If you want to sell goods or services online, you need a cartsolution, and you may need a Content Management solution as well to publish your news, blog, company info, promotions and more. The same goes the other way around. If your main focus is to publish content in combination with selling some goods and services on the side, you probably need a feature-rich cart solution.
One of the main issues with selling anything on the net is that there is no easy way to become successful. After investing a lot of time (and money) in crafting a strategy and getting the shop online (with whatever software), you need to invest time and money in promoting your offerings and delivering them to your customers. After launching a successful online shop, many companies find themselves stuck with and the headache around managing the logistics of the returns they get.
With Joomla 1.6 on it's way, any current shop owner running an eCommerce site in either Joomla 1.0 or Joomla 1.5 will come to a point where he (or she) has to evaluate if and when to use this latest and upcoming version. If you are considering launching an eCommerce site shortly, should you just go for it now or wait until Joomla 1.6 stable is out? What shopping cart solution should you use?
Let's have a look at the most promising shopping cart solutions for Joomla 1.6
Magebridge: a Magento - Joomla Bridge
With the recently launched bridge between Magento and Joomla 1.5, Magebridge, you are now able to run an enterprise eCommerce solution (Magento) and have a feature-rich Content Management System, all-in-one.
Within a week after its official launch, Yireo, the developer of Magebridge, started blogging about future developments of this bridge to make it ready for Joomla 1.6. Not only will Magebridge give you a high-end solution, knowing that the developers are dedicated to this project makes it a good investment, since Joomla's future technology will be supported in time.
Magento (and therefore Magebridge) is aiming for professionals. Setting up an eCommerce site with state-of-the art features will require good knowledge of and expertise with how to do business online. With Magebridge, you'll have a full solution that is scalable and reliable for the future.
VirtueMart - a Joomla eCommerce Component
Far more basic than Magento and often considered as difficult to learn and hard to setup, VirtueMart was available for Joomla as a component right from the start. In the VirtueMart Developer Forum, you can read a thread about VirtueMart 2.0, a long-awaited update for Joomla 1.5. According to the roadmap, VirtueMart 2.0 has a planned release date for December 2009. At this point, it's unclear if and how VirtueMart 2.0 will be ready for Joomla 1.6.
Since there is a strong dependency, any shopkeeper who is using VirtueMart now is advised to keep a close eye on its future development and its impact on both Joomla 1.5 and Joomla 1.6, since it will require additional investments to keep your online shop up-to-date.
Payment Buttons: embed buttons and start selling today
You can setup products in your PayPal Merchant account and generate the HTML for buttons like Add to Cart, Buy Now, Subscribe, Donate or Buy Gift Certificate, which can be copy/pasted easily into any Joomla article or module.
Since this service offers you the required script, the solutions will run in any version of Joomla, either Joomla 1.0, Joomla 1.5 or the upcoming Joomla 1.6. If you are just selling a limited number of products or services, using a solution like this will allow you to setup a cart in a breeze, allowing you to generate business at relatively low (variable) cost. Without having to maintain the software or having to implement additional services like encryption over SSL (since PayPal will take care of that), it may help your Return On Investment by just embedding a service like this.
NEW: PayPal Widgets: embed a mini store in any site (beta)
You can create your own online store with a PayPal storefront widget (beta). Regardless of what CMS you use, you should be able to upload products, set prices, and start selling on your website or blog. You can create a beta widget online and get comfortable with them. With some trial and error (especially with the dimensions of images that you upload) you can create a mini shop online, grab the HTML and copy/paste it in your website or blog. No need to migrate to Joomla 1.5 and no need to wait for Joomla 1.6 either, with this solution. However, you should not use this beta version in a production environment yet!
Learn More About Joomla 1.6
There are plenty of good sources for additional information about Joomla 1.6:
- Download the latest Joomla 1.6 release from joomlacode.org
- Read the Joomla Developer Blog
- If you want to discuss Joomla 1.6, feel free to post a comment on the Joomla Community page: Joomla 1.6 Community Post
- This Joomla Community page also has a link to the forums for futher discussion: Joomla 1.6 Forum Post
- Have a look at the current status of Joomla 1.6 in the Joomla 1.6 Tracker
- Read our blog:
- How Will Joomla 1.6 Impact Your Web Site - Top 10
- How Will Joomla 1.6 Impact Your Web Site - Top 10 - PART 2
