Over the past few years I’ve seen, and worked with, one or two shopping carts. But to be fair, I found one I really liked using and have used it ever since. This is based on JavaScript and has a lot going for it, mainly the client-side nature of it, and the fact that it is fairly simple to use and implement.

A few months ago I worked with Mel on a shopping cart for a site she was working on, and she implemented OSCommerce, which quite frankly was a bear to deal with. Not only that but the instructions on altering the cart weren’t exactly ‘user-friendly’. We managed however, putting both our brains on the problem, and finally fixed it. But still, a php-based cart like OSCommerce is something I wouldn’t recommend or go with for someone starting a small online shop.

I know that when you start off something small and you want to get into selling online you’re tempted to push everything all at once, but like the folks here at where I work, they started with one thing then have slowly added more and more. Utilising the same shopping cart they have tested the waters and customised it to their own ends. It’s what everyone should do really, to make sure they have the right shopping cart, that it is set up correctly, and that it is what they want and will expand with them.