Best Shopping Cart Software

Online Shopping Cart Software: A Buyer's Guide

Almost everyone is familiar with online shopping. No matter which online website you visit, you will find a cart where you can add all your items. It is similar to the basket or trolley that you use in supermarkets or any other store present out there. This shopping cart stores all the products that you want to buy and calculates the entire amount. The items that have been added to the cart can be brought then or you can postpone the purchase. Even if you postpone, you will be able to see the items that have been added to the bag.

This online shopping cart software helps in bridging the gap between shopping and buying. Most people who visit online shopping sites add the products they are likely to buy and store them in the shopping cart system. After adding all the items, they can either buy the product or save it in the bag and help the customer purchase it in the future. This software has many amazing benefits for both sellers and buyers. The buyer will be able to look at all the products they want to own in one place whereas the sellers will know what products are more likely to sell.

How Does Shopping Cart Software Work?

The shopping cart software's working can be explained in four easy steps.

1. Adding to the Cart

After shopping on the e-Commerce site, the shoppers will add the items that they love to buy to the cart. The shoppers have the provision to either add or remove the items from their cart. If they are shopping for apparel then the sizing list, other color options of the product, etc details are also provided in the shopping cart software. The shopper can change the quantity as per the requirement.

2. Address Entry and Tax Calculations

Now the shopper should enter their address for shipping. As the shoppers provide their addresses, the shopping cart solution will start calculating the taxes as well as delivery charges. This calculation depends upon the place where the shopper stays. The e-commerce software uses plugins for easy calculation of taxes.

3. Payment Gateways

Now the shopper is redirected to the payment gateway. This payment gateway will be encrypted providing high security for the consumer details. There are different types of payment gateways available in the market. Choosing the highly reliable one that can be integrated with the shopping cart software you have opted for is important.

4. Email and Text Order Confirmation

The order confirmation message will be sent to both emails and to the mobile number. The shopping cart will send an email to the provided email address and mobile number. This way the shopper will get a clear picture that their order has been confirmed.

Benefits of Online Shopping Cart Software

Some of the Benefits of this Online Shopping Cart Software are:

1. Safer Shopping

   Customers think twice before paying online and with the shopping cart platform, they will be able to get a safer shopping experience. A licensed software will help in keeping all the payment details that the consumer provides safe and secure. The best online shopping cart for small businesses will provide a safer shopping experience for users.

2. Convenient Shopping

   The main reason why most people shop online is that they don’t want to take the hassle of going to the shop and waste their time. As online shopping websites have a shopping cart solution, it becomes easy for the buyers to add all their items to the cart and pay for them at the end. If they don’t like any product, in the end, the users have the provision of deleting the items from the cart too. Hence shopping cart software will make shopping easier and more convenient for buyers.

3. Single Place For Data Management

   A shopping cart platform is a place where the details of all the products are provided in one place. It isn’t just a gateway for payment, it is a place where each and every detail related to the product is calculated and the stats are provided for customer verification. It stores the order and payment history of the consumer, collects and processes the credit card information, and provides invaluable stats on the selling trends for various time periods. It is a place to get all the information regarding consumer purchases.

4. Easy Access to the Products

   A reliable shopping cart system will provide easy access to the products and services at the same time they even provide a list of products in which customers may show interest. The shopping cart platform will adapt to the customer's browsing criteria and ensure to the provision of products relevant to the customer’s requirements. This improves the shopping experience of customers.

5. Easy Payments

   The software makes the payment method easy. It will collect the payment in an easy method so that both the seller and buyer won’t face any issues. This solution is capable of getting integrated with different kinds of payment gateway services making the payment method easier and more efficient. The customer's entire shopping experience is improved with the help of the shopping cart system.

6. Provides Analytics for the Sellers

   The shopping cart software will provide the sellers with a clear view of the shopping history of each customer. They provide the information in a visually appealing form and make the owner understand the performance of his products. The shopping cart solutions are designed in a way that the sellers can scale them easily as their business grows. This is one of the best things about the shopping cart platform.

Must-Have Features of Shopping Cart Software

As said earlier, there are so many software providers in the market and it is important for a business owner to make a wise decision to get the best out of the shopping cart solutions. Here is the list of features that must be present in the shopping cart system for sure.

