XSitePro ECommerce, Shopping Cart Links

OpenCart - A new standard for OpenSource shopping carts - after finding this, I've pretty much done away with considering Zen Cart. The feature list and modules available for OpenCart are far superior to any others I have found. Active support forums, as well as bug reports (via GitHub). There are many module developers allowing you to find tons of Extensions (plugins). Some other module developers include: OpenCartX (curated OpenCart Extension Marketplace), Jay6390, OpenCart Choice, OpenCartNepal, iSenseLabs, OC Extensions, and many others. This is my new goto cart to install for just about any application. Pickup free OpenCart modules such as: Override Engine, and many others. There is even a full Customer Product Manager extension that will let you setup a shopping mall and offer other people's products on your website. Find full documentation here. Recommended hosting with WX Hosting. Moving hosts and verifying that it's setup/configured properly can be a time-consuming job.  Here's an article on checking 'is there a way to enable ssl connection in opencart', with a post recommending to use the site Why No Padlock? to check your website and verify that all of the elements on the SSL page are secure. *Moving from 1.5.6.x to 2.x? See this information: Forum post - how to move from 1.5.x to 2.0.1.1, this Video, and this file.

Zaxaa  - I've signed on to this and will be moving most, if not all of my sales over to this platform. It provides a full affiliate program, membership site plugin, shopping cart, storefront, and just about everything else you would need to start selling online. It provides fast and easy access to payment processors: PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, and several others, and Email integration with Aweber, GetResponse, and others. The best part is, there are no additional fees added to each purchase, like some of the other processors, and with full detailed reports, and an email automation platform coming - this truly stands up to it's tagline: The World's EASIEST & FASTEST Online Selling Solution. Download your Free Zaxaa Membership Site WordPress Plugin here . Find a video Tutorial on setting up and using Zaxaa Member here..

SunShop - A great cart at a really nice price ($199.00 to start). Own your own cart, and get it customized, or modified to suit your needs. Works well, and does what it's supposed to do, however support questions and issues can sometimes take longer to solve. A new responsive theme is available now (see demos) and a new 5.x version is in the works, though it was announced about 2 years ago (development is delayed). It will be exciting to see how much 5.x changes. For now, the best reference materials/documents can be found on the SunShop 4 Wiki and on the Turn Key Tools Forums and Knowledgebase. Additional resources are the SunShop Online Doc, and the outdated (2001-2009) Sunshop PDF Manual (which is still useful). A great tutorial on modifying SunShop code and writing plugins can be found at: http://otscripts.com/sunshop-modifications-part-1/ , in addition if you are moving SunShop from one host to another see this forum post on Moving to new host without hassles, and this Knowledgebase article: How do I transfer Sunshop from host to another?

WP eStore - A WordPress store plugin with excellent support from the developer(s) at Tips and Tricks HQ.

Easy Digital Downloads - An interesting free WordPress plugin shop for digital products. Unfortunately many add-ons are required to get the shop to it's full potential at considerable cost. This is similar and trying to compete with WooPress eCommerce which is a better and older platform for WordPress.

AShop V - A cart that has survived a long time, something to say in the internet world. Excellent features are all included free of charge after purchase. Features include: affiliate system with site replication, mobile cart options, social media options, digital fulfillment built-in. An excellent choice for the price. Well done. Find the full users guide at: AShop User Guide.

Shop Factory - The cadillac of shopping carts. Unfortunately the price matches the features.

Zen Cart - Possibly the best free (open source) cart on the market. Tons of support offered through the forums as well as add-on modules, such as this one: Better Together from the Zen Cart Wiki.

Maian Cart - an excellent UK based choice for a shopping cart. All features are included.

SiteManPro - is this the best cart/membership manager around? It could turn out that way if the future development continues. No longer recommended, development has slowed, and pricing now operates on monthly/yearly and requires additional 2.5% transaction fee. Only look at this, if you want to house multiple membership sites under one platform.

OrderStorm - Possibly the best WordPress eCommerce shopping cart plugin. More flexible and with more payment processor options than any other cart out there.

JigoShop - Astounding WordPress eCommerce shopping cart platform. Many themes and plugins are available for it as well. Extendable and with top-notch support, this is one cart to watch over the next few years. An excellent choice. Recommended.

1SiteAutomation Cart  - One of the simplest and feature rich carts to work with. This external cart can also process credit cards through your own merchant account. Additional payment processors (ClickBank, PayPal) can be used and/or you purchase an autoresponder only account for a competitive rate.

MaxMind Fraud Detection - If you process credit cards and fraud is a potential issue (if you are dealing with larger transactions or you are concerned about shipping larger dollar items) consider this service which can give you a fraud score based on several factors. A Miva Merchant cart module will work with this and WolfPaw's Fraud Screening & Prevention module.

Why No Padlock? - Fantastic site for validating that your SSL secured e-commerce pages have all secured elements on them, and identifying which elements are insecure.

Spreedly - A full service subscription reseller option.  Pricey, but works well (integrated) with Shop66 on the WordPress platform, so if you need to build credit card processing for recurring billing into your WordPress site this is a good choice.

Shopping Cart Depot.com Cart - If you are starting out and would like to test the waters with a more 'full-service' cart have a look at this one which will let you setup and run a full cart. You will pay a percentage of sales as your monthly fees instead of having a larger up-front cost to purchasing/setting up a cart.

foxycart! - Another hosted cart that is inexpenive ($19.00 per month). 

DPD (Digital Product Download) - If you sell digital products only then this protection software & website will protect your downloads for a single flat monthly rate. You can manage affiliates as well at no additional charge.

