webstore blues

I've been busy lately setting up some digital downloads on one of my websites, and decided to try out the Quickfile module that fits into Drupal, since that is the CMS I used to build my site. Unfortunately, there are a number of limitations. For one, the module only allows a person to purchase one thing at a time. There is no shopping cart function. The site that I am working on sells MP3s of underground music acts, so this means that people will have to purchase each song that they like one by one. This isn't exactly an optimum arrangement, so I will need to find some alternatives.

Ecommerce software comes in many shapes and sizes. For me, it is most important that I can integrate it seamlessly into my site design, that it is easy to use and understand (by me *and* my customers), and of course that it functions securely and properly. Ashop is one such shopping cart software that I was looking at this morning. What I like about this one is that they provide a free trial run of their software and don't require a credit card. If you've ever signed up for "free trials" that asked for credit card information, you know what a pain it can be to have to dispute charges and get yourself removed from unwanted mailing lists.

You can also test drive their stores and admin panels online. I tried out their "Urban Toyz" demo, which is a demo store for things like roller blades and skateboards. Clicking on a product brings up the product details and bulk discount prices, which is nice. Clicking on the enlarged photo brought up a blank picture, though. Since this is a demo, it is hard to say if that is just something that they didn't upload because it was a demo or if it is a software glitch. My guess is that it is a detail that they didn't bother with for the demo.

Clicking on the "Add to Cart" button immediately sends the product to a very small shopping cart area to your right. I'm not sure that everyone would see this tiny area being updated when they click on the button, and I can see this resulting in people adding an item several times before they see the updated shopping cart. Perhaps if there was a popup of some sort that told them where to look, or that the item had been added, this might help. Another idea would be to have a "Buy it Now" button near the "Add To Cart" button so that people can go straight to checkout if they so desire.

So far, this software seemed promising. Then I went to try out the admin demo, and "blammo!" I got a big white screen that said, Internet Explorer 5.5 or later versions required.

Well, I hate to say it, but they just lost my business. I only use Internet Explorer to make sure that the websites that I design display correctly on the different browsers, and even then I use it reluctantly due to its security flaws. There's no way that I want to use it to maintain an ecommerce store. If you're using Internet Explorer and are looking for a complete software solution, including tech support and hosting, Ashop may be a great tool for you, with their light version coming in at just under $40/month. It really is quite a deal if you look at the expansive list of features per the different packages being offered.

However, if you're married to Firefox like me, you'll need to look elsewhere.