Which Website Shopping Cart is The Best Choice?

Your choice of website shopping cart must relate to the key functionality options your business and customers require. Questions that will help you make the best choice include:

• How much of a focus will ecommerce (online sales) be on your website?
• What kind of ROI are you expecting?
• How big a percentage will ecommerce be of your overall sales?
• What volume of transactions do you anticipate/plan for?
• How complex is your sales process?
• What experience do you want your prospect/customer to have?

The more thorough your understanding of how you want ecommerce to work on your site, the easier it will be to find the most appropriate platform, including such key factors as internal and user functionality, price point and website integration.

There is a big range to choose from when it comes to website shopping cart selection. Let’s talk through each of the general level choices.

Third party platforms

If you are a small business, start up, or even an established business dipping your toe into ecommerce waters for the first time, third party platforms are a sound option. This way you can learn what works and what doesn’t and what kind of functionality you want to add if you move to a more integrated system.

Amazon and eBay are good places to start selling online. Amazon Web Services give you access to all the tools that make shopping with them such a complete experience. You might also want to consider adding ecommerce functionality to your Facebook page.

By starting with known entities, that prospects and buyers use regularly and trust, you can get a good feel for what will work for your business.

Open source options

If you want to sell directly from your website, there are many choices. Most open source and proprietary Content Management Systems (CMS) have a website shopping cart module. If the CMS works for you overall, then it makes sense to use these rather than opt for a third party add on (that will require integration into your site).

But things are never black and white when it comes to CMS, so if you want to talk through your options, please contact us.

When it comes to open source, Wordpress is one of the most popular platforms around. Hundreds of thousands of developers use it and it has reasonable ecommerce functionality –if you are just selling a few items.

For larger inventory, you could look into Magento or Joomla as a starting point. Many web developers will have their own ecommerce options which are always worth considering. It will help your comparison and decision if you have some idea how the big, popular open source platforms work.

Proprietary systems and customisation

There are numerous specialist website shopping carts that offer a huge amount of flexibility. A specific application like this is the best choice for larger and more complex ecommerce requirements. They will also help with issues such as PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance, search engine optimisation and integration with your existing inventory or accounting systems.

A 2011 product review listed the following Top Ten website shopping cart platforms:

• BigCommerce
• ShopSite Pro
• Pinnacle Cart
• Shopify
• Volusion
• SunShop
• Fortune3
• GoEmerchant I-Store
• Network Solutions
• X-Cart

Every business is different and ecommerce requirements can vary enormously. If you talk to a web developer it is likely they will guide you towards a solution they know rather than one that will give you the best ROI.

At iQuantum our role is to provide you with an array of options and research, so together we can find the right solution for your long term success.