I'm working on changing web hosting companies for my store, and one thing we'd like to do once the change is fully made is integrate RMS with an online shopping cart system. We will probably have to hire someone for the job, because everything I've read indicates there are few, if any, out of the box solutions.
I'd like to know if anyone has successfully integrated RMS with Zen Cart or OsCommerce. I'm particularly interested in Zen Cart, as I've been advised that it's a good system, and the web host I am eyeing offers free installation of it.
Of course, if such integration is simply not possible, I need to know sooner rather than later. And I'd very much like to know if there are any needs for a web host that I ought to know about before we move the website.
I'd appreciate any answers, either here or through e-mail.
If you are a web integration company who wants to offer your services, please answer through e-mail and give me an idea how much the integration would cost. I work for a very small retail store with less than 10 employees, so money is DEFINITELY an issue.
You can have your webstore running in 1 day (after they set it up)very Limited on web design look and feel, unless you tweek the hell out of the CSS. Good technical support. Many Payment gateways. $$$ depends on your re-seller. Often HUGE differences in pricing. $3000-$5000 software $100-$1000 per month based on items/bandwidth.
KOSMOS
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by bandwidth. based on X-Cart which has LOTS of add-ons
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responsive support. (maybe they are busy signing up customers!)Supports RMS HQ Only 2 Payment Gateways. $54.95 for 10GB, $74.95 for 20Gb of bandwidth (10 more for $100 per year) $2495.00 for software then hosting (see above)
NitroSell version 3 now allows complete HTML customisation - for HTML savvy web developers, as well as CSS tweeking. The range of pre-set templates is growing for those who don't want to invest the time and money on a unique feel.
It also comes with a Product Attribute Manager (PAM) to quickly create all of the custom information required to run a webstore, such as web price, web descriptions, web promotions, rating, etc... Images are scaled automatically as well!
Over 15 payment gateways to choose from, including Abanco, Worldpay, Paypal.
The search engine optimisation (SEO) is excellent. Built in UPS shipping support Built in matrix item support Built in multi currency support Built in promotion code support Built in RMS HQ support ... plus much more...
Reseller pricing varies based on the amount of custom work that you want them to do for you, starting at $2000 for an "out of the box" product.
I like to add that X-Cart supports a larger number of payment gateways and not just two. Since we develop on the X-Cart platform and our Web Service allows for the RMS integration I would go to X-Cart Features home page for more information on what the cart offers. We also have an Oscommerce solution going through beta testing (please inquire if you'd like to beta test), but for $199 bucks, X-Cart is a much more powerful solution. Free is not always the best direction to go in.
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As you can see by the above Payment Gateway Link X-cart supports almost 40 Gateway Solutions, Kosmos just has two favorites we like to work with.
I would also like to state that Kosmos has implemented new support plans and an improved ticketing systems. We are very responsive and our support staff will respond to all customers that same day and usually within hours of posting a ticket.
Our solution is very appealing and YES we are busy signing up lots of new customers, and our support staff is very busy making sure that current customers that are signing up are getting the support they need for a successful site launch. I would contact Kosmos and ask for a couple client referrals that have gone through the whole integration process and one that is currently getting setup and ask their opinions about Kosmos support.
For more information please contact us and review the below link.
Lilian, our customers own their software 100% and as long as you have a LAMP solutions and Zend Optimizer/Encoder on your server you can host anywhere.
Kosmos will not support 3rd party server set-up but will assist in offering feedback at our hourly rate. We also will not guarantee our software will work on any 3rd party server either, because there are thousands of configurations. Kosmos has no control over 3rd party hosting environments and if your site software fails to work based on updates or configuration changes, we'll continue to help diagnose any server configuration problems at our hourly rate.
Since there are a number of problems you may run into when setting up a new server and developing a new site, I highly suggest hosting with Kosmos for the first quarter or two before you decide to move to a new environment.
I would like to roll back my comment about support at Kosmos. I really have to had enough contact with them to judge whether their support is good or bad, just initial question emails. It isn't fair of me to make a judgement without more experience.
