Why Marketplace Owners Migrate from Yo!Kart to CS-Cart?

If you are choosing an engine for your marketplace probably you have already heard of different platforms, including Yo!Kart.

Many of our clients have asked us to help them migrate from this platform to CS-Cart. We know that migration may be really tough, and that is why we want to warn you of some points that may not be obvious on the way of launching your online business.

Of course we know we are the concerned party here. But these are the facts that may help you make the right decision and not face the pain of migration.

Key Points to Address When Considering Yo!Kart

Yo!Kart is an engine that does not keep your options open:
No ecosystem and community
There is no opportunity for Yo!Kart clients to ask other customers a question or exchange experience
No third-party solutions to extend your business
Yo!Kart does not provide the product with any ready extensions
Almost zero quantity of live cases
Despite more than 5 year experience, the number of Yo!Kart live websites are not so impressive (only 16 of the 28 case studies presented on the official website are still functioning)
No Cloud version is provided
Yo!Kart is only about self-hosted solution thas implies the need to install the platform on a hosting, payments for the hosting provider, and can extend the time-to-market. Which cannot be accaptable for some businesses.
Yo!Kart is a platform full of limitations that may become a huge barrier on your way to success. CS-Cart, on the other hand, provides you with a wide range of options—starting with ready add-ons and themes for extending your marketplace, to a massive variety of high-skilled developers. And there are thousands of cases to prove it.

Lack of Yo!Kart Live Cases

An important marker of a platform's reliability is its portfolio and unbiased user reviews on third party services. To have a vast majority of strong cases is an essential thing for an e-Commerce project.

Yo!Kart has a very limited number of successful cases on their official website. There are 28 case studies in total, and only 16 of them are still functioning. Some of the cases displayed on the Yo!Kart website are neither presented in the search results, nor even no longer exist.

CS-Cart on the other hand has been building huge and prosperous marketplaces since 2005 and it has over 35,000 clients all over the world.
Yo!Kart Usage Statistics
According to BuiltWith, a popular website profiler, Yo!Kart usage statistics shows that there are only 162 live websites built with this platform, and only 2 of them are among "Top 1m" (top 1 million popular websites).
CS-Cart Usage Statistics
Meanwhile, CS-Cart has more than 14,000 live stores and marketplaces,

- 293 of which are among «Top 1m»,
- 12—among «Top 100k»,
- and 1 website is included in the «Top 10k».

Check out why so many clients migrate from Yo!Kart in short:

You can learn a brief explanation instead of a full one
to save your time

Yo!Kart Limitations

Launching an online marketplace is just half the battle on your way to success. As time goes on, every entrepreneur starts to think about expanding their business. The questions listed below are those that our clients have faced on the earliest stages of their business journey:

Will I be able to extend the platform's functionality?

CS-Cart

There are no third-party solutions to expand the default Yo!Kart functionality. So you have two ways to get a new feature or a minor customization in Yo!Kart:

  • Self-Maintained Customization
Yo!Kart is an open-code solution, so if you have programming skills, you can make changes to the code of your platform. But in this case you can totally lose your whole support period.
  • Customization by Yo!Kart
Yo!Kart has neither third party developers, nor its own partner community. All the customizations are done by the Yo!Kart developers. This way, if you decide to get a customization, your choice may be very limited—in fact it is reduced to one company.

Yo!Kart

Despite the fact that CS-Cart Multi-Vendor is a powerful and feature-rich out-of-the-box solution, and has all the functionalities that you may need when launching an online marketplace, you may find something that is missing for your particular business. For these cases CS-Cart has its own Marketplace of add-ons and themes.

If your requirements are very specific, customizations may be done in several ways:

  • Self-Maintained Customization
CS-Cart is an open-code solution as well. If you have some programming skills, you are free to customize the code for your needs. Your support period won't be turned down.
  • Customizations by CS-Cart Partners
CS-Cart has a huge community of developers all over the world (350+ partners). You can not only choose a developer by the pricing, but even by their location. It is always handier to work with someone who speaks your language and with whom you can talk face-to-face, isn't it? Anyways, the choice is all yours.
How will I keep my platform on track—will it be hard to upgrade it?

