2010 ViArt Review: PHP Cart Overview

• Fully Manage & Track Inventory
• 3 Versions Available: Light, Standard,
  Enterprise
• PHP Shopping Cart
• Online Order Tracking
• Accepts Multiple Currencies

Note: This is an older review of ViArt done in 2010. To see the latest about what this ecommerce solution has to offer, check out our 2011 ViArt review.

ViArt Review: Expert PHP Cart Review

The premise of ViArt’s shopping cart software is around its ease of use, with its site going so far as to say that "Now anyone can set up a secure online store without the need for any programming knowledge." As a PHP shopping cart, it almost sounds too good to be true, but in fact ViArt’s software is just as easy to use as they claim, if you are willing to pay for the support to go along with the need.

For example, all three versions of the shopping cart software ViArt provides (Light, Standard, and Enterprise) all come with the basic general features around design. All three shopping cart products provide 97% open source PHP code, and easy to use web based administrative panels. The shopping carts also support shopping in multiple currencies, and create a friendly user interface for customers.

Marketing Your Online Store

On the marketing side, the shopping cart software packages begin to differ around the integrated environments functionality. The Enterprise solution will incorporate a CMS, Helpdesk, and a Bulletin Board environment, where the Standard will only support the CMS and Bulletin Board. The Light will support the Bulletin Board as well, but will only offer a limited support of the CMS.

Product Marketing & Management

There is no distinction between the systems in terms of the ability to manage products and categories, allowing each system to fully manage and track inventory and pricing. As a merchant you can also list an unlimited number of products, with as many categories, sub-categories, and other nested tagging for as many layers deep as required. Coupled with the ability to list all products on site is the ability to manage the inventory successfully with system notifications per account, based on levels you pre-define.

Order Processing & Shipping

The shopping cart packages do not differ in their sales order functionality. The Enterprise, Standard, and Light packages all offer a PHP based shopping cart with an order maintenance system, online order tracking, and the flexibility to add product process. The shopping cart experience for the customer is a simple three-stop checkout, with the ability to fully customize their order profile, payment details, and confirmation pages to make their return an even easier checkout process.

The ViArt CMS & Help Desk

The differences in service are truly defined in the CMS limitations and the HelpDesk. The light version of the shopping cart software will have some CMS capabilities, but the functionality is limited to customization of the storefront and the creation of nine basic layout schemes. The Standard and Enterprise versions of the software will provide added functionality around RSS feed support, the number of articles allowed within the various categories, and the customization of pages.

The HelpDesk support is limited to the Enterprise shopping cart software only, and provides support in ticket management and storage, full statistical reporting, and the ability to set up templates and the properties of certain fields. The HelpDesk can also be levered through a shopping cart system as a file manager, allowing the owner to upload zip files, and create custom META data for each page.

ViArt Review: Conclusion

PHP shopping carts are in high demand because they can easily integrate into many websites, are supported by many servers, and allow for a greater amount of functionality and customization. Most PHP carts require you or a web developer to install the software and manage changes through a sometimes difficult backend. With ViArt, you get the perks of a PHP cart without the hastle of installation and customization. The administration panel is a breeze, making this a truly unique shopping cart solution that is worth the investment.