In comparing the two, I have received replies in less than 24 hours with Nitrosell and 24 hours-1 day with Kosmos (apparently 1 email was lost).
What are the requirements for a hosting company? Do you provide hosting, or can I host on my own server? Does Nitrosell include a shopping cart program for the web, or is it just an integration program with an existing cart program? PLEASE feel free to e-mail me details on your integration plans. Thanks.
This sounds like reason enough not to buy... If you advertise that it will work with third party hosting solutions, it should be able to work under all configurations! And it should be supported!
Own the softwre 100%? What happens if Kosmos goes out of business. The software that I own 100% "might" work elsewhere? In that case, owning the software outright is pretty useless...
Kosmos has been in operation since July-2001 and the founders were involved with eCommerce and web solutions far before that. Kosmos has tripled in growth for the past 3 years and is continually searching for new talent to hire. The reason I posted the disclaimer is because there are so many variables involved with software and you can't expect macintosh software to work with windows or linux. Our software will work in a LAMP environment, or linux, apache, mySQL, php and with Zend Optimizer. If you purchase or host on a linux server then you're
90% there. If you want to host on a windows box with a LAMP solution then we'll assist and debug the setup too. As long as you have educated, knowledgeable server hosting support staff, then they should easily be able to manage a 3rd party server. Once the solution is running its bullet proof and you'll have no problems unless your support staff reconfigures the server to cause communication issues. Obviously if we offer a software upgrade that requires the latest version of PHP, we'll inform 3rd party hosting clients requesting software upgrade to upgrade their version of PHP first. Once the 3rd party hosted server is working it's an awesome product and all of our
3rd party dedicated customers that are using our software can't agree more
I also would like to state that hosting on your own server is an option but not required. We'd actually love to have our RMS eCommerce clients host with us, because our servers are always upgraded to the latest software supported 24x7x365 days of the year and we obviously know our hosting environment like the back of our hands. Our prices are very reasonable too. Please check out our hosting prices at:
Your prices are so far above the industry standards, I have to wonder if your servers are gold-plated. $35 a month for only 100mb of space and a measly 4gb of bandwidth? $225 a year extra just for SSL? These prices seem ridiculously high. I've been doing a lot of research into hosts while looking into this web integration thing, and your prices look like something out of the 90s. Nobody else is insulting their customers with options as poor as yours for such high prices.
I really don't know if I'll eventually choose to present you folks as an option to my boss, but I'm certain that you won't be hosting us.
Wait, Nitrosell is HIGHER? Holy carps, and I thought Kosmos was offering poor hosting service prices.
Are these companies counting on their customers being completely ignorant about web hosting? I'm guessing most retailers really are ignorant, but these prices are beyond the realm of reason... isn't someone likely to find out how much they are being taken for and get a tad upset? Or are these hosting prices full-service, they take care of everything for you? I don't see any indication that Kosmos offers to fully create your site for you, or that the integration cost is part of the hosting price.
I'm sorry, I just can't see any justification, based on my research of the market, for such high hosting prices.
Web hosting is an insignificant part of the overall cost of an integrated RMS to eCommerce solution. Nitrosell is offering a complete solution to the very complicated task of selling product on-line out of your RMS inventory. It sounds like Kosmos is doing the same thing, although they are willing to let you shop your hosting service if you choose to. Be aware that just like everything else, you get what you pay for with hosting providers. Some of the low cost vendors look like they are offering everything you need to install and run your solution, until you need them to grant permissions for your application the actually work and they tell you that's against their policy.
I've implemented 4 different e-commerce solutions for RMS. The only one of those I am willing to do again is NitroSell. If you choose to price shop this project I wish you luck, but I can tell you right now that you will absolutely regret not going with a provider that offers an end to end solution.
E-commerce sites have become a commodity. It's almost trivial to put up a site that lets you sell on-line. E-Commerce sites that are integrated with RMS are a completely different story. That's why there are only a few choices out there.
