Checklist When Shopping for a Shopping Cart

By: Sally Curran | February 11, 2008

Your site might be the belle of the ball. The pages are stunning, aptly attracting attention to your wares. And the material is smartly written, conveying every tidbit of information a potential buyer might ever want. A key part of that total package is missing, however, unless customers can gather the goods they want to pay for and complete the transaction.

A shopping cart is a highly important component of any e-business. While no one set of specifications will work for every Web store, we'll walk you through the basics of choosing and setting up the perfect shopping cart for your site.

Simply put, a shopping cart is software that permits customers to collect and buy merchandise online; it acts as the interface between the seller's Web page and inventory listings. Shopping cart software uses cookies to accomplish this.

Shopping cart software is available in two main varieties: standalone pre-built software and custom-created solutions. Kevin Harman, president of Brand Labs, guided the owner of RedHatsandMore.com through selecting a shopping cart for the site. He said that RedHatsandMore.com has used both options. The benefits of the custom option were the complete control of the design and functionality of the site, while the major drawback was the time necessary to "stay on the cutting edge and implement new features." On the flip side, the benefits of pre-built are the large number of at-the-ready features; however, your design options are limited.

The first step in selecting the right shopping cart for your e-commerce site is to evaluate what the specific needs of your site are. Michelle Greer, a marketing specialist for Volusion, said that new vendors should first create a list of the features they need and want for your site's shopping cart. Take a look at other sites to see how others are accomplishing your goals. Check out competitors' sites, as well as e-businesses you buy from yourself. Note what you like and dislike. Greer then suggested prioritizing the features and determining whether you want to take the time to find the right cart for your store (pre-built) or if you'd rather hire someone to find and set it up for you (custom).

A Shopping List for the Perfect Cart
When deciding exactly what features to implement, remember there is no one-size-fits-all cart, but there are proven ways to avoid mistakes that lead to abandoned carts, according to the MarketLive report, "The Perfect Shopping Cart." The report provides 17 cart considerations in its "Checklist for the Perfect Shopping Cart":

1. Keep customers informed wherever they are on your site by implementing the global shopping cart.
   
2. Display shipping costs and tax as soon as possible to avoid sticker shock.
   
3. Give customers access to multiple shipping methods and update the cart total based on the revised shipping fee.
   
4. Empower customers to edit directly in the cart with add, delete and modify functions.
   
5. Build trust by offering guarantees and prominently displaying your privacy and security policies.
   
6. Use third-party validators like ScanAlert and Verisign to increase credibility.
7. Provide information at the right time — for example, provide stock status as well as expected delivery times before checkout.
8. More information is always better — customer service numbers and FAQs should be prominently displayed.
9. Sell in the cart with kickers and Add To Cart items.
10. Offer discounts, promotions, or offers — such as free shipping — for increasing their order size.
11. Keep customers on your site with "Continue Shopping" suggestive selling tactics.
12. Provide customers with Save Cart functionality so they can come back later.
13. Give customers a Wish List option for items they want but aren't yet ready to purchase.
14. Enable customers to print or email their shopping cart.
15. Integrate messaging that highlights the benefits that can be earned through membership in your customer loyalty program.
16. Promote your Gift Cards with "Add-to-Cart" functionality.
17. Don't let empty carts mean No Sale — drive customers to other parts of your site and offer them new, unique and interesting products.

Assessing Your Needs for the Right Fit
Harman said that a very specific look and feel was originally desired for the RedHatsandMore.com, which led to the development of a customized shopping cart. However, Harman said that this got to be quite time-consuming and the search for a pre-built option that would still accommodate the desired look and feel began. A low cost of ownership was also key.

As such, the factors that most heavily weighed in RedHatsandMore.com's decision were cost, design flexibility, ease-of-use for both customers and employees and search engine rankings. He then noted that newbie shopping cart users should evaluate their technological know-how honestly and hire a company to set up their cart if need be, as he said it saves a lot of time. Furthermore, you can then focus on testing the cart against your needs, running your business and keeping your site's content fresh.

Greer further noted that anyone looking to choose a shopping cart should evaluate their industry, as knowing what is key to your customers and employees is important. For instance, she said that a clothing retailer would need to consider a cart's design flexibility, while a high-volume merchant should evaluate how a cart handles inventory and warehousing. Other items to consider include newsletter and affiliate marketing options. She said that establishing specific needs upfront can save a lot of time.

Security is an important consideration, as well. Greer said that most merchants have no idea how to store credit card information properly, which is unfortunate because keeping data safe is crucial to the future of their business. Make sure that any shopping cart you select involves an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate unique to your site.

Putting It Together
Once you've selected just the right option for your site, you have to set it up and integrate it into your site. Greer said that most shopping carts have a demo to help you understand just what your shopping cart can and can't do. Take advantage of these trials: Evaluate merchant accounts and gateway options for accepting payments.

Each program will be slightly different, but Harman said that the main steps he followed while setting up the shopping cart for RedHatsandMore.com were as follows:

• Applying the design
  
• Adding the products and categories
  
• Adding the site's content pages
  
• Testing the site
  

As the MarketLive reports says, "Most important is to realize the shopping cart is where the rubber meets the road — it is the last place customers go before they spend their money — so it is the place where they need to feel the most comfortable. It is also the place of greatest opportunity for you. And if you create the perfect shopping cart for your site, both you and your customers will benefit."

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Sally Marek Curran is a regular contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com.