americommerce - anyone using them?

[Katt]

I need to move my cart soon. I'm looking for a flexible hosted solution... The list of features for americommerce looks great, but Quickbooks integration and other order import / accounting features are among my biggest concerns. The free test drive does not include the Quickbooks integration. They've offered a money-back guarantee so I can test drive the QB tool, but will not refund the $99 installation fee. This bugs me, that I may end up paying $99 for nothing, but I may take the plunge anyway.

I'm looking for anyone who has experience with this cart who may be able to help me decide whether to risk it or not. Also, if anyone is using it with QB, is the import tool flexible? Does it allow importing to non-posting accounts? Does it allow you to keep the shipping and handling fees separate upon import?

[cw1865]

I just started up with Americommerce, unfortunately I was more interested in the centralized content management system than in the system's Quick Books functionality. I have been uploading data from Volusion and had some minor difficulties mapping it; for instance, product options are done differently, so even with a mass import I'm still doing options and pictures-product by product.

Overall, I think its a tight system. It seems Quick Books integration is a feature many carts have, I think they're worth the $99 risk....I hope that helps....

[Katt]

Thanks CW. I think you were the one that brought this cart to my attention. I know many carts advertise QB integration, but when I actually use the import tool, too often it falls very short of my expectations. A good example is 3dcart - I liked a lot of it's features, but the answer to all 3 of my QB questions in the case of 3dcart was NO. To their benefit though, I do like a lot of their front-end features, and they gave me a full refund when I discovered it wasn't what I was looking for. This is why the $99 bugs me about americommerce. They leave me no choice but to pay to try it, or move on to something else.

[deepsand]

Also, if anyone is using it with QB, is the import tool flexible? Does it allow importing to non-posting accounts? Does it allow you to keep the shipping and handling fees separate upon import?

Is the vendor unable/unwilling to answer such questions?

[Katt]

My questions have been passed on to the Development Group. I've been waiting nearly a week for an answer.

[deepsand]

Sadly, such a wait is not atypical.

For my part, should they be both unable to definitively answer your questions and unwilling to accommodate your need to test for the features in question at no cost to you, I would decline to enter into any business relationship with them.

[Katt]

I finally got one answer - it combines shipping and handling when using the QB import tool, but I missed a call from them and they left a voice message saying they had some ideas that might be helpful for what I'm trying to do. These guys are based in Texas (me too) so I'm willing to give them another chance. I'll keep you posted.

[Katt]

Update - I signed up with Americommerce. I like the tons of features and options they have that's unavailable in most carts, plus if there's something it can't do but I can't live without, I have two avenues to pursue: they have a dev-share program where several customers can split half the cost of developing a new feature and Americommerce pays the other half, OR I can hire their developers to custom-design whatever I need. They quoted me $450 to make the QB import tool work exactly how I wanted it to.

Since I know how nerve-wracking it is when shopping for a hosted solution, I will continue to post updates regarding this service as I get deeper into it. I wish I could have found lots of honest information from real customers when I was shopping around, so I'm sure someone will appreciate it...

[deepsand]

Thanks for the update.

Interesting cost-sharing plan they've got. How do you determine whether or not they've one or more other requests for a feature that you're interested in having?

[Katt]

Thanks for the update.

How do you determine whether or not they've one or more other requests for a feature that you're interested in having?

They have a DevShare forum for this purpose. They also have another forum where they list feature requests and let members vote on which features they want next. It looks to me like they respond well to feature requests and roll out new features frequently. So far, so good!