So let’s lay it all down on the table, shall we? Well, that is what NewsForge seems to be doing in regard to Drupal’s E-Commerce vs. Mambo’s mambo-phpShop.

Open source Web site content management systems (CMS) don’t provide a full solution for the needs of many Web site administrators because they lacked a shopping cart. But thanks to projects like Drupal’s E-Commerce shopping cart and Mambo’s mambo-phpShop, things are getting easier: The shopping carts integrate directly into the core of the system, providing an acceptable shopping experience without requiring multiple logins, and they keep the theme of the Web site intact.

Drupal’s shopping cart module is called E-Commerce. Its features include selling not only physical products but also file downloads, as well as running auctions with an extra auction module installed. It has basic inventory management capability with a fairly good administrative backend, allowing an administrator to print invoices, send out shipping notifications by email, and update the status of orders. Customers can also see a list of their recent orders when they are logged in.

mambo-phpShop is a shopping cart module based on the venerable phpShop. It installs smoothly and can be used to its full potential right away without a steep learning curve. It has a long list of features, covering almost everything Drupal’s E-Commerce has and then some. Perhaps the most compelling reason to use this package is that it makes everything easy for both the administrator and the customer. Some of its most notable features include integrated sales tax support, sophisticated shipping cost calculation capabilities, and attribute list support. [Read the rest]