The Startup Genome Project Examines the Science of Startups

http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2011/05/the-startup-genome-project-exa.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+readwriteweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

By Audrey Watters / May 28, 2011 12:50 PM

Earlier this year, the Startup Genome Project launched a survey aiming to to investigate "the science of startups." Much like the Human Genome Project's attempts to crack the human genetic code, the Startup Genome Project hoped to be able to uncover the "innovation code" that drives the success of Silicon Valley technology startups.

"Despite the supreme economic importance of scalable startups, we still don't understand the patterns of successful creation," say the project organizers. "More than 90% of startups fail, due predominantly to self-destruction rather than competition. For the less than 10% of startups that do succeed, most encounter a handful of near death experiences along the way."

Through the survey, the Startup Genome Project hoped to be able to have some "hard data" to uncover why some succeed and why some don't. And now the results are in with a 67-page reportbased on the responses and profiles of over 650 startups. The report examines what's worked - and what hasn't worked - for these particular companies.

Lessons Learned from the Startup Genome Project

Some of the lessons gleaned from the survey seem quite obvious: Founders that have helpful mentors and learn from other startup thought leaders raise 7 times more money and have 3.5 times better user growth, for example.

And some of the findings confirm what are commonly held beliefs, such as the drawbacks of being a single person founder. Solo founders take 3.6 times as long to reach scale stage as do founding teams of 2 and they are 2.3 times less likely to pivot.

But many of the findings offer some pretty intriguing insights into other beliefs, such as the importance of being able to pivot. For example, startups that pivot once or twice raise 2.5 times more money and have 3.6 better growth than startups that pivot more than 2 times or that never pivot.

There are plenty of lessons to be learned with the data from the survey - even if it's just nuggets like startups need 2-3 times longer to validate their market than most founders expect. There are important details here about why startups fail - not working at the project full-time, for example, not having a technical co-founder, or not having the right team composition for the type of startup.

Types of Startups

The report breaks down these startup types into the following:

The Automizer (Type 1) Common characteristics: self-service customer acquisition, consumer focused, product centric, fast execution, often automize a manual process.

The Social Transformer (Type 1N) Common characteristics: self service customer acquisition, critical mass, runaway user growth, winner take all markets, complex ux, network effects, typically create new ways for people to interact.

The Integrator (Type 2) Common characteristics: lead generation with inside sales reps, high certainty, product centric, early monetization, SME focused, smaller markets, often take innovations from consumer Internet and rebuild it for smaller enterprises.

The Challenger (Type 3) Common characteristics: enterprise sales, high customer dependency, complex & rigid markets, repeatable sales process.

Along with the release of the data from the Startup Genome Report, the authors are releasing abenchmark test that will help give entrepreneurs a sense of which personality type they fall into, and then based on the data from the Startup Genome Project, advice on what to focus on.

谷歌英文写作助手

http://www.google.com/intl/zh-CN/ime/english/
 - Google

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5 Tips to Make Your Website Mobile Friendly

http://www.ecommerce-guide.com//article.php/3933791

— eCommerce-Guide.com

By Pam Baker

May 17, 2011

It's no secret that mobile commerce is booming and expected to grow rapidly for the foreseeable future. But that means a small business will miss out on sales it needs to prosper unless it has a presence on smartphones of every brand and on every carrier. That's a tall order for the little guy on a tiny budget. Building a phone app, for example, can cost thousands of dollars -- and that's for just one brand of phone. Not to worry, there are ways to "go mobile" on a shoestring.

"Small businesses don't need to build an app or create a whole new mobile website," said Pamela Springer, president and CEO of Manta, an online community for promoting and connecting small business. "They just need to be sure their website is easily viewable on a mobile device. That means modifying your site for optimal display on a mobile device."

Knowing what and how much to modify is every bit as important as knowing how to do it.

"Don't try and boil the ocean initially," advised Nicole Carrier, program director at IBM Web Experience. "Focus on those services or pages that customers will most likely want to access from their mobile device." For example, she said a small retail store might want to have the first iteration of its mobile website contain directions to the store, contact information and the store's hours.

