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Choosing the best shopping cart solution for your launch into ecommerce is critical to the success of your online business. If you're wanting to learn more about this sometimes confusing world, this guide will explain the points you should consider before purchasing a cart.
If you're currently in the market for software or services and would like our recommendations, read our shopping cart software and services review.
In a basic definition, it's a series of scripts that keep track of items a visitor picks to buy from your site until they proceed to the "checkout".
A popular misconception is that shopping carts handle the whole financial transaction, but they only really act as a front end which passes information via a secure connection (another service) to a payment gateway - a separate service altogether.
The payment gateway service then channels the requests and transfers throughout relevant financial networks, including the Internet merchant account with your bank. It then sends back confirmation or denial back to the shopping cart software. For further information on the "back-end" aspects of ecommerce; read our guide to payment gateways and merchant accounts.
The good news is that there are literally hundreds of shopping cart packages available. The bad news is the same as the good. Sometimes, too many choices make it very difficult to make a decision - especially when all companies claim to have the superior product. After having worked with or examined over a hundred different shopping cart applications over the years, I hope this article may make your life just a little bit easier!
It's very important before you begin reviewing software and services to be to be very specific in what you actually 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 packages - if this is the case, then a good package will cost around the $US250 - $300 mark; with some excellent, and in my opinion, crucial features included at the high end of that range. Some companies offer free shopping carts, but bear in mind that nothing in this world is truly free - read the fine print.
Be careful not to limit yourself either - you may only want limited features initially, but what about in the future? Give yourself room to grow as having to change software mid-stream to a totally different package can be a real time-sucker.
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 chargeback fees to worry about. Paypal also offers web developers a wide variety of easy to use tools to assist with rapid implementation.
Shopping cart software has come a long way in recent years, and many packages are so advanced that they are in effect entire store fronts and can actually be your entire web site. Some integrated elements of benefit to your online business you may wish to consider include:
Just as in the physical world, impulse buying via the Internet is quite common. Some shopping carts will suggest another product to complement a customers current selection. If offered at a discount rate, this strategy proves quite successful.
Many shopping carts now allow for the calculation of discount rates based on the number of units a customer wishes to purchase. Coupon functions allow you to issue special offers as part of your marketing campaigns. Usually, prospective clients are given special codes that are matched against a particular item or overall discount rate. I strongly recommend using a shopping cart that supports coupons; it's such a powerful sales strategy.
If you follow up all your clients with regular email offers, you may want to consider shopping cart software that has integrated autoresponder and newsletter capabilities - this will streamline your operations and can be used for maintaining other contact lists as well. Why buy two pieces of software when you can get them rolled into one?
One of the most effective, low cost ways to advertise your product
is through an affiliate program. Your outlay is minimal if you only pay on
performance; i.e. sales generated. An affiliate module can handle the signup
process, provide statistics, streamline communications and keep track of
payments to be made to affiliates.
Other features commonly incorporated
into carts include inventory tracking, sales tax calculation, stationery
creation/management, reviews and wish lists.
There's a number of
questions you'll want to ask yourself when compiling a shopping cart wish list:
Shopping cart scripts are written in many different coding formats - PERL, PHP, ASP just to name a few. Be sure to check with your host before purchasing a program. If you opt for a remotely hosted service (explained in more detail below), then it won't matter what programming language the cart software is written in.
It's easy to blow your budget on a turbo-charged shopping cart only to find that there were a number of other critical items you didn't factor in - like a payment gateway, or the fact that the cart software may be so complex that you need to hire somebody else to assist in implementation!
If you are selling hard goods that need shipping, choice of cart is a little easier as this is a standard function. Many carts also offer customers the ability to calculate different shipping options and to get live quotes back from shipping companies.
If you are trading in soft goods such as software and want to make
delivery available online immediately, you'll need to carefully compare
carts.
