Tuesday, 20 January 2015 |Written by qtriangle |Choosing a solid backend for eCommerce mobile application

Have you decided to design a mobile app for selling your stuff through smartphones? If yes, then one of the critical decisions to take is to choose the right backend software, a shopping cart. This is because the software you choose shall be the foundation of the app and shall not likely be replaced in the future.

Most business owners have the misconception that one has to invest thousands of dollars in buying the right shopping cart. However, this is no longer required because of the plenty of open source software packages available for carts.

Why Choose Open Source Packages?

Open source packages are free and highly customizable. This fusion is perhaps the biggest selling point of these fully featured shopping cart packages. You are free to customize the source code to add as many functionalities as you need, which is quite pleasing to those who consider trial and error as fun and unique utilities as a priority. What is nicer about using an open source cart is that you no longer have to follow the rules and regulations of a specific service provider or company.

If the base cart lacks some features, the open source community offers it as an already developed plug-in that does what you want. In fact, the development community offers a wealth of such utilities to choose from, which is certainly pleasing to small businesses on a strict budget. Even if you are unaware of programming skills, the forums can get you started and run the shopping cart quite quickly.

Which Open Source Package to Choose?

Because there are many open source packages available, it can get confusing to choose the right one. However, the key here is to choose the one as per your requirements. To simplify your selection task, here are a few quality carts chosen as per their features, functionality, and community support.

OpenCart: Is easy to install and use, modern in feel, and fast in operation. It has features to manage a standard store but lacks many bells and whistles that other packages offer. Its backend interface is intuitive and simple. The community comprises of independent developers and companies active in creating and sharing templates and themes.

Magento: Is perhaps the most feature-rich cart. You can manage multiple stores just by installing the pack once. Its shrewd administration interface ensures powerful SEO and tools for catalog management to tailor the app as per the distinct business needs. However, you cannot run the package on shared hosting.

OsCommerce: Is one of the powerful and oldest packages.It is easy to install on Linux and Windows shared hosted servers. It comes with several extensions but you need to locate them before using them.

PrestaShop: Is a professional package with a powerful backend and full admin control. There is no limit on its supported categories and images. You can manage even the most complex cart in a few clicks, a rare ability.

In short, the open source packages deliver the features to manage a catalog without the high licensing fees associated with proprietary packages.They offer the same functionality as commercial alternatives.

Technology Options for Developing Hybrid Mobile Application for eCommerce