Storefront or Shopping Cart

We already have a working web site, so we aren't looking for a storefront. We are looking for a robust shopping cart system that can work within the structure of an existing site.

It needs to have a good product database, have a customizable cart and checkout, and the ability to tap into features such as shipping, coupons, affiliates, etc.

Can zen cart be used in such a way? We're willing to invest some development resources to make it happen.

Thanks!

Zen Cart is not designed to be the back end of a website, so the short answer to your question is no.

Thanks for the very direct answer, it is appreciated! I don't suppose you know of any similar solutions that might fit the bill?

Thanks!

Not off-hand. I know some people have used an "embed" add on to add Zen Cart to an existing site, but I don't have any details. Try searching the forum for info.

cbad:

It needs to have a good product database, have a customizable cart and checkout, and the ability to tap into features such as shipping, coupons, affiliates, etc.

That pretty much describes Zencart and the bold part implies you'll be inserting products into Zencart, so it seems like it would make sense just to convert your site to all Zencart and be done with it.

It's pretty easy to style Zencart to look like your current site, and EZ pages are a simple way to include non-store information.

Steve is right. Consider installing Zen Cart in its own folder and play around with it a bit. You may discover it does far more than you expected.

Thanks for all the feedback. I think I'll take your advice and see what would be involved. We have a pretty big web site with lots of non-product pages, but this may be the right approach.

Thanks!