I will first discuss each shopping cart in detail. In the conclusion section at the bottom of this blog you will find a comprehensive report based on price, features and qualities of each cart in comparison to the other three.

In this post you will find some shopping cart systems to match any budget and functionality requirements. Listed from lower to higher priced options:

Wazalla: a great low cost flexible hosted option

3/5 Stars

Best Feature

Flexibility & Ease of Use: It’s very easy to setup and apart from a regular store, you also get a widget which consists of a button that can make your store popup (full screen) anywhere you like (on your other websites, blogs etc.) as well as a mobile site and easy third party integration.

Overview

Wazalla sets it self apart from other popular carts by it’s ease of use. It is very easy to set up mainly because options to customize it’s look and feel are restricted and the menu options are kept very simple. In spite of this it offers some great options that other carts don’t always have, such as: a mobile app that is not only meant for IPhones but also for Android phones, google map integration, and integration with third party services such as WordPress, Posterous, Facebook, Wibiya and more. Checkout is not restricted to PayPal but can also be linked to your Google Merchant Checkout account.

Doesn’t have:

Any real customizability of it’s look and feel.

Pricing/FREE Option?

You can try it for free for 15 days.
Plans range from $9.95 to $29.95 and you pay extra for more then 100 products or extra storage space for downloadable files.

eCommerce Manager: a very complete and customizable low cost self hosted option

Rating

4/5 Stars

Best Feature

Completeness, Flexibility & Marketing: eCommerce Manager is a very complete solution with many, many standard features. Where it sets itself apart from the other carts mentioned here is with it’s marketing options and affiliate program. Affiliates get a dashboard that allows them to interact with the site in many ways including the option to have a personalized version of the site and download all kinds of promotional materials. They can also track their results and interact with other affiliates, signup for email news letters, review products and share favorites on their profiles.

Overview

eCommerce Manager is a very complete solution. None of the other systems mentioned here have as advanced customization options. It has many standard features but it also offers access to the option of adding your own code. You can also choose between hundreds of CSS themes and customize them. You can include all kinds of media and promotional materials including PDF’s, presentations, blogs, video, photo’s, textlinks, banner adds and even a rotator. It’s member management system is very complete including many options for administrators, affiliates, regular customers, and vendors. It’s email management system allows for different email lists for each group and you can customize the messages themselves. It has a very complete affiliate interface including the option to provide a customized page for each member and a powerful dashboard. Included are also many shipping and payment providers It is also the only system with a customizable FAQ page, a ticketing system and other custom content. It is the only system of the ones discussed here that allows you to sell recurring memberships and differentiates between digital downloads and real packages.

Doesn’t have:

A mobile application (expected middle of 2011).

Pricing/FREE Option?

You can try it for free for an unlimited time or untill you have 50 registered members/ customers.
You can download a free trial for a Linux server with PHP and MySQL.
A lifetime licence is available for 395.00 Euro.
There is an option to have it hosted for you but the more common option is to buy a lifetime licence.

3DCart: a solid middle of the road hosted option

Rating

3/5 Stars

Best Feature

Solidity: unlike some other shopping carts the basic package contains almost everything you could think of and it is all designed well in a solid and intuitive interface.

Overview

3D Cart is a great allround shopping cart system with all the basic components one would expect of such a system. It includes quality CSS themes,a simple affiliate program, good SEO options, the possibility to add photo’s and video to a product or service and the option to sell digital downloads over a key coded connection. You can add a blog, email newsletters and other content. It comes with preconfigured integration modules for useful services such as shipping, fulfilment and payment (not all free) and you can easily enable social media services such as a bookmarking/ sharing button, a Facebook Like button, a Facebook storefront and the option to send status updates to Twitter and Facebook from your store. It also has an IPhone version. Customizing it’s look and feel are not it’s best point but are still decent. It doesn’t appear to have a WorPress plugin.

Doesn’t have:

There doesn’t seem to be an option for memberships or subscriptions where a recurring fee is charged automatically.

Pricing/FREE Option?

You can try 3DCart for free for 15 Days.
Plans range from $19.99 to $99.99 per month.
The more expensive plans cater for higher traffic volumes, have more storage and standard plugins such as for bookkeeping.

Shopify: a good middle to high end option for professional marketing and brick and mortar integration

Rating

2/5 Stars

Best Feature

Flexibility & Professionalism: it can be expanded with addon modules that some other carts don’t have including: integrating the site with your real life brick and mortar store, professional marketing programs, several bookkeeping modules and more. So if your online store should be part of a business in the real world, perhaps you should look into Shopify. It also has good options for customizing the look and feel.

Overview

The basic Shopify setup is almost barren but you can customize it with a range of addons. The addons are arranged in an interface that can wow visitors with it’s App Store like appearance. Disapointingly many of these addons are standard in other cart systems, appear to be free but are in fact depending on a subscription with a third party, are only free for a limited time although advertised as free or are professional features which are not that interesting to small business owners. So unless you have an open ended budget and the ambition to build a store that has to interact with your brick and mortar business, your accountant or a specific number of marketing agencies and customer interaction options: we do not recommend Shopify. If you are in a position to spend more then a few hundred dollars a month on the building and marketing of your store and expect larger numbers of orders this could be the system for you. It’s WordPress plugin is somewhat disapointing. Most other third party integrations and social media features are through addons, many of which are paid. The same goes for an affiliate program or even for selling downloadable products: paid addons.

Doesn’t have:

Some basic options in the basic package.
Any interesting free addons.

Pricing/FREE Option?

You can try it for free for 30 days.
Monthly fees vary from $29.00 to $699.00 plus any paid addons you might purchase.

Conclusion

Ranking Based On Price

Taking in to account several types of fees and other costs, the best product if you’re on a budget is Wazala. If you have a slightly higher budget and want more advanced feutures you should consider 3DCart or eCommerce Manager and if you want professional marketing programs and brick and mortar integration and you have more money to spend, you should consider Shopify.

Ranking Based On Features

Wazala has a good mobile application for IPhone and Android, 3DCart offers great alround quality for a limited price with relatively many features, eCommerce Manager excels in it’s affiliate program and offers the posibilty of selling memberships or subscriptions with a recurring fee and Shopify offers a very limited basic option but with the possibility of easily adding paid third party addons that can integrate it with your business processes.

Ranking Based On Qualities

Depending on your needs and skills you should choose Wazala for extreme ease of use, 3DCart for a good solid alround system, eCommerce Manager for completeness and Shopify if you need a level of professionalism that can be bought by adding and integrating paid programs.

Need More Help?

We can help you build, modify or customize your store for you, based on any of these four or other shopping carts. Feel free to contact us anytime.