Marketing Zen Cart

[zcwilt]

As mentioned in this Discussion we need to look at how we attract new user to Zen Cart.

Zen Cart has never actively marketed itself and in the past only relied on word of mouth to garner new users.

In the much more competitive market place we have now that's no longer sustainable.

What can we do to attract new users.

Note: This isn't meant to be a discussion about code/templates/features etc, see here for that.

[torvista]

New landing page on the main website.
A feature comparison list maybe also highlighting additional costs with other carts.
A demo site.
A roadmap. Demonstrate progress and future plans.
Ensuring Zen Cart is included in the hosting auto-installers like Scriptaculous etc.
Checking there are payment modules for the primary payment gateways.

Everything must highlight that Zen Cart not only still exists but is very much in active development in 2022.

[zcwilt]

Thanks. @torvista.
I assume when you say new landing page, you mean the https:/www.zen-cart.com
I agree this hasn't been updated in a really long time and is as really very ugly.
If anyone wants to mock up the home page !
I'm absolutely no use at design

[torvista]

Ask in the forum: offer free advertising for the web designer who comes up with the accepted mockup/design for the landing page.

[torvista]

These are currently negative marketing.

Softaculous
https://softaculous.com/apps/ecommerce/Zen_Cart
Still showing old template.
Shopfront demo works ok.
Admin demo does not work

Installatron
https://installatron.com/zencart
Still showing old template.

Live demo front: not working
Live demo back end: have to fill in form

[torvista]

Although before getting them to update the screenshots to ZC2 , that awful front page image needs to be retired asap.

[torvista]

https://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?35450-DUAL-Pricing-v2&p=1400886#post1400886

So, one of the people most connected with Dual/Wholesale Pricing didn't know it was included.
Is that not a red flag for a communication problem?

I've regularly ranted that the documentation to convince potential users to invest their time in a tryout is non-existent. Especially when compared to the extensive and excellent documentation in general.

I looked at the front page for the first time in years and there isn't even an easy way for anyone to know what Zen Cart does, apart from needing a complete rewrite.

At the very least, this
https://docs.zen-cart.com/user/about_us/features/
should be linked to / or BE the front page, reworked into newbie-speak/using the same phrases other shops use so people can recognise the functionality.

[g2ktcf]

Interesting. I am working on my MBA and my next class is actually Marketing...ugh. Its one of those things that the right answer is in the mind of your audience. So, in the end, you may have several marketing efforts to different target groups. I fully agree with @zcwilt, the landing page is terrible. As a geek, I can see past that, but a store owner or someone wanting to start a store, will not go past that. They will also not go forth with any solution that has negative marketing. They also want easy but I think that is a future step. So, the first step is DEFINE YOUR TARGET. Then we need to make changes for that specific market. I would be interested in the communities thoughts on WHO we market to first.

[torvista]

I don't imagine there is any disagreement over the need, but I conclude there is just no-one who can justify working on this non-coding aspect to take it through to an end-result. Everyone has their day-jobs and so even code-progress is driven principally by customer requirements rather than a plan, as far as I can see.

Hence it feels unconstructive to keep pointing out the problem, without being able to offer any solution, so things don't improve.
All understandable but regrettable.

[g2ktcf]

Large problems are only solved in bite size pieces. I mean, how does a mouse eat an elephant? That was why I suggested that we start with attempting to define the audience first. Focus only on that for now.

• Brand new store owners or someone wanting an ecommerce site?
• Existing "BigCartel/Etsy" type customers who want to expand to more customized options?
• Existing "Shopify/Woocommerce" customers?
• Professional Marketing types or influencers?
• Any store owner wanting to reduce overall cost?
• Others -> Please suggest other options in a brainstorming effort.

[dbltoe]

For years, I have made a point to seek out reviews online and speak up for ZC. Where they’ll let me, I submit the comparison spreadsheet I put together.
Could you clarify which front page you are referring to

[torvista]

Could you clarify which front page you are referring to

zen cart home page

To lower the bar as much as possible, I would not even "redesign" it,

• remove the glib marketing-speak and legacy untruths ("many popular payment gateways built-in", "hundreds of community-contributed payment modules to select from", )
• remove link to old versions. why???
• just use language for the human standing next to you with little spare time to waste, and use hard facts about what it does out of the box, like your comparison chart, and more importantly what it does NOT do out of the box but that it's easily added.

You don't convert new users with surprises/letting them find out the truth in their own time.