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Miva

Miva

Overview

What is Miva?

Miva Merchant is a point-and-click, online store development and management system that allows merchants to build their online store through a web browser, and lets developers provide aftermarket enhancements for the online store.

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Learn from top reviewers

Miva is the sweet spot for mid-size companies who want better than off the shelf!

Rating: 9 out of 10
March 31, 2023
Vetted ReviewVerified User
Miva is the backend sales platform for our websites. They provide a very modern front end for our retail and wholesale customers as well as many integrations to automate our p...
Continue reading
Paco Goebel
General Manager - Information Technology
Operations Manager
Motonation
Miva3 years of experience

If your looking for best-in-class B2B eCommerce features.. look no further.

Rating: 10 out of 10
January 27, 2023
Vetted ReviewVerified User
We use Miva to drive our eCommerce engine for our B2B operations. We have used it to bring our ERP system to our customers in a way they can interact with that is familiar and...
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Marc Vasquez
Director - Other
Director of Global eCommerce
Ideal Clamp Products, Inc.
Miva4 years of experience

Easy for Beginners to Use, Powerful Enough for Larger Businesses, Flexible Enough to Meet Specialized Needs

Rating: 10 out of 10
July 26, 2022
Vetted ReviewVerified User
I'm a software engineer, not a merchant. I've been working with Miva for more than 20 years. My specialty is writing plug-in modules that customize the store's behavior. Miva ...
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Kent Multer
Director - Other
Proprietor
Magic Metal Productions
Miva24 years of experience

Review from a "non-tech" business owner

Rating: 10 out of 10
June 4, 2022
Vetted ReviewVerified User
I'm not your typical "tech-savvy" online retailer, so you're going to want to read this review. I'm the target audience for Wix and Shopify, and I have chosen not to use them....
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Rebecca Blackburn
C-Level Executive - Corporate
COO (Chief Operations Officer)
GlitzOnline
Miva20 years of experience

Innovative Company

Rating: 7 out of 10
June 3, 2022
Vetted ReviewVerified User
Miva Merchant gave us the possibility to have a functional website, a website that is under our control, and a user-friendly website. All those were problems that now are in t...
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Ale McComic
Employee - Other
Imports
Alexander's Tractor Parts
Miva1 year of experience
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Pricing

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Miva

Miva

N/A
Unavailable

What is Miva?

Miva Merchant is a point-and-click, online store development and management system that allows merchants to build their online store through a web browser, and lets developers provide aftermarket enhancements for the online store.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.miva.com/miva-ecommerce…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Would you like us to let the vendor know that you want pricing?

6 people also want pricing

Alternatives Pricing

Shopify

Shopify

$29
per month
What is Shopify?

Shopify is a commerce platform designed for both online stores and retail locations. Shopify offers a professional online storefront, a payment solution to accept credit cards, and the Shopify POS application to power retail sales.

Wix

Wix

$16
per month
What is Wix?

Wix is a website builder used to grown an online presence. The platform allows users to build their website from scratch, choose from designer-made templates, or use an AI website builder to add sections, images, and text.

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Product Demos

MIVA Demo copy 2

YouTube

Miva – Business Consulting WordPress Theme Download, Installation and Import Demo Content

YouTube

MIVA - Illusion (demo)

YouTube

REPAY for MIVA Demo

YouTube

Miva demo video

YouTube
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Features

Online Storefront

Features for creating an online storefront with a browse-able product catalog.

8.3
Avg 7.8

Online Shopping Cart

Features that facilitate the collection of items so that customers can purchase them as a group.

7.6
Avg 7.7

Online Payment System

Features related to processing online payment for eCommerce purchases.

7.3
Avg 8.3

eCommerce Marketing

Features related to marketing for eCommerce websites

7.2
Avg 7.7

eCommerce Business Management

Features related to business management and administration of eCommerce operations

7.7
Avg 8.0
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Product Details

What is Miva?

Miva is an ecommerce platform which provides businesses with a flexible website and fully-customizable catalog and checkout system with control over the look, content, and functionality of their online store.

