X-Cart Review 2024

Edited by Amy Smith

Updated


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Bottom line: In business, it pays to “have it all,” and X-Cart tries to do just that for its international base of business owners. There are few misses (such as the lack of a native newsletter tool and the more limited reporting capabilities). X-Cart hits the mark regarding operational, customer-facing, and optimization elements of your e-commerce business.

Who should choose X-Cart? Small, tech-savvy businesses wanting to launch; midsize businesses and large enterprises wanting to establish global brands.

What we like about X-Cart

  • Easy to edit: I appreciated how easy it was to implement and customize the suite of site design options and the variety that shop owners could choose from.
  • Multiple payment gateway support: I liked how customizable the platform is and how many native gateways are supported. With 100+ options, it’s one of the most diverse and accessible platforms available.
  • Simple migration support: X-Cart makes migration simple for business owners with previously established sites. It offers advanced support to keep sites going throughout the transition, avoiding potential loss of sales.
  • Inclusive design and admin panel: I appreciated the light customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing capabilities that were natively included in the interface and the opportunities to enhance them with integrations.
  • Multi-channel customer support: While many users have referenced customer service issues in the past, X-Cart seems to have addressed these in a multi-channel way. You can reach out via phone, email, chat, or forum, as well as can access any of the hundreds of articles or documentation in the knowledge base. My interactions with customer support were positive and prompt – I only received delays in the onboarding and sign-on process.
  • Extensive product listing options: Out of all the platforms I’ve encountered, X-Cart had one of the most extensive product listing options to boost revenue and expand your brand’s identity across your catalog.

What fell flat

  • Onboarding experience may vary: I did see positive feedback regarding X-Cart’s onboarding process. Yet my experience was a bit rocky as I had to have a sales call before getting access to the trial store. This caused a significant delay in my store’s launch timeline.
  • High price points: X-Cart is more expensive than other e-commerce platforms with similar functionality. However, for business owners looking for more nuanced options, the perks explored in this review may be worth it for the price.

Featured Partners

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Hostinger

The cheapest and easiest option

Starts at $2.49 per month

  • 150+ design templates
  • 0% transaction fees
  • Marketing integrations
  • Free AI tools and site builder

Bluehost

For easy WooCommerce setup

Starts at $9.95 per month

  • Custom WP themes
  • Unlimited listings
  • Store promos
  • 24/7 ecommerce support

Web.com

The fastest way to sell

Starts at $13.95 per month

  • Perfect for your first store
  • Drag-and-drop builder
  • Built-in marketing tools
  • AI copywriting tool

X-Cart’s Editorial Review

X-Cart is a rising star in the e-commerce space. While many similar open-source solutions offer less functionality and more code-heavy user experiences, X-Cart walks the line of both technically advanced and easy-to-use design.

While more expensive, X-Cart’s customer support and excellent natively inclusive structure save incredible time and resources during the setup and optimization process. It is also open source and offers additional perks (such as app creation) that continue to establish it as a leader in the e-commerce space.

The site allows development-savvy business owners the flexibility of additional customization while serving communities of business owners and brand leaders that may be less technically skilled.

See how we rate e-commerce platforms.

Plans & Pricing

Jump to Review

  • Platform ($199 per month)
  • Auto ($299 per month)
  • Marketplace ($399 per month)

Features

Jump to Review

  • Abandoned cart recovery
  • Email marketing
  • Inventory management
  • Mobile support
  • Payment processing
  • Product upload
  • Reporting and analytics
  • SEO
  • Shipping options
  • Store design

Security

Jump to Review

X-Cart’s open-source structure can cause concern for security-minded business owners. But X-Cart has shown itself to be open-source software that’s frequently patched and updated mitigates risk.

