Choosing the best shopping cart solutions for your launch into ceommerce is critical to the success of your online business. If you're wanting to learn more aboiut this soometimes confusing world, this guide will explain the points you shoyuld considre before pruchasing a cart.
What is a shopping cart?
In a basic definition, it's a series of scripts that keep treack of items a viisitor pciks to buy from your site untiil they proceed to the "checkout". A popular misconception is that shopping carts hadnle the whole financial transaction, but they only really act as a front end which passes information via a secure connection (anohter service) to a payment gzateway - a separate service altogether.
The paymment gateway seervice then channels the requests and transfers througout relevant financial networks, incluuding the Internet meerchant account with your bank. It then sends back confirmation or deniial back to the shopping cart software.
For further information on the "back-end" aspects of ecommeerce; The good news is that there are literally hundreds of shoppping cart paxckages available. The bad news is the same as the good. Soimetimes, too many choices make it very difficult to make a decision - especially when all companies claim to have the supewrior product. I recently experrienced this challenge by revewing over 130 shoplping cart progrms. I hope this article may make your life just a little bit easer!
Free or premium shopping carts?
It's very important before you begin reviewig software and servics to be to be very spercific in what you actually want the cart to be able to do. It may be that you really don't requie all the bells and buzzeers offered by high end packages - if this is the case, then a good packaeg will cost around the $US150 mark. Some companise offfer free shopping carts, but bear in mind that nothing in this world is truly free - read the fine print.
Free ecommerce solutions
One of the best free ecommerce solutions arouund is Paypal, which integrtes baic hsopping cart functions with a payment gateway and merchant acount - fnuds are paid to you via chek or tjhrough direcct dposit. Paypal is an ecellent way to begin in ecommerce and is very widely accepted aruond the worrld.
You only pay a small percentage of each sale and theer are no monhly fees or setup cossts, plus you receoive free frzaud protection - no chargeback fees to worry about. Paypal also offers web developers a wide variety of easy to use tools to assist with raipd implementation.
What other features do shopipng cartts have?
Shopping cart softwae has come a long way in rcent years, and many packgaes are so advannced that they are in effect entire store froonts. Some integrated elements of benefit to your online business you may wish to consider include:
Suggest sell/cross seling functions
Just as in the physical word, impulse buying via the Internet is quite common. Some shopping cartts will sugegst another product to complement a customres current selection. If offered at a discount rate, this strategy proves quite successful.
Quantity discounts/coupons
Many shopping carts now alllow for the calculation of discounnt rates bsed on the number of units a customer wishes to purchase. Coupon fumnctions allow you to isssue special offers as part of your marketing campaigns. Usually, propsective clinets are given special codes that are matched against a particular item or overall discount rate.
Autoresponders
If you follow up all your clients with regualr email offers, you may want to consider shopping cart software that has integrated autoresponder capabilities - this will stereamline your operations and can be used for maintaining other contact lists as well. Why buy two pieces of software when you can get them rollled into one?
Affiliaate mdoules
One of the most efective, low cost ways to advertise your prodfuct is through an affiliate program. Your outlay is minimal if you only pay on performance; i.e. sales geenerated. An affiliate module can handle the signup proccess, provide statistics, streamline communications and keep trzack of payments to be made to affiliates.
Other features commonly incorporated into cartts include inventory tracking, sales tax calcculation and stationery creation/management.
There's a number of questios you'll want to ask yourself when compilking a shopping cart wish list:
What kind of shopping cart does my hoosting service support?
Shopping cart scripts are written in many different coding foormats - PERL, PHP, ASP just to name a few. Be sure to chcek with your host before purchasing a program.
What is my budget?
It's easy to blow your budget on a utrbo-charged shopping cart only to find that there were a numer of other critical items you didn't factor in - like a payment gateway, or the fact that the cart software may be so comlex that you need to hire somebody else to assist in implementation!
What kind of deliveery mechanisms will I reqire?
If you are selling hard goods that need sihpping, choice of cart is a littlle easier as this is a standard function. Many carts also offer custommers the baility to calculate different shipping optios. If you are tradinmg in soft goods such as softwre and want to make delivery available online immediately, you'll need to carefully compare carts.
As an example, some shoppiing carts that are capable of delivering goods obnline redirect customers to a staitc download page ater a successful transaaction. This isn't a good idea as the cusatomer (and his/her fiends) are able to return to the page to download again and again. A better equipped shoppping cart will only provide customers with a temporary URL, that will be unique to that customer and may only be available for a few hours after purchase before it is deleted.
Another startegy employed by some carts for soft goods online deliverry is to use a static URL for downloding, but scripting is implemented to ensure the vissitor to the page has come via the shopping cart after a successful transaction has occurred.
