Cart of the Week: ozEcommerce Professional

There are extra than 500 on-line purchasing carts. And every week we function one, interviewing each the cart’s developer and a buyer. “Cart of the Week” will not be a overview or an analysis, however slightly a possibility to study a purchasing cart from the individuals who construct it and use it.

This week, we’ll hear from Kym Romanets, tasks director for ozEworks Inc., the New York Metropolis-based builders of ozEcommerce Professional on-line purchasing cart. Romanets mentioned the cart software program at the moment serves round 200 customers.

We’ll additionally hear from an ozEcommerce Professional buyer, Stanley Valiulis, gross sales and advertising and marketing administrator of Southern Imperial Inc., a Rockford, Sick.-based firm that sells retail retailer fixtures and merchandising shows.

Sensible eCommerce: Please present some common background on the cart.

Kym Romanets

Kym Romanets: “ozEcommerce was first launched in 2006. We utterly rebuilt it in 2009 to create ozEcommerce Professional. The 2010 model was launched early this yr.

“ozEcommerce Professional developed from osCommerce, a core ecommerce answer that’s meant to be personalized to fit your distinctive enterprise mannequin. It doesn’t attempt to be all issues to all folks.

“ozEcommerce Professional works in the identical means. We took osCommerce and developed it to assist the wants of our explicit demographic, which is often a bricks-and-mortar small enterprise with on-line revenues of $1 million or much less. It may be used out of the field, which is cost-effective for startups, or it may be personalized and wonderful tuned to a selected enterprise mannequin.

“We intentionally stored to an open supply mannequin to maintain the location proprietor in charge of his or her personal web site and personal enterprise. We selected osCommerce as a base as a result of its technical structure avoids pointless technical complexities. With ozEcommerce, prospects have entry to the supply code, and so they can get just about any PHP programmer to assist it.”

PeC: Is it hosted, licensed, or each?

Romanets: “It’s [licensed, and] supplied underneath a Common Public License (GPL). Clients are free to host wherever they need. We do provide managed internet hosting providers, both on one in every of our shared servers or on a devoted server.”

PeC: How a lot does ozEcommerce Professional value?

Romanets: “There isn’t a cost for the precise software program. We solely cost for design, integration and customization providers. An implementation can value something from $2,500 for out-of-the field with customized visible design, to round $10,000 for in depth modifications to the enterprise mannequin.”

PeC: What’s your organization doing to turn into PCI compliant?

Romanets: “ozEcommerce Professional complies with all PCI compliance pointers concerning the dealing with and storage of bank cards, and prospects are supplied with our evaluation kind. The software program is compliant by a Code Management module that routinely displays code modifications and self-audits for potential hack makes an attempt.

“Though our answer is PCI Compliant, we don’t intend to hunt precise PCI certification just because our answer is supposed to be modified, and even altering the design is a modification. It’s meaningless to certify one thing that’s going to be modified. So slightly than in search of PCI certification, we invested in our Code Management module. It does real-time code audits of all web site recordsdata and notifies web site house owners of any file modifications. Ought to the location be hacked, for instance, by an insecurity within the internet hosting, the location proprietor can be notified and any suspect code might be instantly eliminated. So, not solely does the answer begin out compliant, Code Management ensures that it stays in compliance.”

PeC: What are the cart’s greatest strengths?

Romanets: “It’s one hundred pc customizable.

“Promoting on-line is about presenting info to the client in a means that strikes them effortlessly by the gross sales course of. There isn’t a out-of-the-box means to try this in case you actually need to differentiate your self out of your opponents. So each implementation is personalized, a minimum of in its design, with the concentrate on the consumer interface.

“Moreover, it has highly effective catalog administration and content material administration, in addition to promoting instruments. It additionally has an non-compulsory multi-store module. And, it comes with a one-page checkout.

“Plus it’s totally Search engine optimisation-enabled with all of the methods we’ve got realized from optimizing buyer websites over the previous few years.”

PeC: What are a few of its weaknesses?

Romanets: “From a performance perspective, it must be search, an enormous weak point of most ecommerce options. Our demographic doesn’t have entry to costly third occasion purposes to reinforce their web site search instruments. So, any search instruments need to be a part of ozEcommerce, and ours might do with some work.”

ListenListen to Kym Romanets talk about her transfer to America, and her firm’s launch of ozEcommerce.

PeC: What plans do you may have for future cart improvement?

Romanets: “Effectively clearly we’re taking a look at search with higher search suggestion, various phrases and search-within-search functionality. We’re additionally planning an Additionally Considered module.

“However most significantly we’re about to launch a minimize down model known as ozEcommerce Base. It’s a free obtain for DIY entrepreneurs as our give-back to the open supply neighborhood.”

