• PHP 5.x or higher
• MySQL 3.2 and above
• Apache Web Server (http, https)
• 80 MB of free disk space
• GD Library Support (version 2 recommended)
• cURL Library Support
• ZLib Support
• Ioncube PHP Loader
  
  Depending on which distribution is used, a fresh installation can require up to 80 MB of disk space. The database space used by IXXO Cart depends on the number of products, customers and orders stored in it. Accordingly, database space requirements may vary from as little as 1 megabyte for small shops to over 100 megabytes for large stores.

Joomla is the world’s most popular content management system (CMS). It is free and readily available through www.joomla.org where you can also learn more about it. It is a very easy way to manage content on your website without programming or special software.

The IXXO Cart for Joomla editions allow you to fully integrate the shopping system features with all of the non-shopping content of a website. This can include news articles, information about your company and products, photos, videos, etc. By having more varied and up-to-date relevant content, your website becomes more interesting to potential buyers and to search engines, which tend to list position search results higher on their page based on the content. With Joomla – you can also add many plug-in applications and components to increase functionality. Many of these are free of charge.

Yes – the IXXO Stand-Alone versions operate as full websites and you can still customize the look and feel and add custom content pages very easily. This is also good solution if you already have a full featured content site – you can just link to the stand-alone IXXO Cart where your customers can learn more about your products and then purchase them. The Stand-Alone versions of IXXO can operate on their own hosting plan or even within a subfolder on your existing site, if PHP and mySQL are available there.

There are several free ecommerce components available for Joomla, and they may work for you. But for many of our customers who are serious about their business, the level of quality, support, and ongoing improvement required for business stability and growth simply cannot found in free software. The word “free” can become a misnomer when it comes to complex shopping cart software, where the full weight of installation, documentation, customization, and support issues are placed on the you, the end user.

Open source refers to a model of distribution, either with or without a price tag, whereby the core software code is available for full scrutiny and modification by anyone. (This is also referred to as the GNU model.)

While fully respecting this model at IXXO, which has provided all of us with platforms such as Joomla, PHP, and mySQL, we also feel there is room for privately sourced software that provides desired features and benefits in the marketplace. At IXXO we have determined that our customers first and foremost want stable, full-featured business software in exchange for fair and reasonable pricing that allows us to provide both a high-level of customer support and consistent ongoing development.

Keeping our code in a controlled development environment allows us to do this. For this reason, IXXO is not open-source at this time. Take IXXO Cart for a free test-drive and compare features for yourself.

Yes. The IXXO Cart Wordpress plugin is fully integrated with WordPress as from June 2012. IXXO Cart for WordPress operates in the same admin area environment as Wordpress. This makes it easy to install and operate within your WordPress installation. Using the "appearance settings" feature or by customizing IXXO Cart template files it will adopt your site design.

A payment gateway is a third-party company that connects your e-commerce software to your merchant account. This allows you to collect credit card, and in some cases electronic check, payments in real time from your online store.

While not required, it is generally recommended. By having a payment gateway, you can provide your customers with real-time feedback about the status of their payment. For example, if the credit card is declined, your customer is notified immediately.

Additionally, a payment gateway greatly increases the automation of your online store, as you do not need to manually process payment transactions.

When you set up your payment gateway, you will provide information regarding your merchant account to the gateway vendor. The vendor will then configure your gateway account to match up with your merchant account.

Whenever IXXO Cart needs to process a payment, it connects to your gateway using the information provided. The gateway then talks to your merchant bank, and if the transaction is approved, communicates this back to IXXO Cart.

The costs for a payment gateway vary by company. Typically, you will pay a monthly fee, as well as a fixed fee per gateway transaction. You should contact the gateway vendors directly for their most up-to-date pricing.

While not required, it is highly recommended. First, by using a payment gateway, you can offer your customers real-time status of their payments.

Secondly, by using a real-time payment gateway, you can collect & utilize the Card Verification Code (CVV2), which provides an additional layer of security for card-not-present transactions.

Finally, having a gateway provides you with a higher degree of automation in your online e-commerce operations, as you will not need to manually process payment transactions using a physical card terminal.

