I am a long time user of AbanteCart, but had to take a break of more than a year from eCommerce due to family personal issues.

I'm back now and I have just installed 1.2.1 for the first time and WOW what a difference.

Of course, being well versed in using AbanteCart helped me speed up the process considerably, but it was refreshing to see the many changes!

1. I love the new Admin Panel. It's a great improvement on the older version and I want to thank the core guys that worked so hard on it. An amazing job indeed!

2. My new install was set up with minimal customization on my part, using flat rate shipping and Stripe as the payment option. I love stripe so much better than PayPal (I hate PayPal) and anyone with a bank account in many countries can set it up for free and their rates are very low and funds are deposited directly into your bank account. Best part is that they don't keep the funds, they are transferred directly to your bank account, unlike PayPal that has a habit of seizing accounts for little or no reason!

3. After adding one product in one category I made a purchase.
   A. I first tested Stripe in test mode and it acted exactly as it was suppose to! Declined the charge and told me the system was in test mode.
   B. Live mode went just as smoothly, with a seamless transaction via Strips. So much better than that bothersome pop-up window open cart uses with their extension. I'm told that Pavel (AbanteCart user name) wrote that extension. Amazing job my friend ... simply awesome

4. Emails received by the admin and the purchaser were extremely well done. So much better looking than the previous versions. Nice HTML formatting ... very professional

I would put AbateCart up against any other cart out there, even the paid systems for it's professionalism and ease of use.

Hats and Horns to AbanteCart, Basara, eCommerce Core and Abolabo for all their hard work. It's really beginning to pay off and soon AbanteCart will be the one others try to emulate.

Now my work is cut out for me as I begin to add all the products to the store.

Want a peek at it? It's a work in progress as there are hundreds of product to add.

There was a landing page link here, but I've since decided to have traffic go directly to the store at https://naturalhandcraftedsoaps.com/secure

Oh, you bet it is!

If you have a business that has a brick and mortar (physical) presence as well as your online efforts then nothing is more important for you.

But, what if you're web based only? Well guess what, it's just as important to get your site listed in the SERP's as having a physical storefront!

Here are some important facts about getting found in the local results SERP's.

• 71% of users value the information provided in local search results
• 36% of them think that the local results are convient
• 14% use them to find a local business each month

However, here is the really important statistic and it's mind blowing!

A staggering 61% of those local searches result in a purchase ONLINE!

People prefer to shop from someone local, even if it's via their website, therefore the only sensible conclusion anyone can make is:

Don't skip the local aspect of your SEO objectives!

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Page Space is Limited

Google displays many elements in local results – addresses, reviews, star ratings, and much more. Above that, it also displays AdWords ads and organic results. All these elements take up precious “page estate,” limiting the number of local results per page.

Getting Results Takes Time

Seeing the results of local campaigns is tedious and time-consuming. Without going into too much detail, there are plenty of platforms to verify, manage, and claim profiles on. Each one has its own set of rules; making sure your profiles comply with them takes time.

Big Retail Chains Do Local, Too

It doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t overcome them. It does mean a fierce competition for local results and more resources you need to devote to secure your listing.

But working with local search doesn’t only mean following best practices and devising strategies.

A major aspect of local SEO work revolves around other activities:

• Monitoring your progress
• Finding new citation opportunities
• Conducting regular site audits

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You will definitely need dedicated tools to accomplish a good local listing and there are several tools out there that are invaluable and very reliable on getting results.

*Whitespark
*BrightLocal
*SEMrush (my favorite one)
*LocalVox
*LSEO
*Conclusion

Using one of those programs will get you're local results popping in no time and they are easy to use to keep track of your progress!