Miva is invested in its core competency as an ecommerce platform provider, continuously developing solutions to modern merchants’ most pressing needs. The vendor states Miva excels at supporting businesses whose complex product catalogs or specialized industry requirements have proved too challenging for other ecommerce platforms to handle. With over two decades of experience serving businesses that sell everything from aftermarket parts and fresh-caught seafood to custom diamond rings and swimming pools, Miva invites sellers to bring them the problems other platforms can’t handle.

How Miva Supports a Ecommerce System:

  • Interface provides web management for non-technical users
  • Platform designed to enable B2B and DTC sales on a single website
  • Extensive native functionality minimizes the need for third-party apps and plugins
  • Unlimited product variations for high SKU count (from thousands to millions) catalogs and dependent SKUs
  • Managed ERP integrations with Miva Connect
  • Back-office integrations through Miva’s JSON API
How Miva Helps Merchants Create a Store That Sells More:
  • Built-in subscriptions and reordering for frictionless repeat purchasing
  • Online sales quotes help sales teams automate their sales processes
  • Custom product builders help customers bundle products into kits and custom orders
  • Advanced shipping logic supports complex shipping and compliance requirements
  • Smart pricing options for customer and rule-based pricing

Miva Features

Online Storefront Features

  • Supported: Product catalog & listings
  • Supported: Product management
  • Supported: Bulk product upload
  • Supported: Branding
  • Supported: Search & filter
  • Supported: Mobile storefront
  • Supported: Product variations
  • Supported: Website integration
  • Supported: Visual customization
  • Supported: CMS
  • Supported: Customer service tools

Online Shopping Cart Features

  • Supported: Abandoned cart recovery
  • Supported: Tax calculator
  • Supported: Shipping calculator
  • Supported: Checkout user experience

Online Payment System Features

  • Supported: PayPal integration
  • Supported: Returns & refunds
  • Supported: Single-click checkout
  • Supported: eCommerce security
  • Supported: B2B features

eCommerce Marketing Features

  • Supported: Promotions & discounts
  • Supported: Personalized recommendations
  • Supported: SEO
  • Supported: Product reviews
  • Supported: Customer registration

eCommerce Business Management Features

  • Supported: Multi-site management
  • Supported: Order processing
  • Supported: Inventory management
  • Supported: Accounting
  • Supported: Shipping
  • Supported: Custom functionality

Additional Features

  • Supported: Online Sales Quotes

Miva Integrations

Miva Competitors

Miva Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac
Mobile ApplicationNo
Supported CountriesAll
Supported LanguagesEnglish

Miva Downloadables

Frequently Asked Questions

Miva Merchant is a point-and-click, online store development and management system that allows merchants to build their online store through a web browser, and lets developers provide aftermarket enhancements for the online store.

Shopify, Volusion, and WooCommerce are common alternatives for Miva.

Reviewers rate Order processing highest, with a score of 7.4.

The most common users of Miva are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).

Miva Customer Size Distribution

Consumers0%
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)90%
Mid-Size Companies (51-500 employees)8%
Enterprises (more than 500 employees)2%
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(29)

Reviews

(1-5 of 20)

A Shopping Cart Solution for Online Businesses of Any Size

Rating: 10 out of 10
December 04, 2014
DL
David Limon
Manager
www.davidlimon.com (Internet, 201-500 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
Miva
12 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
I currently offer E-Commerce consulting, marketing, and management services for a broad range of online companies most of which are using Miva Merchant as their shopping cart platform. The online stores I work with are offering anywhere from 20 to 180,000 products online. The shopping cart is primarily used to merchandise products and as a CMS system.Some of the more challenging issues my clients face are work arounds for MAP Pricing (Minimum Advertised Pricing), integrating in-house POS systems with Miva to manage inventory, and integrating live LTL freight rates directly into the shopping cart. All of these feats can be achieve but may require you to think outside of the box. The good thing about Miva is that you are only limited by your imagination as far as what you can do with the platform.
Pros
  • Miva Merchant is extremely robust and has very few limitations unlike most other shopping carts.
  • Offers the most bang for your buck! You can run a multimillion dollar online store using their smallest package at $50 per month with ease. No joke!
  • There are many 3rd party modules available for added flexibility.
  • Support staff is great and you can find answers to many questions in their forum (where senior techs tend to hang out). Video tutorials are available too!
Cons
  • There is a learning curve and newbies must have patience when setting up a new store out of the box.
  • I was never a big fan of the mobile layout. Fortunately a Responsive design is now available (and rocks)!
  • The ability to tie into 3rd party POS systems more easily would be a nice added feature (but I guess that would require the POS system to be integration friendly as well).
Likelihood to Recommend
Hands down this is the best shopping cart on the market for small, medium, and large online stores. The ability to easily scale up or down in size makes this a favorable shopping cart for all. Some great resources for getting started can be found here:
Miva Training Videos: http://www.mivamerchant.com/videos
Miva's Documentation (PDF): http://www.mivamerchant.com/pdf/MivaPR8_09-01-13.pdf
Miva's Official Forum http://extranet.miva.com/forums/