PeC: How would your cart assist an ecommerce service provider, versus the cart she or he is utilizing now?

Romanets: “A variety of our websites are second technology websites. A lot of our prospects have tried hosted options and located them missing within the means to be personalized–they need to develop and the dearth of customization is stopping them. Or, customization prices an excessive amount of or takes too lengthy, and it removes them the answer’s improve path so defeats the aim of utilizing the package deal within the first place. And sometimes they’re merely rising and the month-to-month charges are rising with them and so they can not see the ROI. (The previous ‘why lease when you should purchase?’). ozEcommerce is one hundred pc customizable from the get go plus you personal it.

“Additionally, ozEcommerce has a decrease value of possession attributable to its steady code base, the convenience with which it may be modified, and an enormous variety of programmers aside kind ozEworks obtainable to assist it.”

PeC: Another ideas for our readers, who’re primarily ecommerce retailers?

Romanets: “My commentary of companies that succeed versus those who don’t is that those that spend money on the continuing improvement of their websites are those whose revenues develop. Ecommerce will not be a ‘set and overlook’ enterprise mannequin.”

A Buyer’s View

Stanley Valiulis is gross sales and advertising and marketing administrator of Southern Imperial Inc., an internet site that sells retailer fixtures and retail show merchandise, reminiscent of show hooks, safety units, labeling merchandise, and merchandising objects.
The shop presents round 1,800 SKUs by way of ozEcommerce Professional, and Valiulis gives his feedback and opinions in regards to the cart beneath.

PeC: How lengthy has your organization been utilizing ozEcommerce Professional?

Stanley Valiulis

Stanley Valiulis: “We have now been utilizing the system for about eight months. We picked it due to our expertise utilizing it with one in every of our divisions. Southern Imperial had some distinctive wants {that a} typical out-of-the-box cart couldn’t deal with.

“A few areas the place ozEcommerce Professional exceeds the aptitude of typical canned carts are:

• The power to calculate a sophisticated tax construction, together with calculating taxes to the county stage in some states.
• Tiered pricing. Our firm presents value breaks at larger portions, and plenty of different carts couldn’t deal with this. Our web site now presents prospects the inducement by exhibiting them how they’ll save in the event that they purchase an merchandise at the next amount. It additionally highlights their pricing primarily based on amount bought.
• The power for patrons to make use of their very own freight service for transport.
• Store by catalog. Our prospects nonetheless obtain bodily catalogs and so they can reference the web page quantity the product is situated on within the catalog, in addition to search by the web page quantity, to seek out merchandise on our web site.”

“Different carts have a few of these capabilities, however solely ozEcommerce Professional has all of them.”

PeC: What are the cart’s greatest strengths?

Valiulis: “The flexibleness and customization that has been accomplished to suit our wants has been a energy. Additionally it is very simple to make use of at quite a lot of ranges in our firm. We have now about seven or eight energetic customers, every with totally different accessibility. The software program was simple to study and implement companywide. One other good factor is that enhancements are ongoing and the location is versatile.

“One space that makes our web site stand out is the best way the cart handles pattern requests. Sampling is a vital a part of our trade and we’ve got been in a position to provide sampling in an entire new means by the web site. It has been an enormous success and a groundbreaking advance in our trade.

“One other space is the power to supply a number of carts utilizing the identical checkout system. We are able to get away sure product teams and create websites focused to advertising and marketing campaigns that we’re operating offline. Orders are added to the identical cart, permitting for seamless integration with our ordering system.

“Additionally, its sturdy discounting and couponing, content material administration programs, and statistic modules are big strengths.”

PeC: How might the cart enhance?

Valiulis: “As with most issues, backend interplay can all the time enhance. Making the backend extra user-friendly is an enchancment everybody might use.

“Additionally, upgrades to the system should not included. If you wish to improve to a more recent model of the purchasing cart, it should value you.”

PeC: How would ozEcommerce Professional enhance one other service provider’s enterprise?

Valiulis: “The flexibleness that you just get with the cart can actually make your web site distinctive. It presents lots of customization proper out the gate. When there are limitations, the crew at ozEworks can fill the hole. As of late, most carts all look fairly related. It’s the little issues that assist web sites and enterprise stand out.”

PeC: Do you propose on persevering with to make use of the cart?

Valiulis: “Sure, for the foreseeable future.”

PeC: Another ideas for our readers regarding the cart?

Valiulis: “A variety of firms say they’ll customise an answer to you. ozEworks is one which has been in a position to ship constantly.”

Different ozEcommerce Professional Websites

• Completely Dwelling
• Restore Shack
• Magnoli Clothiers
• ozEcommerce Professional Demo Retailer