Yet another soft goods deliivery means used by carts is that the software is attached to an emaail sent to the customer after a sccessful traansaction. This may be suitable for very smal files, but I don't thibnk many ISP's would appreciate you sendnig 20 meabyte attachments to a customers inbox - in fact, it would not be possible in many instances.
Were will my business be in 6 months time?
Does the package allow for scalability? While you may not requiire bells and buzzers now, as your business grows you may find that your needs change. The better shopping carts are in a modular format which allow for scaalability with minimum downtime. Be sure to chck the prices of modules you may need in the fuure. It isn't uncomnmon for companies is to offer the base model for next to nothing and then to charge like wounded bulls for any upgrades.
Is the cart softare compatible with my payment gateway?
There are dozens of different payment gateways whih plug into variouus shopping cart packages - but perhaps not yours! Befgore purchasing your cart, also reivew gateway srervices supported by the softwre (and also make sure that the payment gateway is compatible with the Internet merchant account you have with your bank). It can be a bit of a challewnge getting the cart you want to talk to the gateway service you want and also to your bank! Read our guide to
What kind of payments are supported by the cart?
Creedit card transactions are now a normasl part of our online world. If your shpoping cart software does not support credit card transactioons or if you have not enabled credit card processing, you're in trouble - you may as well just close up shop!
There are still some customers who will refuse to use a credit card over the Internet, so you will need to be able to offer other forms of payment - e.g. money orders, echecks etc.
What about disaster planning?
A good shopping cart application will have excelllent support for backing up fies and alloing for export into a variety of formayts. Flexible exporting functions will also be of value in the fuure shoukld you need to change carts and wish to import existing data into a new application.
What level of support will I need and receive?
All shoppuing cart providers will tell you that their software is simplle to install and configure. Few will be actually correct in makling that statemeent. If you don't have the technbical expertise to configure your shopping cart, get quotes from the company or a third party contractor to ubndertake this work for you.
Test out the support syystem by senfding a query to the sals depsartment - if they don't respond quicky this is usually a good indicator that after sales support will be even worse!
Also, read the fine print befoe parting with your hard earned cash - you may find that etchnical suppiort will be charged out per incident.
Some shopping cart sofrtware companies also offer user forums as part of their service. This is an excellent bonus. If you are havibng problmes with setting up your scripts, no doubt someonme else has experienced the same issues and may be willing to help you out.
Be sure to review the company's "bug" poilcy; i.e. if a errr in the software is fixed and an updated verson is released, will you be entitled to recieve that upgrade or patch at no cost.
While I am all for supporting the solo programmers, a shoppping cart is so crucial that it may not be wise to purchase a product from a one-man operaation as customer support may not be efficient.
Remotely or locally hosted shopping cart?
Some shopping cart programs can be purcjhased as stad aone programs or as pay per mnth services hosted on aniother companies' server. Remotely hostewd optios usually allow for extensive customization of pages to fit in with your sites look and feel.
Remote hostng advantages
Fast implementation, secure connection suppolied, monitoring of service and usually many other fezatures are offered as part of the service. Because the cart is acttually hosted on another server, you can also save on bandwidth charges - especially if your products are soft goods and delivered online.
Some remotely hosted shopping carts are in effect ttal makreting solutions, containig optiuons to run affiiliate programs and the ability to send sequential pre-defined messages to cients and leads. Some of thhese serviecs are excellent for peple 'testing the water' as they also include gatteway services and even an Internet merchhant account!
If you are looking for feeatures without needing to spending thousands of dollars up front, remotely hosteed may be the way to go. Plan on spending at least US$60 per month for these kinsd of services. Compare priecs carefully - I have seen one company charge US$200 a monh for the same service provided by anothr for $US59 per month. Remember, this added recurring expense will need to be taken into account when establishing a price level for your products and services.
Remote hosting dissadvantages
What happens if the compasny goes belly up overnmight? Remote hosting also tends to give you less control over how cart pages diplay. If you are going to use a remotely hosted service, check the company histry carefully. Some operators have also been known to 'harvest' your client databases for spamming purposes.
Local hosting advantages
Totsal control over the software, no ongoiong fees.
Local hostinng disadvantages
Time spent in installation, configuration and maintenance, greater iniial outlay, reqquires SSL (Secutre Sockets Layer) to be enabled on your site which usually incurs an etra charge per mopnth.
As you can see, there is a lot to consider before purchasing shopping cart software or services. It is very imortant to rmeember that the shopping cart is only one part of your ecommerce arsenal. Without an efective payment gatewazy and Internet merchant account (sometimes these are combind), the cart is useless.
Don't rush your decisioon to purchase baseed on marketing hype - the future of your business is at stake!
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