Congratulations!
You've got yourself an X-Cart,
one of the finest shopping carts out there.
Now what?
Getting X-cart was a wise decision, but just the first step toward a successful eCommerce website. Now the real work starts (click here to see how an X-Cart business "really" looks like).
- Installation and configuration. There are several things to set up before starting to sell online:
- Setting tax parameters and shipping charges
- Organizing categories and sub-categories
- Entering your product details, price, uploading their images, and setting variation and options
- Setting passwords and access to your administrative staff
- Creating a look. X-Cart is a great eCommerce engine. At the same time your online store needs to look like a shop and not like an engine. You need to make some decisions.
- Color scheme
- Fonts
- Using your company's logo
- Other graphic elements
- Or perhaps creating a totally unique template that would make your store stand out from the competition
- Customization and mods. X-Cart, with its vast set of features and functions, meets the needs of many shop owners. However, a great percentage of total X-Cart shop owners do find a need to tweak and modify X-Cart to their particular business needs. This can be accomplished since X-Cart is based on open source. However, it is recommended to have these code modifications and customizations done by experts and not by novices.
- Development and programming. At times integration of XCart with external systems is needed, or other programming needs arise. Hire an X-Cart expert, not just a PHP programmer. X-Cart is easy to use for consumers and administrators, but coders better know the inner structure of the cart and how dance with the code without stepping on its toes.
- Hosting. Time to decide where to host your store. Here are a few criteria by which you can decide where to host.
- Fast server, and if shared server - make sure the number of total accounts on it is limited and small
- PCI compliance
- PA-DSS compliance (if you take credit card information directly from your website)
- Excellent tech support. Normally by phone, chat, email, and help desk panel
- Frequent backups of your store data. In case disaster strikes
- Is able to tweak server settings to optimize store for speed and responsiveness
- Testing the store and Launching. Your X Cart store is almost ready to go live. Make sure that all features are working as they should by testing in-house, and then testing with a trusted groups of customers (beta testing). When everything checks, flip the switch and be ready with your development team to tackle any problems that arise in the first few days of operation.
- Maintenance and support. Technology ever evolves and so is your store. Keep updated with latest patches, revisions, and new versions of X Cart, server operation system and PHP upgrades, security breaches, and any other problem that may arise.
- Internet Marketing. Do your potential customers know about your great online store? Our experts can help you increase traffic using Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC), and Email Marketing campaigns. Don't leave your online store unvisited.
Do you need an X-Cart expert by your side?
We offer a variety of services to help you have a successful — and profitable — X-Cart store. Our experts are ready to help you with all aspects of the store life cycle: from setup and configuration, dressing up your store, adding functionality that do not exist within X-Cart, integration with your existing systems, hosting your store for a reliable and safe use, and maintaining your data and store integrity during its life time.
To learn more about our services, or to request assistance with any of these areas, please
Take the time and frustration out of installing, configuration, designing, and maintaining your X-Cart store. Let our experts who specialize in X-Cart do the work for you: reliably, affordably, fast.