Selecting the Best eCommerce Software for Online Store

eCommerce shopping cart system enables businesses to set up online stores. It helps businesses to showcase their products and influence global audience. It also eliminates the barriers of time, location and distance for shopping. It also gives consumers a secure online shopping experience. The development is cheap and easy. This allows small businesses to have an online store.

When it comes to selection of the best eCommerce software for creating an online store, there are plenty of options available. The softwares available are free as well as paid. This article focuses on some of the leading eCommerce software available. The softwares can be divided into two main categories: free, pre-hosted and paid.

Free and open source softwares

osCommerce

This software has set many benchmarks in eCommerce development. It has been awarded as the best shopping cart solution. It has more than 200000 community members from across the globe. It can be molded as per the need, on the basis of the license under which it has been released. It is available for free, allowing cost effective setup of an online store. The community members are committed and active in introducing add-on features.

Magento

Magento is another open source eCommerce solution. This software is complicated to begin with, but once it starts functioning fully it provides a unique online shopping experience to the customers. It is rich in features and capable of fulfilling shopping cart requirement. Magento is relatively new and has a decent number of community members. The official repository has crossed 2000 extensions.

Zen Cart

Zen Cart is another form or in other words a forked version of osCommerce. It varies from its superior in terms of features and template engine. Template engine of Zen Cart allows the creation of custom themes for online stores. At present, there are nearly 1000 free add-ons available in its plug-in repository.

PrestaShop

PrestaShop is another free and open source solution for online stores. It is light in weight and provides speed to the website. It has more than 50000 community members. In comparison to Magento, it offers better speed. It is uncomplicated and easy to use.

Pre-hosted and paid solutions

Shopify

It is a pre hosted e-commerce solution which charges for having an online store. Being a paid software it reduces the burden of the owners. Owners just need to add products on the website. Shopify team takes care of the payment gateways, SSL and security measures. It allows the creation of custom themes and custom domains. It is up for grab in different packages. Business owners are charged on a monthly basis depending upon the package or sales.

FoxyCart

This is another pre hosted eCommerce solution. It is different from Shopify as it is only a shopping cart (not a CMS). It integrates with the already existing website. User can change and customize the look and feel of the website as and when required. User just needs to take the code and put it in the website. It also charges on a monthly basis.

There is a pool of software for eCommerce website development. It is a matter of selecting the best. There are many companies offering the development services. There are many expert designer and developers providing shopping cart solutions using the best software. As a business owner, it becomes imperative to have an online presence. Having an online store is the first step towards developing strategies, and tap into the billion dollar consumer base.


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