shopping carts

[Daryll]

I do hope this is in the right place....

I am starting a new venture as well as the disco.
I need a software shopping cart to help me sell products , I have looked at the "big" systems , zen cart, tomato cart etc , but I will only have about 20 products , all will have size, colour variations , and need to have a paypal gate way.
Any ideas ?
I have access to one MYSQL database , if that helps.

Cheers

Daryll

[Richie]

Worth having a look at the wordpress carts as they are a bit more lightweight compared to the ones you have mentioned.

[Shaun]

E-Commerce is a specialist area of Marc J. Might be worthwhile looking into hiring him (depending on how busy he is).

[Pe7e]

www.Actinic.co.uk is worth a look at, it's not the cheapest but it's a professional system with a very comprehensive back office facility.

[Jason]

I provide e-commerce, there are lots of options.

In my experience, apart from security, the checkout flow is the most important aspect.
I used to develop under CubeCart3 and CubeCart4. Both had external security audits on the code.
I know DiscoWorld and CRS1 use CubeCart4. I'm also a moderator on the CubeCart support forum.

One issue with Cubecart is the checkout flow isn't that smooth, and for that reason, I'm currently migrating a long term client to OpenCart.

OpenCart is free (CubeCart is commercial), but price is rarely a problem when setting up a store - marketing/promotion costs are normally far higher.


I'm finding OpenCart good, the checkout is nicer and the store features are good.
http://www.opencart.com/

We're currently "enjoying" problems with HSBC's payment system - they subcontract this out, and the sub-contract company is very slow... However, on a technical level we're ready.


The 20 products are not an issue, but the product options can be with some carts. Most I know will take PayPal. Ideally you want PayPal IPN (so the store is aware that the payment has been accepted)

I've provided development support to stores with 5 products and 40,000.


I think there is a demo on the OpenCart website, but should you need a hand, I can provide a demo on my own hosting.
A single mySQL database should not be a problem, most carts that use mySQL will allow you to prefix the database tables (so you could run multiple carts off the same database).

I hope this helps - I've been involved in this area for about 10 years, so feel free to PM/email if you need some advice.
Most systems are fairly easy to set-up, so unless you have exotic shipping/options, any financial outlay would be for a custom template and hosting.

[Daryll]

Thanks everyone....

Jason.
I have downloaded open cart , installed in my new site , and am editing the template to my own uses , great piece of software, thanks for the heads up , might take a bit of time , but I haven't got the trade sales catalog from my supplier yet , so it gives me a chance to have a play.

Cheers

Daryll

[Jason]

Hi Daryll,
glad you're getting on with it!

Feel free to contact me if you need a hand.

Its got pretty good seo control - so you can set up a seo keyword for products/categories and that is used on the URL (rather than id=xxx etc)

[Cowlinn]

Shopify.