Rating
Dynamics Cart
Dynamics Cart
Identifying a Good Shopping Cart for Your Online Ecommerce Store
When I decided on starting off my own ecommerce website, I was totally confused. I did a quick search on Google, and discovered thousands of shopping cart solutions, each one offering too many features, but I didn’t find a single one that was just ‘right’ for what I needed.
Before I write more, I must explain the relationship between a shopping cart and ecommerce solution. Well, to put things simple, an ecommerce solution is a solution/website where you can sell your stuff online, just like super store owners sell stuff in retail outlets. Now, when you go to bigger stores like Walmart, or Target, or Harrods, you end up picking a shopping trolley or a shopping cart from the store, in which you can stash your items, and walk along, remove a few which you do not like, and add another few while you’re browsing through the store.
An electronic shopping cart works in a similar way. Although there are no physical items that you can pick from racks and put into the shopping cart, but you can click some buttons like “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now” or “Add to Order” and your desired item is added to your ‘virtual’ shopping cart.
Ecommerce doesn’t end here, it takes you to next step where you checkout, and enter your shipping and billing details. You are then redirected to a secure interface where you make payment using your credit card, and then a sale is recorded. What’s happening at the backend is, your credit card is being billed by the merchant firm, who gets an authorization from your credit card issuing bank, and once that authorization is issued, your purchase is confirmed. You usually end up getting a few emails from different parties that were involved in an electronic transaction like ecommerce.
Okay, so now when I planned starting off, I came across so many solutions, each one with its unique features. I tried a few demos including 3dcart, OSCommerce, ZenCart etc, but none of them had a simple to use admin panel, which was my first requirement because I was a novice and wanted something which is super easy to use, and makes my life easier instead of loading me with technology.
The search went on, and I finally had to start searching based on following criteria.
1) The solution price: I think it made more sense to me to invest in a solution that doesn’t burn a hole in my pocket, and still meets all requirements that I have. I experimented with many. Found OS COmmerce and Zen Cart etc to be free to use, so I thought they’ll be a choice when it came to price.
2) The search engine performance of the live solution, when it goes live: Almost all solutions I experimented with had a not-so-impressive performance with search engines. All of these used complex structures, with an exception of 2ShoppingCart, which I found to rank high on search engines. The reasons for this included an optimal use of alt tags, mod_rewrite (a technology to convert dynamic links into static links that end with html extensions)
3) Easy to use admin panel: Well, to be honest, when I tested OS Commerce, Zen Cart etc, they all failed this test, because they were very complex to use for me a guy who wanted to be a shop owner, not a computer programmer because they offered complex handling for daily simple tasks, and they scared me to say the least. I was frustrated when I looked at admin panels of most of the open source applications, and some of the hosted solutions such as 3d cart etc, but generally what I loved was the easy to use admin panel from Volusion Software or the one from 2ShoppingCart. Both offer intuitively easy to use admin panels, that make routine tasks so much simple.
4) The maintenane costs: For me, since getting a site up and running wasn’t the only problem, but I knew I am going to need a lot of help with updates, and images, and all other aspects of the site, I wanted a solution that’s backed by some serious guys that will be willing to help me when I needed help. I am still communicating with different vendors to see what their online support contract costs, but generally there were firms like Volusion and 2ShoppingCart that offered a turn key solution with free support for life so I was kind of relieved to know that I’ll have after sales support once my shopping cart website is up and running. A few others that were excellent were 3dcart because they’re a hosted solution, but needed upgrade fees and more, and then Paypal, but frankly speaking Paypal was disappointing because they don’t offer the bells and whistles that I needed for my store in order to be able to sell anything to my customers. Paypal had a rather dull interface, so I decided to go with someone else instead.
A few other factors that are less important, but still carry weight are technology used, loading speeds, response rate, stability, number of products allowed, hosting fees etc, which we’ll discuss in next article.
