OpenCart is one of the tools that one can consider for structuring their online store. It offers a host of integration and design options to lend a unique look to a site. The stores developed using OpenCart look professional, are navigable and has a powerful admin panel along with the support for more than 20 different modes of payment. OpenCart offers a great number of options for designs and themes than many of the other ecommerce platforms.
OpenCart In a Nutshell
OpenCart as an all-in-one ecommerce solution allows you to get a complete ecommerce website that enables you to add/manage products, let your customers shop online and then process the orders. Opencart basically provides all that a standard online store will need.
OpenCart is an open-source solution, that is you don’t have to pay anything to use its main script and can modify it to suit your need. What’s best is that you also get software updates and support free for lifetime.
The OpenCart can be used by simply downloading it from the official website and then installing it on your web server. The following requirements, however, must be met:
- PHP (Version 5.2 and above)
- Curl enabled
- A database (preferably MySQLi)
OpenCart Store - Features
If you’re planning to install OpenCart on your own (best if you hire an OpenCart expert), you need to have some experience in handling websites and have basic know-how about website setup and development tasks.
OpenCart has a very friendly interface that makes it quite easy for a user to learn to use it efficiently. It basically offers all the functions and features to help you get started and sell you products.
However, if you’re looking at the future prospects down the road and intend to equip your store to meet the upcoming challenges; adding new features can be a bit costly affair or you can opt for getting a custom plugin. Although, for the time being, you can easily sail through with free solutions.
In a nutshell, OpenCart is a good platform, to begin with, and can be upgraded over the time to suit your needs.
OpenCart Features
- Unlimited categories
- Unlimited products and manufacturers
- Allows selling of digital products
- Supports multiple currencies
- Supports multiple languages
- Review and ratings
- Templates and design extensions
- Over 20 payment gateways
- More than 8 shipping methods
- PCI compliant
- Support for multiple tax rates
- Shipping calculations (weight & size)
- Discounts, coupon and offers system
- Tools for backup and restore
- Support invoice printing
- Sales reports
OpenCart Store - Pricing
The great thing is, OpenCart is completely free and can be used by simply downloading from the official website. However, there are many additional costs such as:
- A hosting plan. These generally start from around $5 a month (high-end host costs more).
- A domain name for the store. These starts from around $10 a year.
- Finally, cost involved in getting a unique template/design or any other plugin/module you might need for some distinguished functionality (these may cost around $100 on an average).
OpenCart-Store Designs
OpenCart like many other ecommerce platforms come equipped with a basic store design. However, the default store design template looks nice, is contemporary and mobile-responsive out of the box.
But if you wish to have a distinguished website and wish for a custom design then either you have to hire a designer or you can get one from many websites that offer custom templates.
OpenCart Store - Managing Products
OpenCart has a clean and nice looking admin panel that makes managing your store as easy as pie. Be it products, order, payments or anything, OpenCart offer an user-friendly approach.
Further, the dashboard in OpenCart provides great analytics and stats about site traffic and user behaviour among others to help you attune your marketing strategies accordingly.
Adding new products is also very easy. Even with multiple fields and a multitude of attribute tabs, the strategical layout somehow makes it easy to use.
What’s more is Opencart supports hundreds of payment gateways and offers flawless performance. However, you have to pay for these integrations.
OpenCart - Final Verdict
OpenCart offers a host of benefits to the store owners as well as the shoppers. From an easy to use admin panel to a multitude of payment gateways, OpenCart really is a great tool. But should it really be your choice for your online store? Well, let’s see.
OpenCart- Pros
Simplicity: OpenCart is easy to setup and use. You can rapidly put on new themes or plugins to upgrade the appearance or functionality of your store. Doing all this in an OpenCart store is pretty easy so much so that you don’t really have to be a tech-expert to do so.
Great Themes: Doesn’t matter what products or services you’re dealing in. OpenCart offers wide options of engaging themes (both free and paid) that can really lend your store a unique look and engaging UI/UX.
Economical: OpenCart stores doesn’t require any ongoing developmental cost to keep it up and running. For SMEs, OpenCart offers a low running cost that can really keep the budget on a leash.
OpenCart - Cons
Customisation: Unlike many other ecommerce platforms, customising OpenCart can be a cumbersome task and many times you’re bound to use the product on an as-is basis. However, with a wide number of plugins and modules, you can add value to your store. Also, you always have the option to hire a developer and get custom solutions as per your need and requirement.
SEO: compared to other ecommerce platforms, OpenCart isn’t as SEO ready as it should be. This means your store won’t perform in Google as other ecommerce sites might and would require you to separately attend to the SEO part.
Speed: OpenCart script may not perform as swiftly as it is expected to be over large sites and may start to lag in performance over a period of time.
The marketplace offers a wide choice in standalone shopping carts, platforms and ecommerce scripts to meet your list of requirement. OpenCart is a great option as an online store but the right approach is to consider what exactly you expect from your store. One of the free platforms might do the job for you, if not, you can always look for paid solutions.
Considering paid solutions, you should make sure you choose right resources that can do justice to your requirement. Paid options are much better than free ones as it offers more features, better support and is attuned to the needs of your business.
Need a free consultation for your online store? Want to know if OpenCart is best or you should go for some other options? Contact ChilliApple Ltd, a renowned web solution company based in the UK.
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