osCommerce Tips

Why are there over 125,000 members on the official osCommerce forum?

Chances are if you’re reading this you want to start selling online. But which software solution should you chose?

Over the years thousands of people have realised that osCommerce is the correct e-commerce solution for them, and successfully make money with their stores.

So here’s all the information you need to decide whether osCommerce is the software that will make your online business dreams a reality.

What is osCommerce?

osCommerce is an Open Source e-commerce solution that enables you to setup and run your own online store. It was first released in 2000, developed by a team of enthusiasts from around the world. Since then it has continually evolved and now powers thousands of e-commerce stores around the world.

Why is it such a popular shopping cart solution?

Its free. You can go and download it from the osCommerce website right now and not have to pay a penny.

Its released under the GNU General Public License. When you download osCommerce, you get the source code. And if you have the source code, you can begin making adjustments and tweaks, or adding contributions (modules developed by community members) to enhance the look and functionality of your store.

It has everything you need. osCommerce includes everything you would expect from a shopping cart solution. This includes cookie tracking, SSL security and integration with numerous payment gateways such as PayPal. Without modifying the default store or adding any contributions, you can start selling straight away.

Setup takes minutes. The software comes with an installation wizard which guides you through the process. Once you have uploaded the osCommerce files, simply point your browser at the install page, enter a few details about your store, and then sit back as the database is automatically populated.

It has an active community. Over 125,000 members are registered on the official forum. If you get stuck, its almost guaranteed someone else is having the same problem. A quick rummage around on the forums will usually answer any questions you have.

How does it work?

osCommerce is split into two separate areas – the catalog and the admin section.

The catalog section is your store front. These are the pages visitors to your store browse though to look at products, add items to their shopping cart, and then checkout (if you’re lucky!). When a user places an order in your store, their personal and order details are stored in a database. These details can be seen by you in the admin section.

The admin section of the site is where you do all the administrative work for your shop. You can add and remove products, look at customers’ details, process orders and even send newsletters.

Unlike early e-commerce software, where changing a product’s price meant fiddling about with HTML for 30 minutes, osCommerce is designed so making changes is easy. You don’t have to be a computer whiz to make them. You just need to know how to click a few buttons and fill in a few text boxes. As you change information in the admin screens, your customers instantly see the changes in the catalog.

What are some of the main features?

User Accounts. When a user wants to purchase from your store they are automatically assigned an account. They can use this account to monitor the status of their order and be notified of product updates. As the store owner, you also have access to all your customers’ email addresses, so you can contact them with promotions and news.

Order Status Emails. osCommerce is good at keeping customers up to date with the status of their order. When an order is set to ‘Dispatched’ in the osCommerce admin, an email is automatically sent to the customer informing them. Emails are also sent when the user creates an account and places an order.

Product Reviews. Customers can write reviews about products they have purchased from your store. This is an excellent marketing tool. Having a third party recommending your products encourages browsers to purchase.

Bestsellers List. As people order from your site, a bestsellers list is automatically compiled. This list gives visitors a quick overview of what products are hot.

SSL Security. osCommerce comes with SSL functionality built right it. Whenever someone creates an account or enters payment details, their information is encrypted for security purposes. A site using SSL can be identified due to the appearance of a padlock icon in your web browser. Most shoppers are savvy enough to know this now and will avoid shopping at stores that they think are unsecure.

Multi-language support. osCommerce supports English, German and Spanish. Shoppers can switch the stores default language at the press of a button.

Multi-currency support. Adding a new currency or tax rate is simple, and can be done from the admin section of the store.

What payment methods does osCommerce support?

The following payment gateways are supported out-of-the-box:

• 2CheckOut.com
• ipayment
• payQuake
• TrustCommerce
• Authorize.net
• paynova
• PSiGate
• ChronoPay
• PayPal
• SECPay

If your favourite payment method is not listed, don’t worry. There are numerous user contributions to enable a whole host of other payment gateways and methods available on the official osCommerce website.

Where can I see a demo?

