Gerri Bryce is a versatile technical writer specializing in general web content copywriting and consultancy for finance and high risk merchant account providers. She has contributed a massive number of articles for today's most popular technology, gadget, gaming, business, finance, and science news websites. She participates in a number of top webmaster, finance and merchant account forums.
What is a shopping cart?
All online entrepreneurs, including high risk merchants, need a highly efficient shopping cart. This fact can't be stressed too much -- many a business has failed because merchants are trying to use an incompatible shopping cart or is not using the full potential of commercial shopping carts available today.
Finding the perfect shopping cart for your online business is time consuming, if not too daunting. Merchants must acquaint themselves with the types of shopping carts in the market as well as test and experiment with their capabilities. It's important to choose the cart that will be flexible so that if a merchant changes his business' marketing plan a year later it will still be functional. In fact, the number one criteria in selecting a shopping cart is to make sure it meshes well with your marketing plan.
Types of shopping cart
Shopping carts may be classified into free or commercial, and hosted or non-hosted.
Free shopping carts are obviously very attractive options for low-budget businesses. It doesn't mean, however, that they are completely free. In fact, merchants will have to make use of a developer's skills to tweak a free shopping cart program like osCommerce. Free shopping carts are rooted from open source software and are as powerful as most commercial shopping carts. Unfortunately, they may not be as secure. Commercial shopping carts are preferred by high risk merchants who seek secure and reliable customer tools when purchasing online.
On the other hand, online merchants may use a hosted shopping cart or one that they can just buy as a software and thus configure. A remotely hosted software may include an affiliate management feature as well. Choosing a hosted shopping cart is another tricky process that may require another book to write! The advantage is that the merchant does not have to worry about the transaction process and record keeping since the host will take care of them. Other merchants prefer purchasing just the software. The advantage is it costs a lot cheaper and can be customized as required.
Shopping cart and your website: Do they mesh well?
The first thing you should consider is to make sure your website works well with the shopping cart you're adopting. The best way to do this is to research, read reviews, test, and experiment. Take advantage of the storefront demo that shopping cart sellers offer. High risk merchants should look at the following checklist as a guide in selecting the shopping cart for their online business:
CHECKLIST FOR CHOOSING ONLINE SHOPPING CART
Think Customers
Easy navigation for customers is number one prerequisite. Some carts let customers shop with a temporary ID so that they don't have to register. Another is to make sure you provide the "extras" such as search box, product reviews and product descriptions with graphics, as well as newsletters.
Hands On
It will be doubly difficult for high risk merchants to adopt a shopping cart that they find too bulky to manage. Features such as automatic alerts for new purchases, database importing, and searchable, viewable and downloadable daily and monthly reports are great add-ons for your customers.
Flexibility and Strength
How flexible are your shopping cart's features? Can you configure it to fit your business model? Can it be scaled to increase or decrease the number of products you may include or remove in the future? Can the database be expanded to fit new products and services and handle increasing customer data? It's also a must to consider how robust your shopping cart is. Make sure the database is secure and the server can handle simultaneous transactions.
Customer Support
Although price has always dictated many merchants' purchases, it's always a good move to contact the shopping cart seller's customer support even before you buy the cart. Obviously when trouble comes, you will know exactly where to go or who to find. The faster the response time is in all communication avenues (phone, e-mail, fax, or chat), the better your bet at getting an online shopping cart that is reliable.
- Related Articles
- Related Q&A
- Best Tips to Avoid Frozen Accounts With your High Risk Merchant Account Provider
- High Risk Merchant Account Providers
- Insider Tricks to Successful High Risk Merchant Account Application
- High Risk Merchant Account Tips on Ip Detection
- Facts About High Risk Merchant Account
- High Risk Merchant Account Approval in 3 Easy Steps
- High Risk Merchant Account – Ways your Business Can Benefit From One
- High Risk Merchant Accounts
How to Create eBay Listings That Sell at Least 50% of the Time
By: mark collier | 05/01/2010The 4 keys to creating successful listings
Making Money From Home Instead Of Finding Another Lousy Job!
By: Father Time | 05/01/2010Making Money From Home Might Be The Answer Instead Of Finding Another Lousy Job!
