CubeCart Shopping Cart Software

CubeCart, originally known as "eStore", started as a personal project after the author, Alistair Brookbanks graduated from Loughborough University in 2002. Its popularity grew, and its name was changed to CubeCart.

The Website seems to have a European quality, based on the number of English errors and grammatical issues of the Website. In order to use CubeCart, you will need to set up your software on a compatible hosting account. Hosting requirements for CubeCart version 4 are shown in the following bullets:

• Linux/Unix (recommended) or Windows

• PHP version: = 5.1.0 and < 5.3

• MySQL: 4.1.0 or greater

• GD Image: 2.0 or greater

• Zend Optimizer or Ioncube: One or the other required

CubeCart does have a couple of hosts it recommenda, and with the standard disclaimers.

Functionality and Features

CubeCart has a live demonstration of both versions 3 and 4, however they have not yet created a live demonstration of their admin control panel for either version.

Pricing for the CubeCart version 4—which appears to be a bundled set of CDs (and documentation?)—is currently set at $180. Support for the installation is negotiated through the sales contact number on the Buy page.

Base Functionality

CubeCart is an "out of the box" ecommerce shopping cart software solution which has been written to run on host servers that support PHP and MySQL. CubeCart enables you to set up an online store for selling digital or tangible products worldwide.

General Observations

Here are some of the lead features identified:

• Professionally security audited with penetration testing.

• Search engine optimized

• 100% Template Driven (HTML is completely separate from PHP code)

• XHTML and CSS Valid

• Add / Edit Orders from admin control panel.

• Courier Tracking URL

• Unlimited Products, Categories & Images per Product

• Multi Currency Support

…along with several other features (many of them relatively minor, such as allowing visitors to change the page skin effects).

Limitations

Web searches suggest that many add-on and third party enhancements exist for CubeCart. Some known limitations are shown in the following listing:

• Dedicated account manager: No.

• Integrated shipping: No.

• Always-on screen shopping cart: No.

• Direct checkout: No.

• Dashboard: No.

• Inventory support for kits: No.

• Quickbooks integration: No

• SSL security certificate included: No.

The need to establish a suitable host platform for the product may also be considered limiting.

Support and Documentation

Support is available through different plans, and you may purchase a number of support credits on the Website for a what seems like a reasonable fee... except it isn’t immediately apparent how many credits gets you how much service. Also, the reviewer did not see what hours apply or whether emergency support can be bought.

This reviewer sees nothing on the Website referencing product or system documentation. On the support page, support forums and the knowledge base are identified; also a reference is made to third party resources for assistance.

Conclusion

CubeCart seems to have a lot of fans, and a dedicated user community, but nothing from the Website suggests a structured framework for a standard product concept, i.e. more of a turnkey approach for us non-geek Web enterprisers. Their Website design itself is rudimentary, as is its cart function.

Rating: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

A 5-star e-commerce solution is available 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,