Cart32 Software Reviewcart32 is a shopping-cart product built specifically for Microsoft Servers—a brand (previously called Windows Server System) that comprises a set of Microsoft server products—using: Visual Basic MySQL database HTML components
cart32, first released in 1996, may be purchased independently or as a hosted solution; custom programming and other professional services are also offered. Many international online retailers use cart32, which provides a shopping cart, checkout, and storefront-hosting facilities. Functionality and Features A free trial is a available through the cart32 Website, which does not require entry of credit card information. Standard hosted product pricing is as follows: The differences are mainly on account of hosting type, numbers of email accounts, and disk space allotment. One thing this reviewer noticed is a heading “cart32 Free Edition,” so I clicked on it and was taken to a page with a product description and a “Buy Now” link. “Wait a minute,” I thought, “it’s free.” Anyway, the nonhosted product pricing runs roughly $1,000 “per client” (up to an unlimited number of clients for $10,000). This suggests many buyers of cart32 are using the system as a shopping-cart business offering to other clients. General Observations Some of the advertised features of cart32 are: Support for more than 50 real-time payment processors Support for MySQL and SQL Server for the cart32 database Sell downloadable products Support for PayPal Website Payments Pro Secure public/private key encryption Customize tax and shipping settings Gift Certificates and discounts Customize the look of the cart pages
The Website does emphasize the hosted solution, and its support plans are configured accordingly. Functionality cart32 may be remotely administered via Web browser and self-secured using public/private key encryption of credit card information. Customizations exist for tax, shipping, product management, and so on. Current version (4.3) contains support for MySQL and SQL Server, stronger public/private key encryption of passwords and credit card numbers, and better integration with ASP, Cold Fusion, and Microsoft FrontPage. Limitations Not many reviews are readily found on the Web for cart32 software. It appears to be the Microsoft-oriented entry into the e-commerce business, and as such the dissemination of actual performance limitations is kept under wraps as much as possible. The brief Wikipedia article contains a long-ago security breach issue that was resolved. Here’s a comment I find from a user on the “ITeRating” site in May 2009: Cart32 used to be a decent cart, but since they switched to new servers they are extremely unreliable. I find the shopping cart to be down several times daily. With their new price increases and poor up time, I would recommend using another shopping cart.
Then, one notes other larger e-commerce software packages such as Volusion and Nexternal have a “look at me instead of Big Geek’s solution” page. When you access those pages you see a listing of all the features their software contains that presumably do not exist in cart32 or are more poorly implemented. Support and Documentation Support comes in a range of plans, none of them particularly inexpensive, but no doubt adequate. Standard support hours apply, but emergency 24/7 support is also available. This reviewer saw nothing in the way of product or system documentation. Conclusion If you want to go with the Big Gahuna of large-enterprise shopping cart software, look no further. From my own experience with Microsoft oriented solutions, well, they don’t call it Big Geek for nothing. You’ll be looking at a lot of incomprehensible problems serviced unevenly by flotillas of “specialists” who know the secret handshake. Ranking: 2.0 stars (out of 5) A top-ranked e-commerce solution can be found with Premium Web Cart, which is full-featured and usable across the widest range of business size. It is also built on the latest Web technologies and comes to you in an affordable suite of options designed to aggressively grow your core business. Best Wishes, 
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