Support

Jump to Review

  • Live chat
  • Phone
  • Email
  • Community forum
  • Help center
  • FAQ and documentation

Improvements

Jump to Review

  • X-Cart now accepts digital wallets
  • BNPL additions for new customer groups
  • Easy reorder capability for loyal, recurring customers
  • Customer comments and testimonials stay on-page

Plans and Pricing

X-Cart’s pricing, while comparatively expensive, is easy to understand and gives insight into its tiered feature structure. Below, we’ve summarized plan inclusions across its main tiers.

Platform $199 per month

  • Good for: New users, small brands

Auto $299 per month

  • Good for: Midsize brands, automotive businesses

Marketplace $399 per month

  • Good for: Multi-seller businesses, large brands with warehouse systems

All of X-Cart’s plans come with open code access, a customizable storefront, ad-on integration and catalog options, and 24/7 chat support.

Features

Abandoned cart recovery

X-Cart‘s abandoned cart recovery feature is an included add-on to Ultimate, Platform, Marketplace, Auto, and Enterprise plans. This convenient addition connects you to customers on the verge of conversion, allowing you to automate, create, and execute reminders to encourage the possibility of a purchase. “Guest” customers (who don’t have a formal account with your site) can also be positively impacted by this add-on.

Although this add-on is automation-based, you can manually toggle abandoned cart tasks from your dashboard whenever you need to, protecting your autonomy and giving your clients and team members the best possible experience.

There are customer-facing benefits to this add-on, such as one-click recovery. This level of convenience increases the chance of a possible conversion. When paired with the Coupons add-on, e-commerce store owners can also offer customized discount coupon codes for the customer’s next purchase, sweetening the deal and encouraging a purchase.

With this add-on functionality, you’ll easily track abandoned cart revenue through the Abandoned Cart area of the admin panel, which is especially helpful for revenue reporting.

Sent abandoned cart recovery emails
Source: X-Cart

Email marketing

One drawback I found of the X-Cart platform is its lack of a native newsletter tool. If you haven’t yet scaled to the point of a newsletter, or are looking for a third-party tool to assist (such as Mailchimp), you likely won’t mind this gap in functionality.

While there is no natively included editor, you can opt into the X-Cart 5 Newsletter Subscription add-on. This adds an opt-in box to the footer of your website or connects your Mailchimp account – where you can create your own personalized and branded newsletters.

Setting up Mailchimp integration
Source: X-Cart

Inventory management

X-Cart has a simplified dash for order statuses in the admin panel, helping you easily track the current flow of inventory in and out of your site. While it isn’t as comprehensive as tools such as Shopify with its analysis of top sellers, you can easily see what’s in transit and what’s in the queue. This is explained further by the site’s dedicated Statistics tab for an even more in-depth profit study across purchases (pictured below).

X-Cart Inventory management 2
Source: X-Cart

Across my study of e-commerce management platforms, it seems you either get one or the other with inventory management. You get an inclusive modular system that tracks items such as fulfillment and order statuses or a more built-out, comprehensive reporting system in the dash – which tracks both order flow and revenue incoming. X-Cart offers shop owners the best of both worlds in a clean, easy-to-read package, which is suitable for stores at every stage of development.

Order statuses
Source: X-Cart

Mobile support

X-Cart customers have the opportunity to launch their own branded app through the X-Cart interface. This is unique, as many platforms don’t offer the functionality for this type of perk. The idea is that you can easily keep retention up and better target customers with tools such as notifications and mobile-only deals.

This app has an easy-to-use mobile checkout option that’s compatible with both Apple Pay and Google Pay, giving your customers the ease and convenience that’s needed to boost your conversion rates solidly.

One of the biggest perks:

It’s continuously syncing with your store in the background, avoiding the lag that’s normally associated with stand-alone apps until they’re optimized.

It runs off of the X-Cart’s Representational State Transfer (REST) API, which can be configured to suit your site’s unique needs.

This perk is available with any X-Cart subscription purchase and can be self-developed to save on additional costs. Otherwise, you can consider hiring an outside developer for the project or an X-Cart developer for an additional cost – determined at the time of purchase with your X-Cart sales rep.

