Choosing Ecommerce Software

Actinic Ecommerce Software

Having looked at and worked with many different ecommerce platforms, I believe that Actinic represents one of the best all round solutions. Every shopping cart software has its advantages and disadvantages, and it is important to choose the platform that best suits your needs.

Advantages of using Actinic

  • Easy to use
  • Once the site has been set up there are usually very few problems to deal with
  • Produces search engine friendly web pages
  • Integrates with a wide variety of payment gateways
  • Actinic is an established company and has been trading since 1996
  • Well established online community with some very helpful members. If you encounter a problem with Actinic the chances are that someone else has experienced the same issue and the solution can be found in the forum. If it’s a new issue then there are usually people who can help.
  • Real-time stock control

Disadvantages of using Actinic

  • Customer account / login facility very limited
  • You can only download orders from one computer
  • Software is not free ~ the software ranges from £265 up to £800. There are more expensive options if you want multi-user access or multi-site software.
  • If you want your webmaster to make any technical changes this involves sending them a snapshot of the site, they then make the changes and send you a new snapshot which you need to import. This can sometimes be a cumbersome and glitchy procedure.

Customer Accounts / Login

With Actinic, customers can’t register as a member of your site in real-time. They can fill out a form that emails you their details, but you then need to create their account for them and email them their login details. Once they are a member they are not able to change any of their details in real-time. Again they would have to notify you if they wanted to change their address or password for example – you would need to make the changes for them.

Summary / Conclusion

Actinic is a good, reliable platform that is straightforward to use and is still popular with many website owners. So long as you don’t need to login and process orders away from the office and you don’t need customer account facilities then Actinic can be a good, cost-effective platform to use.

To date I have worked on or built over 25 Actinic ecommerce websites, so I am very familiar with the software, how it works and what to do if problems occur.

Ecommerce websites can cost anywhere from £800 to £10K to design and build, depending on a variety of factors. If you are thinking about setting up an ecommerce website, please complete my Ecommerce Website Questionnaire and return it to me at rob@matrix23.co.uk – this will allow me to better understand what it is you want to achieve and will enable me to compile an accurate quotation for you.

More Information

For more information about Actinic Business visit http://www.actinic.co.uk/products/business-ecommerce-software.htm

Please feel free to contact us for any further information regarding ecommerce websites.