eCommerce Software improves the efficiency and user experience of an ecommerce website. Without signing un, users can place items in a shopping cart. Once the user is ready to purchase these items, he or she can purchase them all at once.
Like with everything else, not all types of shopping cart software are created equally and there are numerous characteristics that users should consider when they choose shopping cart software.
Secure Network
The top priority for shopping cart software is that the program is designed to be used over a secure network. The shopping cart software essentially serves as a front end that transfers the shopping cart items through a secure connection to a payment gateway. One of the most secure shopping cart software programs is the one provided by Shopify.
Price
Some shopping cart software programs are free. However, these programs are not fully free. For example, Paypal offers free ecommerce solutions that allow users to integrate a basic shopping cart and payment gateway into their websites. However, the merchant will have to pay a percentage of each sale.
Shopping cart software programs that charge a price will usually include more features. When choosing a more expensive shopping cart, merchants should look carefully at the features to determine if they are really necessary and whether the features are worth the higher price.
Tracking Customers
One question that merchants should consider when choosing shopping cart software is how much the merchant wants to know about his or her customers. Tracking customers will help merchants make decisions such as whether they should offer their customers a newsletter and whether customers are likely to respond well to contests, promotions and coupons.
Shopping Cart Abandonment
Statistically, more users abandon their shopping carts than they complete their orders. For businesses that notice that they have a high shopping cart abandonment rate, a simple reminder is often all that is needed to get customers to complete a payment process. If the website has the email addresses of several customers, some shopping cart software programs will send customers a reminder email. While some customers change their minds about the product and will never purchase it, others simply forget to complete the purchase. Merchants also can send users discounts to further incite them to purchase the product.
Shopping Cart Design
The shopping cart design should be integrated into the website seamlessly enough that it looks like it is a part of the website. The shopping cart icon should be visible so that the user can locate the payment gateway and finalize the purchase. When an item is added to the user’s shopping cart, this should be clear to the user. Otherwise, the user is less likely to complete the process.