About the Author
Muhammad Aslam is a talented shopping cart user who has experimented with dozens of online websites in search for an ideal and low cost shopping cart solution.
|
|
Storage Dynamics JB6032 Slide Out Storage Tower $23.90 The Slide Out Storage Tower will provide excellent storage in even the smallest of spaces! This storage tower is perfect as a kitchen organizer, a bathroom organizer or as a garage organizer! At just 5″ wide, this slim three tier tower will fit between washers, cabinets, refrigerators and more. The tower has rolling casters to make accessing your items quick and easy. Assembly level/degree o… |
|
|
Nissin the Original Cup Noodles Chicken Flavor Noodle Bowls Twenty-four 2.5 Ounce Cups $13.47 Nissin the Original Cup Noodles Chicken Flavor Noodle Bowls Twenty-four 2.5 Ounce Cups Delicious Chicken flavored Cup of Noodles Since 1958, the world’s leading brand in ramen noodle soups 24 2.5 Ounce Cups Per box…. |
|
|
Pyramid PA205 Amplifier With Microphone Input (120-Watt) $68.96 .25″ PHONE JACKLED LEVEL DISPLAYMASTER VOLUME CONTROLTONE CONTROLPHONO/AUX VOLUME CONTROLMICROPHONE 1 & MICROPHONE 2 VOLUME CONTROLSMICROPHONE 1 & MICROPHONE 2 HAVE 6.35MM CONNECTORSVOLTAGE SELECTOR: 110V 220VREMOVABLE AC CORDUNSWITCHED AC OUTLETPHONO & AUX RCA INPUT JACKSPHONO/AUX INPUT SELECTOR4_ 8_ 16_ & 70V SPEAKER OUTPUTSMIX BUS JACKSDC 12V INLETINCLUDES MOUNTING BRACKETS120W40W MONO RMS AT 8… |
|
|
New U480 CAN-BUS OBDII Car Diagnostic Check Engine Auto Scanner Trouble Code Reader $28.99 U480is a kind of auto device for reading and erasing trouble code in vehicles, sometimes called car reader. Though so small, light and handy, which is dynamic and fashionable in design, competitive in price and easy to use.U480 is specially designed for car owners or DIY. With a U480, you may quickly find out trouble causes (troubleshooter) of electronically controlled systems on your car, by simp… |
|
|
Solenoid Relay Switch for Prestolite & Ramsey Applications, Continuous Duty Winch & Golf Cart Applications, 12 Volt 5 Terminal Heavy Duty $23.95 OEM(s): Prestolite, Ametek Voltage: 12 Volts Number of Terminals: 5 Duty Cycle: Continuous Duty Replaces PRESTOLITE 15-301, 15-338, 15-341, SBD4201, SBD4201D, SBD4201E, SBD4202D RAMSEY WINCH COLE HERSEE Applications |
|
|
Blur $17.69 Blur is the ultimate powered-up racing experience, dropping you into electrified action with a mass of cars targeting the finish line and battling each other as they trade paint in both single player and multiplayer action. Travel the globe from LA and San Francisco to Spain, the UK and more to take on the best the streets have to offer. Utilize an arsenal of powerups like nitro speed boosts, … |
|
|
NHL 09 $11.24 NHL 09 X360… |
|
|
FIFA Street $22.42 Let your skills reign supreme in the ultimate combination of arcade action blended with the culture of freestyle street soccer in Fifa Street. Break away from the stadiums and the rules of the modern game, playing in ten distinctive street locations from around the world. Play against the world’s top professional players, showing off your skills and individual style in 4-on-4 match-ups. Use a comb… |
|
|
Omron HEM-780 Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor with ComFit Cuff $95.00 With the ComFit Cuff that easily wraps around the arm (fits arms 9″ to 17″), this automatic digital blood pressure monitor makes the measurement procedure easier. The optimal measurement technology through personalized inflation for each person enables accurate measurement in a short time…. |
|
|
Duro-Med Deluxe Swivel Seat Cushion Deluxe Swivel Seat Cushion Gray. This Deluxe Swivel Seat Cushion is ideal for getting in and out of cars or great for use at home or office chairs. The padded swivel seat cushion rotates 360 degrees for smooth, easy movement in any direction while seated. This swivel car seat cushion helps prevent back and hip strain because the comfortable polyfoam padded cushion is 15″ in diameter and 1-3/8″ thi… |
Have A Question?
Are you looking for something but can not find it, or have a question for us? We would love to help you. Just fill out the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
