	City Hall Los Angeles
	Home Site Map Powered by WhyPark.com

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 such as eBay and 2Checkout
Hosted shopping cart services
Fully integrated shopping carts

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.

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.



Los Angeles County Embarks On Landmark Trade Mission To China Supervisor Antonovich to Lead Delegation with World Trade Center Association LA-Long Beach and the LAEDC to Strengthen Vital Trade Pacts Los Angeles Mall Offers Shopping And Services The Beverly Center is a shopping mall in Los Angeles, CA. It is housed in a monolithic eight-story edifice situated in the city of Beverly Hills, near West Hollywood. The Center serves the entire city of Los Angeles. The mall's tenants include Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and a multi-screen theater. Also present are such retail outlets as Banana Republic, Victoria's Secret, Dolce and Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior and Hugo Boss. The mall's terrace offers a panoramic view of downtown Los Angeles. The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa Throws Support Behind 2008 Aids Walk Los Angeles AIDS Walk Attempting to Out-Raise Last Year's $3.9 Million Fundraising Record. LoanToolbox Named One of Los Angeles' Fastest Growing Companies in Deloitte's Los Angeles Technology Fast 50 LoanToolbox, the mortgage industry's leading provider of innovative marketing and training solutions, is recognized as one of the fastest growing technology companies in Greater Los Angeles, CA. Walk (Yes, Walk) Los Angeles with Los Angeles Lifestyle Magazine's New Neighborhood Itineraries The new "coordinates" walking tour feature in LA2DAY's LA online magazine give locals and tourists a fresh look at the city's unique featured neighborhoods. Los Angeles Consumers Discover Time-Saving Products at 4th Annual Los Angeles Organizing Expo Los Angeles' only public organizing expo devoted exclusively to time-saving products, solutions, tools and services, is set for Monday September 22, 2008 at the Olympic Collection in West Los Angeles. Returning this year is the "Organizing Theater" and new for 2008 is the "Ask The Organizer Panel" where the public can address their very own organizing challenges. Los Angeles Negligence Lawyers: Lending a Hand to Prevent Carelessness A person can receive injuries in various ways and times. Even if a person is careful with regard to his actions, harm may be acquired due to the wrongful doings or carelessness of other people. Bringing the Los Angeles Angels to Life It was not easy to bring the American League in Los Angeles The concept started in the early 1940s Finding the Right Los Angeles Sedation Dentist For You How many times have you suffered from the discomfort that a toothache can bring but endured it anyway because you were too afraid of paying your dentist a visit Well, you do not have to fear no more Hohner Announces Los Angeles And New York Viewings of the Bob Dylan Collection Hohner Inc. announces a special viewing of the Bob Dylan Collection of hand-signed harmonicas at Sam Ash Music. The collection can be seen at Sam Ash Music, 7360 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA (323-850-1050) from September 24 through October 8, from 10:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m. It can be seen at Sam Ash Music, 155 W. 48th Street, New York, NY (212-719-2625) from October 15 through October 29, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. A New Threat: Increasing Car Accidents in Los Angeles Car Accidents in the United States Shouse Law Group, Los Angeles California DUI Attorneys, Expand into Las Vegas Shouse Law Group Cites DUI.com \| DWI.com for Growth in Southern California and Las Vegas. They opened their Las Vegas DUI office this month. "6 Hour Learn Salsa Bootcamp - Sweeping The City of Los Angeles" Salsa Lessons in Los Angeles The LearnSalsa Bootcamp is sweeping the Los Angeles County by surprise. Popular shows, "Dancing with the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance?," have helped the success of LearnSalsa.com to grow up to 100 students per Learn Salsa Bootcamp. Salsa Lessons in Los Angeles by LearnSalsa.com Beryll Los Angeles Berylls West Coast location in Santa Monica, is not only studio for the handcrafted Beryll collections but also showroom and appointment only flagship store as well as gallery of Beryll founder and designer Sigmar Bergs art work - www.beryll.com - Beryll the upscale accessory company recognized by discerning fashion connoisseurs for its superior quality, trend-setting designs, limited-edition sunglasses and unique handcrafted jewelry and leather collections made in USA Los Angeles Lawyers Learn How to Build Million Dollar Law Firms with Proven Rainmaker Marketing System - Los Angeles County Bar Association Members A The Rainmaker Retreat was held April 25-26, 2008 in downtown Los Angeles. During this two-day law firm marketing boot camp, Rainmaker CEO and best-selling author Stephen Fairley and Master Business Coach Travis Greenlee taught small and solo law firms proven, step-by-step strategies to build successful, seven-figure practices. It was presented by The Rainmaker Institute, LLC, the nation's largest law firm marketing company for small law firms and was sponsored by the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA).