There are literally hundreds of different small business shopping carts available these days, but only a few have risen to the top in terms of widespread use. One of these is osCommerce, an Open Source cart that claims 11,000+ live stores and 121,000 storeowners and developers worldwide.
osCommerce's place in the e-commerce pecking order is secured by several strengths:
Free. As an Open Source product the code is made available free.
Uses PHP and MySQL, a common programming language and database that are usually available for no extra charge on most small business hosting services on Unix and Windows operating systems.
Scalable. It can host a small number of products or a huge store.
Modular. The program is laid out in such a way that new functions can be exchanged or "bolted on" without having to make major modifications to the existing code.
Flexible. Since merchants and developers have the source code, they can adapt both the look and feel and the functionality to do about anything they want -- if they are creative enough to be able to write code.
Community based. The large community of users has many, many adaptations and changes to offer -- some buggy, but some very good.
International. The system is purposely built so that it can accommodate multiple languages and currencies. Each major module has its own word file; each language has its own subdirectory and code files, so that a developer could conceivably translate osCommerce into nearly any language.
I decided to set up osCommerce on one of my websites, chiefly because it was free and flexible. I've set up a couple dozen online stores in my time and installed my share of programs. So I thought I'd give it a go. I ultimately abandoned the plan -- here's why.
Installation
The initial installation of ver. 2.2 milestone 2 went fairly smoothly. I needed to create a MySQL database and upload PHP and graphics files to a subdirectory of my site called "catalog." The install program set up the appropriate tables in the database and the store was up and running -- sort of. I ran into two fairly minor errors in the basic code. One prevented changes made in the shipping and payment modules from being saved in the database. I googled some keywords with the error messages and fairly rapidly found the osCommerce community forum where others had experienced the same problems and more experienced developers offered fixes. Why the "stable" download file hadn't incorporated those fixes, I don't know.
Payment Gateways
My first hurdle was to install a payment gateway. osCommerce comes with modules to install Authorize.net, iPayment, NOCHEX, PayPal, 2CheckOut, PSiGate, and SECPay. For years I've used VeriSign (now PayPal) strong Pay Flow Pro gateway -- not supported, so here's a test of flexibility. I searched for "oscommerce" and "Pay Flow Pro" and found a module that someone had written for it and installed it. But now I must install the Pay Flow Pro SDK package on my Free BSD server -- no mean feat, I discovered.
Perhaps, I say to myself, it would be easier to take orders through PayPal, one of the built-in payment modules. But no, that doesn't support PayPal IPN (Instant Payment Notification), which is required for selling downloadable goods. I search for it, and sure enough, someone's written a module that I download and install. It works!
Shipping
Next I set up shipping. Out of the box (actually, there's no box) you can get flat rate, per item, shipping table, US Postal Service, and Zone Rates. I understand that modules are also available for UPS and FedEx. But I needed a shipping table that handles weight calculations for Media Mail, Priority Mail, Global Priority Mail (Canada), and Global Priority Mail (International). The shipping table module only handles a single type of shipping. I search again and find a very flexible module that can handle by weight shipping tables for any number of shipping types, selectable by the customer. I install that, put the weight ranges and shipping rates in the appropriate places, and the problem is solved.
Products
Now to adding products. When I examine the out-of-the-box product data fields I am amazed to find so few. For example, there's no place for a SKU number, though there is a system of adding brand names, categories, etc. I search under "product fields" and find a module called Extra Fields v2.0j. I install it by copying PHP files to the directory structure and creating a new MySQL table using the supplied SQL command and phpMyAdmin to manage the database.
Now to upload products. I have about 24 information products in my store, half e-books, half Print On Demand books. Currently they are in an Excel spreadsheet. The problem is that while there are modules that facilitate uploading of products, they are based on an unaltered osCommerce system. Since I've already added several modules, the chances of getting an easy installation of the upload feature is getting more remote.
Spin-Offs
The more I look at the difficulties of installing osCommerce, the more attractive the various spin-offs look. Since its beginning 2000, osCommerce has inspired a number of children, commercial products that have used the osCommerce core code but improved upon it in various ways. These include:
osCMax v. 2.0. Template store, osCMax Skins. (free, but templates for sale for about $120 to $150)
MagneticOne Store Manager for osCommerce, $59 to $89. Data feed modules $24, Google Checkout module, $34. Its on a Windows desktop computer and connects with your online osCommerce store to make changes.
Books
Several books are available on osCommerce, including:
"osCommerce," Shopping Cart Reviews, brief reviews by users.
Stephanie Brian, "Building Online Stores with osCommerce,"SlashDotCom, 03-Mar-06. The actual article is mostly a review of a new book on osCommerce. But the many, many comments of osCommerce users and detractors which follow the review are quite enlightening.
Bottom Line
The bottom line for me is this: osCommerce is a powerful and robust program that has been the joint effort of a number of developers since 2000. However, its most recent version 2.2 Milestone 2, doesn't seem to be under rapid development at this point. If you're a programmer needing to develop a unique online store with maximum flexibility, osCommerce or one of its off-shoots may be your best choice. But if you're a merchant, a non-programmer needing to get a typical online store up and running, I'd look for a platform that's better supported. Even if you have to pay several hundred dollars, you'll probably have some configuration support and a program that isn't buggy from the get-go.