Payment processing

X-Cart connects with 100+ different shipping gateways, allowing you to boost your conversions through convenient and safe options for your customers to use. For business owners who have both in-person stores and virtual storefronts, X-Cart has rolled out a POS system for easy syncing and tracking.

While X-Cart doesn’t have as robust of a security system in place as other tools, business owners can rest assured it doesn’t offer payment processing services. Instead, the service partners with outside payment processors (such as PayPal), who are responsible for protecting and processing the payment. I appreciate this, as it eliminates a lot of the concern and risk involved with using an open-source tool for sensitive customer data – such as payment information.

There are plenty of options for international buyers and sellers too, which makes X-Cart an especially strong choice for those who have global businesses.

Configuring different payment methods
Source: X-Cart

Product upload

You can easily build out your virtual storefront using X-Cart’s intuitive interface. Choose a manual upload process for one-off uploads, or you can create your CSV file for easy transfers. The CSV only needs two fields to function (the SKU and the product name), making this a straightforward process for newer or less technically-inclined business owners.

Setting product settings and variations
Source: X-Cart

There are over 20 types of accepted and recognized fields that business owners can input while creating their CSV, saving hours spent with migration operations on the back end. The site has even compiled a convenient documentation article about what types of syntax are allowed when you create your CSV file for maximum convenience and accuracy. You can read up on what’s required here.

I prefer the build-your-own CSV method, as this can save more time and be more accurate than using a pre-built template that may have extra fields you don’t need – or worse – not enough to suit your product description needs.

X-Cart offers many inventory options to make your life easier, such as product options and variants, product tags for each search, and bulk editing. In my opinion, bulk product editing is super helpful, and a feature you can find in X-Cart, Shopify, and BigCommerce. You can choose multiple items in your inventory to edit at once, which can be a huge timesaver if you want to toggle the low stock warning on specific products at once, for example.” 

Amy Nichol SmithDigital.com e-commerce and marketing expert

Reporting and analytics

While I didn’t see extensive reports for areas such as marketing, social, and other auxiliary elements of business ownership in its native interface, X-Cart does offer extensive shipping and operational reports to help you to run your shop well.

Areas of tracking include:

  • Average order value
  • Customer lifetime value
  • Total sales
  • Total shipping costs
  • Repeat purchase tracking
  • Sales by product
  • Sales by category

These analytics are in addition to what is covered in the “Statistics” area (such as gross profit, queued orders, and live tracking) and the “Backordered Products” section, giving you valuable insight into the skeletal reporting you need to refine and optimize your business operations.

I appreciated how the reports remain the same across all price tiers, rather than being locked behind price walls as you’d see with other services.

Running a report
Source: X-Cart

SEO

Compared to other services, I was pleasantly surprised that X-Cart included SEO in its native dashboard rather than exclusively in add-on form. With other open-source platforms, you could expect to see this as an auxiliary purchase, limiting your organic reach unless you have the time and resources to toggle with it. X-Cart took it a step further, digging into XML sitemap optimization, meta work, titles, and 404 optimizations.

SEO settings
Source: X-Cart

For newer business owners or for those who aren’t as technically inclined, X-Cart goes the extra mile and provides resources for common SEO needs, such as:

  • 301 redirects
  • “Clean” URLs (offering you direct access to URLs without random characters or “bulk” that hinder your performance and click-thru rates)
  • URL history
  • SEO optimization (general topics)

I could easily access other indirect forms of organic reach optimization, such as Google Product feed appearance settings, ads and search engine marketing (SEM), as well as Facebook and Instagram social ads.

Business owners will also appreciate the easy integration that X-Cart can facilitate with whatever Secure Socket Layer (SSL) provider you choose, as the search engine favors safe and secure sites for purchase purposes.

If you’re looking to go deeper, there are plenty of SEO add-on options in the X-Cart App Store to help you tailor the website to your unique needs.

