There have been some exciting things happening in the Zen Cart community; among them:

• Add Items to Cart (using Ajax, no page refresh)
  This enhancement brings Zen Cart up to speed with the other open source e-commerce platforms
• Edit Items in Shopping Cart (including attributes)
  One of the major downfalls of Zen Cart is that your customers couldn’t edit the items with attributes in their shopping cart; they would have to delete the item and add it again. That is no longer the case (thanks to Alex Branning).

Filed under: zen cart add items to cart no page refresh, zen cart ajax, zen cart edit attributes, zen cart edit attributes in shopping cart, zen cart edit cart, zen cart edit shopping cart, zencart add items to cart no page refresh, zencart ajax, zencart edit attributes, zencart edit attributes in shopping cart, zencart edit cart, zencart edit shopping cart | Post a comment

Alex Branning just posted a new entry about a Zen Cart store that uses credits as currency for customers to buy and use on-site. Here’s  an excerpt:

I recently published LetterheadStudios.com a web site selling professional clipart using on-site credits as the currency to purchase the art. I wanted to walk you through the steps I took, the problems I encountered and what you need to know to make credits work for your Zen Cart store.

Alex goes through the five steps he took to make this happen; it’s a great read if you’re looking to use credits on your Zen Cart store.

Filed under: zen cart credits, zencart credits | Post a comment

We found another Zen Cart Gift Registry:

Basic Features of the Zen Cart Gift Registry:

1. User creates registry (account tied to Zen Cart Customers table)
2. User can edit registry information
3. Visitors can search for registries to purchase from
4. Add products to your registry with one click
5. Desired product attributes are saved in registry
6. “Print” button on registry detail page for an easy shopping listInstallation, customization of look and feel, and custom programming is available.

Order Tracking From Registries:

1. Desired quantity decreased
2. Track who bought what
3. Timestamp of purchases
4. Customer can see purchased items
5. Customer can note what items were purchased offline

Administration:

1. Search for registries
2. List all registries
3. Delete registry
4. View registry detail
5. Edit individual registries

You can learn more about this Zen Cart gift registry module at http://www.zencartregistry.com

Filed under: zen cart 1.3.8 gift registry, zen cart gift registry, Zen Cart gift registry module, zen cart registry, zen cart wish list, zencart 1.3.8 gift registry, zencart gift registry, Zencart gift registry module, zencart registry, zencart wish list | Post a comment

With cell phones taking off in popularity, Zen Cart store owners need a way to make their stores accessible to customers using a cell phone or other mobile device. Today the Branning Group released a free module that gives you a simple mobile home page. From their site:

Zen Cart Mobile: This module allows you to have a mobile-friendly home page that is 100% compatible with all cell phones made since 2005. Your new mobile home page is easily modified using the Define Pages Editor and takes less than two minutes to install. Now all users accessing your web site from a mobile phone will see a mobile-compatible web page. This page is easily editable using the Define Pages editor, and may save you a customer. Most web sites are not mobile-friendly, this module redirects your visitors to a page they can easily read from a mobile device.

You could put a phone number on the mobile page to allow the visitor a quick way to get in touch with you, or a simple email form, or extend your mobile site by adding a mobile-friendly search, etc.

The point of the module is that now visitors using a cell phone (or other mobile device) will see a page customized to them and not have to suffer through trying to see your store home page on their tiny screens. PDF | Download

Please let us know if you have tried this new module, we want to hear your thoughts.

Filed under: branning group, zen cart cell, zen cart mobile, zen cart wml, zencart cell phone, zencart mobile, zencart wml | 3 Comments

There are many free, off-the-shelf registry plug-ins for Zen Cart that require an external site to host all of your data. At the end of the day you are depending on another site to stay online (and continue offering the service for free) for as long as you’re using them. When it comes to your customers experience and the prospect of additional sales (as well as free word-of-mouth marketing) that’s a risk I don’t recommend you take.

The Branning Group has developed a gift registry (wish list) plug-in for the Zen Cart shopping system. This registry isn’t hosted off-site, all of the data and code is on your server under your control. It’s a commercial module with prices ranging from $150.00 - $400.00 depending on the featureset you require, but I think knowing that the registry data is safe and that you have complete control over your user experience is worth the few bucks. Learn more here: http://www.branninggroup.com/zen-cart-gift-registry.php

Filed under: branning group, zen cart 1.3.8 gift registry, zen cart gift registry, zen cart registry, zen cart wish list, zencart 1.3.8 gift registry, zencart gift registry, zencart registry, zencart wish list | Post a comment