AbleCommerce Shopping Cart Software

Hi Guys,

I am looking at setting up my own and clients eCommerce sites.

I was just wondering advantages and disadvantages of using AbleCommerce 7.1 (UK Version) over Opensource OSCommerce (http://www.oscommerce.com/)

Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ian.

Hello Ian,

OSCommerce doesn't come up in our conversations with clients as it's a PHP product primarily used on Linux. So we are not aware of it's specific benefits or weaknesses. Do you want to write in PHP using 'inline' coding techniques or do you want to write in .Net using OO methods? Do you want to use MySQL or MS-SQL? We've had more than a few people move from OSCommerce, so there are benefits to using a paid product. Is your 'typical' customer 'testing' the ecommerce waters or are they 'frequent' ecommerce swimmers? The answers to those questions should help you in your choice.

Thanks Mike,

I want to use .NET OO ; )

I have tried both packages, and in my humble opinion, Able Commerce is much better in many respects. One, the code/pages are laid out in an easy to understand manner. As a result, the learning time is GREATLY reduced. Two, an Object Oriented language is far easier to code in, understand, extend, etc. etc.... Three, out of the box, with no modifications, Able Commerce is powerful and very functional. OSCommerce needed, in my opinion, TONS of mods to even bring it up to a usable level. Four, Able is extremely affordable, and source code is available for relatively no money. Yes, of course OSCommerce is free, but it really does come at a cost... mainly lack of support, a section of mods that at best is extremely confusing and hard to implement, non OO PHP... shall I continue?
Using an Open Source product is great in that it almost always comes with an incredible community that will support you in your efforts. With Able Commerce, you get this as well. This is one of the best forums that I have been a part of, and have recieved unbelievable ammounts of extremely helpful information and code.
For me the choice was easy. If you need any more specific information, don't hesitate to ask.

-Scott

Hey....wait a minute!!!

Haha! Funny Joe!! Actually, you were one of the helpful ones I was most talking about! Maybe I should rethink my stance...

Hello Joe,

We need an oil change on our car and the lawn mowed IF you need something productive to do

I needed to polish up my graphic design skills.

...I know, I know. Keep polishing

Your what? skills?
Very funny, though.

Played with both..

I found OS to be a very basic/intro to E-Commerce package. At the same time it can get very complicated.

Able can be basic to advanced - and while it can get complicated.. stays pretty easy.

Able all the way..

We first started off with oscommerce. Then we switched to X-Cart, then we switched to a hosted solution (Volusion). Now we are at the point that we need to move away the hosted solution AND from Quickbooks very rapidly and Ablecommerce works well and integrates very well with Visioncore (http://www.comtechsolutions.com).

Oscommerce, X-Cart are "hackable" products...if you want something you have to edit tons of files and "hack in" the mod. Besides that our webserver was hacked twice with X-Cart security vulnerabilitys and once with a oscommerce security vulnerability. Plus it's a free project, which I'm all about, but experienced customers will pickup on the fact that you are using free software and may think "Uh...they aren't willing to spend any money on real software?"

There are some minor things AC7 doesn't have...but it appears that the staff listens to feature requests and I hope they will be added in the future.

Robbie@FireFold wrote:Played with both..

I found OS to be a very basic/intro to E-Commerce package. At the same time it can get very complicated.

Able can be basic to advanced - and while it can get complicated.. stays pretty easy.

Able all the way..

Hi,

I see metion here of "AbleCommerce 7.1 (UK Version)" - is there a tentative release date for this. I really need to PROTX gateway which I understand is beind developed for 7.1 and I am trying to work out if it's worth developing ourselves or waiting for 7.1.

Regards,

Ian.