Map out your intended modifications before you start tinkering with your website. Begin by identifying which pages of your website are likely to be of most interest to mobile users, but also make sure they can access your full website too. "Add a link on your mobile site to get to the full version of the site, for those smartphone users that want access to all of your content -- even those pages that might not be optimized for their device," said Carrier.

When you're ready to get started, follow the tips outlined below.

5 Mobile-friendly Website Tips

1. Use mobile plugins

If your website contains a Content Management System (CMS), such as Drupal or WordPress, you'll want to take a look at the plugins that are available for mobile editions. Plugins optimize your website for mobile viewing and are often the easiest options to use. Many are free, but some charge a premium.

"We have two go-to plugins for optimizing a WordPress website for mobile. Mobile from PluginBuddy, a premium plugin that starts at $45, is one. The support you receive for your $45 investment is stellar to say the least," said Jarrod "Jay" Skeggs, partner at StudioD.tv. "WPtouch, a free plugin, is another. We have had good experience with it in the past."

Other plugins include WordPress Mobile Pack and Wordpress Mobile Edition. But look around and weigh them all against your actual modification plans to determine which is right for your business.

2. Consider DIY mobile website builders

"There are a number of sites that offer mobile website building services -- often at no cost," said Drew Barton, president and founder of Southern Web Group, a web design firm. "For example, Mobify has a free option. The service is widely used by some of the world's leading publications."

Indeed, there are several options in this category including MoFuse, Wapple,Wirenode, Mobeezo and MobiSiteGalore.

The dotMobi mobile website tool, Instant Mobilizer, is arguably the best known and is even incorporated on several leading website hosting services such as GoDaddy.com. However, dotmobi websites do not actually need third-party hosting.

"GoMobi websites are hosted 'in the cloud' by DotMobi, so SMBs don't pay extra for hosting or have to worry about other technology aspects," said Trey Harvin, CEO of DotMobi. "Since a GoMobi website works on all mobile handsets, it ensures a business is available on the complete range of mobiles available, not just iPhones and Androids."

3. Avoid using Flash

"Get rid of Flash. Period, end of story," said Kate McGinley, vice president of operations at McGinley Media Limited, a mobil app and website development firm. "It's often not supported, and when it does, it takes too long to load, and you lose viewer interest." Unfortunately, many regular websites do include Flash. Be extra careful to find it and eliminate it on the pages you want to be mobile friendly.

4. Keep the 'Fat Finger' in mind

Nothing detracts from a mobile experience more than a frustrated consumer unable to navigate a mobile site and click on hyperlinked text, warned Diane Buzzeo, CEO of Ability Commerce. Given the small size of a mobile screen, make text links larger for a mobile website. Similarly, make it easy for people browsing a phone to call you. "Phone numbers normally displayed in text can be enhanced with code to call upon touch," she said. "Using TapToCall for customer service lines and other numbers is easy to integrate and a good alternative to advanced coding."

5. Find good website models

Look at sites that have well-built mobile versions and how they contrast with their traditional desktop site. Amazon, Newegg and CNN are a few examples where you can draw inspiration and best practices. "You'll find that they have removed animation and hover text, Web features that don't transfer over to mobile devices well," explained Buzzeo. "Take a cue from the leader in the industry and then test based on your own customer demographics."

Testing is important in order to see your mobile website as your customers do. Testing on actual devices can be difficult, especially if you don't already own all the devices you need to test. However, online testing sites are typically not as good as testing on the real device.

Try asking friends and customers to try your site on their device and offer feedback. This will dramatically reduce your testing cost, but it will also provide you with valuable insight into what your actual customers prefer to see on your new mobile-friendly website.

Pam Baker has written for numerous leading publications including, Institutional Investor magazine, CIO.com, NetworkWorld, ComputerWorld, IT World, Linux World, Internet News, E-Commerce Times, LinuxInsider, CIO Today Magazine, NPTech News (nonprofits), MedTech Journal, I Six Sigma magazine, Computer Sweden, the NY Times, and Knight-Ridder/McClatchy newspapers.

Small Business Computing is on Facebook. Join us on Facebook and interact with the site's editors, post messages, share your small business challenges and successes, discuss technology and suggest topics you'd like covered on Small Business Computing.

