Anyone Using Ecwid

[RBC]

I played around with a new shoping cart app over the weekend called Ecwid. It's an ajax based set of widgets that can be used to add a shopping cart to any existing web site. In fact, you can add the exact same shopping cart to multiple web sites (stand alone web site, Facebook, Wordpress, etc.). Updates you make to your central database are then automatically reflected on all your web sites.

I found it extremely easy to set up and use. However, it's still new and lacking some of the features of the leading hosted shopping carts. I think eventually it will become a viable competitor to the leading hosted shopping carts, but don't think it's quite there, yet.

It's totally free for stores with up to 100 products. Up to 10,000 products is $17.00 a month and also includes other feature upgrades over the free version.

Anyway, I was impressed with the ease of use, and like the fact that all updates are automatic (no more installing SW updates) and you can share one store among multiple websites.

So, is anyone here actually using Ecwid for their online store? If so, how do you like it and what features do you find lacking?

[The Old Sarge]

Hmmm. Domain is registered to a company in Cyprus, but the site identifies itself as a company in Russia.

That in itself doesn't necessarily mean anything, but it certainly looks a tiny bit suspicious, IMO. I'd certainly dig a bit before I put out any money.

[Eugene]

Hi, I am Eugene from Ecwid team.

RBC, if you have questions about Ecwid, feel free to contact me directly at [email protected]
If you need some Ecwid reviews, let me know too, I will send you some links.

Hmmm. Domain is registered to a company in Cyprus, but the site identifies itself as a company in Russia.

The Old Sarge, your questions are completely reasonable. Trust is a key in e-commerce business.

Ecwid is a product of Creative Development DBA Qualiteam. Qualiteam is registered in Cyprus. Creative Development is registered in Russia.

Ecwid isn't our first project, since we're in e-commerce business for 9 years already. Our other shopping carts are LiteCommerce and X-Cart. All of them are PHP based. Ecwid is our approach to create a new hosted and free shopping cart.

[The Old Sarge]

Thanks for stepping forward, Eugene. I hope you were not offended.

[RBC]

Hi, I am Eugene from Ecwid team.

RBC, if you have questions about Ecwid, feel free to contact me directly at [email protected]

Eugene,

Thanks for joining in. Two features currently lacking from Ecwid, that I'd really like to see are:

Automatic calculation of USPS insurance rates. My average sale is $300, with many sale upwards of $700. As a result, I ship all my orders insured USPS Priority Mail.

The ability to track inventory for different product options. I know the work around of listing each option as a separate product, but that's clumsy for customers. If I have a product that comes in four different colors, I'd like to list that as one product with four options, and be able to track my inventory of each option.

I'm sure I'll find more once I've spent more time with Ecwid. I will say, I really like your model and it's extremely easy for a non-programmer like me to set up and manage. That, and the ability to add it to any existing web site, are Ecwid's biggest advantages, in my opinion.

RBC

[Eugene]

Hi,

1. USPS API allows getting rates with insurance included and Ecwid already uses this option.
However, this option works for international parcels only, for some reason. It is a limitation of USPS API, unfortunately.

So actualy you need a way to add a markup to all your USPS shipping rates, right?


2. The ability to track inventory for different option combinations is indeed a very necessary and important feature. It's the most popular idea in our ideas base. So it will definetily be implemented in the next versions.

[Barman]

> Ecwid is our approach to create a new hosted and free shopping cart.

so where is the catch?

[RBC]

> Ecwid is our approach to create a new hosted and free shopping cart.

so where is the catch?

The free version only supports 100 products, and lacks some of the features of the paid versions.

As much as I like the way it works and the ease of use, I am most likely going to go with a more established host shopping cart solution, like CoreCommerce or Big Commerce - for now. Ecwid shows promise, but is not as mature and lacks some of the features I need in a shopping cart.

Still for anyone looking for something very easy to use, and free for up to 100 products, I certainly recommend you give the free version of Ecwid a try to see how you like it. You certainly can't beat it for the price. And, they are adding new features all the time. I'll probably revisit it myself a year from now.

RBC

[RBC]

Here's an example of a web store I set up using Ecwid:

http://reallybigcameras.com/Gorillapod_Store

I'm not a programmer, and was able to set this up quickly and get a small simple web store up and running with a minimal amount of effort and no cost (this is a small sub-site of my main site, that I set up for a new product line I just started carrying). I did have a couple issues with Internet Explorer. I posted my questions in the Ecwid community forums and Eugene responded the next morning and provided a fix for my problems by the end of the day.

Again, I may go with a larger solution for may main store, but for now, this little Ecwid store is a great way for me to get started in ecommerce. I certainly recommend it to anyone who is looking for an easy to use ecommerce solution that can easily be integrated into an existing web site. And, if you do outgrow the free version you can always upgrade to one of the paid plans that start at $17/month.

RBC

[Bahnyen]

Wow cool... I like it. It looks very interesting for me. I'm about to try the free version with my sites. I do hope to upgrade it soon.