Last Updated on January 21, 2022

It has been almost half a year since the beginning of the 3rd decade of the 21st century, and now you must not have time to wait for building an online store to meet the thriving ecommerce customer base demands. The ecommerce industry has gained a great boost in the last 5-6  years and now it is unaffordable to not have an ecommerce presence. However, building an online store can be challenging, even if you have technical knowledge. Plus things don’t end at developing, you have to maintain it which will be also hassling. But it is not hard to sell your products online, especially if we are developing your ecommerce store. We understand the need for having a simple yet enterprise-grade ecommerce store to build and grow your business.

One of the best ways to take your business online is to use an online store builder and start selling. 3dcart is amongst the best ecommerce software which can bring everything you need together into one smoothly integrated, easy-to-use ecommerce platform. In this article, we will know all the aspects of 3dcart and how it can be a perfect choice for setting up an ecommerce store.

A Brief Introduction To 3dcart

Founded in 1997, 3dcart is an established and leading ecommerce software platform with highly robust features. The ecommerce software is packed with a variety of features which makes starting and running your online store, easy, fast, and convenient. Currently, more than 17, 500 merchants across the globe are using 3dcart. It comes with free customer support which is available 24 x 7 x 365. 3dcart has everything you require for creating an ecommerce store and to succeed in today’s competitive ecommerce market.

Gonzalo Gil founded 3dcart in 1997 and it is a product of “Infomart 2000”. Currently, the company headquarters are in Tampa, Florida. The first version was an instant hit and since then the company has released several updates while improving and expanding the original features that customers loved. There are more than 200 built-in features in 3dcart along with 90 free templates and 160+ supported payment gateways. Let’s know about the different traits of this platform and find out whether it can be a good choice for your ecommerce needs.

Ease Of Use

You can use 3dcart for free at no cost, and you don’t even need to enter credit card details. After registration, you will get a welcome e-mail with some useful info. like site URL, a trial login and password.

The dashboard of 3dcart is very simple and clean. If you are not technical then a provided tutorial video will be very helpful for you. The navigation menu is clearly listed with ten options. In short, the layout is good.

Integrations and Add-Ons

3dcart addons3dcart has partnered with more than 300 app developers for delivering seamless 3rd party integrations with their software. On the 3dcart app store, you can find add-ons for almost every functionality that you require.

The charges of these add-ons can be free, monthly charges or one-time payment. If you subscribe to the professional plus plan, then you will also integrate with Ebay, QuickBooks, DOBA, and Amazon

Order Sync At No Additional Cost

A few examples of the top Add-Ons:
Here is a list of top add-ons which can be extended the functionality of your online store with 3dcart:

  • Autoresponder – $15 – Automatic response messages for your support system
  • Multiple Distributors – $49/month – Admin system for shipping from multiple distributors
  • Category Filters – $199 – It is a categorization system to create custom categories.
  • Autoship – free trial – Recurring orders and service automatic processing
  • 3d live chat – $195 or $15 per month – Provide chat functionality to speak with your customers
  • Quickbooks – $15 per month – Easy integration for Quickbooks
  • Address Verification – $9.99 per month – Verification of live shipping address

Sales Tools and Features

3dcart comes with great sales features even at the cheapest plan. It has a powerful API (Application Programming Interface).

In collaboration with Zapier, the easiest automated of connecting apps, 3dcart comes with access to more than 1000 apps to streamline your business. It includes Xero, Zendesk, Hubspot, and Infusionsoft, etc.

Payment Processing, Shipping, and Transactions

There are just a few shopping carts that give you more choices for paying for online products or services than 3dcart. It comes with more than 160 payment method options and has integrated payment methods in the store.  There is no chargeable transactions fees by 3dcart, however, the payment gateway that you choose may have various charges associated with the service.

You can customize Shipping costs within the product inventory page and can opt from popular shipping services including UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.

Besides this, 3dcart comes with numerous app integrations including Address Verification and ShippingEasy. These make the whole process easier by removing the added stress of PayPal payments. So, 3dcart delivers here.

Security

The security features of 3dcart will not disappoint you just like its payment options. In all plans, there is 256-bit SSL encryption security which is the same security that large fintech companies use for secure online transactions.

PCI Compliant

The network security feature of the company is also PCI DSS compliant. Thus the customers can make card transactions without worrying about losing their sensitive data. It will also protect you from any legal obligations. When checking out, customers will be notified of any additional taxes or shopping costs.

Search Engine Optimization

The SEO functions of 3dcart are visible throughout the site like when adding products. The built-in blogging platform and RSS feed are best for those online merchants who prefer content marketing. You can also opt for managed SEO services at an additional fee which can help to push your site on top SERPs. Moreover, some pop-ups will help you to add SEO stuff for getting higher search engine rankings.