How to install gpodder 2.15 on ubuntu using PPA

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-install-gpodder-2-15-on-ubuntu-using-ppa.html

| Ubuntu Geek

(I installed gPodder on Pig7U by following the stops here, HL 20110518)

gPodder is a Podcast receiver/catcher written in Python and pyGTK. It manages podcast feeds for you, and automatically downloads all podcasts from as many feeds as you like. If you are interested in Podcast feeds, simply put the feed URLs into gPodder and it will download all episodes for you automatically. If there is a new episode, it will get it for you. It supports download resume, if the server supports it.

Features

iPod, MP3 player and mobile phone support

RSS, Atom, YouTube and Soundcloud feeds
Focus on Usability
Integrated with the gpodder.net Web Service
User interfaces: GTK+, Maemo 4, Maemo 5 and CLI
Plays well together with the Panucci podcast player
Open Source and Free Software (GPL v3 or later)

What is new in gpodder 2.15

Sanitize filename when saving to folder
Remove gstreamer track length detection
Win32: Fix issues with backslashes in commands
Better generation of one-line description
Fix bug when different podcasts have the same GUID
GTK UI: Fix podcast directory dialog layout
Translation updates:
French translation of gpodder.desktop (by Vysserk3)
Galician (by Gonçalo Cordeiro)
Norwegian Bokmål (by Jim Nygård)
Spanish (by Jorge Suárez de Lis)

Install gpodder 2.15 on ubuntu using PPA

Open the terminal and run the following commands

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thp/gpodder
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gpodder

How to Write an About Us for a Website

http://www.ehow.com/how_4507053_write-us-website.html

| eHow.com

First impressions really do matter. Visitors to your website who want to learn more about you and the services or products you provide can be positively influenced by a well written, sincere biographical page. Just as easily, however, potential clients and peers can be turned off by an "About Us" page that's poorly written.

1. Start with a brief recap of where and how you began. Did your business start out in your garage and expand from there? Were you always fascinated by electronics and couldn't wait to create a gadget of your own? Were you a pint-size chef before you could even reach the counter?
2. Tell how your years of experience and your skills have combined to bring you to the point where you are today. Mention staff members or key employees by name but keep it brief. You can add approximate revenue figures if you like.
3. Keep the tone light and factual. Don't include poetry, "words of wisdom" or other personal reflections on this page. A few well chosen pictures are appropriate, but choose those that accentuate a point you're making.
4. Focus on the product or service provided. Omit addiction history, marriage or family turmoil, or other dramatic references. If these facts seem appropriate to share with a client or visitor to the site, you can do so at another time.
5. Finish by thanking the visitor for coming to the site and include information on how best to reach you.

电子商务二次营销

http://dianshang.lu/2011/05/12/ecommerce-remarketing/

| 电商路

时间：2011年05月14日 作者：Rain 分类：网络营销 标签: 二次营销, 网络营销

网上店铺商家有很多不同的方法来转化一个潜在的消费者，其中最流行而且最有效的一种方法就是通过电子商务二次营销——使用不同的策略和全自动邮件系统来跟踪放弃购物车的网站访客。

什么是电子商务二次营销？

电子商务二次营销是一种用来减少购物车废弃率的营销技术，Experian曾经做过一项研究，研究报告是"二次营销报告：连接Web行为和电子邮件营销的基准和数据分析"，报告中指出网上店铺的购物车废弃率达到56.2%，报告同时指出对放弃购物车的网站访客进行有效的二次营销可以增加访客的转化率。

二次营销听起来好像很复杂，然而二次营销系统背后的理论和它有效实用的原因其实并不难理解，我们可以把电子商务二次营销简单地认为是这样一个过程：我们使用传统的营销手段把访客吸引到我们的网站，如果他最终没有购买，我们就使用二次营销的战略把访客重新带回到我们网站并且把他转化成付费的消费者。

当一个访客放弃购物车时会留下一些信息，至少会留下注册时填写的的e-mail地址，我们就可以利用这些资料来跟踪访客，主要是为我们的二次营销做准备。这种类型的交互就叫做转化营销或者是电子商务二次营销。

