Who should use CartIt
- First things first- CartIt is Orphanware- CartIt Corporation no longer exists; the software was released as no-cost before they were dissolved. The server side of the cart is written in PERL- so every user has the source code and the cart should work forever. Anyone can modify CartIt as needed in the future (that is why this site exists as a resource). Second part of the equation is the Windows utilities delivered with CartIt- CommerceBuddy and CommerceMonkey still exist, but there will be no new versions- the source is lost (as is the original developer). I fully intend to develop a CommerceBuddy "work-alike" that is cross-platform and open source. This (and other release) should be happening in the next 5-6 months (from October 2009) as PCI compliance issues are dealt with for manual processors. Once the PCI issues are cleared up, I should be creating a drop-in replacement for CartIt so your site does not need to be redesigned. Please be aware CartIt is not in the Public Domain- the corporation could be reformed and request license fees, but this is not likely as the software was licensed for free for years before ceasing to exist. I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. Many sucessful e-commerce sites started with CartIt, and many still use it today. Don't fix what isn't broke. CartIt died partly due to its robustness- the only time most users need support is when they are starting out or need to make changes.
CartIt is intended for use by small to medium size online entities. The design is very flexible as the server side is written in PERL and the source code is the program itself. What this means is no matter what happens to CartIt (the company), you may continue to use CartIt (the shopping cart) and even adapt the cart with new features specifically designed for your business.
Who should not use CartIt?
CartIt is not intended for high volume site operators (total orders of more than hundreds daily) or for those who do not review each order prior to delivery. Having said this, we have seen sites which handle volumes in the range of hundreds of orders per day smoothly using CartIt; much beyond that and you may want to customize the cart for your business and volume. The CartIt shopping cart has features and flexibility unparalled by any other cart. Simply put, you can grow with CartIt, grow out of it, or grow it into something entirely your own.
What you should know
There are some large sites on the Internet today who got their starts with CartIt. Once you hit the big time, you'll likely have the resources to build a custom solution, and CartIt will give you and your team the experience to move into that realm while avoiding common pitfalls such as designing a "cookie-cutter" template based e-commerce site. We've seen people switch FROM CartIt and abruptly return when they see sales fall sharply and they drop out of the search engines. Of course, if you start off with a broken method "cookie cutter" style, your venture may fail with you thinking it was your offer that lacked- sort of like going out of business because you told your customers to put their products in the cash register instead of the shopping cart- imagine the looks you'd get- (TIP- payment gateways are not shopping carts).