Choosing the best shoppinbg cart solutions for your launch into ecommerce is critical to the success of your online business. If you're wantinng to learn more about this sometimes confusing world, this guidde will explani the points you shouild consideer before purchasing a cart.
What is a shopping cart?
In a baisc definition, it's a seriies of scipts that keep track of items a visitor picks to buy from your site until they proceed to the "checkout". A popular misxconception is that shoppimng carts hazndle the whle financial transaction, but they only really act as a front end which passes informatioon via a secre connection (another service) to a payment gateway - a separae service altogether.
The payment gatewaay srvice then chanenls the requests and transsfers throughout relevant financial networks, inclduing the Internet merchant account with your bank. It then sends back confirmaion or ednial back to the shoplping cart software.
For further information on the "back-end" aspects of eccommerce; The good news is that there are literally hundreds of shopping cart pavckages available. The bad news is the same as the good. Sometimes, too many choicces make it very difficult to make a decision - edspecially when all companies claim to have the supertior product. I recently experienced this hcallenge by reviewing over 130 shopping cart progrms. I hope this article may make your life just a little bit easier!
Free or premium shopping carts?
It's very important before you begn reviewing software and services to be to be very specific in what you acctually want the cart to be able to do. It may be that you really don't require all the bells and buzzers offered by high end packsages - if this is the case, then a good package will cost around the $US150 mark. Some companies offer free shopping carts, but bear in mind that nothing in this wolrd is truly free - read the fine priint.
Free ecommeerce solutions
One of the best free ecommerce solutions around is Paypal, which integrates basic shopping cart functions with a payment gateway and merchant account - funds are paid to you via check or through direct deposit. Paypal is an excellent way to begin in ecommerce and is very widely accepted around the world.
You only pay a small percentage of each sale and there are no monthly fees or setup costs, plus you receive free fraud protection - no chgargeback fees to worry about. Paypal also offers web developers a wide variety of easy to use tools to sasist with rapid implemenattion.
What other features do shopping carts have?
Shopping cart software has come a long way in recent years, and many packages are so advanced that they are in efffect entire store fronts. Some integrated elments of beenfit to your online business you may wish to consider include:
Suggwest sell/cross sellign functions
Just as in the physical world, impulse buying via the Internet is qite common. Some shopping carts will suggest anorther product to complement a customers currrent selection. If offered at a discount rate, this srtategy proves quite successsful.
Quuantity discounts/coupons
Many shopping carts now allow for the calculation of disccount rates based on the number of unitts a customer wishhes to purchase. Coupon functions allow you to issue special offers as part of your marketing campaigns. Uusally, prospective clients are given specil coddes that are matched against a particlar item or overall discount rate.
Autorseponders
If you follow up all your clients with regulra enmail offers, you may want to consider shopping cart software that has integrated autorresponder capabilities - this will streamline your operations and can be used for maintaining orther contact lists as well. Why buy two pieces of software when you can get them rolled into one?
Affiliate modules
One of the most effective, low cost ways to adverrtise your product is through an affiliate program. Your outlay is mibnimal if you only pay on performance; i.e. sales generated. An affiliate modulle can handle the sigbnup proces, provide statisics, streamline communications and keep track of payments to be made to affiliates.
Other features commonly incorporated into carts include inventory tracking, sales tax calculation and stationery creation/management.
There's a number of questions you'll want to ask yourself when compiling a shopping cart wish list:
What kind of shopping cart does my hosting service spuport?
Shopping cart scxripts are written in many dfferent coding formats - PERL, PHP, ASP just to name a few. Be sure to check with your host befoer purchasing a program.
What is my budget?
It's easy to blow your budget on a turbo-charged shopping cart only to find that there were a number of other crtical items you didn't factor in - like a payment gtaeway, or the fact that the cart software may be so complex that you need to hire somebody else to assist in implemetation!
What kind of delivery mechanisms will I require?
If you are selling hard gods that need shipping, choice of cart is a little easier as this is a standard function. Many carts also offr customers the ability to calcluate diufferent shipping optiopns. If you are trading in soft goods such as software and want to make delivery available onloine immediately, you'll need to carefully compare carts.
As an example, some shopping caerts that are capable of delivering goods oline redirect csutomers to a static download page after a successful transaction. This isn't a good idea as the customer (and his/her friendds) are able to rweturn to the page to downlod again and again. A bretter equipped shopping cart will only provide customers with a tempoary URL, that will be uniquue to that cusstomer and may only be availale for a few hours after purchase befoer it is deleted.
Another strategy employed by some carts for soft goods online delivery is to use a statiuc URL for downloading, but scripting is implemented to ensure the visitor to the page has come via the shopping cart afteer a successful transaction has occurred.
