When it comes to support, not all shopping cart plugins are created equal. Some plugins have great personal support, but not documentation. Other plugins have great documentation, but not support.
For personal support, MarketPress is the best. They have a great support forum. As for the plugin with best documentation, it’s too close to call. Shopp, Cart66, WP e-Commerce and others all have good docs. So, check the information below to see which one you like best.
You can click on the name of the product below to view its full review.
Shopp
All Shopp customers get access to the help desk. The current response time is any where from 21 hours to 4 days. If you're not happy with that, you can buy priority support (jump the queue, $49), or escalated support (one-on-one with the lead developer, $199). As always, terms and conditions apply. Note that according to the support policy, regular support is "not guaranteed".
You may not have to use the ticket system with Shopp since there are plenty of community resources and documentation. The community support forum, which is only available to paid members, is active and pretty helpful. You can also submit feature requests as a paid Shopp member. But note that many questions in the community forum go unanswered.
The documentation of the plugin is also reserved for paid members, but I can tell you that it's comprehensive. The goal of Shopp team is to reduce support requests as much as possible by creating comprehensive documentation. They even provide advanced tutorials and examples for customizing Shopp. There are also great videos that can be accessed from within the plugin so that you can learn efficiently as you go.
Shopp
All Shopp customers get access to the help desk. The current response time is any where from 21 hours to 4 days. If you’re not happy with that, you can buy priority support (jump the queue, $49), or escalated support (one-on-one with the lead developer, $199). As always, terms and conditions apply. Note that according to the support policy, regular support is “not guaranteed”.
You may not have to use the ticket system with Shopp since there are plenty of community resources and documentation. The community support forum, which is only available to paid members, is active and helpful. You can also submit feature requests as a paid Shopp member. But note that many questions in the community forum go unanswered.
The documentation of the plugin is also reserved for paid members, but I can tell you that it’s comprehensive. The goal of Shopp team is to reduce support requests as much as possible by creating comprehensive documentation. They even provide advanced tutorials and examples for customizing Shopp. There are also great videos that can be accessed from within the plugin so that you can learn efficiently as you go. You can also get help from various Shopp community professionals.
Cart66
Technical support provided through two channels: email and community forums. The community forums are only accessible to paying customers. The support forums are actually useful and actively monitored.
Members also get access to several detailed tutorials and a full user-manual PDF.
GetShopped (WP e-Commerce)
GetShopped comes with an excellent documentation, including step-by-step videos. Also a free public forum is provided where you can find answers to some undocumented features of GetShopped.
If none of the above works, you can try contacting one of the GetShopped consultants listed on the website.
Premium support is also offered but you need to buy a premium add-on upgrade to get the benefit of prioritized support.
eShop
Despite being a 100% free plugin, eShop has a dedicated and useful support forum. You can also get support on WordPress.org forums.
But before you ask questions in the forum, you may be able to find answers using the free documentation and help material. There are video tutorials and a wiki. Unfortunately, some features of eShop, such as sales tax and shipping management, are not fully documented. You're expected to figure these out on your own or ask questions in the forums.
You can also purchase optional commercial support and customization services from the developers.
MarketPress
Technical support from WPMU DEV is the best among all other carts. It is mostly provided through the plugin's dedicated forum. The forum is publicly open so you can visit it and see how active and helpful it is.
As for documentation, unfortunately, it is a little lacking. You're expected to figure things out yourself, or use the inline documentation.
Tribulant Shopping Cart
Support for Tribulant Shopping Cart is provided through the support forum. However, the forum is not very active and many questions go unanswered. You can also try to submit a ticket.
Other than the forums and ticketing system, you can use the plugin's documentation to solve your problems. The documentation is publicly available and it's pretty comprehensive.
Market Theme
The readme.html that ships with Market Theme will help you get started quickly. But it goes beyond "getting started". It covers a range of topics from installation to detailed explanations of options and settings.
On top of that, Market Theme is actually pretty intuitive and easy to use. Nonetheless, if you needed more help, you can visit the support forum. What I like about Market Theme's support forum is that it feels intimate and cozy, like a bunch of friends helping each other out -- though, it's mainly the admin who doesn't let any question go unanswered.
YAK
YAK is free but the developer is still happy to answer users questions on WordPress.org forum. There is not a question there that he doesn't address.
As for documentation, it's only available through the YAK Handbook, which is a 25 dollars ebook. But that 25 dollars is all you have to invest with YAK. There are no premium add-ons or anything like that. Everything's included for free.
ShopperPress
When you buy ShopperPress, you gain access to the VIP Members Area where you can receive support from multiple channels, such as: members club chat room, community forum, live chat with the developer, or by submitting a support ticket.
The forum is moderated by Mark Fail, the developer, and his team of friendly support staff. But it's a community support forum -- meaning: if you have an urgent technical issue (not related to customization), you better submit a support ticket.
The documentation for this shopping cart solution also comes in multiple forms:
- a 20-page PDF file that's downloadable from the VIP Members Area
- In-dashboard help pop-ups
- Videos & tutorials also available from the VIP Members Area
Each one of these documentation forms is done with high quality.
DukaPress
The developer is actively involved in supporting DukaPress' users. Support is provided on WordPress.org forums and you can also get support by leaving a comment on the plugin's blog.
The plugin's documentation is pretty great. It consists of many pages covering things such as initial setup, payment options, and more.
wpStoreCart
There's an open support forum for all wpStoreCart users. While the makers of the plugin view and reply to posts in the forums, you're not guaranteed to be helped. If you want dedicated technical support, you have to buy it. It costs $50 per 6-months period.
Templatic Ecommerce
The technical support for Templatic Ecommerce themes is provided through multiple channels. The most reliable channel is the Help Desk. You can also try the community forum.
While all of Templatic Ecommerce themes have the same functionality and only differ in appearance, each theme has its own documentation. The documentation is similar for every ecommerce theme, though.
Jigoshop
Jigoshop really shines in its support. It has an impressive public forum, with a extensive searchable knowledgebase that will guide you on using the Jigoshop plugin, which is free for all users. However if quick technical support is what you desire, then Jigoshop provides Premium Support at $29 per month; although you can save some cash by signing for a yearly membership, which will cost you $99.
Zingiri Web Shop
Technical support is provided through two channels: email and community forums. The community forum is accessible at http://forums.zingiri.com/. Zingiri Web Shop also provides dedicated professional support starting at $99 for a single domain for 1 year, which can go up to $299 for 5 domains for a year.
TheCartPress
Technical documentation is free as is the support forum. The forum provides some helpful ideas for working with TheCartPress, but the core documentation is extremely poor and not comprehensive enough. You have to frequently dip into the forum while setting up the plugin, which can be frustrating.
WP Online Store
WP Online Store offers an excellent and completely free documentation system. Besides the core documentation, you can also raise a ticket if you are unable to find a solution to your problem in the documentation or the support forum.