Merchant’s Perspective – Used Miva For Many Years, But Had To Move On

Rating: 1 out of 10
March 20, 2015
Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Retail Company, 11-50 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
Miva
3 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Established retail company launched an online store with Miva Merchant over 5 years ago. Early on it was a very suitable platform and met our needs well, particularly its somewhat unique versatility. However, things have been in steady decline for some time. Their hosting was incredibly unreliable and lacked critical management features for no good reason. What you get initially with Miva is really only the shell of a proper online store. Things have gradually gotten better in regard to the features included, but companies who've been on the platform for years and paid for third-party modules and specialized development work receive no benefit. They're consistently about three years behind the pack compared to other major eCommerce platforms and have recently resorted to questionable tactics to increase the revenue they derive from people who use their system. I do feel some online merchants with highly specialized needs could find the customization options offered by Miva compelling, but the start up and ongoing costs for a real storefront are quite severe and lack many useful features compared to other more popular store systems.
Pros
  • General versatility, though changes commonly require the aid of a true Miva developer to implement
  • Compatible with many payment gateways and a fair assortment of third-party services
  • Developers employed directly by Miva to handle merchant projects are personable and responsive to most requests
Cons
  • Prospective and established merchants considering the Miva platform should be warned that they've recently implemented an onerous new fee when more than one person accesses the store admin area at any given time. Specifically, Miva merchants will now be on the hook for $50 per additional simultaneous user per month. If we had remained on Miva, this would have increased our annual costs of using the platform by at least $3,000, perhaps more. The president of Miva claims this is standard for SaaS e-commerce platforms, but I know of none that do and this change makes their platform incredibly unattractive for merchants who expect their business to grow in the future. Furthermore, certain third-party services can be detected by the Miva HQ tracking system as admin users, also triggering an additional seat fee.
  • Exorbitant pricing for adding some basic features that feels like a petty cash grab. For instance, we opted for the $1,000 mobile optimization package and received a bare bones mobile-friendly site with no appearance refinements aside from crudely plopping our logo at the top. They forgot to optimize a few key pages, like the product search results, and it seemed like whoever did it rushed through the work in an hour or two. Other projects they helped with went better, but there's frequently minor coding errors we've had to clean up ourselves.
  • Features released with updates practically always require developer assistance to test and properly enable.
  • Issues that should be treated as bugs are instead left for third-party modules to correct. For example, if a wholesale customer adds items to their cart before logging in, those items retain the standard retail price when the order is placed. We informed Miva tech support of this, expecting that they might look into fixing the problem, but were instead told that we should buy an add-on module that forces a cart recalculation at checkout. Why should this be the responsibility of an extra module to correct? It should be noted that a year or two ago Miva purchased the Emporium Plus plugin catalog, including the cart recalculation module, yet that is still omitted from the core platform.
Likelihood to Recommend
I am aware of some interesting applications of the Miva platform where it may be the optimal choice, but for the vast majority of store owners the negatives greatly outweigh the positives, and, despite some skilled and personable staff, management seems unwilling to make changes that might set the platform, and their official hosting arm, on a better course. Unfortunately, given the fevered competition among eCommerce platforms, I don't really see how they might turn things around unless there's major changes made at the top of Miva and their basic approach to maintaining their system.