很多电子商务平台都提供全自动和事件触发式的方法在电子邮件中跟踪购物车废弃者。

电子商务二次营销中的软销售

在二次营销的电子邮件中，应当包含有利于提高访客转化率的相关信息，包括购物车废弃者放弃的交易细节信息，比如废弃者放弃的产品和一个可以返回网站购物车的链接以帮助他们继续完成结算付款。所有我们所掌握的关于消费者的有价值数据都可以用到二次营销的电子邮件中，从而使这一交互过程对消费者来说更加个性化和友好。

你可以用一种非常友好和温和的语气来个性化定制你的电子邮件，在营销学中，这通常叫做软销售，意思是说当你在二次营销中第一次和消费者接触时，邮件要使用一种温和的为顾客服务的语气。

顾客放弃最终结算购物车的原因可能有很多，除非你知道为什么顾客放弃购物车，否则你最好能够很温和而且能够提供帮助。不是要去"硬销售"，你需要在电子邮件中用一种温和的语气询问是不是有什么技术问题你可以帮助，这样非侵入性的沟通方式将有利于进一步二次营销。

关于二次营销电子邮件内容的五点建议

下面的一些建议可以帮助你构建一封成功的电子商务二次营销邮件。

1、在顾客购物结算的过程中要尽早收集顾客的注册信息，这样如果最终顾客放弃结算，这些注册信息将有助于你更好地开展二次营销。

2、使用尽可能详细的收集到的注册信息来使电子邮件更加个性化，更具有针对性。

3、在邮件中使用一些相关（relevant）性比较强的信息，比如在邮件中放上顾客浏览过的产品的图片，然后放上一个链接帮助顾客返回到购物车结算中心从而完成结算。

4、使用一种非侵入式的软销售沟通方式，记得要使邮件中的信息对顾客来说是有用的，问问顾客网站还可以在哪些方面改进用户的购物体验，这样要的效果要比"硬销售"好得多。

5、提供所有你的联系方式，而且他们可能遇到了什么技术问题，所以应该在邮件中放上技术支持的链接从而帮助他们更容易的完成购物。

>>如无特殊注明，皆为原创文章，欢迎转载。转载请注明：转载自电商路，谢谢！
>>原文链接地址：电子商务二次营销

Free Linux Network Backup Available from Arkeia Software

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/free-linux-network-backup-available-from-arkeia-software-121558453.html

-- SAN DIEGO, May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Celebrating its 15th Anniversary, Arkeia Software Offers a No-Cost, Perpetual License of Arkeia Network Backup for Small Networks

SAN DIEGO, May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Arkeia Software, a worldwide provider of backup and disaster recovery software and appliances, today announced the availability of a no-cost, perpetual license of Arkeia Network Backup version 9 for small networks.

Founded in 1996, Arkeia Software delivered the first professional network backup solution for Linux in 1997. Today, Arkeia continues to provide the deepest and broadest support for Linux and open source and protects more than 130 Linux platforms, including all Debian, Fedora, Red Hat, Mandriva, Novell, OpenSUSE, and Ubuntu distributions. With these new offerings Arkeia acknowledges the work of thousands of Linux users who have donated time and expertise to make Linux a viable operating system alternative worldwide.

Fully-featured Network Backup

Arkeia Network Backup, Free Edition is fully-featured and is not time-limited. One free, perpetual license is granted per individual (for personal use) or per company (for corporate use) and only web registration is required. The no-cost license includes:

• One backup server for any Linux distribution,
• Two backup agents to protect two machines including Windows workstations and any Linux, Mac OS X and BSD machines,
• Support of up to 250GB capacity for backup to disk,
• Support of any single tape drive for backup to tape, and
• Technical Support via on-line forums, knowledgebase, and Arkeia's documentation wiki.

"Linux is an ideal platform for secure, reliable backups," said Fred Renard, Arkeia Software's VP Marketing. "Arkeia maintains an on-going commitment to offer no-cost versions of its backup solution to the Linux community. Arkeia has offered no-cost licenses for backup servers and agents since 2000, and currently offers no-cost licenses for Ubuntu and VMware environments. Beginning today, we have extended support to all Linux platforms."