Shipping options

I was pleasantly surprised to see how many different shipping options X-Cart includes natively, as other platforms generally require the use of add-ons or extension programs to have the same functionality. Shop owners can choose to set custom table rates based on categories for easy access, or go for carrier-calculated rate options across any of the partnered services. These include:

  • U.S. Postal Service
  • UPS
  • FedEx
  • Australia Post
  • Canada Post

Additionally, the site allows for one-day, free, and local shipping options across certain zones using customer addresses. You can also select fixed-rate or free shipping over a certain purchase threshold.

Shipping settings
Source: X-Cart

Store design

X-Cart’s store design is incredibly user-friendly and is one of the most competitive I’ve seen across other e-commerce platforms. There is a block-style editor, similar to what you’d see in WordPress, minimizing effort and time spent. It’s great for those lacking technical skills, without compromising the customization options developmentally-skilled business wonders could access through custom JS and CSS coding paths.

There are plenty of options in the Template Store, both free and paid. Something unique I appreciated seeing was the possibility of a free design quote for business owners. If none of the templates work for your brand vision, X-Cart designers can support you in making something unique.

I got enough functionality to successfully launch and customize my storefront without diving deep into the code portions of the tool. However, X-Cart is a competitive choice for those with more complex design needs and extensive catalogs due to its potential for customization and adaptation.

Security

X-Cart has inherent antifraud systems in place and does regular updates to minimize the risk of penetration. But it’s still largely on the shop owners to promote safe site environments via server setup and certificates to keep the site as safe as possible. I used X-Cart’s insight into exactly how to do that via a user-friendly security guide.

The main areas of recommendation are that store owners should host on a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)-friendly server to protect sensitive customer information, and invest in an SSL certificate for the site.

Support

X-Cart offers competitive customer support options and is one of the most robust, supportive platforms I’ve reviewed. With a variety of features catered to all types of learners and levels, you’ll get the help you need with this e-commerce platform.

Customer service is a massive part of the e-commerce experience for shop owners, especially when you’re setting up or migrating. I really enjoyed the convenience and connectivity that X-Cart has across its channels. Below are the ways that you can connect with a representative in minutes:

  • Chat: I used this multiple times over my store’s launch and connected to a representative in two minutes or less 24 hours per day. This was invaluable as a shop owner, and the assistant was skilled in resolving my question in a single conversation.
  • Email: Generally replies took up to 24 hours as X-Cart email support runs on a helpdesk system, which is fairly average. I preferred the round-the-clock chat support feature. Onboarding over email was difficult, as I had to follow up multiple times and was asked to do a sales demo call before gaining access to a sample account.
  • Phone: I had mixed results on phone calls, so I definitely recommend chat support for faster resolution.
  • Community, knowledgebase, and documentation: These resources were especially helpful as secondary resources to help me to launch my store in confidence.

Recent Improvements

The platform recently released its latest major update, X-Cart 5. Beyond UX shifts, there were several core changes we felt were important to prepare prospective business owners for partnership with this platform. These include the addition of digital wallet functionality, buy now, pay later (BNPL) structure, re-order capabilities, and the ability for customers to comment on product pages via Disqus.

  • X-Cart now accepts digital wallets: If you use Google and Apple Pay, you will appreciate how easy the digital wallet inclusion is to set up – allowing your customers to seamlessly connect to and interact with your store. This update went a long way to potentially boost conversions, as nearly 60% of all consumers use mobile wallets to make at least one weekly payment.
  • BNPL additions for new customer groups: BNPL structures are taking e-commerce by storm. The average number of BNPL buyers is estimated to be over 59.3 million in 2022 and may continue to rise due to pandemic-caused financial strain. Having the ability to offer BNPL in your shop can be what you need to win over customers on a budget.
  • Easy reorder capability for loyal, recurring customers: Similar to Amazon’s famous subscribe and save, your customers can easily use a reorder button to connect with their favorite products. This saves time and lowers barriers to conversion, making it an updated favorite for new business owners.
  • Customer comments and testimonials stay on-page: Social proof is more important now than ever before as more business owners join the e-commerce space. With the most recent update via X-Cart 5, customers can leave comments and feedback via Disqus for future reference – acting as evergreen testimonials. This is a fantastic addition that can be used to secure more sales, and that isn’t present across many of the e-commerce platforms available.