A demonstration store can be seen here. The admin section is available here.

What do I need to run osCommerce?

To run osCommerce you need the following:

• Web server
• PHP 4 or later
• mySQL database

osCommerce is just like any other website. You need a web server somewhere which will hold all your files, allowing the public access to them. This is achieved by signing up with a host, who usually charge around $15 per month.

Hosts offer a wide range of packages. Make sure you do your research to find a reliable and affordable host. Make sure the package you choose supports PHP and gives you access to at least one mySQL database.

osCommerce is written in PHP (a server scripting language) and communicates with a mySQL database. This is the what allows you to make changes to your store in real-time without having to mess about in HTML code. When a shopper looks at one of your store products, the page they see is generated on-the-fly from the information in the database. This includes details such as price, a description and a product image.

For all my osCommerce sites I use the Business Package at 1&1 Internet. This offers 2 mySQL databases and includes 3 free domain names. Having a spare database is useful if you plan to install other software alongside you store. For example, I use email marketing software to deliver newsletters and promotions to customers.

Installing both osCommerce and this marketing software into one database would have been possible, but I chose not to. Keeping my osCommerce data separate from other data makes everything easier to manage and leads to less mishaps. It also makes backing up my store’s data a lot easier.

OK, you’ve told me all the good parts. Now dish the dirt.

The developers of osCommerce are not paid. They do it because they love the challenge and the sense of satisfaction they get seeing their project come to life. osCommerce has come a long way in its six years, but progress is slowing. There has not been a new release of the software for over a year and the way osCommerce is designed is starting to look a little dated.

An example of this would be the way osCommerce makes excessive use of HTML tables to layout content. A few years ago this was the standard, but is now seen as old-fashioned. More and more designers are using CSS layouts to improve the accessibility of their sites and maintain the separation between content and style.

The default layout is dated. The standard osCommerce layout looks tired and fairly ugly. To make your store stand out, I thoroughly recommend customising it. The amount of time this takes depends on how different from the original osCommerce theme you want yours to look. This can vary from a few days work to several months. Don’t panic though. You don’t have to go mad. Small alterations, such as changing the default colour scheme, can make a big difference and are easy to accomplish.

There is no official support. There is no call centre to turn to in an hour of need. No-one to shout down the phone to when all you get is an error message instead of the $1000 order that has to go out today.

Does that mean osCommerce should be avoided for new projects?

No. The thing to keep in mind is that osCommerce still works, and is still a reliable and valid e-commerce solution, with plenty of features to keep budding online entrepreneurs happy. Why else would the 12,000 shops listed on the official osCommerce directory be using it?

With regards to getting support, the osCommerce forums are there to help and someone will more often than not take the time to have a look at your problem. And if that fails, there are always professional web developers who will offer you their services.

I’m not technical but like the sound of osCommerce. What can I do?

If computers aren’t your strong point, but you still want to give osCommerce a give, don’t fret. There are lots of companies who specialise in installing, customising and hosting osCommerce for you. You just tell them what you want, and they do all the hard work. Simply typing ‘osCommerce hosting’ into Google will give you hundreds of options to choose from.

Bear in mind that there are good and bad osCommerce hosts. Some know what they are doing. Some don’t. Do some research before dropping a load of cash. Ask the hosts for examples of sites they have worked on. This will give you an idea as to how skilful and knowledgable they really are. You could even contact the owners of any stores they mention and ask what they think about their host.

I’m sold. Where do I get it?

You can download osCommerce from the official osCommerce site. Whilst you are there, take a look at the forums.

Conclusion

If you are thinking about selling online then I encourage you to download osCommerce and have a play with it. It has loads of great features, is easy to install, and might just be perfect for you.

Best of all its absolutely free so you have nothing to lose by giving it a try.

Handy Links

Official osCommerce website: http://www.oscommerce.com
Demo Catalog: http://demo.oscommerce.com
Live Shops Directory: http://shops.oscommerce.com
Forums: http://forums.oscommerce.com
Contributions: http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions

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