1. Ease of Use

Almost everyone is aware of the phrase keeping it simple. Consumers prefer online shopping sites because of the time-saving and easy shopping methods that are provided by them. Providing them with a complex shopping cart platform will surely annoy them and this can lead to different circumstances, so it is very important to keep the shopping cart as simple as possible. Consumers should easily understand the pricing and other information regarding the products in the shopping cart at a glance.

2. Mobile-Friendly Website

Gone are the days when people used PCs to search and shop. These days’ people are using mobiles for everything and even Google has already declared that websites should be mobile-friendly for a better visitor experience. The shopping cart software of any website should be mobile friendly so that the potential customers who are planning to buy certain items can view the products directly through their mobile. One out of the three online purchases is done through mobile, so you can do the math now. The integration of a shopping cart solution with mobile is one of the must-have features for any shopping cart system.

3. Photos and Videos of High Resolution

When people are doing online shopping, they won’t be able to see the product or touch it in reality so it is important for the store owners to provide them with images and videos that will help them in getting an idea about the product they are planning to buy. The shopping cart is the final stage of online shopping; the buyers will pay the amount here. Hence it is important for the buyers to have one last look at the product that they are planning to buy. Any shopping cart software should have high-resolution images and videos if possible.

4. User Reviews

Reviews play an important role in online shopping. 92% of online shoppers highly rely on user reviews before they make a decision of buying a product or not. A shopping cart platform should include user reviews of a certain product so buyers can look at it before placing an order. Having reviews on the shopping cart will make it easy for the customers to decide.

5. Wishlists

The e-Commerce sites that do not provide a wishlist option for their customers are leaving a huge part of revenue on the table. Providing the bookmarking option for the customers is very important for any shopping site. If the buyer decided to remove a product from the shopping cart for any potential reason but wants to bookmark it for the next purchase, then it is important to provide them with the wish list option so that they can transfer the items into the wishlist and purchase them later. So including a wish list in the shopping cart system is very important.

6. Special Offers

Having an advertisement regarding the special offers provided by the store on shopping cart software is very beneficial when compared to having the advertisement on the home page. So it is important to provide the list of offers that the store provides in the shopping cart. This will motivate the buyers to shop and buy more.

7. Related Items

Every shopping cart solution should provide the consumer with a list of related items right beneath the checkout section. If a customer has shopped for a specific model mobile, providing the related accessories in the “you may like” section will raise curiosity and excitement in the customer. They will check out the items and if they like it, you will get more revenue. Hence providing a list of related items in the shopping cart will help both buyers and sellers.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

There are different types of buyers out there; some of them would need more information on the product than the usual details on the website. Hence, having a section for frequently asked questions in the shopping cart system will help these customers get answers to the questions they have in mind and even help the sellers give clear details of the products they sell.

9. Security Details

The most important part of online shopping is the payment method. The e-Commerce store is responsible for ensuring customers that their details are safe with them. They should provide all the details related to security in the shopping cart software to gain the customers' trust.

10. Different Payment Options

There are so many options of payment other than credit, debit, or cash on delivery options. It is important for shopping cart solutions to provide various types of payment options for users. This way the business owners would be providing a better payment option for buyers.

These are some of the best features that are provided by the online shopping cart system.

Types of Shopping Cart Software

There are two basic types of shopping cart solutions available in the market.

1. Hosting Shopping Carts

   In this hosting solution, the hosting is done by another private firm. This firm is responsible for server backups, upgrades, and maintenance. The best thing about this hosting shopping cart platform is the third-party firm will provide hosting for free. There is no need to spend money hosting a shopping cart. But there is one drawback with this hosting shopping cart software the customers will be redirected to another page when they process the payment. This is the best online shopping cart for small businesses as it gives various facilities for the users.

2. Licensed Shopping Carts

   This is the shopping cart solution that most e-Commerce owners prefer. The business owners build their own shopping carts and customize it according to their needs of them. Licensed shopping carts provide greater flexibility and help in changing the features and functionalities. They can also add third-party tools if necessary. The upfront costs for setting up this software are higher when compared to the hosting solutions.

   Both types of shopping cart systems have their own advantages over other ones. Either way, they both are beneficial and choosing one of them is completely a personal choice of the business owner. While most of novice e-commerce store owners prefer hosting solutions, experienced owners who require the best shopping cart experience choose licensed shopping carts.

   There are so many shopping cart solution providers in the market, and business owners must be very careful when choosing one. They have to check out the various options available and choose the right as well as perfect one for their business.