Hire 3dcart developers

Mobile App

Probably, this is the biggest drawback of choosing 3dcart. Currently, every ecommerce store is striving to have a presence on the smartphones of their target audience but 3dcart doesn’t offer any mobile apps. Just like the security brakes, your shopping cart stops in its tracks as soon as you leave the store.

3dcart is falling behind its competitors in this regard. All other popular ecommerce development platforms are providing a mobile app.

Abandoned Cart

Do you know that more than 75.6% of online customers forget to checkout? And 3dcart is quite aware of this. The abandoned notifications feature send e-mail to the customers who have left their items in the cart.

Easy Social Commerce

You can easily on Facebook using 3dcart. All plans come with $50 credits. The social bookmarking capabilities will help to promote your online store on other social media sites. For example, have your items pinned on Pinterest, enable your customers to share your product pages, and so on. A very useful feature for social media presence.

Newsletter Smartlists App

Using 3dcart on your e-store will give access to the Newsletter Smartlists app. If you have created a mailing list or want to send promotional messages to the customers then this Newsletter Smartlists app will be very helpful for you.

SKU & Inventory Management

As per the plan you choose, you can add between 200 and an infinite number of products to your 3dcart store. The storage capacity is unlimited in enterprise plans while the bandwidth capacity has a threshold.

Support of Point of Sales

3dcart latest version doubles up as a full point of sale (POS) system. The iPad compatible POS app will allow you to operate business offline and sell in business or on the go during tradeshows.

Template Designs

There are 91 free templates that you get free of cost in 3dcart. These templates cover almost every industry, apart from DIY. If you opt for higher plans, then you will get more premium plans which are device responsive as well i.e. a better browsing experience on both desktops and mobiles. A great advantage is that you can customize the template and it will reformat the content automatically.

You can edit CSS and HTML using the quick bar editor in a template. You don’t need to write a single line of code as the drag-and-drop functionality will let you easily move elements within the template. There are options by which you can directly add products, pages, categories, and blog posts.

After adding all the content, the 3D zoom feature will let the customers view enlarged versions of images whenever they hover the mouse over a product image. Besides, there is a built-in search functionality that displays product matches after running a search.

Help and Support

If you have any queries, concerns, or questions you can reach the customer support of 3dcart. It is available 24 x 7 x 365. Getting in touch with the 3dcart help and support team is easy. You can reach them via phone, e-mail, or chat.

Apart from this, 3dcart provides an in-depth knowledge base; written and video tutorials that will help you “build, promote, and market your business”.

Pricing

3dcart is available in 4 different plans and comes with a 15-day free trial. The plans are:

  • Startup Store ($19 per month)
  • Basic Store ($29 per  month)
  • Plus Store ($79 per month)
  • Pro Store ($229 per month)

Among these, the Plus Store plan has been most preferred by the users but you can also save money by choosing the Basic Store plan. We have observed that there is not much to separate each plan, although there are huge variations in the prices. Also, the add ons do get expensive, so it will cost more than you initially think.

Moreover, there are outstanding features in every plan. There are no transaction fees, a Facebook store, and unlimited orders with all of them so may think to choose a Startup store. But the number of products in the Startup store is limited to 100.

Still, 3dcart is a cheaper alternative to Shopify and BigCommerce. Thus, it is a better option for those who want some powerful management tools and a lower cost.

Review Summary

Here are some of the key points, formatted as pros and cons of 3dcart.

Pros Cons
Easy to reach customer support The Admin section is a bit clunky although it becomes easy to use after getting familiarity.
Affordable with an unlimited storage capacity Although there are nearly 100 free templates, most of them are repetitive
Secure with 256-bit SSL encryption Bandwidth restrictions
PCI DSS certified solution
Extensive Payment Gateways
Extensive Marketing Tools
One Page Checkout
15-day free trial with no credit card commitment.

Wrapping Up

3dcart can meet a lot of requirements at very affordable rates. If there are pricing constraints while opting for other ecommerce players, then this can be an option worth looking for. At Emizentech, the best 3dcart store development company in India, we are having experience in the in-and-out of 3dcart. We will not just develop a next-level ecommerce store for you but will also give you proper consultation for the plans that you should opt for as per your business needs. Let us know your requirements.

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Author

CTO at Emizentech and a member of the Forbes technology council, Amit Samsukha, is acknowledged by the Indian tech world as an innovator and community builder. He has a well-established vocation with 12+ years of progressive experience in the technology industry. He directs all product initiatives, worldwide sales and marketing, and business enablement. He has spearheaded the journey in the e-commerce landscape for various businesses in India and the U.S.