You can find a variety of 100 % free E-Commerce alternatives available those looking for an inexpensive online shop. In this post let me focus on 3, all of which utilize PHP and MySQL to be set up by your internet host. The large majority of internet hosting offers such options therefore it must not be an issue.
If you would like to adjust the application by yourself you will need to figure out:
- JavaScript (a benefit rather than a requirement)
- CSS
- (X)HTML
- PHP
All come with set up scripts that will help you set up the application. Before installing it is best to look over the associated documentation, in particular any details regarding security.
osCommerce
osCommerce is my personal favorite E-Commerce software, though it definitely shouldn't be! I only say that because the standard installation of osCommerce is ugly and includes lots of truly negative clip art that usually takes time to remove it. Also, modifying the design / design in osCommerce can be tough. There are a lot of features included within osCommerce, most of which you will probably want to disable, again this is a time intensive practice.
The reason I still love osCommerce in spite of its weaknesses is the great amount of contributions obtainable. Contributions are programs (or mods to active code) posted by pc users of the system, such as:
- Froogle data feeder (submits all your products to Froogle, Googles price comparison tool)
- PDF catalog generators (automatically builds a PDF file that contains all your products which your customers can acquire)
- STS (a templating system to allow the design and style to be adjusted more easily)
- (adds lightbox.js to your item picture views)
- Information Pages Unlimited (enables you to add info quickly)
- Auto Thumbnailers (set up little thumbnails of your bigger product shots to save bandwidth / speed page load)
I have not added hyperlinks to any of the above as they would turn out to be out of date rapidly. Instead seek the osCommerce contributions section for the hottest additions!
VirtueMart Web Store Solution
previously I stated osCommerce was my personal favorite E-Commerce software, but that it shouldn't be. I declared that because, to be honest Virtue Mart ought to be the hands down winner. The reason I dont favor Virtue Mart is due to the scarcity of contributions, nevertheless, if you examine the 'live shops' built with osCommerce, Zen Cart and Virtue Mart there is no contest. Websites developed with Virtue Mart are in a better class.
This is due to Virtue Mart is not only a 'shopping cart'. When I first discovered this phrase I was perplexed about what it could have meant. The answer is that neither osCommerce or Zen Cart will let you build a website, they merely will let you deploy an online shop.
Virtue Mart enables you to make a professional looking webpage with an integrated shop, if you look at live stores for Virtue Mart (choose sites with 3 or more stars) you will realise what I am talking about.
These websites look much more like websites in contrast to appearing like ordinary E-Commerce sites. This is due to the fact VirtueMart contains a content management system, originally designed for designing sites (as opposed to online stores).
Virtue Mart was originally an integration of Mambo CMS and PHP Shop. Virtue Mart nonetheless work with Mambo Content management system, but the built-in installer uses Joomla! (if you want to use Mambo it will be a bit more work).
The hottest releases of VirtuMart solve a few of the integration problems (integrating CMS with PHP Shop) and now installs a lot more cleanly.
Unfortunately Virtue Mart currently has very few contributions, but I know that will improve as the consumer community grows.
ZenCart Online Store Solution
Zen Cart is really a well-known software as it functions more effectively out of the box than osCommerce does. The standard layout used in the set up looks a lot better than that of osCommerce and it is considered safer than osCommerce. There are contributions available for Zen Cart, but nowhere near as many as there are for osCommerce. If you want a web store that is quick to install and trusted then you really should think of it.
In summary:
- Virtue Mart - develop something stunning!
- Zen Cart - get to work quickly and reliably
- osCommerce - more bells and whistles than you'll be able to manage!
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