OpenCart- A free open source PHP-Based e-commerce platform

Making an online ecommerce store with the various number of open source ecommerce platforms acts as the cup of tea for everyone dealing with online business. OpenCart becomes then one of the most preferred options for creating an online store, which is feature rich & acquiring global reach of customers with the support for various languages & currencies.

OpenCart is a free open source Ecommerce platform, which is based on PHP, and uses the database of MySQL & HTML components. OpenCart offers a user-friendly interface which supports the store owners either having a brick mortar shop or handling some large scale business or even the drop shipping model of various businesses.

OpenCart is based on MVC-L architecture (Model View Controller-Language), in which the widely known MVC framework is extended with the entity of Language. Third Party Applications supporting API is featured for fetching the better integration power. It is open source i.e. a transparent, open-code & community driven platform, where you reach the professionals for OpenCart Support & even the Certified partners for your projects.

Technical requirements that need to kept in mind while installing OpenCart:

1) Web server (Recommended is Apache) is need to be installed before setting up the OpenCart Store on the web.
2) PHP version required is PHP 5.3 (1.5 x at least 5.2 +)
3) Database which is recommended is MySQLi
4) ZIP, Zlib, Curl, GD Library, XML, MBString, Mcrypt are the required PHP modules & libraries while installing the OpenCart. We need to make them enabled.
5) We need to have some PHP settings as well. For an instance the Magic Quotes GPC & Register_globals as “Off” and File Uploads as “On”.

Keeping an eye over the technical considerations, Matrid Technologies has been always at the forefront of PHP development Services & OpenCart Development Services,San Francisco. Feel free to contact the Matrid Technologies Hire PHP Experts & Hire OpenCart Experts for installing this software in a secured manner for your online store.

Let’s have a quick look over the installation procedure of OpenCart:

  • The most recent version of OpenCart can be downloaded from the OpenCart website or from GitHub. After downloading the Zip file of OpenCart, we have the web server files in “Upload” text file, license agreement in “License” text file & links for instruction of upgrade & present installation in “Readme” text file.

  • The uncompressed files will be uploaded to the web server with the use of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client. Recommended FTP client is Filezilla, being a free FTP client it can ease the process of uploading OpenCart Files. After its configuration, it is connected to Site Manager & the OpenCart files are uploaded to the required site, so that it can proceed ahead with set up of OpenCart Store.

  • The data of the store is managed by creating the database on MYSQL server for OpenCart. The new database can created with required log-in details with the aid of MySQL databases, which will be used in the step of installation.

  • The OpenCart is installed with recently created database, by simply opening the web address in web browser, which will automatically open once the “Install” folder is uploaded correctly in the text file of “Upload”. Next steps are for License agreement, Pre-installation features that need to be selected, Configuring the database connection details & then Finishing the installation, which then will be directing the store owner to either admin panel or front end as per the requirements.

Even if you feel stuck somewhere or get confused while installing, do get in touch with Matrid PHP & OpenCart Experts for the OpenCart Support.

The Prominent Features of OpenCart at a glimpse:

1) Intuitive Admin Panel: OpenCart comes with an easy & understandable admin panel which is based on user as well as customer friendly interface. As an OpenCart store owner, you can easily manage the users, user groups & privileges, accessing the required analytics over online sales, customers, orders etc.

2) Product Friendly: OpenCart understands your online business needs and the relevance of your store products. That is why OpenCart offers unlimited range of products & even the categories as well as sub-categories in order to assign the products under them. OpenCart offers the feature of Product Options & Product Attributes like different colors, sizes, and various other dimensions for enhancing the vitality of the store products. Product feeds are also available after connecting to Google Sitemap & Google Base, which will display the results of Google views & listing.

3) Impactful Marketing & Promotional Tool: OpenCart offers various sorts of advanced pricing, special prices, discounts & coupons in order to augment the customer’s interest & adding more to the revenue strength. Customers can get subscribed for your newsletters as well for new product updates & special offers, a great way of customer interaction. You can easily track the marketing campaigns from marketing dashboard.

4) OpenCart Marketplace: The OpenCart Marketplace offers more than 13,000 of modules & themes for e-business, payment providers, conversion modules, service integrations, marketing sales, language packs,accounting, shipping, payment methods etc. Being a module based platform, it enhances the functionality of store with easy customization & modification of Featured, Category, Best Sellers, and Google Analytics etc as per the requirement.

Matrid Technologies has assisted apparel store in San Francisco, for configuring the customizations for their OpenCart store. Feel free to get in touch with Matrid OpenCart Experts for OpenCart Customization Services .

5) Multilingual & Multi Currency Feature: OpenCart supports more than 40 languages & unlimited currencies so that customers feel no bondage for online shopping. Various tax rules & automatic updates of currency rates are also available in OpenCart. This feature will ensure the complete customer satisfaction & customer delight for your OpenCart store globally. OpenCart is purely translatable.

6) All-Embracing Payment Gateways: OpenCart enables the configuring of over 36 payment gateways like Amazon Payments, LiqPay, Authorize.Net, Klarna, PayPal, WorldPay etc for your online store. More can be searched from OpenCart Marketplace.

7) Sweeping Shipping Methods: OpenCart comes with the integrations of well-esteemed shipping solutions like UPS, Citylink, Royal Mail, USPS, FedEx, Australia Post etc. More of the options can be searched & get implemented from OpenCart Marketplace.

8) User-Responsive/Mobile Friendly Themes: OpenCart fits your online site & store to each & every screen resolution of large screen, desktop, mobiles or tablets, whichever is preferred by customers for their online purchase.

9) Guest & Registered Checkouts: Making an easy check-out process for customers is always a required task of being a store owner, which is well-handled by OpenCart as it offers facility of both Guest as well as Registered checkouts for your customers.