Web Hosting Reviews & Ratings

August 25, 2011

The Must-Have osCommerce Add-Ons

Entrepreneurs looking to launch an e-commerce venture should consider osCommerce as one of the favorite platforms among online merchants to manage and support shopping carts.   The popular open source shopping cart platform is ideal for novice merchants with limited experience in managing an e-commerce endeavor.

The Basics of osCommerce

osCommerce as mentioned is perhaps the most favored open source shopping cart platform.  osCommerce is quick and easy to install; as a modular platform, users only need to download the program and then install the software to access the necessary functionality and browse through the different modules, as referred to as add-ons, that users can download, install, and have full functionality of the features necessary to maintain an e-ecommerce site.

osCommerce offers users the ability to customize the platform.  Seasoned web designers discover that it requires little effort or experience to edit features such as changing font sizes and colors and adding or removing images.  Novice users also find the platform easy to use with the help of the plethora of free osCommerce themes available for users to choose from.

A caveat before opting for a osCommerce commerce: it’s necessary to choose a web hosting provider that does actually support the osCommerce platform.  Three of the leading hosting providers that support osCommerce include:

• iPage
• JustHost
• InMotion (excluding the launch plan)

Selecting the Essentials

osCommerce soon discover there is thousands of readily available add-ons to download and install, however, choosing the essential add-ons is often a confusing task for new e-commerce business owners.  To help narrow down the choices, consider the top 7 must-have osCommerce add-ons for a successful e-commerce site:

1)      Unlmited SEO URLs – This add-on feature is vital for making SEOs user-friendly; thus driving up search engine rankings and directing more traffic to the site, which means potentially new sales.

2)      Simple Template System (STS) - This add-on feature helps users to build a personalized osCommerce template by developing the shopping cart theme as an HTML page.

3)      Easy Populate and Products Attributes - this add-on is best suited for merchants offering thousands of products to sell.  Instead of entering each product individually, the add-on allows users to quickly populate the osCommerce shopping cart by importing products from a CSV file, eliminating the repetitive task of entering each separately.

4)      osCommerce PayPal IPN Module v1.0 For 2.2MS2 – PayPal is without a doubt the most popular and preferred online payment processor.  With its secure and flexible performance, it’s the perfect solution for accepting PayPal as a preferred payment method.

5)      Order Editor – For indecisive shoppers and those who drop items into a shopping cart by mistakes, the order editor is ideal for allowing customers to change their orders in their shopping cart before checkout.

6)      Purchase without Account - Merchants looking to increase sales should give some serious thought about downloading and installing an add-on that allows visitors to make a purchase without actually having an account.  This feature is extremely attractive to visitors opting to buy on an impulse.

7)      Discount Coupon Codes - This osCommerce add-on is much appreciated by customers as well as being an effective technique of pushing the sale of a product.  The add-on offers users numerous configurable and flexible options when developing or editing discount policies.

Conclusion

In addition to being robust and reliable shopping cart platform, osCommerce is loaded with flexible features and configurable options that deliver the essential tools to launch and maintain a trusty-worthy and user-friendly shopping cart to both web design gurus and beginners testing the ecommerce market.

Tags: Best Buy,  web hosting,  features,  free web hosting,  open-source,  software,  system,  Ecommerce,  free,  business,  reliable hosting,  beginners,  best hosting,  e-commerce,  shopping cart,  traffic,  web traffic,  reliable provider,  HTML,  PayPal,  MS Access,  web page design,  SEO,  free hosting,  sell hosting,  online business,  web hosting business,  search engine rankings,  checkout,  shopping carts,  web hosting providers,  MS,  search engine,  web hosting plan,  e-commerce business,  shopping,  e-commerce hosting,  HTML editor,  web hosting provider,  entrepreneurs,  web hosting solution,  web hosting market,  secure hosting,  osCommerce,  sell products,  web design,  e-commerce site,  payment options,  platform,  IT hosting,  support,  IT,  online merchants,  web hosting mistakes,  e-commerce hosting plan,  e-commerce hosting solution,  modules,  sell items online,  install software,  SEO software,  web hosting platform,  free hosting plan,  shopping experience,  support system,  search functionality,  shopping online,  hosting solution,  design software program,  e-commerce system,  web hosting support,  ecommerce web hosting,  sales,  on-page features,  secure web hosting,  open source software,  ecommerce business,  online shopping,  ecommerce site,  ecommerce traffic,  themes,  seo attributes,  ecommerce hosting,  ecommerce solution,  search engine traffic,  free ecommerce hosting,  market online business,  best hosting solution,  hosting account,  sell web hosting,  site support,  2Checkout,  business owners,  hosting plan,  reliable web hosting,  ecommerce web hosting plan,  popular web hosting,  eCommerce hosting plan,  payment processor,  hosting provider,  online discount,  choosing hosting,  hosting business,  web editor,  open source