Today CMS OpenCart is one of the most popular content management systems in the e-commerce industry. The open source engine allows you to design online stores of any level of complexity: from small platforms to powerful multi-page marketplaces.
It is important to note when considering OpenCart what is it one of the most successful digital solutions, providing functionality, integration with a variety of services, extensibility, ease of launch, making changes, multilingual and multi currency, tools for SEO, etc.
What is Opencart
CMS “OpenCart” is an e-commerce system made in the form of a constructor consisting of many components. It is distributed free of charge, supports many templates and add-ons, and is aimed at systematizing the online sales process.
Opencart is an easy-to-install and easy-to-administer service for designing online platforms. With its help, you can quickly create a web resource that will allow you to carry out payment transactions, process orders, and organize effective store management without downloading third-party applications.
All the main algorithms for doing business are already built into the basic functionality. If expansion is necessary, you can add special plugins. This is an open-source product, created in PHP, so any developer can change the source code.
Who is CMS Opencart suitable for?
It will be an ideal choice for anyone who wants to get a ready-made online store in the shortest possible time without significant investments of money and time. Open cards It is easy to install, offers ready-made algorithms for work, and can be simply expanded with additional modules and further developed. A full-fledged store can be launched in just a few weeks.
The system is suitable for both beginning entrepreneurs and those who already have experience in e-commerce. It will not be difficult for a beginner to understand the simple admin panel, but only if they use a basic set of options. To add functionality, you will have to attract specialists with PHP programming skills.
On the other hand, the capabilities of a CMS are practically unlimited. And if you have time, a smart development team and finances, you can use the engine to create a powerful portal for trading – due to scalability and expanding the functionality indefinitely by installing modules. The system is universal and the final result depends on the goals set and the professionalism of the developers.
Functionality
Even the simplestOpencart online store assumes an already built-in set of functions necessary for organizing trade. The platform includes a sufficient number of options, thanks to which you can start selling from the first day of the web resource’s existence – literally “from scratch”.
What options are available in the standard version of the product:
- Generation of any number of categories and groups, manufacturers, goods and services.
- Ratings of sold items, forms for comments, writing reviews.
- Options for creating a loyalty program, promotions, discounts, affiliate programs, etc.
- Multilingual and multi currency.
- Support for all popular payment services, various payment and delivery methods, calculation of order costs taking into account parameters and tax rates.
- Interaction with 1C, unloading positions from documents in different formats, reporting.
- Backup, a chance to design several markets on a single platform.
- Tools for registering on the resource and storing the history of purchases made.
- Built-in affiliate marketing extension for promoting your site online.
Site on Opencart can be supplemented with any options thanks to ready-made modules. The most popular plugins: lists of bestsellers, similar products and new products, an algorithm for comparing products and prices, e-mail confirmation, quick checkout, sending notifications to a mobile phone, communicating with customers online directly on the resource, tools for working with orders, etc. . If desired Opencart engine You can modify it by changing the source code and adding the necessary functionality.
Designs and templates for Opencart
The appearance of the store depends on which template was selected and installed. We are talking about a ready-made solution that determines the style and colors of the site design, menu, location of various blocks on the page space, and other elements. For OpenCart, you can find many original options online – both free and paid.
One template can be used an unlimited number of times when creating new web sites, and can also be minimally customized in accordance with preferences (replacing the header, customizing widgets, shades, etc.). More detailed customization is achieved only by changing the code.
Opencart: pros and cons
The popularity of the engine is determined by its versatility, well-thought-out ready-made solutions, and the ability to get a high-quality and correctly functioning online store at low cost. When choosing an engine Opencart pros and cons It is important to evaluate systems in terms of their compliance with project requirements.
Main advantages of CMS:
- The basic functionality contains all the necessary components to open a full-fledged trading platform.
- The open-source principle, thanks to which everything can be modified, rewritten and changed.
- Possibility of integration with useful services and tools.
- Expanding functionality with ready-made solutions – there are a huge number of them, and finding an effectively working module to implement a particular request is not difficult.
- Large database of training materials, strong community.
- Supports a large number of languages and currencies.
Among the disadvantages it is worth highlighting:
- The need to attract a qualified developer when creating a large marketplace – to avoid the risks of conflicts between different modules, slow loading due to the mass of installed components, to ensure security when using extensions of unknown origin, etc.
- Payment for some templates, add-ons, lack of regular updates.
- Lack of tools for importing and exporting goods, complex optimization of catalogs with several tens of thousands of positions.
- There are some difficulties in SEO optimization – with duplicate pages, multilingual tags, etc.
Benefits for buyers
The product offers buyers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, thanks to which any user without special skills can make purchases. Thus, among the basic functions of OpenCart, it is worth noting the ability to install filters on positions according to the proposed categories, a large number of payment methods, sending notifications by email, subscribing to services or goods of interest, choosing one of the most suitable delivery services, etc.
It is also worth mentioning a clear system for organizing promotions and discounts, the ability to leave reviews and comments. By installing a template with a nice design and a convenient menu, the store owner can be confident in customer loyalty. After all, everything else is already provided by the creators of Opencart.
Benefits for the administrator
Before starting a business, it is important to study all the features: what it offers Opencart how to work with CMS, what skills and knowledge an administrator should have. Any employee can usually handle the basic set of functions; training may be required to manage complex marketplaces.
What does OpenCart offer to the administrator:
- A convenient and well-thought-out admin panel with all the necessary information about sales, customers, and products.
- Organization of simultaneous management of several projects in one panel (with access granted to one employee or team).
- Options for creating and conducting promotions, selling coupons, certificates, discounts.
- Availability of sales reports.
- Integration with CRM, Google Analytics and other tools.
- Regular backups with the ability to restore via the admin panel.
Pricing policy and choice of hosting
The initial version of CMS OpenCart can be downloaded on the official website for free, as well as a large number of templates and extensions. But many themes and modules for adding functionality provided by third-party developers and the community require additional payment. A good template or plugin will cost between $20 and $100 on average.
An online store must be located and deployed somewhere – for this you need to think about hosting. For OpenCart, hosting with Apache, PHP version from 5.4, support for MySQL and various libraries is suitable. A good choice would be a VPS or dedicated server for improved performance. The cost depends on the provider and plan, ranging from $5-30 per month. When choosing, take into account the requirements of the store and the reputation of the provider.
How to install Opencart
You can install the initial version yourself by following the instructions online. Often the service is already included in the hosting provider’s package. If you need a complex development site of Opencart, then it is better to contact specialists who can select the necessary modules, add or change the code.
In general, the installation algorithm looks like this:
- Download OpenCart latest version from the official website.
- Unpacking the archive and uploading files to the hosting via FTP or using the hosting file manager.
- Creating a MySQL database and user for OpenCart through the hosting control panel.
- Completing the installation: go to site.com/install in your browser and follow the steps of the installation wizard.
- Specifying data for connecting to the database, setting up store parameters (language, currency, administrator).
- Removing the installation folder “install” from the server after the process is completed.
- Log in to the admin panel at site.com/admin using administrator credentials.
- Setting up and adding content, categories, payment and delivery methods.
- Functionality testing.
If all steps have been completed correctly, the online store is ready to operate and place your first orders.