How to make money creating and selling eBooks
By: mark collier | 05/01/2010How you can create eBooks and sell them on marketplaces like Clickbank and eBay
What Makes Perfect E-commerce Solutions
By: Mark Spenser | 05/01/2010This is a must read article for all those involved in e-commerce website designing and development. The owner’s of the e-commerce website also needs to read this so that they can have successful online shop.
Types of ePayments
By: Jack Heape | 04/01/2010eCommerce sites allow customers to browse through products and make purchases in the convenience of their homes. When it comes to making payments, customers need to know how they can pay for their purchases. Online businesses should be able to accept various forms of payment.
Important Things You Need to Know About eCommerce Security
By: Jack Heape | 04/01/2010The Internet has opened up a whole new way for people to do business. It has also created more opportunities for criminals to steal information about you and your finances. Customers are aware that as they visit sites and share information about themselves, they are making themselves vulnerable to criminals.
Durable denim: jeans and the economy
By: Andrew Regan | 04/01/2010Where there are losers, there has to be winners too and the global denim industry has been doing rather well in the global economic downturn, with people looking for durable fashion garments that will stand the test of time.
Earn Money By Starting Your Own Online Shopping Mall
By: Tariq Ghazi | 04/01/2010You can earn huge commissions in at least SEVEN different ways with your own Mall Web Site... and it's all FREE! Assign your own domain name. Choose your own primary keywords, add additional secondary keyword phrases & within minutes you will have your own customizeable, content driven web site that the search engines will love! Start earning commissions immediately!
Top 4 Ecommerce Solutions for the Holiday Season
By: Gerri Bryce | 16/11/2007 | Online BusinessAre you counting the days till Christmas? Does the holiday season mean anything to your business? If your answer is yes, then probably you have done your share of research on ecommerce solutions to improve the Yuletide appeal of your online store. Days are coming by fast and merchants are soon ringing the proverbial cash registers for end-of-the-year profit. If you're running out of time and need a quick fix before online shoppers hit the checkout line, make sure you got four essential elements
Best Tips to Avoid Frozen Accounts With your High Risk Merchant Account Provider
By: Gerri Bryce | 10/10/2007 | FinanceIn the world of online sales, there are a lot of things written on the page but are left unread between the lines. In other words, you go about selling your products and services but there are lots of things high risk merchant account providers don't tell you. Not because they could not or would not, but because they would not discuss the issues with you until you have experienced them. A good example is going through possible freezing of your merchant account.
Streetsmart Tips in Choosing your Online Shopping Cart
By: Gerri Bryce | 03/10/2007 | ECommerceFinding the perfect shopping cart for your online business is time consuming, if not too daunting. Merchants must acquaint themselves with the types of shopping carts in the market as well as test and experiment with their capabilities. It's important to choose the cart that will be flexible so that if a merchant changes his business' marketing plan a year later it will still be functional.
How to Tackle your E-commerce Shipping Issues
By: Gerri Bryce | 24/09/2007 | ECommerceE-commerce shipping is obviously a lot more complicated if you're a high risk merchant. One, because it may involve shipping goods overseas. Two, because you may be selling intangible products such as e-books. When this happens, the risk of returns and frauds are even higher.
Get Listed or Get Shot: the High Risk Merchant's Guide to Advertising Online
By: Gerri Bryce | 14/09/2007 | AdvertisingSix decades ago, thousands of people who were found on a rich German businessman's record book were brought out from Auschwitz and into a quasi- World War 2 bullet manufacturing company not to work, but to have their lives saved. Fast forward six decades again, and we are into the the same dog-eat-dog world where online content is king. The question is, have you had yourself listed lately?
7 Best Tools for Providing First-rate Customer Service
By: Gerri Bryce | 30/08/2007 | Finance"People used what they called a telephone because they hated being close together and they were scared of being alone." Chuck Palahniuk could be right and wrong! In the world of e-commerce, the telephone could be the single most important tool next to your car keys. An online merchant will not exist and survive in the cutthroat world of online business without key customer service tools.
High Volume Merchant Account : is it Worth Acquiring One?
By: Gerri Bryce | 14/08/2007 | FinanceI feel a need to go back to the basics. After years of hearing the phrase high volume merchants, I still encounter some perfectly running businesses who have not acquired their own high volume merchant account. When I tell execs about the possibilities it offers, they say they will consider applying for one. It seems to me that these businesses have reached their equilibrium, and at this point wish nothing but to maintain it.