When you opened your own business, little did you know that not only would you have a brick and mortar storefront, but a digital one, too.
With today's advanced web site design and management capabilities, retail-oriented applications like web site shopping carts, checkout counters and "storefront" pages, customers can buy your products online just as easily as they could by walking through your door.
If you don't have storefront capabilities on your web site, you're missing out. If you do, you have a big advantage over your competitors who don't.
Shopping Carts Explained
Most components of a business web site are defined by style; by look and feel. Not your shopping cart component - - that's defined by its functionality.
In the e-commerce world, functionality trumps glitzy graphics and bold palettes every time. Thus the best storefront web designs are glam-free and are built with service and simplicity in mind.
The idea behind web site shopping carts is straightforward: to acquire a customer's payment information, accurately, securely and with simplicity. The shopping cart component is usually built-in via the HTML code, installed right in on the server where your web site is hosted. Some shopping carts are designed to be installed and maintained on a "secure" server to handle sensitive customer data. E-shopping carts are typically designed using HTTP cookies or query strings and are stored on servers that can be accessed on a moment's notice (i.e. when the order is generated by the customer).
Shopping cart packages come in two primary varieties: download-and install software or software that is leased from a web hosting company that will maintain your shopping cart in return for a monthly or annual fee. Web hosting companies will not only design and manage your shopping cart software, they will update the site for security measures and add new wrinkles as new technologies become available (for example, your shopping cart site may be advanced with an audio component that walks technology-challenged customers through the checkout process). Prominent shopping cart site providers include Nexternal Solutions, 3dcart, Volusion, Monstercommerce and 1ShoppingCart.
King of the Jungle
Perhaps the most famous shopping cart page is from Amazon.com. There, developers have built the blueprint for the ultimate shopping cart page. It has easy-to-use click-through icons on every page, no matter where you are on the Amazon site. When you select a book or a DVD, for example, you simply click on the "Proceed to Checkout" (or the "Continue Shopping" icon if you want to keep going) and pay your bill by debit or credit card. Amazon's shopping cart has some amazing features that other business web sites raced to copy. It's designed to not only remember your contact information and credit card number, but also has an intuitive customer relationship management (CRM) component that knows the kinds of books and DVD's you like, offering suggestions for similar products
that you might want to buy.
The site also offers a "gifting" component, where you can buy a book and send it to a friend as a birthday gift, instead of having it sent to your home. Perhaps the best aspect of the Amazon shopping cart software is its low-key, flash-free design. The shopping cart doesn't bombard you with audio pitches or visual gimmicks. Instead, it resides almost in the background, readily available when you decide you need to check out and order and pay for your item.
What to Look For
When shopping for storefront software, functionality, security, and dependability are the primary considerations. Customers will move onto your competition if they feel their financial data is exposed, if they have trouble using the site, or the site doesn't work. Flexibility is key, too. You want to be able to add new features as your site (and your business) grows dynamically. You'll want an easy-to-use back end to process and manage orders and handle customer inquiries. Obviously, secure and accurate credit and debit card functions are critical, as are site sections for cross-promotion and marketing capabilities.
Here are some other key feature's you'll likely need.
No Limits – Look for shopping car software that let's your storefront grow with your business. Specifically, opt for a software package that doesn't limit how many products you can sell. A good shopping cart design should accommodate future products you'll be selling – in
addition to the ones you are selling now.
Add-ons – Brick and mortar stores offer customers beneficial add-ons like coupons and warranties to go with their products. Make sure your shopping cart software offers the same thing.
Front of the Store Displays – Imagine you're at Borders and you walk in the store to see a favorite author's book prominently displayed right by the entrance. Your web site should also have a "front door" display function to highlight and advertise top-selling products on the home page of your web site. Good web storefront software not only offers home page product placement and advertising, it should also include a box inside the ad so consumers can click and buy the product.
Track Sales and Manage Inventory – The best shopping cart site designs include an accounting feature that allows you to tracks sales and replace items sold in your inventory. Consequently, your web site should have the ability to note a sale, send a message to your
database, and automatically have the product replaced by a similar one so you won't run out of inventory.
Think Volume – Your best customers are the ones that buy in bulk. Accommodate them by including a volume pricing mechanism where the product's unit price can be changed (usually reduced) automatically for busy buyers.
SEO Marketing – Shopping cart software packages should have a feature that enables your product or service to climb up the major search engine lists. The ones that do that best have HTML file pages that generate keywords, Meta Tags, and search engine optimization (SEO) text placement.
Tell a Friend – Add a feature on your shopping cart page that enables users to "tell a friend" about one of your products or services.
Allow for Feedback – Amazon.com has a great feature that allows customers to rate the products a customer is considering buying through a feedback function. Encouraging customers to write reviews and place comments is good for business (it gives other customers confidence that your product is worth the investment, since other people use it and like it). Manage the review/feedback function so that negative reviews and "flame" emails don't poison your web site.
Gift Certificates – Your shopping cart software should allow customers to buy online gift certificates from your company. Your software should also offer customers a gift-wrapping option. It's a great marketing tool and customers will appreciate the convenience.
Should You Hire a Designer?
Shopping cart software design is a unique craft and most small business owners don't have the expertise and capability of designing such software on their own. In all honesty, unless you have deep knowledge of HTML code and web software, taking the do-it-yourself option isn't recommended, especially for something as critical as your web site's online payment system.
That's why hiring a web designer may be a good option. Your designer should be able to not only design your shopping cart software, but also design the software in such a way that it's pleasing to the eye, easy to use, and offers most or all of the feature detailed above. If you hire a designer, have them create a mock-up system first, so you can test drive your shopping cart before your customer does. The entire design process, along with your test run, shouldn't take more than a month, but make sure not to rush the process. You'll need some time to iron out wrinkles and test myriad features that accompany the shopping cart software.
Pricing for web site shopping cart software depends on how many features you want for your site. A basic shopping cart design can cost as low as $350 to $1,000. But a shopping cart program with full graphics, loads of bells and whistles, and good SEO features can cost up to $5,000.
Make sure that your web design firm not only builds your site but manages it as well (especially during the first key months of operation). You might have to pay more, but you'll have the peace of mind knowing your web site's storefront is in steady hands. In general, shop for a shopping cart designer like you would a new car. Check out as many designers as you can, kick some tires, and talk to as many people as possible. Ask a web designer for references and check them out. If a designer ignores or denies your request for references, that's a red flag.
Above all, keep your customer in mind first when shopping for a shopping cart web site component. Think convenience, security and functionality and you'll be way ahead.