Hello:

The store module, in it's current state, really isn't an optimal choice for a non-developer. It is a great foundation for those that code, but some assembly is required, so to speak. Specifically, the store module does not include a "Purchase Order" or "Will Call" payment provider, only including paypal and authorize.net. To be fair, the provider model exposed by the module is easily extended to include your own payment gateway, but again, requires code.

The other bigger issue, is that most of the administration functionality one would expect of an ecommerce module is absent from the store module.

The good news is, that the module's previous team lead, Robert Collins, was fortunate enough to get a huge amount of work back from a developer who had gone incommunicado on the project due to being hospitalized for an extended period of time. This code, at the very least, includes being ported to VS2005 project. That by itself will mean the ability to use many of the advanced asp.net 2.0 features, most notably, the Wizard control.

Time will tell what other features are incorporated into the forthcoming release, but with these modifications, it will be possible for the intermediate developer to port any of the numerous Commerce Starter Kit 2.0 providers into the module, license permitting. The CSK has tens of providers for payment & shipping and more, and a vibrant community to boot. Although it's nuts and bolts are completely different, most of the providers can most likely be shared or ported for use with a future release of the Store Module.

-Kenneth S. Courtney
http://aciasoftware.com