By Staff Writer – John Federico (@gadgetboy)

I’m a marketer by trade and admittedly, persnickety about branding – particularly visual presentation. My specialty is “branding on a budget” which works well for my small business clients.

So you can imagine my displeasure when searching for small business ecommerce services. Sure, most can be customized but any real customizations (those that live up to my standards and budget) usually require a significant amount of professional services by designers, coders, etc.

I’ve always been a fan of RapidWeaver for developing quick, attractive web sites – including simple ecommerce sites. Thanks to some recent exploration of RealMac Software’s RapidWeaver Add-on’s Directory, I discovered CartLoom. (Screenshots after the break)


Created by YadDab Software, makers of PayLoom – the original ecommerce plugin for RapidWeaver – CartLoom takes ecommerce to another level while still maintaining integration with RapidWeaver. That means you can have an ecommerce platform with all the features you expect from a fully-hosted solution including thousands of products, discount codes, sale pricing, bundles – allowing for discounted pricing on multiple item purchases, automated digital delivery of software and other intangible goods – including product activation codes, integration with PayPal, Authorize.net and PayPoint and shipping rules with full support for attractive RapidWeaver themes.

Of course, you don’t need RapidWeaver to use CartLoom but it’s certainly a bonus. To add CartLoom to an existing site, all you need to do is enter your products into CartLoom and add code snippets to your site.

The only feature on my wishlist for CartLoom is built-in support for managing affiliate programs. At the very least, I’d like to see support for third-party affiliate management software.

If you operate an ecommerce site or ar considering it (oh – and you use a Mac) you owe it to yourself to check out RapidWeaver and CartLoom.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0