Over a period of 2 years, I have tried every single free Joomla shopping cart available in the JED. Many are good, but if you are not a developer, they are all much to frustrating. Ixxo does not require any hacks, plugins, or any other modifications. IXXO is easier to use and has more features than ECJC, Virtuemart and all the rest (the rest don't even compare to ECJC or VM).

I was very relectant to spend money on the shopping cart, but the old saying "you get what you pay for" is very true. Ixxo staff offered a free 15 day trial, and after I was satisfied, they moved my trial shopping cart to my live website for me.

During the trial period, and day to day after purchasing; Ixxo support is simply amazing! After dealing with big name hosting companies such as 1and1 and Netfirms with overseas call centers who didn't know how to fix anything, or who's servers didn't support Joomla properly; hosting with Ixxo is a delight and competitively priced too. Now when I have a problem, an email or live chat with a programmer quickly solves any issue.

No more dealing with customer service reps that have no practical knowledge, no more endlessly searching help forums, no more waiting for days or weeks for somebody to post a help to my problem...

Thank you to the Ixxo team for helping to make my business a success instead of a struggle!

Great looking software. Only issue is that there is no real time attribute price update. For example, if you want to build a computer system and allow the customer to select upgraded components, they can do this, but can't see their price until they add the item to the cart. Customer's want to know what they are paying before they add to the cart. Real time is a must.

My compliments to the IXXO Cart team for this component. I have tried several Joomla ecommerce components but none can be compared with IXXO Cart.
I got it installed without any problems and works perfect. It has all the features I was looking for, no bugs so far, and great support.

Strongly recommended!!!

First, when I purchased my license they had a 30-day money-back guarantee, and I have not been able to get a refund, *even though I am not using and will not use this software*. (They have since removed this guarantee from their website.) I have contacted them several times regarding this, first after technical issues, and finally just because I simply don't like the component. Now they are simply not returning my emails. I am willing to negotiate a partial refund, based on their 15-day trial offer, but they seem to want to pretend I haven't contacted them repeatedly and patiently waited for them to get back to me.

As for the component itself.

Well, first thing I was reminded why I hate elaborate copy-protection: another layer of software that you have to worry getting to work and getting support for. I disliked being treated like I'm a thief when I'm doing the right thing and purchasing a license. I have no problem paying for joomla component support; but I like to believe that I'm entering into a good-faith arrangement with the developer. Mostly, I just hate a bunch of stuff on a server that is only there to protect my software from me and doesn't benefit me or my applications.

The server requirements are *very* specific - it didn't work on the first two installs I tried, the first being my localhost, the second a server that a client had set up where I didn't have root level access and was in use, and therefore no way to recompile the PHP (beyond my scope anyway).

This is where their support comes in: basically if there are problems you have to give them root-level access to your sever. It appears this is also the case with upgrades and fixes; since it's copy-protected software it's not as simple as simply over-writing a few of the core files. Since this wasn't a server I set up or had control of, I was not able to reconfigure it to accommodate ixxo. Therefore, I was unable use it for the client I was primarily trying this out for.

I finally *did* get it running on my own server, and was able to evaluate it. And you know what, it's not all that. The installation is very elaborate for what is a pretty standard shopping cart. Honestly I can't see entirely what it offers that VirtueMart doesn't - other than support. Like I said, I'm willing to pay for support, but don't make me jump through hoops for it. But if you've seen VirtueMart in action you have a pretty good idea how ixxo works; and in fact with the latest VM release there are several things VirtueMart does better.

I didn't get into trying to style the cart, but it seems to be limited to templating; I can't imagine the copy protection would make it easy to truly adapt the cart to non-standard joomla/cart installs.

It seems to be the true advantage of ixxo is active support for payment gateways, which, admittedly, is where a lot of shopping cart scripts fail. But if you're needs are not complicated, or you are comfortable configuring your own gateways and shipping, I'm not sure what the advantage of ixxo is. If what you're looking for is to offload your shopping cart, and just want to have it set-up and maintained with as little coding as possible, then I suppose ixxo is a viable solution. But if you're a semi-competent joomla developer, or someone who likes to have at least some idea of what's going on on your server, or distrust DRM, or don't feel like handing all your cart maintenance chores over to a 3rd party company, then use serious caution before giving them your money. Get an agreement in writing that if you're not happy *for any reason* and won't be using the license you'll get a refund.

