When it comes to building an e-commerce website featuring all the utilities suitable for online shopping convenience such as stock control, product catalog, shopping cart, payment gateways among others, fewer solutions do exist. You can either choose the hosted e-Commerce or banking on Shopify for instance, which will have your website hosted within their servers, carry out set up, maintenance and upgrade to your site as well. That will require subscription to their services on a monthly basis.
On the other hand, if you are just getting started on a tight budget which won’t give you room for subscribed hosting; you may opt for open source alternative. The following open source CMS’s can help you build your own e-commerce site without having to pay a dime, just in case you don’t mind the technicalities behind them.
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SpreeCommerce
SpreeCommerce gives you the ability to make configurations, additions and replacements to any functionalities plus complete customizability to construct your online store as you please. One feature that makes it more popular is its in-built functionality of subscription. This feature enables registered customers to continuously receive products or services without having to make repurchases of the same. Get started from the link https://github.com/spree/spree.
UberCart
This is a module which adds e-commerce functionalities to Drupal. It can be used to sell different types of goods, either physical goods such as shirts and event ticketing, or digital items such as software, movies and music singles. If you have a Drupal powered website then you have all the reasons to consider this module. Download it at http://www.ubercart.org/downloads.
ZenCart
This is a community supported module. The community comprises of programmers, shop owners, designers, consultants among others. If you are a programmer, you can modify the source code of ZenCart for free to meet your e-commerce requirements. You can also contribute to the improvement of the module via the community. It works with relatively all hosting service providers since its basic requirements are simply PHP, MySQL and Apache. Make your free download at http://www.zen-cart.com/getit/.
CubeCart
When you login as an admin, this module will let you see a lot of information about your e-commerce website. Such info includes stock and sales report. The module also enables you to export the reports in spreadsheet format for later analysis or viewing. It essential entails all features you can ever need to get your e-commerce up and running. Download it at https://www.cubecart.com/download.
LiteCommerce
It can be used as a stand-alone platform or a Drupal e-commerce module. The module comes with a smooth and clean attractive UI, with effective interaction platform supported by AJAX. The fact that it is built with a modular architecture makes it highly customizable. Get your download from GitHub on this link https://github.com/litecommerce/core/.
ZeusCart
The default theme of ZeusCart module is built on Bootstrap and that makes it completely responsive. Apart from the e-commerce essentials such as shopping cart and payment gateways, the module also features gift cards, advanced search, coupons as well as SEO to rank your site higher in search engine results. You can download ZeusCart from the link http://www.zeuscart.com/download/ .
osCommerce
This is one of the leading open source online shopping e-commerce solutions available under GNU License. It is equipped with rich out-of-the-box shopping cart feature that enables online business owners to set up, run and maintain their online stores with the least effort at no license fees, limitations or costs attached. The main goal of osCommerce is to continually develop through attracting a community which offers support to the continued growth. It is already packed with every feature that you need to get started on selling products online. These include the catalog frontend, shopping cart, and back-end administration among others to completely provide an appropriate platform for handling products, orders, customers, and online data among other essentials. Download it from https://www.oscommerce.com/
HeroCommerce
This is rather an extension for HeroFramework, a CMS module. HeroCommerce converts the CMS into a self-sufficient e-commerce platform. You can download the package bundle at https://github.com/electricfunction/hero and https://github.com/electricfunction/hero-ecommerce for installation on your server.
HeroCommerce comes with plenty of essential features including product inventories, payment gateways, shipping plus many more.
TomatoCart
This CMS module displays a powerful GUI reminiscent of that of your PC, powered by the Rich Internet Applications (RIA). TomatoCart gears the Rich Keyword URL for categories, reviews, products and articles among others. Rich Keyword URL features the content’s name rather than it’s ID. It implements the Model View Controller (MVC) feature for quicker performance. Get your download from http://www.tomatocart.com/downloads/download-tomatocart.html.
OpenCart
This CMS module is a PHP based cart system offering you robust e-commerce solutions. The robust features of this module enable online merchants to create their own online businesses and be part of e-commerce at lower costs. It possesses a great design feature for a visual appeal and functionality, easy to use and search engine friendliness. Get more information about this CMS from http://www.opensourcecms.com/scripts/details.php?scriptid=93&name=OpenCart.
Kartris
This is an e-commerce platform based on ASP.Net and comes with essentials such as shopping carts, payment gateways, inventories as well as administrative back-end. It is specially designed for Microsoft IIS Web Server. It makes use of the dominant optimization and caching features on the module. Mark your start with this module by downloading it form http://www.kartis.com/t-Downloads.aspx.
nopCommerce
This open source e-Commerce module is built on Microsoft technology which includes a combination of ASP.NET and MS-SQL database. It includes relatively everything you may need to get you on your feet and sell products online. It supports both digital and physical items selling, so no need for worries on that. Get nopCommerce module from http://www.nopcommerce.com/downlaods.aspx.
Magento
Magento is a free open source e-commerce solution developed in PHP which offers online merchants a full featured unparalleled control and flexibility. It was designed under the notion that every e-commerce implementation must be unique as there are no businesses which are identical. The modular architecture of Magento gives an online merchant complete control on their hands. It also does not impose any constraints on processes and flow of the business. Explore more about Magento from http://www.magento.com/.
PrestaShop
When you are seeking flexibility and reliability as far as open source CMS e-commerce is concerned, PrestaShop just serves the purpose. This module has revolutionized the online shopping business since 2007 by offering features which engage customers and improve online sales. Get your download from http://www.prestashop.com/en/download.
AlegroCart
This e-commerce shopping cart solution implements the MVC architecture design, PHP 5, modular template system, auto update, multiple language and MySQL 5 database. Visit http://www.alegrocart.com/ for a detailed update on how to download and make use of it.
Other open source CMS for building a powerful ecommerce website include Joomla which is used together with VirtueMart. The two open source ecommerce modules are developed in PHP and are suitable for use in basic PHP/MySQL environments. Other open source modules are Axiscommerce, Onxshop, osCmax VamCart, Matterdaddy Market among many more. With these open source CMS e-commerce modules, you can easily get your first online store steady and running with the least effort without any expenses.
Tribe
Tribe is an e-commerce software build in the laravel framework. It is a feature-rich open-source eCommerce platform to build an eCommerce website at ZERO cost. If you are looking for an e-commerce solution that comes with drag & drop functionality to design the front-end, then you can go with this solution. Also, the solution offers all standard e-commerce features such as multiple payment gateways, tax management, search engine friendly, and user-centered design. Get started with Tribe here: https://www.tribe.yo-kart.com/
