Modx e-commerce, what to choose? (store shop)

All the posts on this subject seem a little old so... whats the best ecommerce solution for modx.

I have heard a lot of bad things about cube cart, zen-cart, kiwi commerce, and some others. If someone likes one of these, what do you like about it?

I just installed magento and it dosnt look like something I would like to give to a client since they wont understand how to use it. Also it isnt integrated into modx, as in its its own cms. My goal has been to make modx as simple as possible for clients to use, adding TV’s every which way for simplicity. I like the idea of FoxyCart where it is xml based and integrated into modx but would rather not pay 15 bucks a month.

Thoughts, opinions?

Without getting into your requirements, my take is that you will need to choose between

• ponying up for FoxyCart, which is great as long as it’s functionality fits your need
• looking into TreasureChest, by Dr. Scotty Delicious, D.F.P.A, which I have not personally tried but have every confidence in, again as long as the functionality fits
• rolling up your sleeves and rolling your own or getting someone to help with custom development; depending on the complexity of what you need, this may not be as scary as it sounds.. or on the other hand, could be much much scarier than it sounds

My goal has been to make modx as simple as possible for clients to use, adding TV’s every which way for simplicity.  I like the idea of FoxyCart where it is xml based and integrated into modx but would rather not pay 15 bucks a month.

Hey Antirem,

I’ve set up about 13 or so MODx/FoxyCart sites in the last year.  While the $15/month may be a turn off for some, I just have to keep in mind several things about it:

• You can significantly reduce the price of the e-commerce design b/c FoxyCart can be set up in like 30 minutes and integrated into MODx in that same time frame (no kidding!).  If you use other solutions, there is always the time to set up the e-commerce script, get a SSL certificate (which you have to stay on top of updating), etc.  I can’t seem to think of one easier solution that FoxyCart when it comes to integrating e-commerce into MODx.
• While the $15/month may initially turn away some, again, it’s a set up that is constantly updated for security patches, etc.  Instead of my client having to pay me annually to update and monitor their security issues, FoxyCart already has that built in.  That’s also great from a liability stand point: having a company stay on top of security issues and not leaving you or your client having to worry about that issue.
• FoxyCart and MODx fit like a glove.  You won’t have 2 separate CMS area...it’s all under 1 roof...I love that element a lot. And when I said above that I’ve been able to set up a MODx site for e-commerce in under 30 minutes, I’ve actually done that several times.

Like I said above, I’ve set up many clients on MODx and FoxyCart and when things are put in perspective for the client, they see how efficient and secure and how much in the long run it saves them money.

@flinx: If you can, I’d love to see a link to a site where you set up Foxy in 30 minutes. I’ve only done one "real" FoxyCart integration, and I spent a lot more time than that tweaking everything (the template, custom fields etc). No doubt I’ll get faster at it.

It takes me more than 30 minutes to get a MODx site set up.
Mind you I’m old and slow!
From my limited experience . . . .
TC is fine for smallish shops with straightforward shipping and able to use PayPal.
FoxyCart is more flexible and has more features and flexibility.
If a client won’t pay $15 a month, what kind of shop are they hoping for?

I think Flinx meant that to add ecommerce it only takes that long If anybody can build an entire site in an hour... show me how

If you want to do a full customization of the checkout it’s definitely going to take longer, but I actually did the complete integration and customization of www.thetrendz.com (including some basic design and slicing in Illustrator) in about 1.5 hours. No joke. I did, however, have all the product TVs (price, code, etc.) and the form set up already. So it’s not like "an hour to set up an entire site," but if you have the site already set up (particularly a _good_ site like a MODx site) it’s not unreasonable. (fwiw, I didn’t do everything on that site; just parts of it, including the structure and ecommerce.)

Then again, Flinx and I have both done quite a few FoxyCart stores.

Check out a screencast Flinx did though: http://wiki.foxycart.com/screencasts:customizing_your_checkout
Using that method (Firebug + live editing CSS with the web-dev toolbar) you can make really quick work of things.

@flinx: If you can, I’d love to see a link to a site where you set up Foxy in 30 minutes. I’ve only done one "real" FoxyCart integration, and I spent a lot more time than that tweaking everything (the template, custom fields etc). No doubt I’ll get faster at it.

Sorry, I guess I should have clarified what I meant

I didn’t mean I could set up a MODx site plus FC in 30 minutes, but what I meant (and have done) is set up a MODx site, put all the FoxyCart T.V.’s in place, and then in 30 minutes (after having set up MODx) set up FC and drop in the code...sorry, that’s what I meant.

One thing to keep in mind regarding your e-commerce efforts is the PCI issue. If you plan on making it really easy and fast for your customers to repeatedly give you money by saving their CC #s for future purchases, there’s loads of additional security measures you have to take. FoxyCart is PCI compliant and way cheaper than taking those steps yourself—code audits, security documentation and web application firewalls don’t come cheap. Selling stuff online really isn’t as simple as the good old days.

Good PCI overview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FuA39Iia9A

I took me about 5 hours total time to get 500 products up.

About 2 hours for the MODx and template set up. I had to strip away the table trash from a design and re-do the CSS.

About 2 hours for the custom stuff such as Membership (special note: in Foxycart I have a category for Membership so that no shipping is required), and other Publications.

And then about another hour to manipulate 380+ seeds into an SQL upload, and create a simple form tpl with a Personalize call in it so that the price is $2.00 for non-members and .50 for members.

See it here: http://shop.cssainc.org/

Note about the seeds: all the HTML is in the tpl. There are 380+ different seeds. Performance isn’t too bad because it’s just a single line of plain text. I think if it had anything more it would slow down a lot.

Note about eCommerce in general: Authorize.net is the way to go. With PayPal Pro your client might wind up paying $30/month + transaction fees + $15.00 foxycart. And then there is a security certificate to buy. Those can add another $10.00 to $25.00 a month. The Authorize.net reseller I use charges just $10.00 a month and 2.00%. So my clients shell out just $25.00 a month for a PCI compliant eCommerce solution that is fast and easy to get up.

Kudos to Brett and Luke for foxycart. We all owe them beers!

MODIFY: I should mention I had to get this site up as fast as possible. It doesn’t look as pretty as I want, but I had to get it up because I experienced severe hosting problems over the 4th of July weekend. They were plain out bizarre. Brett at Foxycart even looked at it and said "weird". He’s on the same host. I even have the same plan with fewer domains at that same host! But I pulled both out. So this was a rush job because the client’s site wasn’t working, and the SSL certificate wasn’t "taking" because of it. Thanks to Brett for helping me lose fewer hairs over the holiday weekend. Your rock bro!

Quote from: flinx at Jul 17, 2008, 07:32 PM

I didn’t mean I could set up a MODx site plus FC in 30 minutes, but what I meant (and have done) is set up a MODx site, put all the FoxyCart T.V.’s in place, and then in 30 minutes (after having set up MODx) set up FC and drop in the code...sorry, that’s what I meant.

flinx: haha, I didn’t think you meant MODx + Foxy in 30 minutes ;-) I guess my point is, it is definitely easy to set up Foxy fast, but if the client is picky about look and feel and tweaking the interaction, it’s not hard to spend longer. There are a number of ways to customize stuff that can take time - tweaking CSS, adding custom fields and so on.