CS-Cart

Yo!Kart usually releases major improvements 2-3 times a year. All the updates are paid.

You can not just upgrade your existing marketplace to the latest Yo!Kart version. Each update is a standalone version. If you need the upgraded version to fulfill the business requirement, you need to re-purchase the license.

Yo!Kart

CS-Cart releases major improvements 2-3 times a year. But every 2 or 3 months we release patch versions containing minor improvements and fixes of issues. All updates are free if your upgrade subscription is active. You can even upgrade your marketplace when your subscription is over (in case the update was released during your active support period).

You do not have to re-purchase your Multi-Vendor each time the new version is out. All you have to do is to upgrade your marketplace in the Upgrade Center.
Will I need any technical skills to run an online business? Will it be easy to get help from a skilled person if I need it?

CS-Cart

No, you won't need any technical skills. At least on the first stages. Then, if you decide to customize something, you will have to make changes to the code. Or seek for a developer's help. Which, once again, can be provided only from Yo!Kart.

Please note that if you decide to make any changes to the Yo!Kart code, your whole support period may be automatically turned down. This leaves you the single option—to pay for another customization from the Yo!Kart team. Which is from $18 per hour to $25 per hour, depending on your package.

Yo!Kart support periods vary from 6 months to 12 months. Bug fixes are limited, so if your support period is over, get ready to pay.

Yo!Kart

You do not have to be a developer to use CS-Cart. But in case you decide to make some changes to the code, you probably will need some technical skills. If you don't have ones, there are plenty of developers on the Marketplace who will be happy to help.

The Customer Care team is always there for you if you have a question. CS-Cart Customer Care Subscription varies from 45 days to 180 days. But you can always ask for help if you find any issue in the default product functionality. Customer Care engineers will fix that for you, and you will be able to get a fix without the need to upgrade your marketplace.
What if I want to launch my marketplace in a cloud?

CS-Cart

Yo!Kart only provides its customers with a self-hosted edition. So if you decide to launch a cloud marketplace, Yo!Kart is not an option.

Yo!Kart

CS-Cart provides you not only with a self-hosted solution.
If you want to start an MVP and test your marketplace idea really quickly, you can choose Multi-Vendor No-Code edition. It allows you to launch marketplace in a cloud and save your time on installations. All essential features, same possibilities, but in the cloud.

With CS-Cart Multi-Vendor No-Code you're just a week away from your own successful marketplace!
vps hosting

Why Do Customers Migrate to CS-Cart?

CS-Cart is a company based in the USA with staff members located all around the world to support its clients from every time zone. Since 2005 we have been building a product that helps people to create their own successful businesses, and it is proved by the number of cases and positive reviews.

From a small start-up to a huge enterprise company—CS-Cart will allow you to enter any market niche.
With CS-Cart Multi-Vendor you can quickly launch your marketplace and grow it continuously. All of it is possible because of the great variety of features included into CS-Cart by default.

Explore the feature-rich functionality of
CS-Cart Multi-Vendor

Create your own successful e-Commerce business

Out-of-the-box solution

CS-Cart has all the essential functionality by default. You will not have to spend your budget for additional customizations.

Access to the repository

If you have your own development team, the access to the repository can greatly facilitate the development of your project. The repository has data on all the changes and bug fixing that are made to the software. You'll be able to track it to systematically modify and develop your marketplace.

Multiple storefronts

Branch your marketplace out by creating separate storefronts for different vendors or even for different countries. You do not have to open multiple stores—create several storefronts and manage them from a single panel.

Strong community

If you eventually come up with a customization, you can easily find a developer. CS-Cart has a whole network of authorized developers all over the world. It is better to have multiple options, than to depend on one developer team, isn't it?

Marketplace of add-ons and themes

In case your marketplace requires a specific functionality, you may find it in our Marketplace of add-ons and themes. It is always easier to get an add-on, than to customize something from scratch.

