Considering Volusion? Here's My Review: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Secret Sleeves website, created on Volusion

 I helped a client set up a website this fall using the Volusion shopping cart platform. At the time, I raved about it. Since then, I've often ranted.

As I shook my head in frustration this morning while trying to re-order some images, I was thinking about the fact that I couldn't find a detailed product review when I was considering the platform... so I've decided to write one.

What I LOVE about Volusion:
1. The Volusion system has quite a bit of flexibility while remaining pretty easy for a novice user to manipulate. I had the whole site live, complete with a premium template, quite a bit of customization, and products loaded, within 2 weeks. One of the main reasons I selected this system was that I like to have the ability to really get my hands into the code if I need to, and in most places, this system allows that.

2. There is an easy, intuitive interface for managing SEO for both informational and shopping cart pages.

3. Nice functionality for adding and showcasing multiple photos, complete with zoom.

4. Seems to be Google-friendly, as promised. The client's site was indexed and ranking well within days of going live.
5. Some of the customer service reps are extremely knowledgable. I (heart) Brandon.

6. The KnowledgeBase and user manual are phenomenally well-organized and clearly written.

What I HATE about Volusion:
1. The HTML in some areas is not available to the customer for editing. I was told we had full access to the HTML and CSS, so to me, this is pretty unforgivable. Some of it's important (there's a table that publishes some affiliate information that's simply not correct) and some is just cosmetic (there are big ugly yellow error message boxes I can't get rid of). Regardless, I think the user should have full access.

2. There's no easy way that I have found to re-order products or photos. You have to delete and re-load.

3. When I removed a category, it did not delete that category from products that were listed in multiple categories, resulting in errors.

4. The interface for editing page body content is not very intuitive. There's just one big, long scrolling table without a lot of clarifying information about what information lives where. Even after several months, it's often hard for me to find the right place to make a change.

5. The affiliate management system is a real achilles heel for Volusion.

• It doesn't allow a lot of variability in how you set up your affiliates. My client wanted to be able to offer variable commissions based on volume. The only way to handle that was to hack the system so that we are using what's meant to be a "sub affiliate" level to create a second commission rate, then we have to manually move affiliates from one level to the next. Worse, there's no way to edit or even remove commission table on the affiliates' landing page, so if you want to handle your affiliates differently than they intended, you will have a hard time communicating your system. 

• It only allows you to post 3 banners with the affiliate code embedded. If you want to offer artwork for different types of sites, you are again out of luck. I have hacked this by adding the downloadable images in what's meant to be a text field and explaining how to add your own affiliate code, but it's really irritating.

6. Customer service hold times are often upwards of 15 minutes, and some of the reps don't know the system as well as I do.

7. Many of the features they tout (such as USPS integration) are available only with premium accounts. If you look closely, that information is available, but I made some incorrect assumptions when purchasing. So, we can't print shipping labels directly from the Volusion orders interface, but rather have to do a daily data export and import it into Stamps.com in order to print shipping labels. Or upgrade Volusion.

8. Payment and refund processing is a royal pain if you are not using one of Volusion's recommended payment processors. An authorize.net emulator is NOT sufficient to allow you to issue refunds directly through the orders interface. If you have the flexibility to select a payment processor, I'd definitely go with the one they recommend. The rates were actually very good. If you are set on using your current processor, beware.

Net/Net:
I would recommend Volusion over any of the "low-end" shopping carts out there. It's more flexible, more polished, and more robust. It's afforable, intuitive, and easy to get a basic site up and running quickly. They are continually working to improve the system and I believe that it is a good product. I don't actually have a better recommendation to offer you at this time (although I'm looking for one). However, Volusion is not without its flaws, and it would serve you well to enter the relationship with your eyes open.

I will edit this post as I continue to work with the site. Meanwhile, I hope this will be helpful if you are considering working with Volusion.