Why Shopping Cart Software?

Don't let the name fool you; shopping cart software is a lot more than just a payment gateway service. Good shopping cart software offers a host of other tools to help get your online business up and running. Here are just some of the ways in which comprehensive ecommerce software can help your business:

• Payment Processing – Many programs offer credit card processing as well as check, PayPal or other methods of processing payments.
• Webpage Design – Many merchants are good at selling things, not designing web pages, so some software programs will include step by step wizards to help take the mystery out of that process – you don’t even have to know HTML.
• Storefront Design – Step by step store front wizards incorporate templates and other tools to help you set up the look of your web site’s storefront.
• Inventory Control – Good programs will keep track of your inventory and generate reports automatically.
• Shipping – Nearly all shopping carts offers a shipping tool that calculates shipping costs for customers based on parameters that you set, some can even link up to common shipping methods like FedEx or UPS.
• Tax Calculation – Most of these programs can calculate taxes, a valuable tool, especially since many states are considering requiring merchants to collect taxes for online sales.
• Customer Management – Many of these programs have features that will let customers view their previous purchases. The program will also recognize the customer when they come back for a return visit.
• Marketing – Some web store owners are familiar with selling their products directly to a customer, but have no experience in taking advantage of today’s powerful internet marketing techniques. Many ecommerce software programs offer integrated information on affiliate programs, social network marketing methods, and help with merchandising. Many are able to create coupons, gift certificates or other incentives as well. In addition, they provide sales reports and 'hit' or page-view traffic information as well to help optimize the customer conversion experience.
• Security – Customers won’t purchase online if they feel the website cannot protect their personal information. Many of these programs will offer protection by encrypting information, processing credit cards through reputable processing services and by allowing customers to move through their program without having to download cookies.

On this site, you'll find articles and reviews on shopping cart software and services so you can decide which software will best fit your business plans. At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don't Have To.™

What to Look For in Shopping Cart Software

Choosing the right software package is one of the most crucial steps to making your online business a success. Your customers need to be able to purchase your product(s) as easily as possible, with a sense of security. For the business owner, the software should be simple to use, with lots of useful features and great customer support when needed.

We reviewed 24 of the leading programs to help you find the one that will improve your chances of reaching your sales goals.

Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to rate these online shopping carts:

Web Design
Creating a professional and easy-to-use web page is important when creating a site you want people to come to, like, and use often. Good programs are easy for the entrepreneur and the customer to use. Step by step wizards are helpful in webpage and storefront development, menus and help should be easily accessible and presented in a logical manner.

We felt that web design features in these programs should offer you the tools to create such a site. They should be easy to use and have enough variety and flexibility to allow you to create a great looking site. Having a great site builds trust in your customers. They will know that you’re the store to turn to.

Administration/Inventory Control
The features range from a simple software package to accounting and inventory functions. The programs that offered the most features and the most flexibility, received high scores in this area. The ones that truly set themselves apart offer video support and training, or mobile application connectivity. The most important goal is to find the program that includes desired features at a desirable cost.

Marketing
We looked at packages that included marketing ideas, social media connectivity, cross-selling and up-selling at checkout as part of the package.

Security
The software should have standard features like SSL secure checkouts, fraud protection, information back up and restoration and cookies.

Once you have your business entity established, bank account open, good products to sell, and the perfect shopping cart software, you may be well on your way to a successful Internet business. If you're already in business, but are unhappy with your software package, or have outgrown it, think about making a change that will help you manage all of your concerns more efficiently.

Check out our review of BigCommerce, our No. 1 product in this area.