As an example, some shopping carts that are capable of delivering
goods online redirect customers to a static download page after a successful
transaction. This isn't a good idea as the customer (and his/her friends) are
able to return to the page to download again and again. A better equipped
shopping 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 strategy employed by some carts for soft
goods online delivery is to use a static URL for downloading, but scripting is
implemented to ensure the visitor to the page has come via the shopping cart
after a successful transaction has occurred.
Yet another soft goods
delivery means used by carts is that the software is attached to an email sent
to the customer after a successful transaction. This may be suitable for very
small files, but I don't think many ISP's would appreciate you sending 20
megabyte attachments to a customers inbox - in fact, it would not be possible in
many instances.
Does the package allow for scalability? While you may not require 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 scalability with minimum downtime. Be sure to check the prices of modules you may need in the future. It isn't uncommon for companies is to offer the base model for next to nothing and then to charge like wounded bulls for any upgrades.
There are dozens of different payment gateways which plug into various shopping cart packages - but perhaps not yours! Before purchasing your cart, also review gateway services supported by the software (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 challenge getting the cart you want to talk to the gateway service you want and also to your bank! Read our guide to payment gateways and merchant accounts.
Credit 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 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.
A good shopping cart application will have excellent support for backing up files and allowing for export into a variety of formats. Flexible exporting functions will also be of value in the future should you need to change carts and wish to import existing data into a new application.
All shopping cart providers will tell you that their software is
simple to install and configure. Few will be actually correct in making that
statement. If you don't have the technical expertise to configure your shopping
cart, get quotes from the company or a third party contractor to undertake this
work for you.
Test out the support system by sending a query to the sales
department - if they don't respond quickly this is usually a good indicator that
after sales support will be even worse!
Also, read the fine print before
parting with your hard earned cash - you may find that technical support will be
charged out per incident.
Some shopping cart software companies also
offer user forums as part of their service. This is an excellent bonus. If you
are having problems with setting up your scripts, 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 error in the software is fixed
and an updated version 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 shopping cart is so crucial that it may not be wise to purchase a product from
a one-man operation as customer support may not be efficient.
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Some shopping cart programs can be purchased as stand alone programs or as pay per month services hosted on another companies' server. Remotely hosted options usually allow for extensive customization of pages to fit in with your sites look and feel.
Remote hosting advantages
Fast
implementation, secure connection supplied, monitoring of service and usually
many other features are offered as part of the service. Because the cart is
actually 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 total marketing solutions,
containing options to run affiliate programs and the ability to send sequential
pre-defined messages to clients and leads. Some of these services are excellent
for people 'testing the water' as they also include gateway services and even an
Internet merchant account!
If you are looking for features without needing to spending
thousands of dollars up front, remotely hosted may be the way to go. Plan on
spending at least US$60 per month for these kinds of services. Compare prices
carefully - I have seen one company charge US$200 a month for the same service
provided by another 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 disadvantages
What happens if the company goes belly up overnight? Remote hosting also
tends to give you less control over how cart pages display. If you are going to
use a remotely hosted service, check the company history carefully. Some
operators have also been known to 'harvest' your client databases for spamming
purposes.
View some reviews of remotely hosted shopping
carts.
Local hosting advantages
Total control
over the software, no ongoing fees.
Local hosting
disadvantages
Time spent in installation, configuration and maintenance, greater initial outlay, requires SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to be enabled on your site which usually incurs an extra charge per month.
View some reviews of locally hosted shopping
carts
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 arsenal. Without an effective
payment gateway and Internet merchant account (sometimes these are combined),
the cart is useless.
Don't rush your decision to purchase based on
marketing hype - the future of your business is at stake!
If you would
like to view some of our ecommerce/shopping cart solutions recommendations based
on many hours of research, check out our shopping cart software and services
review.
Merchant
accounts, payment gateways and third party credit card processors
Basic
ecommerce site development and design - Part 1
Basic
ecommerce site development and design - Part 2
Michael Bloch
Taming the Beast
http://www.tamingthebeast.net
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