Top 9 Open Source E-Commerce Solutions in 2017

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Open Source E-Commerce Solutions

 

E-commerce is expanding rapidly, with sales expected to reach $5 TRILLION in 2017. New platforms are continually advancing to address the issues of retailers entering this space.

From corporate monsters to little mother and pop shops, numerous e-commerce store proprietors are swinging to open source e-commerce platforms to either spare cash or have more prominent control over their online nearness.

Some of today’s most popular carts are open source solutions, including the most widely-downloaded and used platform on the web – Woocommerce.

On the off chance that you have the tech abilities and time to play with CSS, HTML, and even Ruby on Rails while hanging out in code gatherings, you’re likely the correct possibility for an open-source e-commerce platform. Furthermore, in the event that you don’t have room schedule-wise yet, you do have the assets and want to procure somebody who can control practically every part of your e-commerce site, you may likewise be occupied with open source e-commerce platforms.

Before you plunge into this rundown, please remember something – we know open source is not for everybody, and just a modest bunch of these platforms meet our principles. In case you’re searching for an e-commerce platform, yet not focused on open source, please look at our post on the top e-commerce platforms.

 

WooCommerce (WordPress)

URL: https://www.woothemes.com/woocommerce/

Proud to power over 37% of online stores, WooCommerce has been downloaded 14,095,679 times. It is by far the most popular open-source e-commerce solution available. Built to help users turn any WordPress site into an e-commerce store, this e-commerce solution was created by the equally popular WooThemes.

Unfortunately, as you start looking at more complex features with WooCommerce, you’ll see a price tag attached. The same is true of support – it comes in the form of a purchased product for this solution. On the flip side, WooCommerce scales beautifully and as a result is a frequent e-commerce platform choice for large enterprises, although it works just as well for small and medium shops.

Who’s Using WooCommerce?

  • Mystery Chocolate Box
  • Le Marzocco
  • Subaru
  • Airstream
  • New Balance

Magento Community Edition

URL: https://magento.com/tech-resources/download

With more than 200,000 users, the Magento Community Edition is one of the most popular open source e-commerce platforms available. Although it isn’t as robust as the Magento Enterprise addition, the Magento Community Edition is still a strong choice for e-commerce stores that are committed to the idea of an open source platform.

Who’s Using Magneto Community or Magneto Enterprise?

  • Hello!Lucky
  • Brewshop (New Zealand)
  • Hu2 (UK, ships worldwide)
  • Blik
  • Bonobos

VirtueMart (Joomla)

URL: https://virtuemart.net/

Designed for use with Joomla 2.5 and 3, Virtue Mart boasts more than 500 features, stores around the globe, and an engaged and active developer community. The platform boasts 348, 487 users, of which only 995 are in the top 1 million sites. The vast majority of sites using VirtueMart are based in the United States or Russia.

The core system of VirtueMart is very small, with only 3-5 developers working actively on it. On the other hand, input from the developer community is openly accepted and there are 316,371 members. This open-source PHP e-commerce solution isn’t a newcomer to e-commerce – VirtueMart is a German company that’s been around since 2004. The platform isn’t friendly to the nontech crowd – you’ll need a developer who is well-versed in the Joomla CMS system and PHP software to really be able to use this platform. It’s also easy to spend a small fortune on plug-ins and add-ons for this platform. Watch your wallet.

Who’s Using VirtueMart?

  • Produtti Herbalife (Italy)
  • DPModa (Bulgaria)
  • 3D Puzzle Welt (Europe)
  • U Can Fix It (Canada)

PrestaShop

URL: https://www.prestashop.com/en/

PrestaShop boasts that more than 250,000 stores use their ecommerce platform. The forum for PrestaShop has more than 850,000 members and customers include Zippo Lighters and Fashion Stork, among others. The popularity of this open source ecommerce platform extends to more than 200 countries and as a result, PrestaShop has been translated into 65 languages.

PrestaShop is so well liked by developers and users, the platform has racked up awards around the world:

  • Packt Publishing’s Best Open Source Business Application (two times)
  • 2013 BSOCO Award in the CMS category
  • 2013 #1 Open Source Shopping Cart by EcommerceBytes Seller’s Choice Awards

Who’s Using PrestaShop?

  • Timefy
  • Zippo
  • Fashion Stork
  • Eleven Paris

OpenCart

URL: https://www.opencart.com/

Well aware that appearances matter, OpenCart offers more than 2,700 themes. The platform is used by 576,862 sites, but 4,841 of these are in the top 1 million sites on Alexa.com – not a bad number for a relatively small open source e-commerce platform.

The OpenCart community is welcoming and very active. Although the platform was created in Hong Kong, the majority of users are in the United States. OpenCart is multicurrency, multilingual, and offers more than 20 payment gateways as well as eight shipping methods.

One feature many OpenCart users enjoy is the turnkey nature of this open-source e-commerce platform – there’s no need to mess with code at the start.

Who’s Using OpenCart?

  • Cilantro: The Cook’s Shop
  • British Red Cross (UK)

osCommerce

URL: https://www.oscommerce.com/

The frontend of this open-source e-commerce platform’s demo feels a bit like a dated version of Amazon. After 16 years in business, osCommerce should be performing stronger in the market than it is – especially considering the availability of more than 7,000 add-ons and two spinoff projects that have claimed a strong place in the e-commerce platform field.

Maybe os stands for old-school?

Unfortunately for osCommerce, only 13,300 stores currently use this platform, despite an active community with more than 285,720 members and more than 1.6 million posts. In major need of an update, osCommerce has a loyal open-source developer following but little ability to compete in the modern e-commerce field without some major changes.

Who’s Using osCommerce?

  • Ubuntu Shop
  • Melbourne Kitchen Renovations (Australia)
  • SoundControl4Less
  • Parsiaco (Iran)

Zen Cart

URL: https://www.zen-cart.com/

Originally based on osCommerce’s code, the two parted ways in 2003 when Zen Cart decided to place a heavier focus on templates. Today, this open source ecommerce platform provides users with a 390+ page user’s manual and a host of features – not to mention more than 1800 add-ons in 16 different categories. The related community is large, too. There are more than 150,000 members in the Zen Cart community.

Who’s Using Zen Cart?

  • US Armorment
  • Health Cabin
  • The Hobby Shop
  • Pipe Divan

X Cart

URL: https://www.x-cart.com/

I love that you can use X-cart to launch a free online store. This PHP cart offers something you won’t find in most freemium carts. A lifetime license. Built on open source code with an extensive feature set available for paid plans, X Cart offers hosted and self-install options. Although the feature list is impressive, upgrading can be expensive – we’re talking $495+. For a store that’s performing well, it’s a decent option and considering the license is a lifetime one, it’s not a bad deal. You’ll need to manually code and use HTML to get the most out of this ecommerce option, but there’s ample room to customize if you’ve got the time or staff.

Who’s Using X Cart?

  • OrthoticShop
  • O-cha.com
  • La Mer Collections
  • Goat Milk Stuff

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