December 5, 2018
eCommerce : OpenCart (3.0.2.0) – Introduction to OpenCart
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AsSalam and hi all. In this eCommerce : OpenCart (3.0.2.0) – Part 1, we will cover on the Introduction to OpenCart. Lets start!
- OpenCart is an open source shopping cart solution.
- Just like any other open source software, OpenCart has its advantages and disadvantages.
- OpenCart built with PHP/HTML and MuSQL.
- Simple code design using Model-View-Controller (MVC).
- OpenCart is self-hosted, which means we need to install it on our own server (online or local).
- Basic system requirements for current OpenCart version (3.0.2.0) are:
- Web server (Apache is recommended, but also can be used on other such as nginx or IIS)
- PHP with cURL support (at least PHP5.4)
- Database software (MySQL is recommended, but other database such as MariaDB and PostgreSQL can also be used)
- OpenCart base consists of two different parts:
- Front store
- Administration
- Each part contains an MVC structure for models, views and controllers,
- Original OpenCart project was a Perl-based online shopping cart system created in 1998. The project was abandoned in 2000.
- In 2009, the name OpenCart was used as open source shopping cart system built with PHP.
- As of February 2018, there are 3 major OpenCart versions.
- OpenCart 1.x (2009-2014)
- OpenCart 2.x (2014-2017)
- OpenCart 3.x
- Features and benefits of OpenCart for the store owner, OpenCart offers decent set of online store system.
- OpenCart capable to do most of the things expected from a free and open source shopping cart and can be extend it further through third party plugin.
- OpenCart enable admin to publish and organize product into categories.
- Store owner can use over 50 predefined product fields, exp;
- Generic fields like name, description and price
- Unique product identifiers like SKU, UPC and EAN, dimensions, option, attributes and more.
- Product can be sort and filter to make it easier for store owner and customers.
- OpenCart also can be used to sell digital products such as software, music or e-books by uploading files and attaching them to individual products.
- Process payment and handle shipping is two important element in any eCommerce website.
- OpenCart come with some 50 different payment plugin and a dozen of shipping extensions in default installation.
- This can be extended with hundreds of payment and shipping plugin from third party developers.
- Default payment solutions provided such as:
- PayPal
- Authorize.net
- Skrill
- 2Checkout
- Amazon Payments
- Manual bank transfer
- Cash on delivery
- Default shipping solutions provider such as:
- UPS
- Royal Mail
- USPS
- FedEx
- For our local (Malaysia) market, it is recommended using local payment gateway provider such as Billplz, iPay88, WebCash, SenangPay and MaybankPay.
- Example; Billplz
- OpenCart Billplz extensions : https://goo.gl/FsR1et
- Receive orders and manage customers is a task for store admin.
- OpenCart provide basic order and customer management process.
- First, store admin will receive, process and modify orders, generate invoice and print packing slips.
- Admin also can view and modify customer accounts, assign customer to different customer groups and view their purchasing histories.
- After made an order, customers can leave feedback about your products. Feedback is then displayed on product page.
- OpenCart enable store admin to run special price offer or discount campaigns.
- Three options are:
- Define a special price for each product and limit it to specific dates if it’s a limited time offer.
- Set product bulk pricing for wholesale buyers or to entice buyer to purchase larger quantity product.
oCreate discount coupon codes and send them out in a newsletter.
- OpenCart enable store admin to generate reports and see analytics.
- 4 reports can be generated are;
- Sales reports
Orders
Taxes
Shipping
Returns
Coupons - Product reports
Viewed products
Purchased products - Customer reports
Online
Activity
Searches
Orders
Reward points
Credit - Marketing reports
Marketing report
Affiliate report
Affiliate activity
Default language is English. OpenCart also support multiple language by default.
Use and install translation language pack.
Multiple languages used in product descriptions, front store pages and admin-area interfaces.
- Sales reports
Thats it for an introduction. Next, I shall share on how to install and setup your OpenCart site.
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