ShopIgniter : Alpha Geeks Wanted

[eluser]Kimmik[/eluser]
Hi, this project looks really good!

But I have a few remarks:

You stated that ShopIgniter is "opensource but not free":

[quote author="ShopIgniter" date="1254346394"]
The license model for ShopIgniter is pretty simple - we borrowed what we love from some of our favorite systems out there. The system is open source, however it isn't free. [/quote]

on your website:

ShopIgniter is Open Source, but not free. ShopIgniter will come in two different flavors – a download for on-site installation and a turn-key Software-as-a-Service. All of our certified developers will receive a free copy of ShopIgniter to use for development of add-ons, modules and improvements to the code. These developers are allowed to use that copy for one commercial site that they control.

I find the use of the terms "opensource" misleading.
Here's a qoute from wikipedia:

It is an explicit “feature” of open source that it may put no restrictions on the use or distribution by any organization or user.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source

It is just something that I noticed and confused me...

[eluser]ShopIgniter[/eluser]
Thank you for your post. You can look at our license much like Expression Engine's commercial license - the code is "open" allowing you to tailor it to your needs, but each version of our software requires a purchased license for use.

[eluser]skunkbad[/eluser]
[quote author="ShopIgniter" date="1255669981"]... but each version ...[/quote]

So, no free updates?

[eluser]ShopIgniter[/eluser]
Updates are always included in our SaaS product, and are automatic. For our download, updates are free for all incremental versions (1.1, 1.2, etc) and are 50% of the current price to upgrade from a previous version (1.2 -> 2.0).

[eluser]Crimp[/eluser]
Watched your YouTube interview. While the live inline support is a somewhat novel idea, which can increase sales with a good shop assistant typing away, it does not really address the central appeal of e-commerce: a store that sells "automatically" for the owner. In shopping lingo, you set it and forget it.

I am having an ongoing discussion with an experienced shopowner who is looking to set up a new store in place of an older one (ASP-based). This is just a friendly and informal consultancy/conversation to prevent him from going the way of those legacy PHP carts that will simply substitute one set of headaches for another. But he is very clear on what is desirable:

1. A "social" system that self-generates leads (and, of course, sales)
2. A "social" system that then builds networks out of these leads through discounts and rewards (creating momentum for 1)

I realize that SI attempts to tap into existing social networks and push offers into this sphere, but the goal for a shop must be to create a series of loyal customer clusters that each grow big enough to earn hefty discounts. Continued growth will then be mutually beneficial.

What seems to be missing in most offerings (including Magento sprinkled with extensions) is the obvious link between external affiliate programs and internal customer-reward programs. You do not only want to attract new customers; you want to 1) retain them and 2) ideally make them recruit new customers for you. In return for 2) the shopowner is of course willing to compensate both his old and new customers as their interaction spreads (hence the need to internally reward affiliate actions).

In summary, a self-perpetuating systen where all "social" interaction around the store is translated into tangible benefits for those involved, encouraging more "social" interaction and so on ad infinitum.

While this may seem incredibly obvious to the seasoned shopowner, it is strange to see how few out-of-the-box solutions consider such a dynamic (or any dynamic) to increase sales. A killer feature seems to be the gift card.

It is not clear that ShopIgniter will change this for the better by its personable approach and following of Twitter (remember Friendster?). A shopowner wants and needs intelligent software that sells for him. The sales pitch, the inventory, the similar items, the choices - these are the kind of conversations the software should be having with the online shopper while the shopowner plans his vacation to Bermuda.

[eluser]skunkbad[/eluser]
I'd just like a cart that was super-easy to take a custom template and nest some views that provide the functionality. Most of my customers just want to sell their products, and are not thinking about all the fancy stuff. I am being subcontracted to do an ecommerce site right now, and my customer's client wants just that, saying, "I just want to sell my products online". I haven't watched the youtube video, but I'm getting the feeling that ShopIgniter may be too much. Can the fancy stuff be turned off?

My ideal ecommerce solution would allow me to create a custom template and integrate basic functionality within 4 to 8 hours. I was hoping that being CI based, that ShopIgniter would allow me to do this. The biggest problem for me with learning a new cart is learning the code. How likely is ShopIgniter going to be the solution I need if I just need the basic functionality of a cart with checkout?

[eluser]Crimp[/eluser]
ShopIgniter uses one of the template libraries provided in this Ignited Code section. The YouTube interview states that libraries will be provided for the most common US payment gateways. ShopIgniter, like EE, may be overkill at first, but it leaves you and the client room to grow. That said, I once wrote a product catalog (shop without checkout) for someone in CI for the exact reasons you mention - maximum simplicity for the user. It's a good excercise if you like wrapping your head around recursive functions...

[eluser]ShopIgniter[/eluser]
First off, thank you for these great posts - I think when you see what we are doing with ShopIgniter a lot of your questions will be answered - particularly around the social aspect of the system and bringing customers to the store. To that, we have posted up a few demonstration videos so you can see the ease of use and the system in action. We will be releasing more information and videos after our demonstration at Venture NorthWest on October 29th.

See ShopIgniter In Action: http://shopigniter.com/video/

[eluser]fredwu[/eluser]
The video demos look very nice. Nice work! :-)

[eluser]nmormino[/eluser]
What ever happened to this being open source? Looks like the only thing offered is SaaS?