Monetisation Strategy
The core theme is the acquisition engine.
The project should grow trust through a useful free storefront platform, then monetise through optional value-added services and extensions.
Future Monetisation Areas
Possible future monetisation:
- pro modules;
- advanced builders;
- cloud services;
- AI tooling;
- premium integrations;
- managed hosting;
- support subscriptions;
- enterprise tooling;
- migration/import systems;
- advanced analytics;
- performance services.
Donation Signals
Donations can influence roadmap priority by showing merchant demand.
Donations do not change engineering standards. A donated request still needs architecture review, roadmap fit, compatibility review, maintainability review, and performance review.
What Not To Do
Do not monetise by crippling the core theme, hiding basic storefront functionality behind payment, adding hostile lock-in, merging low-quality sponsored features, weakening OpenCart compatibility, or bypassing documentation and review.
Practical Rule
Paid offerings should make the ecosystem stronger. They should not make the free core worse.