In today’s digital era, anything we want to buy or sell can be found online. Whether you want to create a website from scratch or just want to turn an existing website/blog into an eCommerce website, anything can be done easily by adding a shopping cart.
However, you might be wondering what a shopping cart is. A shopping cart bridges the gap between selling and shopping. It allows business owners to sell their products and services online and allows customers to select and buy efficiently. It offers several features that will help a website/blog operate well, such as back-end tracking, wish lists, coupons, and many more. Shopping carts also help customers by functioning as caretakers providing the required facilities for orders and shipping. A well-organized website with a good shopping cart will improve the customer’s shopping experience.
But not selecting the right shopping cart for a website or having an unorganized, designed checkout gateway can dissuade potential buyers before the checkout process. So, developing a good shopping cart for your website is important.
The best way to find the right shopping cart is to consider the following factors:
Hosted or Licensed shopping cart-
There are two types of shopping carts. A third party provides hosted shopping carts. It is easy to set up and integrate. This type of shopping cart is best for new businesses or businesses that already have a website without eCommerce functionalities. On the other hand, Licensed shopping carts are fully custom. It needs expert coders or technical knowledge for coding to build a website.
Pricing-
The main factor that needs to be considered is the budget. When choosing an online shopping cart, don’t just go for the best price because sometimes the cheapest choice isn’t always the best choice. So, be careful when considering the price of an online shopping cart. Some of the points to consider are the monthly fees, payment processing fees, transfer fees, cancellation fees, or minimum transaction fees.
Integrations-
When looking for an online shopping cart, choose one that offers integrations with your existing website/blog and technology infrastructure and other options as well. In this way, there are more chances for your business to grow in a shorter period.
Accepted payment types-
Most buyers abandon the website because there are not enough payment gateway options. So, before you add an online store to existing websites, check whether it provides a variety of payment methods, such as mobile wallets, credit, debit cards, PayPal, buy now, and cash on delivery, among others. It will boost the conversion rate and also the average order value.
Customization-
A good online shopping cart will allow business owners to be able to customize their website’s interface according to their needs. It will also optimize the buyer’s experience as well for the most sales. A great shopping cart will have a better checkout flow that will recover the cart abandonment issue.
Shipping options-
Expensive shipping costs are the main cause of cart abandonment. Finding an online shopping cart that has a custom-built shipping alternative. It will also give multiple options to customers to opt for their order shipping options. Another reason for customers abandoning the cart is cost transparency. Make sure the shopping cart you choose calculates the total order cost at the end with all the other things like seasonal discounts, vouchers, coupons, etc.
Conclusion
Shopping carts ease the payment process by mediating between the payment gateways and the website. It will improve customer experience and help a website rank on search engines. But not choosing the right shopping cart can deter potential customers before the payment process. So, what are you waiting for? Consider the above factors to find the right shopping cart and find out how to sell products on your blog/website efficiently.