I guess you haven't even checked out storefront too:
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I'm surethe $59/month.
When you're talking about RMS eCommerce integration, 1st tear support and companies that want a live person to talk to and great customer service regarding their hosting account, web development, web marketing, shopping cart and RMS integration that's why our packages may seem higher, but are consistently lower than our RMS eCommerce competition's rates.
Really? Then why does Kosmos' site have the price jump so much when they offer another 100mb of disk space? Does the amount of disk space you have relate so closely to the integration of the product that they can justify a $20 a month raise in price for a measly 150mb of space? Your words and Kosmos' pricing scheme do not match up.
So are you saying that the web hosting cost is the FULL cost of the integration service? Because if a retailer has to pay that extremely high cost and then another couple of thousand dollars on top of it for the integration itself, it's not a deal, it's a scam. Webhosting was expensive ten years ago, it's not any more. And if I'm paying for the integration with a couple thousand dollars, I don't expect to also pay for it monthly. I don't see where they can justify the price. A little higher than most hosts, maybe. That much higher, no way.
I've done enough research to know to be careful, but I also know that $35 for 100mb/4gb bandwidth is such a bad price that it doesn't MATTER. I can find at least 100 hosting services that I trust that would give me ten to one hundred times that space and bandwidth for less than $25, and complete control over my end product (my website). If they are advertising web space at those prices, they need to demonstrate that they are offering *much* more than hosting.
I see nothing on Kosmos' site that indicates they are offering anything more than any of those other hosting services for that price (is web integration included?), and NitroSell's site is so poorly designed that I can't even find their webhosting information, just a horrible little demo of a shopping cart page that doesn't give me any of the information I actually want.
I will regret going with a provider that doesn't provide services equal to the rest of the internet. If Kosmos and Nitrosell believe they can scam ignorant retailers by over-charging them for webspace and bandwidth, that's their lookout. I have yet to see any justification for those prices that makes any sense to me.
This I believe. But frankly, hiring a programmer to do the integration would be far cheaper and reliable than spending incredibly high amounts on web hosting service that isn't up to par. I work for a *small* business. If I worked for a huge retail chain, paying such prices might possibly make sense. For us, they are just an attempt to gouge. I cannot recommend such a poor solution to my boss.
Powweb - $7.77 per month. I have been with them for many years and would recommend them 100%. Reliable, supportive, feature rich.They have Zend optimizer and everything required to run Kosmos (as I understand it).
If I own the software 100%, there is no reason to pay more than $7.77 per month on an ongoing basis. And if a slight web host configuration change might make your e-commerce solution tank, then it's only worth it's weight in dirt.
I'd pay the price up front for a rock solid, 100% owned RMS linked e-commerce solution, but I'm not going to raked over the coals month after month just to be beholden to a web host. If you want to call the higher prices the Kosmos service plan or ongoing support - fine.
That being said, if you can't fork over $35 per month for hosting, you probably aren't ready for a full blown web store. However, some of us just want a way to showcase our items without all of the bells and whistles (credit card processing, shipping integration, or even online purchasing sometimes). There's got to be an easier way to just make a simple website that integrates with your RMS Item table and pictures to showcase items that you want to display on your website.
Is anyone else in this situation? Maybe we can get a developer to focus on our needs instead of an expensive one-size-fits-all solution.
We have RAID5 server clusters linked to multiple ISPs with multiple cable network suppliers and backup power sources AND that's just for the dynamic content (prices, descriptions, etc). For the static content (images, music clips, etc) we distribute the data across
17,000 servers worldwide to ensure that your customers get the best possible experience from your webstore - fast access to every page and everything on it.
We're totally focussed on giving retailers a top level of service. Think of it as being the difference between a bricks and mortar store in a busy shopping mall and a little store down a side street. Keep in mind that every retailer looks as big as every other retailer on the web and that experience then becomes the key. There are plenty of studies that prove that slow sites are discouraging to shoppers...
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