E-Commerce Solutions - Free and Low Cost

E-commerce is one of the primary drivers of the Internet.  Although funny pictures of cats may seem like the largest draw, those pictures and social sites get their revenue from advertising.  That advertising is only valuable when it leads to purchasing and e-commerce is becoming the way we buy our stuff.  In this episode, we look at some excellent tools to get your electronic shop on the Internet and ready to take orders. Shopify URL: https://www.shopify.com/ SAAS, HTML/JavaScript Easy to use, all-in-one solution with plugins as well.  Not the cheapest solution nor the easiest to customize.  On the other hand, it is easy to get started with a product or two and provides options for everyday needs like fulfillment, recurring payments, and more. XCart URL: https://www.x-cart.com/ Open Source, PHP This product is fast but prone to needing customization coding and can be bug-ridden depending on how good the coders are.  It is a good solution for those with a few technical skills. WooCommerce URL: https://woocommerce.com/ WordPress, PHP WP plugin that is popular and has an active support community. Prestashop URL: https://www.prestashop.com/en SAAS or Install, PHP This application is another solution that can be brought up quickly.  However, there are a large number of add-ins and modules that you will likely want, and they often have a cost.  This is easy to grow into an expensive solution so you may want to nail down the exact requirements for your business before diving in. ZenCart URL: https://www.zen-cart.com/ Open Source, PHP Magento URL: https://magento.com/ Open Source and SAAS, PHP OpenSource and free edition with a large number of features. However, this is often slow and complex to get started. Maintenance and customizations can get expensive. OpenCart URL: https://www.opencart.com/ Open Source, PHP JigoShop URL: https://www.jigoshop.com/ WordPress, PHP A WordPress plugin with a good history (WooCommerce hired the developers away) and easy to install.  It has a few features that make it worth looking at although it seems WooCommerce may be moving into position as the best WordPress plugin in this category. Wp eCommerce URL: https://wpecommerce.org/ WordPress, PHP another WP plugin and simple but not as powerful as WooCommerce nor as popular If you want to check out some more potential tools, here is an article with a summary of these and others: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/open-source-ecommerce-platforms