What to Look for in an Online Shopping Cart Service

An online shopping cart is a necessity for anyNewsletter opt-in: When customers sign up, they are
successful e-commerce site. Most sites, particularlyproviding you with their personal information. You will
those of small and mid-size businesses, rely on outsidewant to put that Information to good use. One way is
services to host their shopping carts: The software isto allow customers to opt in to newsletters and other
simply too intricate, and the program's needs too many,mailings. Your site should provide a space for
for every business to create their own cart fromcustomers to indicate whether they want to receive
scratch. As the saying goes, there is no need toyour emails; the most successful approach is to have
reinvent the wheel.the box already checked to opt them in, and allow the
There are many different services available, each ofcustomer to uncheck the box if the don't want to
which offers several different plans to choose from.receive your emails. You may also want to include a
Here are a few features to look at when determiningsubscription management page, where customers can
whether or not this service is right for your business.change their personal information and/or mailing
Member sign-In: These days, customers expect somepreferences as necessary.
sort of members system where they can sign in, storeOther options: Depending on the nature of your
billing information, and track orders. Customersbusiness, there are a number of other features to
especially appreciate not having to type their addressconsider when shopping for ecommerce software. For
and credit card information every time, and being ableexample, if you sell clothing or items that come in
to track their orders helps by making customers feeldifferent colors and styles, you will want to provide
more secure. Your shopping cart should also offer acustomers with a way to choose which one they
password recovery system, so that a customer doeswant. Gift wrap is another feature that many
not have to start a new account if they happen tocustomers appreciate: In this case, the online shopping
forget their password.cart allows the customer to check a box indicating that
Multiple payment options: Not every customer will wantthe item is a gift and should be wrapped for an
to pay the same way, so your service should be sureadditional fee.
to offer multiple payment options. For example, youDigital delivery: Digital products, such as eBooks, music,
should make sure the system can handle the majorand other computer files, are being sold online more
credit cards: at least Visa and MasterCard, but youoften. However, when a customer is buying an eBook
should also consider shopping carts that can processor a song from you, the last thing they want is to have
American Express and Discover, as well. Also, don'tto wait for you to wake up or get home and send the
forget about online payment systems such as PayPal.file to them. Instead, you should look for software that
Many customers like being able to pay without givingalso provides digital delivery, whether via automatically
out their bank or credit card information.generated emails, or an account page that allows
If your product requires customers to pay incustomers to immediately download items they have
installments for example, monthly or yearlypurchased.
membership renewals, you should look at softwareTechnical support: All of these things are good to have,
that can be set up to handle recurring billingbut perhaps the most important feature is one that
automatically.serves you, rather than the customer. This service is
Tax and shipping calculation: In order to tell yourtechnical support. Especially when you are first installing
customer the total cost and provide checkout inthe software, you may run into bugs or snags that you
real-time, your system will need to be able toneed technical advice in order to resolve. Never
accurately calculate the appropriate taxes, as well asattempt to install a program yourself without having
shipping and handling charges. A good shopping cartthat tech support number there for backup. Even once
program will allow you to enter several different taxyou get your shopping cart up and running, having
options, depending on the customer's billing address.technical support available is always a good thing: If
Also, your service should be able to calculate theyour system goes down for any reason, you will want
shipping charges for the total order, based on eitherto get it fixed as quickly as possible so as to minimize
the dollar amount or the actual weight.the number of customers you lose due to an
Discounts, coupons, and gift certificates: Coupons andunresponsive system.
discounts are great ways to increase sales, so you willBuying an online shopping cart is a big decision, and
want to make sure your ecommerce storefrontshould not be taken lightly by any means. Don't forget,
software can handle these things. Gift certificates andyou are choosing a service that can make or break
gift cards can also boost business, so be sure yoursyour business, so you don't want one that will frustrate
has a way to allow customers to redeem them.or irritate your customers.