TomatoCart V1.1 vs. ZenCart V1.3.9c

Preface

ZenCart and TomatoCart are both open source shopping cart based originally on

osCommerce, running on the LAMP environment (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and

PHP). Developed since 2003, ZenCart has gained popularity with its reliability,

solid feature list and ease of use. However, TomatoCart, started in 2010 is still a

rising star, which is well known for its innovative “winbows” admin panel with

more concern about user experience and functionality.

This article is written for those who are not familiar with TomatoCart or those who

can’t make a decision when facing the two eCommerce solutions. Focusing on

functionality (built-in functionality in majority) comparison, the content of the

article is objective with no discrimination.

Essentials

Both carts are quick to install and easy to learn. The requirements of two carts

indicate low cost on hosting. However, different from web 1.0 technology based

osCommerce, TomatoCart applies the modern web 2.0 technology such as RIA

(Rich Internet Application), Ajax, which provides a familiar windows operation

environment and boosts the operation efficiency.

  TomatoCart Zen Cart

RequirementsPHP5.1.6+

MySQL4.1.13+ or 5.0.7+PHP4.0+ MySQL4.1.14+

Open Source

Unlimited products

Fee none none

SSL support Full or shared SSL full or shared SSL

Knowledge level for

codingintermediate intermediate

Ease of use easy easy

Appearance

Front end:

TomatoCart

ZenCart

According to w3schools’research, most users are using a screen resolution of

1024x768 pixels or higher, with a color depth of at least 65K (Learn more?).That

means, compared with the Zen Cart’s 750px width template, TomatoCart’s front

end with a template in 960px width caters to more users nowadays.

Back end:

TomatoCart

ZenCart

See any difference? Right, Zen Cart inherits the traditional looking of

osCommerce; while the desktop-looking admin panel of TomatoCart is multi-

window-supported, which brings clients sleek and efficient operation experience.

What’s more, you are allowed to set shortcut, auto run, quick start and context

menu at your discretion.

Site Management

Site management, generally speaking, should include all the basic tools to

organize your sites and it decides the performance of your sites and the flexibility

of your site settings. In addition to basic site management tools, TomatoCart has

created its unique tools such as department management, which allow customers

to choose the department they’d like to contact. While ZenCart is featured with

  TomatoCart Zen Cart

Multi-Lingual

Multi-Currency

Tax

Weight Classes

Zone/Country

WYSIWYG

Separate Web Mail

Email template

Newsletter Management

Watermark Tool

Roles Permission

ManagementLimited Add-on

Reports

Captcha

Maintenance Mode

Department Management

CMS:

CMS, simplifying your publication of web content, is a special and indispensable

part of shopping cart software. If you wanna make your site attractive, impressive

and distinctive, you should turn to help of CMS. Ranging from simple article to

indicative video, high-end CMS is capable of doing nearly anything you comes up

with. But it doesn’t absolutely indicate the more, the better. It’s up to your

demand. Never be too greedy, which always run counters to your desire.

  TomatoCart ZenCart

Article

Guest Book

Polls

Slide Images/Image Menu

Product Slider

Product Scroller

  TomatoCart ZenCart

Videos

EZ-Pages

Template Layout

Catalog Management

As a proverb says, effort doubled, result halved. I do believe a clear catalog layout makes your

work simple! Let’s take a careful look at this part.

  TomatoCart ZenCart

Category management

Downloadable/Digital

Products

Manufacturer

Specials

Featured Product

Upcoming Product

Popular Search Terms

Product comparisons

Product reviews/ratings limited

Product Management

TomatoCart is featured with a sleek experience when you are adding new

products; however, ZenCart is a little messy.

  TomatoCart ZenCart

Multiple Images Per

Product

Reports limited

Duplicate Products

Batch Add

Product/specials

Short description

Up-sells in Shopping

Cart

Attachment

  TomatoCart ZenCart

Accessory

Image Zoom

Customer Management

How to manage your customers? Treat them all the same? Definitely not! Different

treatment is needed here to boost your online sales. For example, you can divide

them into several customer groups and give them different discounts according to

their order records. In a word, a perfect customer management is also a powerful

marketing tool.

  TomatoCart ZenCart

Status setting

Add in admin

Batch Add

Store Credits

Customer group

Whish List

IP

Order Management

Sometimes, orders will be taken by phone, which requires the shopping cart

system with a manual order-adding functionality. Sometimes, customers may

return a product. And sometimes… There are a lot of exceptions you have to take

into consideration. Let’s see whether your shopping cart software has thought of

the exceptions in advance!

  TomatoCart ZenCart

Manage orders from admin

Create, edit orders from

admin panel.add-on

Create one or multiple

invoices, shipments and

credit memos per order to

allow for split fulfillment

  TomatoCart ZenCart

Return Request

Abandoned Cart

Track Order

Store Credit/Credit Slips

Order statuses

Marketing, Sales and SEO

Nowadays, Marketing is considered as a key to popularity and success. Without

exception, it is also a significant part of shopping cart software. Built-in

promotional tools not only cut down on the cost but also boost your revenue.

Aside from promotional tools, SEO brings you a good result when customers are

searching store or product via search engines.

  TomatoCart ZenCart

Google Site Map add-on

URL Rewrites add-on

Meta-information for

products and

categories

Coupons limited

Catalog Promotional

Pricing

Multi-tier pricing

Customer groups each

with its own pricing

structure

add-on

Wish list

Cross Sell

Accessory

RSS Feed

Newsletter

Gift Certificates

Checkout

Checkout determines the sales conversion. Customers will be bothered by

complex check out processes and limited choices.

  TomatoCart ZenCart

Delivery / Billling

address

One-Page Checkout add-on

Checkout without

account/Guest

Checkout

add-on

Shipping to multiple

addresses in one order

Gift Wrapping

Payment Gateways:

People all around the world definitely have different favored payment methods.

What if they can’t find the gateway they are looking for or there is no other

alternative payment gateway? What a frustrating shopping experience!

Consequently, multiple choices of payment methods should be prepared to satisfy

all kinds of need. Here we just compare the built-in payment gateways of both

shopping cart.

Till now, TomatoCart supports more than twenty integrated payment gateways.

As to ZenCart, You may see payment module add-ons of it here .