Yesterday I was searching for some information on a new handset launched by Nokia. In Bangalore Univercell stores are very famous as cellphones retailer. I visited its website, www.univercell.in. This site is very cool, user-friendly and has all the functionalities of a world class shopping cart. After visiting some pages of this site, I came to know that it is using Joomla and virtuemart as extension for shopping cart. VirtueMart is an Open Source E-Commerce solution to be used together with a Content Management System (CMS) called Joomla! or Mambo. VirtueMart is free open source so you can download, use and modify it without any restrictions.

VirtueMart is not a stand-alone script, but a Plug-in and requires the PHP Content Management System Joomla! (or Mambo). So you must install Joomla first, then VirtueMart. The easiest way is to install the Joomla! eCommerce Edition: a ready-steady-go bundle of Joomla! & a pre-installed VirtueMart. I don’t think there is any other Open Source ecommerce solution that better is than Virtuemart at this moment. I’ve tried other e-commerce solutions like OSCommerce, Zen Cart and XT commerce but finally I concluded Joomla+virtuemart is the best solution. Also Customization of virtue mart php codes is easy, but for this you’ll need a working knowledge of basic PHP functions. It is actually quite flexible. It’s a true joomla component (not bridged) which already gives it an advantage. Generally large stores don’t typically rely on free ecommerce software but you can find many big online stores who are using this tool like UniverCell.