Prod/dev environment

For quick and safe feature delivery and reducing time to market value, CS-Cart offers the technologies and algorithms of launching changes, running tests, and checkups.

Choose between cloud and self-hosted edition

Multi-Vendor No-Code (cloud)

Basic

Pro

Advanced

$95/mo
$155/mo
$295/mo
500 products
Revenue up to $5,000
50 vendors
1 admin
5,000 products
Revenue up to $10,000
500 vendors
3 admins
200,000 products
Unlimited revenue
Unlimited vendors
Unlimited admins

Multi-Vendor On-Premises (self-hosted)

The only ready-to-use marketplace solution to run multiple marketplaces and manage them in a single admin panel.

Ultimate

$6,950
Everything in Plus, and:
Multiple storefronts to run a multi-location marketplace
The most affordable on-premises platform for launching your MVP marketplace.

Standard

$1,250
500+ essential features
The only on-premises solution for running a full-fledged marketplace with a ready-to-use mobile app and an open source code of a mobile app.
Visual theme editor, CMS, texts & translations editor
Visual UI editor
Customer Care Standard

Plus

$3,150
Warehouses
Everything in Standard, and:
Mobile app
A single mobile application for both customers and vendors
Multiple warehouses and pickup points for sellers
6 extra features for vendor administration
Over 70 payment methods for vendors
Customers can pay a vendor directly with a method the vendor chooses
Mobile app source code
Customer Care Plus
Conversion-centered design theme Unitheme
Customer Care Ultimate
This is an alternative to annual subscriptions – a lifetime
Ultimate license for those who prefer a one-time payment.

Unlim

Full access to the code
Customer Care Ultimate for 1 year
Lifetime license
Ultimate license for those who prefer a one-time payment.
/year
/year
/year
Everything in Ultimate, and:

Compare CS-Cart and Yo!Kart services and functionality

Features
CS-Cart
Yo!Kart
Free upgrades
Up to 1 year (depending on a plan)
All updates are paid
Free bug & security fixes
Lifetime
From 6 months to 1 year
Free installation
Customer Care
From 45 days to 180 days
(lifetime bug fixes)
From 6 months to 1 year
(including bug fixes)
Support period may end because of customization
REST API
Access to the development repository
Enterprise
Open source code of a mobile app
Paid
(mobile updates are also paid)
White-label
MVE Plus and Ultimate
Open source code
Customizations are made only
by Yo!Kart developers
Multiple storefronts
MVE Ultimate
Design editor for vendors
MVE Plus and Ultimate
Advanced vendor restrictions
MVE Plus and Ultimate
Vendor locations
Vendor-specific categories
Integration with Zapier
Vendor-to-admin payments
Built-in database backup/restore tool
Advanced order management system
Bulk product editing
On-site content editing
Multiple product page templates
Built-in layout editor
Cutomizable product variations
Call requests
Payment methods
70+ default payment methods
20+ payment methods on the Marketplace of add-ons and themes
20+ payment methods
Custom payment methods $750 for each
Custom design
Customizations made by CS-Cart partners
Third-party themes from the Marketplace of add-ons and themes
9 custom pages
(GoCustom)
Common products for vendors
MVE Plus and Ultimate
All products are common
Promotions for vendors
MVE Plus and Ultimate
Separate checkout
MVE Plus and Ultimate
Category commissions
MVE Plus and Ultimate
Mobile application for customers
MVE Plus and Ultimate
Paid
5+ realtime shipping methods
Manual shipping methods
Integration with Shipstation
Advanced search
Searchanise
Elastic search
26+ built-in translations
CrowdIn
MSN-translator

Summary

We often see how customers are struggling with migrations from other products. Migration is an expensive, time-consuming and devastating process. That is why when choosing a platform for your business, it is better to pay attention not only to its functionality, but also to other factors, such as survivability, user-friendliness, ability to scale your marketplace, number of limitations and your future costs.
No one wants to buy a house to only find out that all the furniture is pricey and the options are limited. Having a choice is vital. Having the ability to run your business with no restraints is vital. These are the facts, and the choice is up to you.