The Art of E-Commerce

Designed for Online Merchants

Zen Cart™ truly is the art of e-commerce; a free, user-friendly, open source shopping cart system. The software is being developed by group of like-minded shop owners, programmers, designers, and consultants that think e-commerce could be and should be done differently. Some "solutions" seem to be complicated programming exercises instead of responding to users' needs, Zen Cart™ puts the merchant's and shopper's requirements first. 

Designed for Online Shoppers

Zen Cart™ will deliver the ultimate online shopping experience to your customers. Navigating through your merchandise offerings is a breeze with Zen Cart™, the program provides several "Spotlight" lists in addition to the traditional category to product links. Once a product is added to the shopping cart, secure checkout is a simple 3-step process. After providing the billing information, your customer chooses the shipping method. (multiple shipping methods including real-time internet shipping quotes are built-in) Next, a payment type is chosen from one of the popular payment modules. (PayPal™ and AuthorizeNet™ are just 2 of the included modules) Last, the customer reviews the order, shipping and payment choices, and confirms the order. You are immediately notified of the order and your customer automatically receives an e-mail confirmation.

Zen Cart™ addresses many of the goals we set:

• make the program easy to set up
• make it easy to customize
• automate tasks, such as order confirmation
• make navigation simple
• built in promotions; discount coupons, gift certificates, newsletters and product notification
• offer single item specials and storewide discounts (group discounts and quantity discounts - Coming in future editions)
• built in Search Engine Optimization tools
• password protect the Administration Tool (administration "levels" - Coming in future editions)
• support multiple languages, currencies and tax structures

In short, Zen Cart™ is shopping cart software the way it should have been all along.

For Web Designers

Zen Cart™ gives web designers a robust and customizable electronic storefront that's easy to keep up-to-date with new features. It provides usable, intuitive and unobtrusive purchase flows right out of the box based on proven industry best-practices - there are no major revisions required to get things right for your clients!

One of the secrets behind its power lies in our robust template system that "abstracts" the look-and-feel from the code and logic behind Zen Cart™. This enables you to give clients a truly custom solution that integrates quickly and perfectly with their existing marketing websites.

For Developers and Hosting Providers

Developers are able to deploy cutting edge solutions based on Zen Cart™'s modern standards and technologies. Combining PHP server-side technology with the ability to choose from multiple databases on the back end (coming in future editions, thanks to ADOdb), results in flexible software that you can customize and modify to suit your needs. Minimum/suggested server requirements: PHP 4.1.x or higher (PHP 4.3.3+ for optimal performance), Apache 1.3.x and MySQL 3.2x.x or higher.