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Choosing an Ecommerce Shopping Cart
Choosing an online shopping cart is a big decision. Unlike a traditional brick and mortar business, your website is your only chance to impress potential customers. It needs to project a professional image to capture the trust of your visitors. The shopping cart is a particularly important part of your website because it deals with people's personal information and credit card numbers. People are nervous about online purchases and need to be assured that they are giving their credit card numbers to a reputable company. There are several types of ecommerce shopping carts available. They range from merchant services, which require no programming skills, to fully integrated shopping carts that require custom programming. The three main categories of shopping carts are:
Merchant Services Most shopping carts require you to have your own merchant account and gateway. A merchant account is a bank account that allows a business to conduct credit card transactions and the gateway allows the transaction to be conducted over a secure connection. It's okay if you don't have a merchant account or gateway. Merchant service shopping carts allow you to use their merchant account, gateway and shopping cart for a higher cost. Merchant services are beneficial for very small businesses or those that are just starting and don't have a lot of orders. Merchant services provide the merchant account, gateway, hosted shopping cart and will maintain your customer's personal information. They usually require a set-up fee between 50 and 200 dollars, transaction fee between 30 and 75 cents, and 5% to 10% of each transaction. Because you are using their merchant account, your customer's credit card statement will show the merchant services business name not yours. In some cases, customers will not recognize the charge and may dispute it. Merchant service shopping carts have an administrative interface, which allows you to login to your account to add products, prices and shipping options. The shopping cart generates the html for the purchase buttons and you simply copy and paste the html into your web pages. When your customer clicks on the purchase button, he is taken to another website to enter the credit card information. This indicates to the customer that you are a small business. Some potential customers will abandon the shopping cart rather than enter their credit card information on a website they know nothing about. Once your business grows to the point where you are processing over $1000 a month, it's more cost effective to apply for your own merchant account and switch to either a hosted shopping cart (little or no programming) or a fully integrated shopping cart (programming required). Hosted Shopping Cart The hosted shopping cart is a great solution for a small business that is processing over $1000 a month but does not have the resources to create or customize a fully integrated shopping cart. Hosted shopping carts are similar to the merchant services because they provide an administrative interface for you to enter products, pricing and shipping options. They will generate the html for the purchase buttons, which can be copied and pasted into your html pages. Hosted shopping carts face some of same problems as merchant service carts because your customers will be transferred to a different website to enter the credit card information. Some hosted shopping carts allow you to customize the shopping cart so that it has the same look and feel as your websites. Customizing your shopping cart may require some programming skills, but it could also prevent customers from abandoning their shopping carts. The main difference between the merchant services shopping cart and the hosted shopping cart is the name that appears on the customer's credit card and pricing. Hosted shopping carts allow you to use your own merchant account and gateway, which means the customer's credit card statement will show your business name next to the charge. This can decrease your charge backs. If you are using your own merchant account and conducting over $1000 of transitions each month, the hosted shopping carts can be less expensive than merchant services. Your merchant account will probably charge a monthly fee between 20 and 60 dollars, transaction fee between 10 and 50 cents, and a percentage of the transaction, usually ranging between 2% to 3.5%. In addition to the merchant fees, your shopping cart service will also charge a monthly fee between 10 and 30 dollars and could charge a transaction fee. These fees sound more expensive than the merchant service option, but if you are processing over $1000 a month and growing, it's better to pay flat monthly fees than continue to be charged 5 to 10 percent of the each transaction. Fully Integrated Shopping Carts The fully integrated shopping cart is a great option for any business that can afford it. The shopping cart will be dynamic and will have the same look and feel as your website. The ZIP Baby Potty Training Store is a great example of a fully integrated shopping cart. Fully integrated shopping carts like this contain features that are not found in merchant service or hosted shopping carts. For example, you can discount items, display customer reviews, assign products to multiple categories, display out of stock notifications, sort products and prices, and display shipping estimates without requiring the customer to create an account. Integrated shopping carts require advanced programming skills and can often be used with your own merchant account or with a service that allows you to use their merchant account for a higher fee. There are many integrated shopping carts available. Free carts require the most programming skills, but if you don't have the programming skills necessary to customize a free shopping cart, there are many companies that specialize in customizing fully integrated shopping carts. Your choice of a shopping cart can have a dramatic impact on your business. Your website is the first and only impression you get to make so you'll want to make it as professional as possible. While shopping for a shopping cart system, put yourself in your target customer's shoes and browse the Internet. Review your competitor's websites as well as those outside your industry. Make a list of shopping carts that you find appealing and research them thoroughly before choosing one. Copyright 2004 Danna Henderson. All Rights Reserved. About The Author Danna Henderson started ZIP Baby in order to provide parents with comprehensive potty training information and a large selection of potty training products. For more information visit the Breastfeeding for New Mothers.
