It's a shame that Smith Cart doesn't quite live up to customer expectations. I too have had issues on three sites, but I had hoped that over time it would improve.
Catalook is a very solid product. I was talking with a client just last week who we've upgraded the site and store for, and he's been using it since DNN 3 days, and we've upgraded over time and it is rock solid.
While I believe the interface could do with sharpening up, and the admin interface could be tabbed instead of scrolling, I have been very happy with it and once you know how the functionality works, I am sure you will be pleased.
One thing I really like about this application is reading about the releases. I like finding the new features of the store when a client has a request for something and I wonder if it will work or not.
The manual is a behemoth - it's very large, but if you were to follow the instructions step by step in the area you're looking for, you really can get things to work.
The support is pretty good. Sometimes it gets a bit behind, but that's generally when there a new builds with issues, like old telerik dlls breaking things and membership management changed which was done once by DNN team without notification to developers, so that caused a few headaches.
The shipping and payment gateways are great, but I wish there was one for Australia - we have issues with shipping due to lack of any decent api to get them to write against in reference to Australia Post.
The source code is available for further development.
I"ve seen some pretty ordinary stores done with Catalook, through to some really high end stores, so there definitely is a demand.
The price of the store is fair and able to be transferred to clients without them balking.
And, if you come up with a good idea, you have the choice to get it written just for your use, or if it's really good, they may offer some discounted coding and add to the next build to make it a better product.
I am also testing NOP Commerce, and I'm working with Magento, X-cart and oscommerce to look at real comparisons of products when it comes to offering solid solutions for customers. Out of the all, Catalook does stand up along side for it's reliablity, ability to be embedded into a portal solution and integrate seamlessly and it can be skinned to look like a site and not a store.
Just my thoughts on the matter.
Sorry you have woes with smith cart.. it just didn't work for me either and I wish it had. My client was unable to get a refund either, but you live and learn. I do hope however, to get a developer version of the product to see why it has issues and maybe get them sorted out of time, but at this stage, would not use on important clients. I would rather see the product sorted out because DotNetNuke does need more ecommerce to suit the many different needs people have when setting up shop!
Nina Meiers.
Nina Meiers My Little Website
If it's on DNN, I fix, build, deploy, support,skin, host, design, consult, implement, integrate and done since 2003.
Who am I? Just a city chic, having a crack at organic berry farming.. and creating awesome websites.
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