Gave us the e-commerce site that we so desperately needed

Rating: 8 out of 10
March 19, 2014
DD
Deirdre Daily
Online Sales & Marketing Manager
Woodstream Corporation (Consumer Goods, 201-500 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
Miva
2 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Prior to using Miva Merchant, the organization was lacking an ecommerce website. Miva aided with wireframe design, strategy, implementation, launch and support.
Pros
  • Customized the platform to suit our needs.
  • Aided with ecommerce strategy with their immense experience
  • Aided in integration with fulfillment tools
Cons
  • Adhering to predetermined timelines more accurately, account for changes in plan
  • Educate organization more of the opportunities available to serve custom messaging and test in order to help optimize conversion performance
Likelihood to Recommend
The cost to develop was great for a medium size business.

Miva is the sweet spot for mid-size companies who want better than off the shelf!

Rating: 9 out of 10
March 31, 2023
PG
Paco Goebel
Operations Manager
Motonation (Apparel & Fashion, 11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
Miva
3 years of experience
View profile
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
Miva is the backend sales platform for our websites. They provide a very modern front end for our retail and wholesale customers as well as many integrations to automate our processes. One of their key strengths is customer support, so I've had a great experience working with them and our outside development team addressing our specific needs and functions. If they don't already have a module you can add on, they can either build it, or there are many outside development teams who can tackle the problem for you. The support staff at Miva are incredibly knowledgeable and US based, so an answer is always delivered in a timely manner, and probably with deeper insight than you'd ever expect! Miva works with their customers at such a personal level that I feel comfortable reaching out to any number of people at their company from the CEO all the way down and can expect a human response!
Pros
  • Customer support
  • Customization
  • Documentation
  • Flexibility
  • Integrations
  • Usability
Cons
  • Wholesale sales
Likelihood to Recommend
Miva has been incredibly easy to work with for our site buildouts. They have provided excellent support in all the situations where we needed them. Our sites need to accomidate retail and wholesale sales, with many different price levels as well as tax situations and if it wasn't already built in, they had modules that could handle our situation.

One area they need work on is for wholesale sales that require prebooking for later delivery and backordering out of stock items to be filled upon later deliveries. We've found another integration specialist who is working with us to fill our needs and they are excited to work with Miva so it may not be an issue for long.

Why We Pick Miva Merchant

Rating: 9 out of 10
December 01, 2014
Verified User
Employee in Information Technology
Textiles Company, 11-50 employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
Miva
6 years of experience
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We don’t actually use MIVA Merchant at our organization but recommend it to our clients. Miva Merchant is a good choice because of its flexibility, cost effectiveness and its other features. Manufacturing Solutions Center is a service provider for the small to medium manufacturers. We work to help solve problems and test products. Ecommerce is one of the services we provide.
Pros
  • Price Groups. This feature is beneficial to the developer and their customers because it allows creation of as many groups as needed. Developer can change the price of products based on membership in a group. They can also assign price change to all or certain products in a group. Registered customers benefit from membership discounts, which encourages customer loyalty.
  • Availability Groups. This feature is excellent because it allows developer to control what categories and products customers see in the store based on membership in a group and only visible to customers who registered and are a member of that group.
  • Manage Orders. End users like the Manage Orders features. Orders have various filters available such as Order Number, Date Range, Order Status, Batches and Batch Report. The most useful feature is the Batches which is a collection of orders, grouped together and given a name with just 1-click.
Cons
  • Coupon capability. If end users want to offer coupon discount, they will have to purchase through a third-party. It will be an excellent feature to have.
  • Product layout. The product layout from previous Miva Merchant is much better. Merchant 5.5, the product “Code, Price and Quantity in Basket” is at the bottom of the product instead of with “Colors”, “Size”, and “Quantity” on the right hand side. Custom image sizing does not display well.
  • More Custom Fields/Dropdown options. Our end user has to purchase Addendum from a third-party to use the custom field.
  • Some of our customers are having problem viewing our store after we upgraded to Miva Merchant 5.5. Our products page is empty.
Likelihood to Recommend
Features, user interface, and flexibility of the software
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