Compare X-Cart Alternatives

X-Cart is an excellent platform for your e-commerce needs. Yet you might be looking for a less developmentally heavy and modular platform, like a cloud storefront or store-in-a-box solution such as Shopify or Wix. Read on to see how X-Cart stacks up compared to other e-commerce options:

Ecommerce Platform

Pricing + Basic Plan Features

$199 per month

  • Accommodates up to 1 million SKUs
  • Application programming interface (API)- friendly
  • Open source
  • Wide range of themes and pre-built templates

Consider X-Cart if: You’re a mid-to-large-size business who want to grow and build their brand identity.

$29 per month

  • Unlimited products
  • 24/7 support (email, chat)
  • Marketing tools
  • Shipping tools
  • 2% transaction fee

Consider Shopify if: You want additional marketing tools and a more centralized system.

$27 per month

  • Unlimited products
  • Ticket, phone, and social media support

Consider Wix if: You want a “store-in-a-box” solution that doesn’t require coding or optimization.

Free

  • Unlimited products
  • Email support or WordPress.org forums for self-help
  • Limited reporting
  • No transaction fees

Consider WooCommerce if: You have a WordPress-based site already that you wish to transform into an e-commerce front.

$29.95 per month

  • Unlimited products
  • 24/7 support (phone, email, chat)
  • Reporting tools
  • Marketing tools
  • 0% transaction fee

Consider BigCommerce for: More in-depth reporting options with the same fee-less structure that X-Cart has for payment processing.

Frequently Asked Questions About X-Cart

How much does X-Cart cost?

X-Cart’s plans begin at $199 per month, which covers the cost of the open-source software and subsequent add-ons associated with X-Cart 5. You may also want to calculate hosting fees, SSL-certificate fees, and any fees associated with extensions from the X-Cart Marketplace. After going through a sales call, you may request a brief trial period.

Do you need to be a designer or developer to use X-Cart?

You don’t need to be a designer or a developer, but it is definitely recommended that you have light coding skills. While the store is stand-alone, you can do much more and customize your storefront if you can code skillfully or hire a developer to help you.

Where is X-Cart based?

X-Cart is based in Athens, Georgia. It’s a U.S. company that serves business owners and customers from around the world.

Is X-Cart open source?

Yes, X-Cart is open source and designed with PHP-style syntax for a fully operational storefront platform.

What do you need to start selling on X-Cart?

You’ll need to purchase a monthly subscription, as well as a hosting membership for your site. After that, you can launch your site and upload your catalog to begin selling on X-Cart.

Can you use your own domain name with X-Cart if you already have a website?

Yes, you can easily do this. The team that runs the host option of your choice should be able to help you with any necessary domain or name transfers that are needed.

How many products can you sell on X-Cart?

X-Cart is known for its unlimited everything marketing point, which celebrates that business owners can sell as many products as they want on the platform. There is no limit.

Can you have multiple stores on X-Cart?

No, you may not have multiple stores under a single X-Cart license. You will need to invest in one license per website.

Can you build an app with X-Cart?

Business owners can build their own branded app when they invest in X-Cart’s monthly membership options. Simply speak to your sales associate for details on how you can begin building your app today.

How I Rated X-Cart

I test e-commerce providers based on the following factors:

  • Value: What do you get for each plan — and does it hit that sweet spot of cost ratio to features?
  • Ease of use: Is it simple to use the platform with intuitive tools, familiar interfaces, and supportive tutorials or tours?
  • Features: Does the platform offer tools that support your business, including marketing integrations, plug-ins, reporting, and management? How effective are the features?
  • Security: Which measures does the platform take to protect your business? Does it offer Payment card industry (PCI) compliance and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates?
  • Support and improvements: How well does the platform help when you need it? And will it continue to grow with your needs?

Learn more about our review methodology.

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