{"id":304,"date":"2025-09-11T00:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T00:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bodhost.com\/kb\/\/web-hosting\/index.php\/2007\/07\/09\/what-is-zencart\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T14:02:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:02:06","slug":"zen-cart-shopping-cart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bodhost.com\/kb\/zen-cart-shopping-cart\/","title":{"rendered":"Zen Cart Shopping Cart \u2013 Features and Setup Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zen Cart Shopping Cart is a flexible open-source eCommerce solution that makes online selling simple, secure, and cost-effective. Built with PHP and powered by a MySQL database. The software being developed by a group of like-minded shop owners, designers, and developers who think e-commerce done differently<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some &#8220;solutions&#8221; seem too complicated programming exercises instead of responding to users&#8217; needs, Zen Cart puts the merchant&#8217;s and shopper&#8217;s requirements first.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly, many other eCommerce platforms that are costly or difficult to install, Zen Cart is free, user-friendly, and easy to customize.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3>Why Choose Zen Cart for Your Online Store?<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Delivers the exact online shopping experience to your customers. The program provides several &#8220;Spotlight&#8221; lists in addition to the traditional category-to-product links. Once a product is added to the shopping cart, secure checkout is a simple 3-step process.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After providing the billing information, your customer chooses the shipping method. Next, a payment type chosen from one of the popular payment modules PayPal and AuthorizeNet are just 2 of the included modules Last, the customer reviews the order, shipping, and payment choices, and confirms the order. You are immediately notified of the order and your customer automatically receives an e-mail confirmation.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>Key Features:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ol>\r\n<li>Zen cart makes it easy to set up a program<\/li>\r\n<li>It is easy to customize<\/li>\r\n<li>Automated tasks, such as order confirmation<\/li>\r\n<li>Make navigation easy<\/li>\r\n<li>Built-in promotions; discount coupons, gift certificates, newsletters, and product notification<\/li>\r\n<li>Offers individual item specials and store wide discounts, including group discounts and quantity discounts<\/li>\r\n<li>Built-in Search Engine Optimization tools, including per-product meta tag controls<\/li>\r\n<li>Password protect the Administration Tool<\/li>\r\n<li>Support multiple languages, currencies, and tax structures<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3><strong>For Web Designers:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zen Cart gives web designers a robust and customizable electronic storefront that easy to keep updated with new features. there no big revisions required to get things right for your clients!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the secrets behind its power lies in our robust template system that &#8220;abstracts&#8221; the look-and-feel from the code and logic behind Zen Cart Shopping Cart. This helps you to give clients a custom solution that integrates quickly and perfectly with their existing marketing websites.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h3><strong>For Developers &amp; Hosting Providers:<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Developers are able to deploy cutting-edge solutions based on Zen Cart&#8217;s modern standards and technologies. Combining PHP server-side technology with the ability to choose from multiple databases on the back end, results in flexible software that you can customize and modify to suit your needs.<\/p>\r\n<h4 data-start=\"2240\" data-end=\"2273\">Minimum Server Requirements<\/h4>\r\n<ul data-start=\"2274\" data-end=\"2341\">\r\n<li data-start=\"2274\" data-end=\"2297\">\r\n<p data-start=\"2276\" data-end=\"2297\">PHP 4.3.2 or higher<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li data-start=\"2298\" data-end=\"2314\">\r\n<p data-start=\"2300\" data-end=\"2314\">Apache 1.3.x<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<li data-start=\"2315\" data-end=\"2341\">\r\n<p data-start=\"2317\" data-end=\"2341\">MySQL 3.23.x or higher<\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>The Zen Cart ideals are simple:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ol>\r\n<li>Keep the goals of the store owner in mind at all times<\/li>\r\n<li>Make everything simple to use<\/li>\r\n<li>Listen to and be responsive to our users<\/li>\r\n<li>Continue to expand the database and server options<\/li>\r\n<li>Strive for the perfect shopping cart<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We simply want to deliver a fast and easy-to-use shopping cart program that&#8217;s freely available to everyone under the GPL. Zen Cart&#8217;s development team encourages feedback and contributions from the community and they invite open discussion about e-commerce solutions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Further, the team intends to openly communicate with our users about what&#8217;s going on, our goals, planned timelines for releases, and to make sure we have got the perfect set of features that promotes profitable businesses for store owners.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>About Security:<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They take security issues very seriously. Whenever a security risk discovers, a fix is posted immediately, using whatever means most appropriate.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is a safe program. And If you face any security problems also just forward that issue to the security team of Zen cart they will immediately send you the Updates.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h4><strong>Should you make Bug Reports?<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because the code is always evolving there are bound to occasional mistakes. If you find a code error or bug, please report it on the forum of Zen Cart.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They take bug reports seriously and find resolutions to them immediately. Patches issued sparingly in the interest of keeping code both manageable and still current.<\/p>\r\n<h4><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n<p>Zen Cart is more than just a free shopping cart software. It\u2019s a flexible, community-driven eCommerce platform. When combined with bodhost\u2019s reliable hosting services like <a class=\"decorated-link cursor-pointer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bodhost.com\/web-servers\/linux-vps-hosting\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"2660\" data-end=\"2722\">Linux VPS Hosting<\/a> or <a class=\"decorated-link cursor-pointer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bodhost.com\/web-servers\/dedicated-servers\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"2726\" data-end=\"2795\">Dedicated Servers<\/a>, you can create a secure, high-performance online store that scales with your business.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zen Cart Shopping Cart is a flexible open-source eCommerce solution that makes online selling simple, secure, and cost-effective. Built with PHP and powered by a MySQL database. The software being&hellip;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bodhost.com\/kb\/zen-cart-shopping-cart\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[666],"tags":[1071,1070],"class_list":["post-304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-what-is-zen-cart","tag-zen-cart-shopping-cart"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Zen Cart Shopping Cart | Free Open-Source eCommerce Platform<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover Zen Cart Shopping Cart, a free open-source eCommerce solution. 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