Cart of the Week: AspDotNetStorefront

Sensible eCommerce counts over 300 completely different purchasing cart programs. On this ongoing “Cart of the Week” characteristic, we profile a particular cart, asking the cart’s homeowners and customers about its strengths and weaknesses.

Right here we profile AspDotNetStorefront’s ML purchasing cart. We requested COO and Government Vice President Dan Van Kuren to clarify the advantages of the cart. We then requested CEO Dana Greaves of Vortx, Inc., a improvement firm that makes use of AspDotNetStorefront to construct on-line shops, to additionally consider the cart.

PeC: Please present some common background on the cart.

Van Kuren: “AspDotNetStorefront ML is the premier purchasing cart for Microsoft’s ASP.NET Platform and has been utilized by greater than 10,000 retailers and 6,000 builders because it grew to become commercially out there in 2003. Not like many different ASP.NET-based and open supply purchasing cart options, AspDotNetStorefront ML is Visa PABP (now PA-DSS) licensed, assuring prospects that we adjust to stringent safety and improvement practices. As a licensed cart resolution, retailers aren’t locked into contracts or income sharing preparations, and builders have the choice of buying full supply code to increase the characteristic set to swimsuit particular enterprise necessities. Model 8.0 is offered in 4 flavors (ML/Categorical, ML, ML/64, and ML/DNN for the DotNetNuke content material administration system), begins at $695, has full help for .NET 3.5, IIS7 and SQL 2008, and is offered in each 32- and 64-bit variations.”

PeC: What are the cart’s greatest strengths?

Van Kuren: “The safety, options, extensibility, and efficiency of the appliance are its greatest property. We take safety very severely, together with compliance with Visa PABP [Payment Application Best Practices] mandates in addition to present process annual unbiased audits of our safety measures and processes. We additionally carry out common scans of our software program and endure inside code opinions to make sure our builders observe well-defined safe coding practices. ”

“The cart (a) consists of over 900 completely different configuration parameters that customers can change to switch the habits of the cart (b) helps over three dozen cost gateways (c) integrates with real-time transport suppliers reminiscent of UPS, FedEx and USPS out of the field, and (d) consists of content material administration options that enable customers to construct a whole website as an alternative of only a retailer. We even have nice search engine optimization/SEM options, reminiscent of the power to set key phrases and descriptions on particular person pages, static URLs, Google, Yahoo!, and ROR [Resources of a Resource] website map integration, and help for producing product feeds for comparability purchasing engine submission. ”

“The appliance is acceptable for giant deployments, and but light-weight sufficient to operate in most shared internet hosting environments. We even help cloud-hosting suppliers reminiscent of Rackspace’s Mosso. ”

PeC: What are a few of its weaknesses?

Van Kuren: “Everytime you help as many options as we do, there’s at all times a little bit of a studying curve that must be overcome. It’s in no way insurmountable, however AspDotNetStorefront was developed as a software for severe retailers. We do supply an Categorical model that’s extra suited to smaller shops with fewer than 500 merchandise, however if you’re solely promoting a few merchandise or have very low order quantity, then AspDotNetStorefront might be overkill. ”

PeC: What plans to you might have for future cart improvement?

PeC: “Notable options in future releases embody built-in weblog help, a pluggable transport, cost, and tax supplier interface, multi-lingual and multi-currency enhancements, user-defined URL technology guidelines to facilitate simply transferring from a competing purchasing cart with out dropping your URL construction, and a extra highly effective reporting engine. ”

“Additionally coming is one thing we wish to name ERPS [ERP Synchronization Specification], which is a set of normal contracts, add-in interfaces, occasion notifications, and net providers that enable builders to combine AspDotNetStorefront ML with mainly any back-end accounting or ERP software with out ever touching a single line of our code.”

PeC: How particularly would utilizing AspDotNetStorefront enhance a service provider’s enterprise?

Van Kuren: “AspDotNetStorefront offers final flexibility for builders and {couples} it with hundreds of options configurable through an easy-to-use web-based administration console for retailers. And, as a result of we don’t cost month-to-month or transaction-based charges that erode margins, our retailers could be extra aggressive whereas attaining increased profitability. ”

“Lastly, its search engine optimization capabilities enable lots of our prospects to attain first web page Google rankings utilizing nothing however our inbuilt search engine optimization options to publish their very own content material. ”

PeC: Some other ideas for our readers?

Van Kuren: “Whether or not you might be on the lookout for an out-of-the-box resolution, or a platform to make use of as the idea for intensive modification, AspDotNetStorefront can meet the wants of almost all retailers and builders. ”

The View of a Buyer

Dana Greaves, CEO of Ashland, OR-based improvement firm Vortx, Inc., mentioned his firm has used AspDotNetStorefront to design almost 200 websites.

PeC: What are AspDotNetStorefront’s greatest strengths?

Greaves: “The numerous characteristic set. We imagine each consumer has three goals: rising the circulate of focused site visitors, maximizing the potential to transform browsers into consumers, and rising the lifetime worth of the patron. The great thing about AspDotNetStorefront is that it is extremely efficient by way of natural search engine optimization. It additionally comes with a mail supervisor, up-sell promotion, coupons and the whole lot you are able to do to convey prospects again once more. The cart consists of WYSIWYG editors, but it surely additionally offers very deep and complete administrative instruments. ”

PeC: What are some issues it might enhance?

Greaves: “The cart is constructed for DotNet builders, but when I have been an entire non-techie retailer proprietor, it may be tougher.”

PeC: How particularly would utilizing AspDotNetStorefront enhance a service provider’s enterprise?

Greaves: “It’s an amazing first cart and an amazing cart emigrate to. It brings vital alternatives for development. Whereas I believe it’s a cart supposed for builders, the admin permits most customers to actually use it nicely. All knowledge is on the storeowner’s fingertips. It helps to have a developer readily available, however the out of the field capabilities round info structure and content material administration system are enormously invaluable for the top consumer. ”

PeC: Do you propose to proceed utilizing AspDotNetStorefront? Why or why not?

Greaves: “Completely. We’re actually trying ahead to the following vital model that can come out in all probability on the finish of this yr.”

PeC: Some other ideas on purchasing carts for our readers?

Greaves: “We would like a cart that retains purchasers from coming again to us for each small change, and AspDotNetStorefront is a good cart for that. We take purchasers each week which might be transferring away from their first cart as a result of it doesn’t give them the independence they want. They’ve received to have a platform that permits them to create contemporary content material.”

AspDotNetStorefront Websites

• Crocs.com
• Zgallerie.com
• Dmusastore.com