Ecommerce became possible in 1991 when the Internet was opened to commercial use. Since that time it has evolved from online billboards to a fully functional, personalized shopping experience. A major turning point came when people started to trust online shopping, and then the business started picking up. Among the numerous inventions necessary for ecommerce to survive is the online shopping cart. The shopping cart is made by software that allows the buyer to shop quickly and easily – and it is perhaps the most important invention.



There are several e-Commerce store-management software programs available on the Internet at present. The three major ones are OsCommerce and its two spin-offs - Zen Cart and CRE Loaded. Zen Cart and CRE Loaded are similar to the osCommerce core set of operations. OsCommerce is considered the simplest version of ecommerce website and is widely used with stores that do not have a lot of traffic. Zen Cart is considered to be the most user friendly ecommerce system. CRE Loaded is considered to be the most comprehensive and comes with by far the most included options and features which can be activated or deactivated as the owner wishes.

The development of CRE Loaded began after Chain Reaction Ecommerce was founded in 2001 and was undertaken in response to hosting customer demands. Created from the direct feedback of thousands of customers and users, the features and capabilities of CRE Loaded are grounded in real capabilities that are fully tested in the real world.

CRE Loaded currently has 39 additional modules over and above the many that are already included in the default OsCommerce installation. CRE Loaded also offers powerful shopping cart solutions in both the free and paid editions. CRE Loaded has a better template system and its “affiliate manager" allows you to specify the per sale payment percentage rate for each of your affiliate accounts as well as providing a tiered structure that is based on sales performance.

Basic reporting tools are also included, showing the products viewed, purchased, and customer orders total. A database backup manager is also a part of the tool set, as is a basic newsletter setup for e-mailing to your customers - which means that you have online marketing without having to pay for that service.

Product Management with CRE Loaded is very simple. You can add new products to your store in no time. You have a tool for adding products and categories and there is no limitations on the number of products, categories and subcategories. You can easily copy and move products between categories as well. CRE Loaded also offers you Advanced Product Management capabilities, which includes no limitations for attributes determined to products and option type features.

The only drawback for CRE Loaded is that it might seem a little more difficult to manage at first because of all this variety of features. But the new 6.2 version offers a solution to this. In addition to five new menus, it features a better organization and layout. It has a new Admin "Control Center" – that comes in two versions - a PRO version with additional functions for power users and a FREE one for normal users. Plus, security and fraud protection is improved and the installation is made even easier with a new installer.

In regard to concerns about standards compliance, the CRE Loaded system benefits greatly by having a quality standards compliant template design.

With CRE Loaded templates you can set up your webshop designs and optimized layouts for many different types of businesses: your personal online store, huge corporate online store, or an offline presentation. CRE Loaded templates are easy-to-install and easy-to-customize designs – saving you time and money. CRE Loaded templates come with all the necessary files to start your CRE Loaded online store. These files include: PHP, CSS, and image files.

Installation instructions and outstanding support services are provided with every template. The database of CRE Loaded Templates has the very highest level of security which makes CRE Loaded eCommerce stores more popular with users.

On a final note, with more than 100,000 units in distribution, an aggressive release schedule and numerous industry partnerships, Chain Reaction Ecommerce and CRE Loaded will remain at the forefront of eCommerce well into the future.