Broad Support for Open Source Platforms

Arkeia Software delivered the first professional network backup solution for Linux in 1997, the first Oracle on Linux backup support in 2000 and the first commercial support for MySQL backup in 2002. Today, Arkeia provides broad support for open source operating systems, databases, directory services and applications. Arkeia:

• Supports any Linux distribution on architectures including Intel x86-32, Intel x86-64, Itanium-2, Power PC, and zSeries as well as FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD
• Provides hot backup solutions for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and OpenLDAP open source applications
• Offers an open source reader for Arkeia's backup format so customers will always have the freedom to restore data, whether from disk or tape, protected with Arkeia Network Backup Software.

Arkeia supports both backup servers and backup agents with more than 130 dedicated packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Novell SLES & OES, OpenSUSE, Debian, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Slackware, CentOS Scientific Linux, and Fedora. With its generic glibc (Gnu C-library) install, Arkeia supports virtually every other Linux distribution, including Gentoo, Linux Mint, or PCLinuxOS.

Availability and Download

This no-cost version is available now with a verified registration at: www.arkeia.com/freelinuxbackup.

Licenses for additional file agents and any hot-backup agents, as well as for features including progressive deduplication™ and replication of backup sets to cloud, are not available for this Free Edition.

About Arkeia Software

Arkeia Software delivers fast, easy-to-use, and affordable solutions for data backup and disaster recovery. The award-winningArkeia Network Backup Suite is designed for mid-sized organizations and safeguards more than 100,000 networks for 7,000 customers in 70 countries. Arkeia's integrated solution is ideal for the consolidation of disparate backup products. We protect all major virtual platforms including VMware, Hyper-V, and XenServer—and over 200 physical platforms including AIX, BSD, HP-UX, Linux, Mac OS, Netware, Solaris, and Windows. Arkeia delivers software and both virtual and hardware appliances, backing up data to disk, tape, and the cloud. We provide bare-metal disaster recovery, LAN/WAN replication of backup sets, and numerous hot backup agents for applications and databases. Arkeia's unique source-side progressive deduplicationtechnology reduces storage requirements and accelerates backups, especially of virtual environments. Arkeia shipped the industry's first network backup solution for Linux in 1999 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Arkeia and Arkeia Network Backup are trademarks or registered trademarks of Arkeia Software, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

Arkeia Software Contact
Britton Spagnuolo
Communications Manager
+1.760.431.1319

SOURCE Arkeia Software

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RELATED LINKS
http://www.arkeia.com

Google I/O Kicks Off Tuesday: All Eyes On Android And New-Look Exec Team

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-google-io-kicks-off-tuesday-all-eyes-on-android-and-new-look-exec-team/

Every major tech company in Silicon Valley takes at least one turn at San Francisco's Moscone Center each year to show off their latest ideas and reinforce their standing among the community. This week, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) gets a shot, likely to highlight versions of its Android software for phones, tablets, and televisions while continuing to push a vision of computing with the Web at its center.

Google I/O has grown significantly since 2008, with the fourth incarnation set to kick off Tuesday. Nearly 5,500 attendees are expected to pony up for access to Google's roster of engineers, who will present sessions on nearly everything Google, from search to Web application development to browsers to mobile applications. Here's a breakdown of what to expect:

See more of our latest Mobile coverage or add an alert for future coverage of Mobile.

Android: Google's most successful product outside of search, Android, will likely draw the most attention during the week. The smartphone version of Android has been a rousing success, but tablet versions have yet to create any serious alternative to Apple's iPad. It would be surprising if Google didn't address the tablet question in some detail, either through new operating system versions or applications.

Google TV: One version of Android that hasn't really taken flight—Google TV—has been reported as worthy of an Google I/O slot. First introduced a year ago at this conference and launched last November, Google TV has faced opposition from the big network television companies and confusion among customers who encounter its remote controls. A preview of a next-generation version is expected, but enthusiasm for the concept in general is not strong leading into the show.