Finally, for a software that is so dependent on support and constantly dealing with the developer to get up and running, I find the support not very friendly and generally slow to respond.

Owner's reply:
1. Refund

Our company is very particular about any feedback from the users of our software. If you send us a message informing about an error, any question or just a suggestion, you will receive a fast and competent answer from our technical support team within 24 hours the latest. As a rule all the majority of problems are solved "on the spot". Numerous positive reports concerning our development team and products prove that perfectly well.



We provide full refund of your payment in the following cases:



a. When you stably encounter an error which is preventing you from using our software properly, and if we are not able to correct the error within an acceptable period of time or we are unable to suggest a temporary solution.



Please, NOTE! In this case refund is only given if you provide detailed information about your error, requested by our support staff, and detailed descriptions of your actions that might have caused this error.



We reserve the right to decline refund requests in the following cases:



when a user demands a refund immediately after buying the software



when a user informs us about changing his decision to buy the software, saying he has uninstalled it and is not going to use it without giving any particular reasons.



when reasons which prevent a customer from proper using of our software are stated clearly on our official site. (for example, if the customer requests a refund due to the absence of features which we never claimed to provide and which are not listed in the feature list for our software or his server does not meet the minimum requirements as stated on our website).



2. The Component

We never ask for root access to the customer's server. You also know that 95% of the users they don't have root access. If we need to access our files we can use the filemanager which is integrated into our cart.



3. Support

We never ask for customers to pay for support. We provide them with 1st level of support and we have no complains so far.



4. Limited in templating

Although you did not try to style the cart you conclude that is limited to templating. If you had a closer look in admin area "Appearance Settings" and the skins folder (all files in html) you would have discovered the opposite. Please take a closer look.



5. VirtueMart vs IXXO Cart

Is not our policy to compare. Our shopping cart is fully featured, supported 24/7/365 and works. The only negative reviews we had so far are coming from competitors or from those who require the source code.



6. Dependent on support

Yes, IXXO Cart depends on its support and software quality and it seems that you are forgetting one major fact that not everybody has your experience. Keep in mind that there are people out there who need support.

I have been evaluating almost all the scripts that integrate into Joomla for the last two months. Finally I have decided to purchase the ixxo cart component for the following reasons:

1. Integrates perfectly into Joomla
2. Managed to setup my online shop within 3 days without any problems.
3. Very user friendly
4. Excellent support. They are available whenever you need them.
5. Detailed online user manual. (Should also be in PDF format)
6. Realtime shipping quotes.

I needed something that it will work and IXXO Cart worked for me. I strongly recommend it.

Earlier this year, our web development team decided we needed a better shopping cart solution for our clients. Over the past several years, we have used several shopping carts with disappointing features, overly complex implementation and lackluster customer service.

Our team took several weeks to research and compare various php shopping carts on the market. We downloaded free demos, read reviews, analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of each and none came close to meeting our ideal solution like IXXO Cart.

IXXO Cart is fully customizable and scalable. It is stable and secure. The entire cart is built for search engine optimization down to the product level. With their coupons, discounts, point system, promotions, multilanguage interface, email systems and shipping options it is designed to convert visitors into sales. It is an all-inclusive shopping cart with full customer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We recently built our second Joomla website and integrated the IXXO shopping cart. The customer support has been exceptional. The IXXO team has responded quickly to our calls, emails and chats whether it be a simple "how to" question or more complex trouble shooting. The support team has been friendly and knowledgeable, working through the night and through the weekend to help us.

Ultimately, our experience has been that IXXO works. We couldn't be happier with our decision and look forward to buying more shopping carts and referring them to others in the industry.

Thank you IXXO!

First of all, I apologize for my poor english because it is not my first language, but I will try to do my best.

I'm writing this review to share with all of you my experience while using this product.
Some weeks ago we decided to start an online shop as part of my Company's strategic plans.We were looking for a realiable, cheap and easy to use software so we first gave it a try to Oscommerce and some of its free clones. We tried VirtueMart too but all of these were in developing stages or simply not enough mature or stable projects for us and we needed something a little more reliable and professional. And then we found the IXXO Cart at this forum..

