1. It’s Open Source which means the code itself is free to use and it’s developers are active keeping the code current. Compare to several thousand dollars for a customized cart with NO SECURITY UPDATE SUPPORT once it is built! Usually once a custom ecommerce site is built and installed – the support also ends. A good example is the current regulations of servers being PCI compliant. Hosting services had to upgrade their PHP software, meaning Zen Cart had to update their code – will your Website designer offer this service to make sure your site stays up-to-date and current with all the security issues that arise? What if your payment or shipping services change? Who will update YOUR code to keep you in business? And at what cost???
2. Easy to use.
3. Well Documented. The help and community sections of zen cart are fantastic. Although I have the ability to install, design and walk you through the admin of a Zen Cart store, there are too many variables on how an individual wants to set up their shipping preferences, or what payments they wish to accept. And both these areas require personal information that only the site owner can provide. Zen Cart is the only cart I have found that offers a book that contains the answer to just about every basic “How do I …?” question that has appeared on the Zen Cart forums and some that haven’t! This book will be an indispensable administrative tool for every Zen Cart store owner. There are plenty of screenshots and examples throughout the book, aiding the descriptions of the admin functions and settings. This book is aimed at beginners and is appropriately at a basic level but there is enough information even for the more advanced Zen Cart owner.
4. Great Plugins. There are tons of great plugins because of the great community of developers behind Zen Cart.
5. Highly Customizable. You can make your shopping cart look however you want. Nobody would ever know it’s a zen cart installation.
6. Content Manageability. Zen cart is built it with it’s own content management
system called “EZ Pages”. It’s easy to use and helps you manage not only your
shopping cart, but your entire Website.
7. Simple Installation. Zen Cart is easier to install than many other open source and proprietary applications on the web. It’s simple install makes it more affordable for you to pay someone to set it up for you.
8. Many Payment Gateways. By default zen cart let’s you setup easily with many different payment gateways. PayPal and Authorize.net as well as many others come by default.
9. Downloads. If you are selling downloads of any kind Zen Cart is already setup for you to do so. It also always to sell your product by attributes easily.
10. Gift Certificates. There is gift certificate manageability built into Zen Cart right from the gateway. You don’t need to worry about adding any kind of these features on your own.
Other features:
Unlimited category depth
Unlimited products (Speed of site depends on your hosting account. Please contact
us for tested recommendations.)
Multiple sales and discounts
Multiple display modes
Unlimited extra pages
Multiple ad banner controller
Multiple shipping options
Multiple payment options
Newsletter manager
Discount coupons
Featured products
Quantity discounts
