of the online credit card processing process. A payment gateway is a service that receives the information from your site and submits it to the merchant account. The merchant account is the party that will actually process the payment and transfer the funds from the customer account to the business. Of course having a web hosting service provider and shopping cart software are required elements for an ecommerce website that will be using online credit card processing. There are some web hosting service providers that do business with a lot with small business websites and they will often include package deals that have shopping cart software and payment processing options included. It is always a good idea to talk to your web host before signing up to find out exactly what they have available, what is included, what costs extra, and how difficult it is to set up. Also, find out how much support they have available to help you when questions arise.

Once you understand the whole process involved in online credit card processing it really isn't too difficult but getting everything setup and working can take a bit of time and effort. The more you can learn about the process before hand and the more help and support you have available will make the whole process much easier. Keep in mind that many third-party programs that take part in credit card processing will charge fees; these may include statement fees, transaction fees, and more. Be sure to research these fees and shop around to find the lowest rates and fees to meet your needs. Also check out some customer reviews of the companies to verify the reputation of the company and make sure it will support the type of credit card processing you need.

Two reputable companies we would recommend you look into:

Merchant Warehouse

or

Charge.com

Joomla! eCommerce

There are several Joomla ecommerce options and solutions that a webmaster can use on a website. Joomla! is a content management system that enables one to build a website using extensions and tools that provide the power and technology for making a unique and functional website. When it comes to ecommerce it is really important that your website looks great, works correctly, and has all the features needed to do business online. If potential customers get to your site and it looks jumbled, half of the pages don't work, they can't figure out how to make a purchase, or generally have problems using your site, they are not likely to purchase something from you.

Because it is hard to verify anything when it comes to a business online, the customers needs to feel comfortable when visiting your site. If anything about your website brings into question the validity of your business or the safety of the personal information they submit through your site it will be very difficult to convince them that it is safe to purchase anything from your website. There are a number of things a business can do to make sure that an ecommerce website is trustworthy. Using the Joomla content management will provide many of the applications one needs to do just that. The best part is that this is an open source application, which means it is freely available for anyone to use. Most of the web hosting companies will offer Joomla free with all of their web hosting plans. Or you can download Joomla directly from their website.

Joomla ecommerce is available in a number of applications from a simple shopping cart software that will allow a business to list and sell just a few items to more robust applications that allow for many products, payment processing, and shipping options. Joomla ecommerce isn't just one application that they hope everyone can adapt and make work, rather it is a conglomeration of applications designed to meet the needs of a variety of business websites. It will really depend on the needs of your business, the type of service or product you are going to sell online and the options that you will need to best run your online business. 

The Joomla website has a magazine section that has regular articles relating to Joomla applications. This is a good place to get an overview of some of the Joomla ecommerce options to help you choose one that will work the best with your ecommerce needs. For simple solutions some options include RokQuickCart, SimpleCaddy, Ecwid, for more complex ecommerce needs Virtuemart, redShop, and Tienda are some of the applications that work really well with the Joomla content management system. In the end, what matters the most is the end users experience. If it is easy for them to find what they want and to understand the simple steps needed to complete a transaction, and if they feel secure in doing so, you have effectively created a system that works. In a day and age of instant gratification, if it takes more than a few seconds for a person to find what they are looking for, they will likely hit the back button and go to the next site on the list. You literally only have seconds to convince your visitor that you will provide what they are looking for.

If you want web hosting that includes Joomla, check out these special coupon offers below:

iPage Coupon

FatCow Coupon for Promo Pricing

Free Ecommerce Software

Free Ecommerce software can be found in the form of free shopping carts. Find out more about free e-commerce software, what it can do for your business website, where to find free e-commerce software, and what to look for when shopping for free eCommerce software.

What Is Free Ecommerce Software?
Free ecommerce software is also known as free shopping cart software. It refers to software that:

• you do not pay for
• you can use to build an ecommerce website
• provides you with the ability to create a catalog and
• provides your site visitors with a shopping cart.

Let's talk about each of these four features.

Ecommerce Software You Do Not Pay For
Free software can come from several different sources. First of all, ecommerce software is created in connection with a number of free, open-source softwares, including the content management systems (CMSs) WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla! In all three cases, if you build a WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla! site, you can access either plug-ins, add-ons, modulles, or themes (the vocabulary varies with the CMS). Although WordPress is most often thought of as a blog and Drupal and Joomla! as website builders, all of them can create free ecommerce sites.

Second, free ecommerce software is pretty much always available with a shared hosting plan with a web hosting provider. You pay for the plan, and the ecommerce software is a perk or freebie.

Third, you can download specific free, open-source, full-feature shopping carts, like Agora Cart or Zen Cart.

An Ecommerce Website
An ecommerce website builder may be part and parcel of the shopping cart or may be another free feature. It works differently in different cases. For exxample, with WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla!, you might build a site and then add the shopping cart functionality or you might choose a theme or add-on that included both the website construction and the shopping cart functionality in one.

Creating a Catalog
The shopping cart component of the ecommerce software will enable the creation of your catalog. Look for features such as being able to import and export catalog data, the number of images you can include, the number of products you can include,and any other features or restrictions on how you create your catalog.

Your Shopping Cart
One key element of your shopping cart to focus on is the way in which your customers are going to pay, so you need to know whether you will be setting up a merchant account, accepting payments through PayPal or Google Checkout, etc. in order to make a good choice.

Things to Watch Out For With Free Ecommerce Software
Here are some of the gotcha's that people encounter with free ecommerce software:

• The support is not sufficient.
• The software is free, but you have to pay for the manual.
• The regular version is free, but you have to pay for the pro version, which is what you really need.
• The developer isn't keeping up with upgrades or has stopped supporting the software, and you're going to have to switch software.
• The software is free, but you have to pay to remove the copyright from your site.
• The software is free, but there's a monthly subscription fee.