Choosing the Right continued
shopping carts that are currently on the market and sorted them for your con- venience by "free," "low-mid range," and "high-end." There's also a little informa- tion on what you can expect out of each category. Unfortunately there are too many systems and features to list so I included a link to each shopping cart's website for further research.
Free Shopping Cart—I personally
do not recommend using free shopping carts because they tend to have quite a few limitations (including support) and require extensive coding to get them to look nice. In addition, your sales may not reach their full potential, which may leave you discouraged from pursuing your ecommerce venture. If you feel this is where you really want to start, here are some of the most popular free shop- ping carts: • AgoraCart – Visit online at http://www.agoracart.com • OScommerce – Visit online at
http://www.oscommerce.com
• Ubertcart – Visit online at http://www.ubercart.org
• Zen Cart – Visit online at http://www.zen-cart.com.
Low to Mid-Range Shopping
Carts—This is where most companies start and stay (for good reason). The shopping cart platforms in this section have very affordable plans, are very robust, easy to set-up, offer many func- tions out of the box, add-ons and sup- port. • 3D Cart – http://www.3dcart.com • Big Commerce - http://www.bigcommerce.com
• Magento – http://www.magentocommerce.com
• Miva Merchant – http://www.mivamerchant.com
• Shopify – http://www.shopify.com • Volusion – http://www.volusion.com
High-End Shopping Carts – These
ecommerce platforms start at more than $5,000 per month and can run over
CHOOSE COMPOSITES
The difference is material.
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Choose from a full line in a variety of sizes. Including dough boxes. Pan extenders. Bagel boards. Display and cafeteria trays. And prep and storage containers.
Contact your local distributor, call (800) 458-6050 or visit www.mfgtray.com.
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PH 814 683.4500 or 800 458.6050 FX 814 683.4504 www.mfgtray.com
The material matters in material handling September/October 201 1 35
$1,000,000 to setup. To be fair, you can expect a platform tailored to fit your needs and some additional multichannel solutions. If you plan to purchase an ecommerce platform in this range, you will need a technically-savvy person on staff. • ATG – http://www.atg.com • Commerce Now – http://commercenow.com
• Demandware – http://www.demandware.com
• Fry Inc. – http://www.fry.com • Venda Inc. – http://www.venda.com
Hopefully this article will help you
find the ecommerce platform that's right for you and I hope you will enjoy watch- ing your ecommerce store grow. For me, it's been a pleasure. But as with any start- up venture, there will be ups and downs. Just remember to learn from your mis- takes and persevere. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at davidl@missionrs.com. u
