Theres a popular FREE open source shopping cart call osCommerce that gets a fair few online web businesses up and running quite easily in ecommerce and it is usually installed in minutes through the average web hosting package control panel. However that little package is getting a little dated and there are a number of enhanced versions being developed based on the same php/mySQL platform.
Online merchants are looking for more advanced features and not only the ability to sell products but events, services and subscriptions. There just happens to be a new shopping cart software that does just that, and because it is an enhancement of the famous osCommerce Shopping Cart it is sure to attract established merchants willing to upgrade for the better features.
One drawback with osCommerce was the difficulty to create a decent theme from the outset and for that reason there are many ugly adaptations still out there. You really needed to spend time and know your HTML to make it pretty. With the new Freeway Shopping Cart it’s much simpler as there is now a templateable system in place, which makes it easier for webmasters to design themes.
Another advantage of having Freeway is that it can integrate with Joomla, the popular Content Management System that is also simple to install in the average web hosting package. Freeway supplies a Bridge and now the Joomla Community is happy to have a more advanced shopping cart plug in for their websites.
All in all things are improving on the open source front with many web applications coming of age and providing real worth. But your still going to need the experience of a capable webmaster to put the pieces together as its not quite ‘one click and go’ yet.
Cybergord Web Services is one outfit that is always fixing up shopping carts and other such web applications. Somebody who knows their way around open source software, especially php/MySQL will save novices a mountain of time. So dont forget to consider expert help at reasonable prices when you want to upgrade your online shop within budget. Save time save money, get things done.