Chrome OS: Netbooks bearing Google's browser-centric operating system were supposed to have been launched last year, but delays forced the project into a mid-2011 launch schedule. Now that it's May 2011, presumably Google is ready to shed more light on exactly what types of Chrome OS netbooks will launch, and how much they will cost. It will also be interesting to see if Google talks up Chrome OS tablet-style devices, given that interest in the netbook has waned considerably since Chrome OS was first announced in 2009.

Web Standards: Google has used significant air time at the previous Google I/O conferences to urge adoption of HTML5 technologies as the pathway to a next-generation model of computing centered on the Web. This is still very much a work in progress. Expect Google to continue the evangelical call this week, with demonstrations of the types of sophisticated Web applications that are possible with HTML5 technologies.

Wild Cards: Some form of a Google music locker is inevitable, but has the company locked down enough of the details with the music industry for it to surface this week? Will Google Docs finally get offline access? Which Android tablet will Google give away to attendees, the Xoom or the Galaxy Tab?

Context: Google is a company that famously likes to celebrate its failures. That means Google I/O is probably its most celebratory week of each year, considering it has produced such notable failures asGoogle Wave and Google Friend Connect. As pointed out over the course of the weekend, Google doesn't necessarily save some of its most winning ideas for Google I/O: Google Instant was announced at its own event last September, for example.

However, this is the first Google I/O with Larry Page back at the helm of the company, and therefore the first chance for him to really put his stamp on the show. Google has been furiously reorganizing its executive ranks in the weeks since Page has taken over, and this Google I/O may give hints as to the new pecking order at Google with respect to the types of projects demonstrated at the show, and the people chosen to pitch those projects to the world.

It's a week in which all eyes will be on the company that dominates Web search, fumbles with social skills, and provides a defensible alternative to Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) in the mobile market. We'll be at Google I/O both days, and will bring you highlights and analysis of Google's week in the spotlight.

We'll be addressing some of these themes during our next conference, paidContent Mobile, May 18 in New York City. You can find out more about the agenda and register here.

6 Free Open Source Shopping Cart Software Options

http://www.ecommerce-guide.com//article.php/3668061

— eCommerce-Guide.com

By Matt Jackson

May 4, 2011

Updated on 05/04/2011

Open source shopping cart software is a big deal for a new merchant (or online retailer). One of the most alarming factors when starting your online retail business is the cost associated with commercial and proprietary shopping cart software.

While you can pay a few extra dollars for shopping cart software when signing up for a hosting Web server account, these subscription-based plans don't always offer the shopping cart functionality or design options that meet business needs. For the budget-strained new start-up, this is where open source software comes in to play.

Why Choose Open Source Shopping Cart Software?

Open source software refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge. Basically, many like-minded programmers create software that costs nothing for you to use and it can also be edited just as freely. The result of this collaboration of professional programmers is called open source software and it can be as feature-rich as its commercial competitors. Best of all, of course, it's free.

Generically, open source refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge, i.e., open. Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community. Open source sprouted in the technological community as a response to proprietary software owned by corporations.

Open source software is not a new concept, but it was once considered to be lacking in features and incredibly difficult to install without the help of a trained professional. However, now many open source shopping carts are as intuitive as commercial solutions. And, with such a vibrant and active open source community backing the software, there are many options available and lots of support should you need it. To help you decide what's a good fit for you, we've highlighted the features from six of the best open source shopping carts we would recommend.

Open Source Shopping Cart #1: osCommerce

osCommerce is one of the most widely used and highly respected open source shopping cart tools available. The software itself has been developed and improved over the years and new additions and add-ons are submitted on a daily basis. The result is a user-friendly, secure and stable ecommerce shopping cart. osCommerce is one of the beste-commerce solutions available. If it doesn't have a feature you want, and that's unlikely because we've only scratched the surface in this article, then check out the online community because you are virtually guaranteed that somebody somewhere has instructions on how to achieve it.

Easy Shopping Cart Installation: Installation is a breeze; completed entirely through your Internet browser. All features and functions are enabled automatically giving you complete use of the software within minutes of downloading it.

Category and Product Management: There are no limitations in terms of the number of categories or products that you can add. Whether you want to sell just a handful of items or open up the next giant online shopping center, it's your choice. You are also free to sell physical products or digital products according to your own business needs. Search features make it easy for your visitors to quickly and intuitively find products they desire.

