subject: Choosing The Right Shopping Cart Software [print this page] Sometimes, having too many choices can be a little confusing. Your general ability to make sensible decisions can be hampered by the temptation to try out the options available. Decision making can be difficult especially when everyone claims to have a superior product with reasonable proof to support their arguments. Here we are discussing about the hundreds of choices available in shopping cart applications and the facts to be considered before choosing the right one.
It is important to have a very clear idea about what sort of services you want your shopping cart to provide. Your decision must also weigh in the fact that you are a growing company and your needs are most likely to change in the near future. Choosing a shopping cart with restricted features may seem like a logical choice now, but do remember that changing shopping cart configurations as you grow, involves bringing in newer software. This could be a time consuming process and can cost you more than choosing high end shopping carts with some great features at the very onset.
How would you feel going for a shopping cart that not only offers free basic functions but also integrates it with a payment gateway and a merchant account? That is what Paypal does. It is one of the best free e-commerce solutions available at the moment. It has a worldwide presence and is a well known and trusted brand name. You get your payments through check or direct deposit. Paypal can be implemented rapidly with its advanced tools and you do not have to pay a monthly fee or even set up costs. The only cost you incur is a small, affordable percentage of each sale. Most importantly, you receive free fraud protection.
Shopping carts have come a long way in terms of the features and convenience it provides to your customers. It can suggest additional products for buyers to compliment what they have already brought. With the right pricing and discount, this feature can bring you more sales as impulse buying is not restricted to a brick and mortar store alone. It happens on the internet too and perhaps on a larger scale.
You can invest in a shopping cart that supports discount coupons. It is a powerful idea that can generate sales potential where there are none. Discounts are offered based on the number of units that a customer wants to purchase enticing them to add more items to the cart thus generating more sales for you.
You can streamline your client follow-up operations by investing in a shopping cart that has integrated autoresponder and newsletter capabilities. They can send out emails detailing the latest discounts and offer packages available to your client database. They can be used for maintaining other contact lists also. It is akin to buying two software for the price of one.
There are many other questions that you must ask yourself before taking a final call on buying shopping carts. The shopping cart that you choose must be compatible with the hosting service that you are using, as shopping cart software are written in various coding formats. Of course, your budget is a primary factor in helping you decide the type of shopping cart you can invest in.
Low budget carts come with limited features and cannot serve all your purposes. There is the additional risk that they may become obsolete fast. High end, turbo-charged shopping carts may cost a bomb but there is no guarantee that they will meet your specific business needs. Shopping cart requirements for a company selling hard goods are entirely different from one that is selling soft goods such as software.
A shopping cart that is scalable is more preferable to one that has fixed features for very obvious reasons. They must also be able to support the payment gateway system that you are using. An ideal shopping cart must be able to offer payment options through credit card as well as through other forms such as e-checks or money orders.
Some shopping carts offer the options to be used as a stand alone program or as a service that is supported by another companys server. For such services you are required to pay a fixed monthly charge. Such remotely hosted options allow you the advantage of customization of pages to match your specific business needs. The risk comes from the possibility of the service provider closing down due to some reasons leaving you completely in the lurch with no back-up options.
With so many options available, it is necessary to weigh all your options and rope in experts if needed, to help you arrive at the right decision in buying shopping cart software.
