10 e-commerce platforms make selling simpler

HikaShop

Hikari Software Team

Price: Starter: free; Essential: $67.86 (one-time fee); Business: $135.72 (one-time fee)

Platform: Joomla

Version reviewed: Business 1.5.8

Type of user: Internet storefront

HikaShop is an e-commerce system that ties fairly well into the Joomla content management system to deliver a stable -- if a bit uninteresting -- e-commerce platform.

It's not that there's anything seriously wrong with HikaShop; indeed, there are a lot of things that seemed to work very well. For example, the product-creation process was a snap. (I appreciated the capability to import CSV data as well as data from VirtueMart.) One glaring shortcoming: Product characteristics don't include manufacturer information, which would make it tricky to organize by that particular data point.

There is an almost unfinished feel to the way things are put together in HikaShop. It's a Joomla module, but it seemed like every time I turned around there was another plug-in within HikaShop that would have to be configured as well. Case in point? The shipping settings had a few included plug-ins (like Canada Post and UPS) just to get the point across, but practically screamed "you will need to find more plug-ins" to get a site up and running. Finding new plug-ins would not be hard, but it would have been nicer to see more shipping options included.

I have a feeling that if you were willing to spend the time, HikaShop would be a decent system with which to run an e-commerce solution on a Joomla site. The free Starter version is quite limited in terms of marketing and analytics tools, so you will need to spend a little money for one of the commercial versions if you need those functions.

Magento

Magento Inc.

Price: Community: free; Enterprise: $14,420/year; Enterprise Premium: $49,990/year

Platform: Stand-alone

Version reviewed: Enterprise 1.7.0.0

Type of user: Major online commerce sites

One of my favorite sayings is "go big or go home." Anyone who even thinks about using the paid versions of Magento had better have this adage tattooed on their brain before seriously considering this platform.

Going big in this case means you're running an e-commerce site that has more than $1 million in annual sales -- at least. Nothing else is going to justify the huge subscription costs for this stand-alone e-commerce platform.

The requirements for this platform are easy to absorb: it's a standard LAMP stack. And given the product's open-source origins, it's no surprise that there's a free Community version available. In fact, since Magento has a very Joomla-like feel to the administrative interface, I would have no problem recommending the Community edition to anyone with some content management system (CMS) chops. Based on the feature set, the Community version seems to start where most commercial e-commerce systems end, including multiple shipping and gateway options, analytics tools and a robust catalog management system.

Jump to the Enterprise edition, and you're not only in a different league -- you're on a different planet. In another solar system. Returns, private sales, gift registries -- you name it, Magento has it. Just to give you an idea of the scales that Magento feels at home with, the Enterprise edition even includes support for Apache Solr enterprise search. Enterprise search tools like this are typically deployed in Fortune 500 companies with millions of records and documents to search at any given time.

(The Enterprise Premium edition is basically the same as the Enterprise edition; it adds multiple licenses along with additional support, consulting and training.)

Like I said, it's a whole new solar system. If you are generating millions in sales revenue, though, then Magento will definitely be worth a look.

OpenCart

OpenCart

Price: Free, donations accepted

Platform: Stand-alone

Version reviewed: 1.5.2

Type of user: Internet storefronts

If you're reading these reviews in order, OpenCart might just give your wallet whiplash compared to the previous e-commerce system.

Like Magento, OpenCart is a stand-alone open-source platform that can be run on any Apache, MySQL, Perl/PHP/Python (AMP) system, as well as a Windows/IIS/PHP stack. But unlike Magento or any of the other systems reviewed thus far, OpenCart is free. Period.

You're not going to find a lot of bells and whistles in OpenCart, but what you will find is another Joomla-like interface with some decent support for shipping, product entry and management (including manufacturer data) and a lot of payment gateway options. They are handled in a plug-in workflow model, so you will have to spend some time working on putting your site together. But given that the system is free, OpenCart should be worth the time.

In particular, I noted a returns system and loyalty points -- options that you might have to pay for on a commercial system. I also grooved on the inclusion of ready-to-go reports on sales, products and customers.

The interface is pretty straightforward, but don't expect a lot of online help. You may also want to give some consideration to the various third-party reference books that have been published if you find yourself having trouble.

If you have the time, OpenCart could be a solid investment.