Top VirtueMart Alternatives

VirtueMart was originally dubbed as ‘mambo-php Shop’ and was first developed by Sören Eberhardt-Biermann in 2009. It is an open-source feature-rich e-commerce solution for the Joomla (or Mambo) Content Management System. It was first developed as an offshoot of stand-alone phpShop. Once the Mambo was forked into Joomla, mambo-php Shop was renamed as VirtueMart.

How to use VirtueMart?

VirtueMart can be used either in Catalog Mode or as a Shopping Cart, but it needs to be used together with CMS Joomla. Shopping Cart operates as a full-fledged online shop, with a complete work flow from the product catalog and cart to checkout and payment options. Whereas, Catalog Mode merely allows product showcase.

VirtueMart is not available as a standalone product with any other CMS. Therefore the first step would be to install Joomla as a framework and then install & configure VirtueMart. It is a free to download and use software released under the General Public License.

It, however, needs a few developer skills for ease of usage as it is written in PHP and is developed for PHP/MYSQL environments. VirtueMart provides a suitable environment to design and maintain your website or portal with an infinite number of built-in features and categories, products, orders, inventory management, and many more options.

VirtueMart Features

VirtueMart helps merchants to extend the functionalities of their portal by adding Plugins, Modules, Components, and Templates and all this is made available in the Extention Store. Furthermore, its simple installation and integration aid developers in easy overriding and efficient implementation of the Joomla MVC framework. It is default SEF/SEO integrated.

Marketing campaigns like, coupon promotions and sharing a link with a friend are handled too. It provides several easy checkout options for customers from a single click to guest checkout.

The fact that it supports SSL certificates makes VirtueMart a place where your users' data is safe. You can target a global audience with VirtueMart as it supports multiple languages and this can be achieved by downloading the VirtueMart extension packs.

Conclusion

If you are a retail merchant or a website marketing agent or a developer or even a customer, VirtueMart provides a solution for any distinct profile to build a shopping cart and tweak and enhance it as you go about with your success with a non-exhaustive feature list and extensions.

It is also constantly upscaling and improving tremendously as an open-source product. Virtuemart is customizable to adapt to the unique needs of any flourishing business with just a slight technical knowledge.