There are two parts in setting up your gateway.

The first part involves the gateway provider and your merchant account, and the second part involves your gateway provider and IXXO Cart. In the first part, your gateway provider will require access to your merchant account settings. Sometimes called a VITAL file, this record provides the gateway vendor all of the information needed to associate your merchant account to the gateway provider. Once you have completed this configuration, the gateway provider will provide you with the necessary information to configure the gateway inside of IXXO Cart. The information provided by each gateway is different.

To configure IXXO Cart with your information, simply log into IXXO Cart, go to Configuration, then Payments, and then select your transaction gateway. The specific fields required by your gateway will be shown. Simply input the information provided, and you're good to go!

The two major decisions you will need to make in regards to your payment gateway configuration are:

1) Authorize & Capture funds, or just Authorize funds?

2) Real-Time Charge during checkout, or batch charge through the accounts receivable section?

We discuss these options, and the reasons for choosing a particular process below.

This really depends on your business model, and how long you expect it to take for you to ship the product to the consumer. (Please note that the timelines discussed in this document are generic, and may not reflect the agreement you sign with your merchant account provider.)

Generally, a merchant is required to ship the product within a strict time frame after a customer's credit card is charged. In most cases, this is a 3 business day window. If you are unable to deliver the product in that time period, you should select auth then capture. In an auth then capture scenario, the payment gateway "authorizes" the funds from the customer's credit card. This places a temporary hold on the funds from the customer's account, but does not actually charge the customer's card. Once you ship the merchandise, you process a capture of the funds that you previously authorized.

Since not all gateways support the auth then capture model, you will need to assess your business requirements prior to selecting a payment gateway. Additionally, when using the auth then capture model, your payment gateway will generally charge you for two transactions: the auth, and then the capture.

We generally recommend that you charge the card in real time during the checkout process for several reasons.

First, by processing the transaction in real time, you are able to offer your customers instant feedback about the status of the transaction. For example, if a customer's card is declined, they are notified immediately, and are prompted to enter alternate payment information.If you did not charge the card during the checkout process, the customer will think the order has gone through with no problems until you contact them manually when you process the transaction.

Secondly, by utilizing a real-time charge during checkout, you are able to collect and utilize the card verification code (CVV2). This code, which is the last 3 digits in the signature panel on the back of a Visa or MasterCard, or the 4 digits printed, but not embossed, on the front of an American Express card, may only be utilized during real-time charge during checkout methods. By collecting the card verification code, you are afforded another level of security, and in many cases, are charged a lower discount rate by your merchant bank.

Finally, utilizing the real-time charge during checkout process allows you to more efficiently automate your online business processes. For example, if you are using a third party fulfillment company to deliver your orders, real-time charge during checkout allows IXXO Cart to forward approved orders directly to the third party fulfillment company without any intervention.

This often leads to increased customer satisfaction as it can drastically reduce the time from when an order is placed and when the order is shipped.

A Third Party Payment Processor is a vendor who charges credit cards on your behalf, and then transfers the funds to you through a variety of electronic payment methods. The two most familiar Third Party Payment Processors are PayPal and Google Checkout. Some other third party payment processors include WorldPay and 2checkout.com.

Absolutely. Many merchant choose to utilize both Google Checkout and PayPal, in addition to their own merchant gateway.

By providing your customers with as many payment options as possible, you are insuring that the customer will not be turned away because their preferred payment method is not supported.

Configuration PayPal in IXXO Cart is easy! In fact, we have an entire chapter dedicated to PayPal setup & configuration in our reference manual. The first step is to sign up for a PayPal account. Once you have signed up for an account, you simply need to follow the step-by-step instructions provided, and you're good to go!

IXXO Cart has done all of the hard work in integrating with Google Checkout. The first step is to sign up for a Google Checkout account. Next, simply log in to your IXXO Cart account, and select Configuration, then Payments. Check the box labeled "Accept Google Checkout", and enter the requested information into the fields provided. You will then need to configure your secure callback URL in your Google Checkout account.