Design Implementation and Modification: The design of the front-end software can be easily altered. By using a template structure, osCommerce enables you to change certain aspects of your entire site without having to alter every individual page. You can even link products to display in "similar items" sections and you can automatically display "special offer" items and any other promotions.

Payment Integration: Payment integration is easy. As well as integrating credit/debit cards, checks, and other offline payment methods, osCommerce can be integrated with PayPal, 2CheckOut and many more online payment processors.

Shopping Cart Add-ons: To date there are over 6,500 add-ons available for free to customize osCommerce online stores to help increase sales.

• Recommended osCommerce Reading: osCommerce Version 3, OS Commerce: The True Cost of Free Carts, Starting Your Own E-Business: Choosing a Platform

Open Source Shopping Cart #2: Zen Shopping Cart

The Zen shopping cart is another feature-packed, simple-to-use solution backed by a very strong community. As well as offering the same template design structure as osCommerce, Zen Cart offers an excellent range of advanced features that go beyond the general realms of shopping cart functionality. An e-mail and newsletter manager is a very beneficial tool and the flexibility in product and price options is also excellent.

Shopping Cart Installation: Setting up is simple. The installer queries the main Zen Cart database and server to discover the specific requirements for your installation. You don't need to be technically savvy or have any knowledge of programming. As long as you know how to install software and use a browser, you can use Zen Cart.

Inventory and Catalog Management: Unlimited categories, sub categories and products are supported and product option boxes can be added in the shape of radio buttons, drop-down menus and more. Flexibility is the key to successful e-commerce and Zen Cart doesn't just recognize this, it openly encourages it. You can offer discounts according to the number of items a customer buys, you can set a minimum or maximum order level and the price can be determined according to the options that your shoppers choose. You can even implement sale prices according to category, region or individual products.

Customer Retention Tools and Features: Customer retention is important. Zen Cart offers a number of beneficial tools to help improve or maximize your retention levels. Gift certificates, order tracking, referral tracking, newsletter management and customer registration options are just some of the features you can implement on your site.

Payment Processing and Gateway Options: Offline and online payment processing can be fully and easily integrated into a Zen Cart e-store. Again, popular online processors like PayPal and 2CheckOut can be offered to your customers. All in all, Zen Cart is a powerful e- commerce tool with a lot of beneficial features and easy installation.

• Recommended Zen Cart Reading: Starting Your Own E-Business: Choosing a Platform, A New Breed of Open Source Shopping Carts, Open Source: Noteworthy Newcomers

Open Source Shopping Cart #3: Agora Shopping Cart

AgoraCart is an open source shopping cart offered by Agora, and it is a good one. The shopping cart and catalog can be completely customized to exactly match your requirements thanks to the use of CSS files. This also enables you to change the look and feel of your entire site in just a few minutes and with just one or two changes.

Managing Your Inventory: Categories and products are again unlimited and the flexibility is astounding. As well as being able to add as many categories and as much merchandise as you like, you can manage virtually every aspect of each category. Products can also be handled individually or in batches. You can change the display of products according to their categories, enabling longer descriptions, more images or many other variables. You can even change the design according to the "department" that your customers are viewing.

Merchant Storefront Features: AgoraCart offers a number of order processing and order management features that will help merchants in running their online store. This includes support for multiple payment types, automatic sale stax calculation, order tracking, printable packing slips and more.

Payment Options and Summary: All major offline and online gateways are supported. This includes AgoraPay, set up and maintained by the same company. PayPal integration is also supported. Agora Cart is a very good shopping cart system that can hold its own against Open Source and commercial packages. The community regularly holds competitions to find the best add-ons for the cart, proving that a vibrant and helpful support network exists.

• Recommended Agora Shopping Cart Reading: Starting Your Own E-Business: Choosing a Platform

Open Source Shopping Cart #4: NoPCart

NopCart, created by NopDesign, is an extremely simple shopping cart application with the main difference when compared to others being that it is written entirely in JavaScript. This means you can use it on your Web site without having to have CGI access. One potential drawback is that NopCart is lacking in some of the more advanced features. It is only really possible to update basic product information, tax information and a minimum order level.

