The right shopping cart system should make the e-commerce
process seamless for both you, the website owner, and the
customer. As such, it should be able to accommodate the
processes and procedures you’ve identified for your online
business. You must find a system that will run the shopping
process in your online store smoothly, providing your customers
with a friendly shopping environment while allowing you to
manage the system smoothly and effortlessly.
The first step in choosing a shopping cart system is to list
down how you intend to manage your online store and the
procedures you want to follow. Then based on your list, identify
the features that you think you need from shopping cart
software.
These are but some of the questions that you need to ask
yourself when you are starting to create your online store. The
key is to know your product, as the items you intend to sell
will dictate the required features and options you will need to
bring your store to the Web.
Other Features
In choosing a shopping cart system, you have to take into
account the number of products you’ll be selling, your customer
base and the traffic to your site you anticipate, among other
factors. Some of the features you may want to check up may
include (but not limited to):
Price
The price of a shopping cart system varies by modality and
range. Remotely hosted systems often charge monthly fees ranging
from $19 to $99 depending on features that you selected. Some
web hosts offer shopping cart systems as part of their hosting
package, and this may cost you anywhere from $24 a month to $150
a month, or more. You can also install some systems in your own
web server, allowing you more control and customization.
Ease in setup and customization
Some shopping cart software are equipped with web-based
installation scripts that you can simply follow to install the
system. However, some are quite difficult to navigate, while
open source codes (often free) require some understanding of the
programming language used before it can be customized. Evaluate
your level of expertise – and the availability of technical
support and help forums – in deciding whether the system you
want is something that you can actually install and run.
Ability to handle the number of products
This is one of the most basic requirements in looking for a
shopping cart. Buy or use a cart that is capable of handling the
present number of items you carry, while capable of growing with
your business. The scalability of the cart is particularly
important: if your products sell well and you decide to increase
your product line, you need a system that is capable of
increasing your store offerings. Some shopping systems,
including many top-of-line carts, are capable of supporting
unlimited product items.
Ease of use for customers
The number of steps a customer goes through to purchase a
product from your store is critical to your bottom line. If the
process from selection of the item to actual payment takes about
seven steps or more, there is increased probability that either
the customers can get confused or leave because the process
takes so long. As a result, customers may abandon your shopping
cart before the purchasing process is completed.
Search-engine friendly
Search engines can drive tremendous traffic to web sites;
hence, it is important to make your product catalog visible to
the search engines. Unfortunately, some search engines are
either unable to read dynamic pages, or do not place dynamic
pages high up in the rankings. To remedy this problem, some
shopping cart systems produce static pages that augurs well for
search engine rankings.
Payment handling mechanism
It is important to examine the types of payments accepted,
and how it fits to your overall business procedures. If you do
not have a merchant account, you may want to explore shopping
cart systems that allow the use of PayPal or other third party
online payment mechanisms. Some systems also allow manual
Examples of Shopping Cart
Systems
There are a number of shopping cart systems in the market
today. Below are some examples of shopping cart systems
recommended by other webmasters (Note: PowerHomeBiz.com is
not affiliated with any of the providers listed below).
Free
- OSCommerce
-- a free open
source system based on PHP with tons of features. Easily
customizable and works great for users with knowledge of
programming.
- CubeCart -- a free software that runs
on PHP platform. There is a fee of $55 if you remove the
copyright notice of CubeCart
Under $100
- ClickCartPro.com -- easy to
set up and offers great value for its $99 price. Its site
has an active support forum for users with questions.
- LiteCommerce
- basic starts at $95,
with additional fees for add-on features.
Shopping Carts for ASP systems
- CandyPress
-- storefront is free while store administration component is
$49
- VP-ASP -- price ranges from $195 to
$425, with additional fees for optional features
- SpiderSales
-- price tag is $480.
Other Shopping Cart Systems
- Ecommerce Templates
- price ranges from $105 to $165, with solutions offered for
various server types (ASP/Windows Server or PHP/Unix or Linux
Server)
- StoreFront -- the set-up for
basic system costs $99 while monthly fee ranges from $39-$99.
- X-Cart -- A turnkey package based on PhP
where web-based step-by-step wizard handles installation. Price
is $185
The key in purchasing a shopping cart is research and
testing. Check out various systems to find out which best fits
your needs. Download and install systems that allow you either
free download or free 30-day trial, and spend time experimenting
with each. Test those systems with online demos and evaluate how
comfortable you will be with their features. Even if they may
not be the perfect fit for your needs, you will have learned a
great deal about your needs from the process.
