Create a shopping cart for your site
- Luke Telford
- 3 September 2009
Photo credit: poem, sxc.hu
Sadly it's because they've spent thousands upon thousands developing their own e-commerce software to make buying from them seem as simple as sneezing.
Whilst your budget may constrain you from getting the business end of your site to the same state as theirs, this doesn't prevent you from making it easier for your customers.
The key? The mighty shopping cart.
Many larger retail sites you encounter online are equipped with an e-commerce software to match their budget. Whilst the software available is excellent for simplicity and seamlessness of customer transactions, they can be very expensive to purchase and maintain. That's why there's much to be said for the shopping cart. It's one of the simplest methods of processing transactions on your site, and is a good idea for a number of reasons besides.
One of the benefits of including a shopping cart is that it provides visitors with the ability to ‘window shop'. They can place items in their cart and then return to browsing through your website. At the conclusion of their visit, they can assess what they need/can afford based on the calculations the shopping cart has made. This is a vital part of the online retail experience and it's not pushy, unlike like the transaction processes in some e-commerce softwares.
A good cart should do basic things. It should allow customers to set aside items and use the checkout, but should also encompass things like shipping fees, customer tracking (using cookies
), and sales tax calculation where necessary.
Of course a shopping cart is not enough by itself to process transactions on your site. You need a merchant account with a financial provider to handle the card security necessary for doing business online. You may roll your eyes, but
Paypal really is the way to go for this, with (yawn) Google
Checkout coming a close second. Google charges between 2.2 and 2.9% and US$0.30 per transaction, while Paypal charges AU$0.30 and between 2.0 and 2.4% per transaction.
Paypal also offers a shopping cart that's perfectly functional, but is a little simple compared to some of the dedicated cart services available.
If you've already established a merchant account and you're just looking for some highly functional shopping cart software, Shopsite
Pro is the way to go. It's not too expensive and is well worth its minimal cost, as it provides a remarkably extensive range of options, from simple cart functions
through to downloads and gift vouchers, as well as being compatible with both Google and Paypal.
They really do make it easy for you. You just need to choose the combination that best suits your site. #