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MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for ecommerce Chain Reaction Ecommerce gets $5 million boost (BizJournals) Atlanta-based Chain Reaction Ecommerce Inc.(CRE) has raised $5 million from a local venture capital firm. MyECheck Launched on 25 eCommerce Sites With Online Commerce Group (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance) MyECheck Inc., an electronic transaction processor and provider of alternative payment solutions, is pleased to announce that is has deployed its service on 25 eCommerce websites owned and operated by Online Commerce Group, LLC. Ecommerce Provider UniteU Achieves PCI Compliance (PRWeb via Yahoo! News) On-demand Ecommerce Platform Protects Consumers and Merchants Demandware Powers Stylish New eCommerce Site for Barneys New York (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance) WOBURN, Mass.----Demandware, developer of the only enterprise-class, on-demand ecommerce platform, today announced that luxury retailer Barneys New York is now live on the Demandware eCommerce Platform. USA Technologies Launches an eCommerce Site to Sell Their EnergyMiser(TM) Product Line (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance) MALVERN, Pa.----USA Technologies Inc. , a leading provider of energy management technology designed to reduce the cost and environmental consequence of running everyday devices such as vending machines and coolers, announced today the launch of its eCommerce system for purchasing its EnergyMiser line of products. Corel Streamlines Global Operations to Improve Operational Efficiency and Focus Investment on Growth Opportunities (Centre Daily Times) Corel Corporation (NASDAQ:CREL) (TSX:CRE) today announced it is streamlining its global operations in order to become more operationally efficient and to increase its investment in key growth opportunities, including emerging markets and eCommerce. As part of this effort, the Company will reduce its global workforce by approximately 8% or 90 employees worldwide. Corel Streamlines Global Operations to Improve Operational Efficiency and Focus Investment on Growth Opportunities (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance) OTTAWA----Corel Corporation today announced it is streamlining its global operations in order to become more operationally efficient and to increase its investment in key growth opportunities, including emerging markets and eCommerce. Putting Your Product Pages to Work (SEO Chat) Visitors to your site s product pages want to achieve certain goals. Make it easy for them and you can increase your sales. Many of the tweaks and changes mentioned in this article owe as much to good web site design as they do to SEO. We ll look at how successful ecommerce companies such as Amazon and Dell pull it off.... Automate Software Builds with Visual Build Pro Easily create an ... UpSellit's Virtual Chat Agent Creates New Sales Opportunities This Holiday Season for Online Retailers (Centre Daily Times) In time for holiday sales, citing a predicted 14.3 percent growth in eCommerce from 2007-2008 (eMarketer, 2008), etailers are turning to UpSellit to prepare for this seasons' spike in opportunity. UpSellit, a virtual chat technology company that provides online solutions for enhanced, intelligent communications, announced today a 15 percent increase in eCommerce clients during the past six ... Kensington Global Private Equity Fund invests in Walden Venture Capital VII, L.P. (CNW Group via Yahoo! Finance) Kensington Capital Partners Limited, Canada's leading independent private equity fund investor, is pleased to announce a commitment of US$2,500,000 by the Kensington Global Private Equity Fund to Walden Venture Capital VII, L.P., a venture capital fund managed by Walden Venture Capital, based in San Francisco, specializing in the digital media, consumer and enterprise services, and eCommerce ... Site: ecommerce - Google News Coremetrics Reports Mixed eCommerce Signals in December - MSNBC
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