xt:Commerce

Proven and powerful

Mother of all online stores

xt:Commerce is one of the most popular software developments for online stores. The roots of the store system go back to osCommerce, the "mother of all online stores". Even though xt:Commerce is a first generation store software, there are some large merchants who continue to use the online store system very successfully.

License, architecture and technology

The software has been around since 2003 and was open source until version 3. In 2008, the update to xt:Commerce 4 was released under a commercial license. The provider is xt:Commerce GmbH from Insbruck, Austria. The architecture is monolithic, but modular and uses its own framework for PHP and MySQL.

xt:Commerce is offered as "Software as a Product" (SaaP). This means that the online merchant has to take care of hosting and operation himself. However, the technical requirements for hosting are low, so that the costs are kept within limits for moderate user numbers.

Target group: For which merchants is an xt:Commerce store suitable?

The target group of xt:Commerce are smaller wholesalers and retailers who operate a medium-sized mail order business. The choice often falls on this store system because of the clear cost structure and the many interfaces to existing merchandise management systems.

xt:Commerce functions

The store system has been continuously developed and optimized over many years. Thus, a wide range of functions can be accessed in the current version. With each new version, starting with xt:Commerce 4 (xt:Commerce Veyton), new functions were added and the system was adapted to the requirements of customers and online commerce in general.

As of version 4, it is a completely newly developed online store system. An interface for plugins allows to add new features to the software without losing the ability to automatically update.

xt: Commerce 4

xt: Commerce 4 is a completely newly developed online store system. An interface for plugins allows to add new features to the software without losing the ability to update automatically.

xt:Commerce 5

With xt:Commerce 5 comes a Responsive Template based on Bootstrap 3 and the Smarty template system. While version 4 still has one template each for the desktop view and for mobile devices, only one template needs to be maintained from xt:Commerce 5. There is also only one store URL, which has a positive effect on search engine rankings. Thanks to the Responsive Template, online store content automatically cuts a fine figure on all devices and in all resolutions. The uniform look on all devices increases the recognition value and strengthens the branding.

xt:Commerce 6

xt:Commerce 6 gets a new intuitive backend interface for administrators. An API extends version 5.1 and version 6 with a flexible standard web service interface (SOAP/XML and JSON) for the exchange of articles, customers, orders and categories with 3rd party systems or own developments.

The current version of the store system offers a variety of features that are not self-evident even in more modern store systems: For example, any number of new currencies can be added and the exchange rate can be set in relation to the default currency. Additional languages can be activated at any time and, if necessary, translations of all texts can be adjusted.

To make your store easy to find on the web, xt:Commerce comes with various SEO features - for example, the automatic creation of meta keywords based on product and category descriptions, a flexible connection to price search engines or search engine optimized URLs.

Special features

xt:Commerce is a multishop system. This means that multiple store frontends can be operated via one store installation (assuming a multishop license). With the multishop version you can set up to thirty subshops on one installation. This can, for example, facilitate the connection of many store installations to one merchandise management system and makes data maintenance much easier, since all products are created centrally in one store. With the multishop system (client system), several stores with different products as well as different layouts and customer bases can be managed via one administration interface. This makes it much easier to create brand, dealer and country stores. An sofortident.de interface integrated into xt:Commerce allows simple and fast age verification for FSK-18 content.

B2B functions

xt:Commerce 6 offers the most important functions for successfully running a B2B and B2C online business in parallel. Thus, customer groups can be created, in which the settings for the price display and the VAT configuration can be set up. It is also possible to configure which customer group new customers are assigned to. Customer groups can be used to add specific prices, discounts or minimum order values to different users. In addition, depending on the customer group, you can display or hide individual products or product groups if, for example, they are only intended for selected countries or are not suitable for young people. Even a separate template can be selected for each customer group.

xt:Commerce Reviews

As a store software of the first generation, the publications about xt:Commerce 6 are often less positive than those of the more modern competitors. However, not everything that is old is fundamentally bad. 

Many things have proven themselves and have been tested many times. It should also not be forgotten that the migration from xt to another store system is a lucrative project for many agencies. A professional requirements analysis should be preferred to relying on full-bodied promises from other manufacturers. Otherwise, it can happen that investments are made in a new platform only to discover afterwards that all manufacturers only boil with water.

Competitors and recommendations

The direct competitors of xt:Commerce 6 are Gambio and xtcModified. These e-commerce solutions are themselves spin-offs of xt:Commerce 3, so they have the same roots as xt:Commerce 6. But OXID and Shopware 5 are also monolithic programs that are not designed for a modern cloud architecture. All these e-commerce solutions work well until they reach their performance limits (in terms of catalog size, concurrent visitors and purchase completions).

With all these e-commerce programs, we recommend the support of a commerce agency. Expanding the functionality, customizing Responsive Templates, even installing add-ons in many cases requires programming skills in HTML, PHP and Javascript, knowledge of web server operation and a lot of experience with the software in question.

Our xt:Commerce services

For xt:Commerce we offer the following services:

  • Store installation and setup
  • Hosting and support
  • Web development and customization
  • Plugin development (Here you can find plugins from blackbit)
  • Custom design and individual templates
  • SEO, social media and digital marketing
  • Migration to xt:Commerce 6.x, especially from Modified Commerce and xt:Commerce 3
  • Interface programming and custom application development.
  • Product Information System
  • B2B e-commerce solutions

Case Study Fitstore24: With powerful PIM system and service-oriented shopping functions to new sales records

Read this case study to find out how Blackbit's automated data management processes, powerful PIM system, innovative shopping features, and intelligent service offerings helped the store exceed sales targets.

Read our Case Study Fitstore24

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