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Introduction > Understanding X-Cart > X-Cart GOLD and PRO |
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X-Cart software comes in two Editions: X-Cart GOLD and X-Cart PRO. Both the Editions provide almost every feature one would expect of an e-commerce storefront solution. X-Cart GOLD best suits small and medium-sized businesses, while X-Cart PRO has every chance to meet the expectations of larger companies and enterprise corporations. Let’s see how one version differs from the other. In X-Cart GOLD, the store back-end (a zone of the store that allows the store's administration and management staff to control the storefront) represents a single environment. Any person who has access to the store back-end has unlimited access to all the controls one might need to maintain and manage the store. The tasks of configuring the store settings, managing users, adding products and processing orders can all be performed by the same person. It is possible to create more then one user accounts providing access to the store back-end. All these accounts will have exactly the same privileges, and any activity performed by a user of such an account in the store back-end will affect the entire store. The way in which the store back-end functions in X-Cart GOLD makes X-Cart GOLD an almost perfect solution for businesses where the store is managed and maintained completely by one person (typically, the store owner) or by a small team of individuals capable of scheduling their activities so that they do not interfere with each other. In X-Cart PRO, the back-end is divided into two zones with separate access: Admin area and Provider area. Store administration and management staff members are given access to this or that zone of the back-end based on the type of responsibilities they perform. Accessible features vary depending on the access level of the users: some users can access all the features and make modifications that affect the entire store (like 'admin' account users or the 'root' provider), while the others can only use a limited feature set and work on a specific part of the store (like individual 'provider' users controlling only a limited range of products). Support for multiple access levels for back-end users makes X-Cart PRO a reliable basis for really large stores with multiple departments. From the inside, an X-Cart PRO-based store represents a complex environment which may be shared by an unlimited number of people or companies to sell products online. The vendors selling goods via such a store may be located apart from one another, sometimes in different countries. A separate 'provider' account allows each of such vendors to have their own product set, discounts, region specific settings for tax and shipping rates, etc. Control and management of the store in general is carried out by 'administrator' and 'root provider' accounts, so the store functions as a single whole. The principles of functioning of X-Cart PRO make it a great solution for joint businesses in which more than one individuals or organizations work in collaboration on the same e-commerce project.
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