We tried the Joomla demo of IXXO Cart and we found it much more professional than any of the other online shops we tried before and very user friendly too so we finally decided to buy a plus license for Joomla 1.5.x.

Probably one of the most annoying things regarding the IXXO Cart is that the code is encrypted and protected with Ioncube, so that means that you can't make any direct changes to code or customize it to fit your wishes. But I understand that this is a commercial product and as far as I know, almost any commercial script that I have tried had some kind of protection.
But this is not a disadvantage at all and it also doesn't means that you can't customize the cart. IXXO Cart comes as I said before with one of the most complete admin panels that I have ever seen. There are a thousands of changes you can do to the cart just from that panel. You can manage Products, Orders, Users, Payment Methods, Emails, Reports and Charts, Appearance settings, Pics and product bulk uploading and much more. Even if you need to do a major change to code then you can contact with any of their support representatives and they will help you to do it.
I have had to do so sometimes because spanish language it's not fully supported yet but I have always had a quick response through their live chat and via email too.

From my point of view these are the more notable advantages of using this software:

- Easy to use.
- Easy to customize.
- User friendly.
- Professional Look.
- Great support.

There is still some features that I miss, but they have a "Request feature" form that I have already used and I hope that they will be implemented soon.

I think this is a highly recommended software if you are planning to set up your own Joomla online shop.

Best Regards.

I had to ask for a refund on IxxoCart, as it did not seem to work as needed.

The software shows promise, and I believed the hype. The layout is very nice, and seems easy to use for non-techs.

But, the key here is 'for non-techs'. Working with Joomla, I'm sure most of us are familiar with troubleshooting code ourselves, and using forums for quick solutions. We can except that thing might not be perfect, and tend to fix things ourselves when possible.

This is NOT possible with IXXOcart. No forums. No FAQ for tech issues. And the code is not open, so there is no chance to fix things yourself. You must rely on their tech support for everything. Which means that they are always going to need access to the server for upgrades and fixes.

Sure, support is free, and they take care of things that they can, but as a server admin I am not happy having to have an outside entity needing access for 'simple fixes'.

And, if they don't have a fix for it, there is a wait till they can get to it. Patch? Have them install it. Another patch? Have them install it.

In the end, I couldn't wait for patches, and them to install for me, and then troubleshoot, find a problem, and repeat the cycle. It just wasn't ready for Release, and I did not have time to be a beta tester, especially after paying for the software.

The software looks like it is probably great as a stand-alone, or a service on their servers. It looks very simple to use. But it didn't seem ready for Joomla. And it doesn't seem to fit with the general openness of Joomla community.

Some might appreciate the super hands-on approach IXXO does, where you rely on them for everything. But, I haven't seen any of the 'hundreds' of shops yet running IxxoCart for Joomla.

And just as I was dealing with this, and seeing Magento slowing crawling out of it's embryonic shell, VirtueMart kicks it up a notch bringing it back in the running.

IMHO, it feels like it's still in Beta.

Owner's reply:
Dear SevenSages,



1. IXXO Cart is not Beta and is fully integrated into Joomla.



2. IXXO Cart is not free a free software. When someone pays for a software he expects to get the support from the source and not from forums. We have 24/7 support and we have answered all your emails within a few hours.



3. Live shops are published at our website under "Featured Clients". If you need the full list of live shops, do not hesitate to contact us, and we will be more than happy to send it to you.



4. It's your choice to go for Magento or VirtueMart and solve your problems through the forums. This method is not for IXXO. We provide the support to our customers and we will continue to do so, 24/7/365 through live chat support, email and telephone.



5. And finally, as you have mentioned in your email, the main reason for which you have asked for the refund, was because we do not provide the full source code of the software, although is very clear in our website that source code is not fully available.



Regards,

IXXO Cart

My husband bought this for my website that is in production as I type this. I needed a shopping cart that gave more than one option for accepting payments from my customers.
Getting it down loaded and, setup the way i wanted it took a little bit of work; but once that was complete the rest has been very simple and user friendly.

The major benefits of this software that I love are:

1. Global attributes- this make setting up products and items much easier and faster.

2. Different options for check out- pay pal, google cart and direct pay.

3. Helpful online user manual and fast response for tech support when you need help.

4. The ability to up load bulk images.

There are a few technical issues that we are working on with tech. support and once we get that resolved I will update my review.