Simplicity Is Key: However, what NopCart lacks in functionality it more than makes up for in simplicity. Installation is a breeze, with only two files actually required for a standard English language installation. Other language packs are included with the download.

Client-Side JavaScript Application: NopCart is a client side application and this means less load on your server. You should seriously consider using NopCart as your shopping cart software if you have a small site or you already have it packed with files and pages.

Summary: Support is fairly limited for this mostly open-source program. However, its simplicity means that you are unlikely to suffer anything that hasn't already been identified and conquered by the forum users. Overall, it is an excellent and extremely quick way to add shopping cart functions to your Web site.

• Recommended NoPCart Reading: Starting Your Own E-Business: Choosing a Platform, Tips When Considering Open Source Software

Open Source Shopping Cart #5: Commerce.Cgi

Commerce.Cgi is one of the oldest and best established of all e-commerce applications. Nearly 10 years have passed since it became the first Perl shopping basket, and being open source, that means a huge amount of development has ensued. As well as a mass of features, Commerce.Cgi provides a backend system that is simple to install and even simpler to manage.

General Cart Features: Included among the quite staggering list of features is the option to offer unlimited products in any amount of categories. You also have the capability to manage a newsletter, offer loyalty promotions and gift certificates, include product reviews and pictures, and much more.

Shopping Cart Options: Full shipping options can be added and amended. This gives you the freedom to charge different shipping amounts depending on location and set a number of other invaluable options. It is compatible with all major online payment processors including PayPal and Authorize.net.

Support: The level of support is also extremely impressive considering this is an open source project. In the support forum you can have questions answered by the community as well as by Commerce.Cgi professionals.

Summary: Commerce.Cgi is one of the oldest and most highly revered e-commerce solutions, and is open source software. Despite being free, it offers an incredible range of features combined with simple installation and a surprising level of support from the support forums.

• Recommended Commerce.Cgi Reading: Starting Your Own E-Business: Choosing a Platform

Open Source Shopping Cart #6: CRE Loaded

CRE Loaded offers several paid/supported shopping cart solutions but the PCI CE Shopping Cart is an open source shopping cart that is open source, community supported and free to use. Store owners who are strong do-it-yourselfers will benefit from less programming and more control.

Shopping Cart Options: The CRE Loaded Community Edition (CE) is a PCI Compliant shopping cart. It includes the CRE Secure PCI Compliant Payment System and many shopping cart options such as account creation, order editing and management, cross-selling, shipping modules, templates and more.

Support: More than 50 community contributions make CRE Loaded (CE) a complete starter application for small business. Support is community-based and available via the CRE forums. If you like the cart you can switch to a fully supported CRE Loaded cart.

Summary: This cart is recommended for ecommerce sites that were developed for the SOHO (small office, home office) store owner who wants to add transactional capabilities to an existing website.

• Recommended CRE Loaded Reading: Open Source: CRE Loaded 6.31 Released...for A Price, Can Iozzia Get the CRE Loaded Love Back?, Social Shopping Gaining, CRE Loaded Half Off

Why Open Source Software Spells Success

Establishing an ecommerce website doesn't have to be an expensive job. In addition to saving you money, using open source shopping cart software can prove more effective and beneficial than commercial software because skilled programmers release new source code and additions to the software on a regular basis. You are free to pick this code up and use it on your own site at no charge. This means that open source shopping cart software always has the functions that e-store owners want.

More Open Source Shopping Cart Software Resources

We've only covered five of the most well known Open Source carts. If you want more, then visit the SourceForge.netWeb site, which not only contains Open Source shopping carts, but a vast range of other applications that may be of use to you. You can also learn more about open source shopping cart software in the following articles from Ecommerce-Guide, Small Business Computing and other internet.com sites.

• Open Source E-Commerce: Twelve Promising Programs
• Open Source's Commercial Future
• E-Commerce Cart News Round Up
• Shopping cart software defined
• What is open source software?
• 58 Open Source Software Apps for Small Business
• 10 Tips When Considering Open Source Software
• Starting Your Own E-Business: Choosing a Platform