DigiVendorPRO- If PayPal is your only payment option and you require an affiliate management system too, DigiVendor can handle your cart/sales. Your product downloads can be stored outside of your web site's path.

CommerceV3 - A webstore and catalog for multi-channel retailers. An excellent blog indicating future trends in eCommerce is also available at: http://www.commercev3.com/category/blog

Cheddr- Shopping cart for marketers/newbies that has a Authorize.net merchant account built in. One-click upsells and recurring processing, as well as autoresponders can be included.

XCloner - If you need to restore, or backup a PHP based shopping cart website (such as OSCommerce or Zen Cart, or any other PHP based cart) try this free utility to get the job done. Highly recommended.

GetShopped.org - Home of the WP e-Commerce Plugin. One of the best supported eCommerce plugin for WordPress. Integrates perfectly, many plugins/add-ons available as well as community/forum support, etc. Also check out the Piggy web-app for your iPhone (it integrates with WP e-Commerce letting you get updates on sales/statistics live from your WordPress shopping website).

The Cart Blog - Nice blog by a Zen Cart developer, worth a look.

GetElastic.com - One of the top entreneur blogs.  Excellent writing by Ecommerce Researchers at ElasticPath.

Storenvy - A drop in cart for Facebook. Excellent implementation allows for sharing products, and commenting on them as well as selling from your Facebook page with no extra fees. So far only 1 payment processor: PayPal.

XSitePro eCommerce Ideas & Strategies

DoublePlus - A great Ecommerce site with current information about the Miva Merchant shopping cart. Powered by NetBlazon.

Order Boosters - A nice PDF outlining strategies on how to increase your profits with calls to action and other methods.

eCommerce Catalyst - A great blog by someone that has worked with shopping carts for many years. Strategies on Marketing, Drop Shipping, and check out the 12 week course (eCommerce Incubator) by Audrey Kerwood.

Practical eCommerce - If you are an online business owner, this excellent free resource gives you tons of details on analytics, advertising, carts and commerce.

eCommerce Developer - Similar to Practical eCommerce but for techies. Excellent resources for web developers. How to, strategies and tips.

eCommerce Amplifier Website Review- Boost your cart conversions by watching this video. If you are serious about adjusting your cart to maximize conversions purchase the eCommerce amplifier.

Building Keystones  - The idea blog from cleverbridge. You cannot find a better analysis of digital Ecommerce than this fantastic blog written by the founder of cleverbridge.

XSitePro Payment Processors

Stripe - Awesome new payment processor that accepts transactions with name/email and credit card information, no more ridiculous AVS (Address Verification Service) for customers in foreign countries. Brilliant.

Braintree - An offshoot/subsidiary of PayPal that processes the first $50,000 in transactions free. Reasonable chargebacks and great rates that are nearly identical to PayPal (2.90% + $0.30 per transaction. Chargebacks: $15.00), signup for Braintree here.

PayPal - One of my favorite processors that works along with your merchant account to let you accept payments as echeck, credit card or debit card. Good fees too.

2Checkout - One of the better payment processors that accept checks, credit cards, and other forms of payment. They do have strict requirements on security, and they may check up on your business and what you are selling, but it is worth it.

AlertPay - A new payment processor that is competing with PayPal. Accepts global payments in 190 countries. Fees are compeitive and has no restrictions on offering products to others as business opportunities or MLM.

Derrek Van Dyke.com Blog Post about PayPal - A real horror story about frozen accounts at PayPal.

Zaxaa  - more of a shopping cart platform, but it integrates with all of hte major payment processors: PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, and several others, and Email integration with Aweber, GetResponse, and others.  The best part is, there are no additional fees added to each purchase, like some of the other processors, and with full detailed reports, and an email automation platform coming - this truly stands up to it's tagline: The World's EASIEST & FASTEST Online Selling Solution.  Download your Free Zaxaa Membership Site WordPress Plugin here . Find a video Tutorial on setting up and using Zaxaa Member here..

XSitePro E-Commerce Security

Picking The Right SSL Certificate - A must read before you make a purchase. Do not rely on a cheap SSL certificate, especially when it can affect your sales every day.  There are 3 primary levels (EV - Extended Verification, OV - Organization Verification, and DV - Domain Verification). Go with at least a OV Certificate for your store front/domain (DV's are ok for Facebook secure pages, and anything that is not eCommerce related).  One of the primary reasons I recommend at least a Comodo Instant SSL Certificate, as it includes the 'Comodo SSL Corner of Trust' site seal. However, as of the present time, the Firefox (Mozilla) browser will not display your company name even with an OV certificate: instead it displays: 'This website does not supply ownership information.' for the Owner name if you click the padlock on a secure website. This is hopefully changing though, see this article: How to tell Domain Validated (DV) and Organization Validated (OV) SSL Certificates apart, as well as this one: What is and Extended Validation Certificate? from GlobalSign.com where you can find this excellent SSL Configuration Checker to verify and validate your own certificate and check what it means in this: SSL Server Rating Guide.

AlphaSSL - SSL Certificate provider that offers Global Sign certificates. There is only one way to guarantee your visitors that your site is safe. Use a valid Secure Socket Layer Cert (SSL Certificate). This site offers many types of certificates (that are GlobalSign.com certificates, see previous listing - Picking The Right SSL Certificate) and does not go through a middleman. Very Highly Recommended.

NameCheap - I rely on their inexpensive SSL Certificate choices. One of the best in the industry and provides excellet support as well.  Prices cannot be beat. Highly Recommended.