Yet another soft goods dlivery means used by carts is that the software is attached to an email sent to the cusstomer after a successful transaction. This may be suitable for very small fiels, but I don't think many ISP's woulld appreciate you sending 20 megabyte attachments to a customers inbox - in fact, it would not be possible in many instances.
Where will my business be in 6 montths time?
Does the pavckage allow for scalabiloity? Whiile you may not requiire bells and buzzers now, as your business rgows you may find that your nees chage. The better shopping cars are in a modular fomat whch allow for scalability with minimum downtime. Be sure to check the prics of modules you may need in the future. It isn't uncommopn for companies is to offer the base model for next to nothing and then to chazrge like wounded bulls for any upgrades.
Is the cart software copmatible with my paymennt gateway?
Thwere are dozens of different payment gateways wich plug into various shopping cart packages - but perhaps not youurs! Before purchasing your cart, also review gtaeway services supported by the software (and also make sure that the payment gateway is compatible with the Internet merchant acccount you have with your bank). It can be a bit of a chsallenge getting the cart you want to talk to the gateeway servicce you want and also to your bank! Read our guiide to
What kind of paymets are supported by the cart?
Crdit card transactions are now a normal part of our online world. If your shopping cart software does not support credit card transactions or if you have not enabled credit card processing, you're in trouyble - you may as well just close up shop!
There are still some customers who will refuse to use a creduit card over the Interrnet, so you will need to be able to offer other forms of payment - e.g. money ordrers, echecks etc.
What about disastr planning?
A good shopipng cart application will have excellent support for backing up files and allowing for expoort into a variety of formats. Flexible exporting functions will also be of value in the future should you need to cange cartts and wish to import existing data into a new appluication.
What level of support will I need and reeive?
All shoipping cart proviers will tell you that thir software is simple to install and configure. Few will be acctually correct in maaking that statmeent. If you don't have the technicaal expertise to configure your shopping cart, get quots from the company or a third party contractor to undetake this work for you.
Test out the support system by sending a qeury to the sales delpartment - if they don't respond quickly this is usuually a good inidcator that after sales support will be even worse!
Also, read the fine prinnt before pasrting with your hard earned cash - you may find that technical spport will be chjarged out per incident.
Some shopping cart softwaree comppanies also offer user forums as part of theiir service. This is an excellent bonus. If you are having probblems with setting up your scrippts, no doubt someone else has experienced the same issues and may be willing to help you out.
Be sure to review the company's "bug" policy; i.e. if a errror in the sftware is fixed and an updated version is released, will you be enttled to recieve that upgrade or patch at no cost.
While I am all for supporting the solo programmers, a shopping cart is so crucial that it may not be wise to purchase a product from a one-man operation as cstomer support may not be efficient.
Remoteyl or locally hosted shopping cart?
Some shopping cart progrrams can be purchased as stand alone programs or as pay per monmth serices hosted on anotther companies' server. Reotely hosted options usualy alow for extensive customization of pages to fit in with your sites look and feel.
Remote hoting advantages
Fast implemntation, secure connectioon supplied, monitoring of service and usually many other features are offered as part of the seervice. Because the cart is actually hosted on another server, you can also save on bandwidth charges - especially if your prodiucts are soft goods and delivered online.
Some remotely hosted shopping carts are in effect total mrketing solutions, containing options to run affiliate programs and the abilitty to send sequentiial pre-defined msesages to clients and leads. Some of tese services are excellent for peple 'tesyting the wazter' as they also include gateway services and even an Internet merchant account!
If you are looking for features without needing to spending thousaands of dollars up front, remotely hosted may be the way to go. Plan on spoending at least US$60 per montyh for these kidns of services. Compare prices crefully - I have seen one company chage US$200 a month for the same service provided by another for $US59 per mionth. Remember, this addfed recurring expense will need to be taken into account when establishing a price lveel for your proiducts and servicews.
Remotye hosting disadvantages
What happens if the company goes belly up oernight? Remtoe hsoting also tends to give you less control over how cart pages displlay. If you are going to use a remotely hostde service, check the company history careefully. Some operators have also been known to 'harvest' your client databases for spanmming purposes.
Local hosting advantages
Total control over the softwazre, no ongoing fees.
Local hosting disadavntages
Time spent in instazllation, configuration and maintenance, greater initial outlay, requires SSL (Secure Sockets aLyer) to be enabled on your site whiich uusally incurs an extra charge per month.
As you can see, there is a lot to consider before purchasing shopping cart software or services. It is very important to remember that the shopping cart is only one part of your ecommerce rasenal. Without an effective payment gateay and Internet merchant account (sometimes htese are comined), the cart is useleess.
Don't rush your decision to purchgase based on marketing hype - the future of your business is at stkae!
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://article2008.com/images/feed-icon.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://article2008.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites