Shopping Cart

A few things must be born in mind while developing a Shopping Cart.
• Make the Shopping Cart easy to find
• Provide clear ordering options
• Provide for the rich functionality of the shopping cart
• Make related items available from the Shopping Cart
• Provide for items to be saved for future purchase
• Give advanced notice of what the checkout process would involve
• Keep order forms simple
• Ensure secure transactions through the Shopping Cart

Shopping cart and checkout process
• If a user cannot find an item they cannot buy it. Rich searching and browsing functionalities are required in the Shopping Cart, which depend on the foundation of structural meta tagging at the level of individual products and services.
• Add items to the users Shopping Cart without taking them out of the shopping process
• Authentication in the Shopping Cart can provide for personal information such as address and credit card information to be saved and reused for future purposes. Authentication can also assist in maintaining state so that if a session is interrupted it can be picked up again where it was left off.
• Provide rich descriptive information of items in the Shopping Cart and make related items available. Review of items may include the quantity of each item, removing items from the Shopping Cart and indicating gift wrap preferences.
• Enter credit card information for the or choose from the information entered previously
• Providing a confirmation via email is a good technique for establishing trust with the user.

Shopping Cart: Make it easy to find
The primary goal of an ecommerce site is to connect users and products, it is fundamentally important for the users to start the ordering process once they have located the items they want in the Shopping Cart. There should also be multiple entry points into the shopping cart so that the users can see what is in their shopping cart and add additional items. For each of these items , users should be able to see at a glance:
• A description of the item in the Shopping Cart
• The option to remove or add an item into the shopping cart
• The option to add an item to a wish list in the Shopping Cart for future purchase
• The items current availability t

Provide clear ordering options
If you choose to provide more than one ordering option for your users in the Shopping Cart, the distinction should be clear

Provide rich functionality
There are a number of different capabilities that the Shopping Cart must provide. They include options to add items, remove items and to find out more information . A user should also be able to add items to the Shopping Cart without leaving the shopping process, or to easily return to the shopping in the site after adding an item to her Shopping Cart.
Navigation options for returning to Shopping Cart might be through the use of global navigation bar, by using the browser’s back button or by clicking on a link to return to shopping.

The Shopping Cart should include the option to easily modify the quantity desired of each item and to remove items from it.

Descriptive information should identify each item in the Shopping Cart and there should be a link from each item back to the detailed description for that item.

Make related items available
There are several methods that e-commerce sites can use in their Shopping Cart to provide their users with suggestions for related items. Firstly it can gather information about their users past purchasing trends. These trends can then be leveraged to suggest related items. This information can be used in the Shopping Cart to show users other items similar to those they have already added to their Shopping Cart

Save items for future purchase
Saving items on the Shopping Cart for a future date is a very useful feature when shopping on the web. This requires that you keep placing items in your shopping cart and make the purchase at a later date.

A site can temporarily save items in the Shopping Cart when the visitor leaves the site temporarily. This is particularly helpful in those case when the shopper leaves the Shopping Cart temporarily to compare the prices and features of similar items on the web.

A related feature is that sites are calling wish lists , gift registries. This type of feature also allows you to gather items together in the Shopping Cart for purchasing at a future date. Links should be provided to and from the Shopping Cart and the wish list so that users have the flexibility to purchase the items they find at the time they choose.

Provide Advance Notice
Many users never complete the checkout process after they have added items to their Shopping Cart. It has been found that 66% of all Shopping Carts are abandoned before a sale is completed. For example, one user may add items to a Shopping Cart and find out later that the shipping cost is more than she wanted to pay and decide not to purchase the items. Another user may have a question about an item he is considering purchasing.

In addition to keeping users informed about where they are in the ordering process provide them with up-front information they need to make their order in the Shopping Cart complete. Shipping costs must be given in the early part of the checkout process and in the Shopping Cart if possible. If there are multiple shipping options then provide the cost of each option in the Shopping Cart.

Checkout: Keep order forms simple
Order forms should be as simple as possible to help users complete them quickly and without confusion, but should have the necessary functionality to meet the user’s Shopping Cart needs. Eliminate all the fields that are not needed to complete the transaction or for other businesses.

The information architecture of the Shopping Cart and the checkout process should also keep in mind the international audience. If your site does not ship to international locations but a mirror site does then provide links to that site. If the items in the user’s Shopping Cart are available from the mirror site, let the user transfer the items in their Shopping Cart to one at the mirror site and help them choose from comparable products.

Ensure secure transactions
It should be made very clear that shopping with the site is safe. Providing order confirmations and through email is another way to enforce trust.

Top Ten Mistakes of Shopping Cart Design
1. Calling a Shopping Cart anything but a Shopping Cart. Calling a Shopping Cart anything other than a shopping cart only causes confusion. Users are accustomed to the cart terminology and while certain domains may find it ‘cute’ to use a term specific to their product line (i.e., bookbag, order, basket) it is best to maintain consistency and stick with the ‘cart.’ Adding a graphic of a Shopping Cart also helps quick access.
2. Requiring users to click a “BUY” button to add an item to the Shopping Cart. Adding Items to the shopping cart should be effortless and noncommittal. After all, the user is putting items into the Shopping Cart for possible future purchase. When users are required to click a BUY button to add an item to the Shopping Cart it is often unsettling since they are not necessarily ready to buy the item at this point – they just want to place it in the Shopping Cart. Buying is the final step in the shopping experience and it should not be presumed that adding an item to the Shopping Cart is a commitment to buy. Users in our studies are very hesitant to click the BUY button and search for an Add to Cart button on the page instead.
3. Giving little to no visual feedback that an item has been added to the cart. Some sites do not automatically take users to the Shopping Cart page when an item is added. This allows them to continue shopping without interruption. Generally, these sites have a shopping cart indicator somewhere on each page that updates and summarizes the cart content. A problem with this method, however, occurs when the visual feedback of the change to the cart’s content is too subtle or nonexistent, or is not in the users’ current browser view. In all cases, users do not believe anything has been added to the cart. As a result, they click on the Add to Cart button again and add the item a second time (and maybe again for a third time). Users end up having to go to the Shopping Cart page anyway just to see if the item has been added. Often times, they are surprised with multiple quantities of the same item.
4. Forcing the user to view the Shopping Cart every time an item is placed there. As long as there is adequate visual feedback of the Shopping Cart’s content, there is really no need to take the user to the Shopping Cart page every time an item is added. In fact, it is disruptive for multi-item shoppers, requires extra mouse clicks to continue shopping, and potentially limits how many items a person buys (they may be more inclined to checkout if they are already at the Shopping Cart page). Visual feedback is very important when adding an item to the Shopping Cart.
5. Asking the user to buy other related items before adding an item to the Shopping Cart. This is the online equivalent to “do you want fries with your order?” and is not only irritating to users but also disorienting. After clicking a button or link to add an item to the Shopping Cart, users are ready for some kind of feedback that the item has been added. Asking them to make a decision about other items makes them second-guess whether they actually pressed the correct button or link to add the desired item, or it aggravates them by soliciting items they do not want in the Shopping Cart A better approach is to place related items (i.e., batteries) on the item page or on the Shopping Cart page so they have the option to purchase them before checkout. Users are forced to accept or reject ‘related’ items before adding a desired item to the Shopping Cart.
6. Requiring a user to REGISTER before adding an item to the cart. Some sites require a user to register with personal information before an item can even be placed into the Shopping Cart! This is a turn-off to users who may be browsing or comparison-shopping. They may or may not purchase the items, but they definitely do not want to commit personal information just to fill the Shopping Cart and will leave the site because of it.
7. Requiring a user to change the quantity to zero to remove an item from the cart. Updating the shopping cart’s content can be tricky to program but should be seamless to the user. Many sites still require a user to enter ‘0’ in the quantity field and click an Update button or link to delete the item. Use of a Remove or Delete button next to an item is a far more intuitive way to achieve this.
8. Requiring written instructions to update the items in the cart. Requiring users to read instructions on how to update the Shopping Cart is, in itself, a sign of poor design. First of all, users do not read such instructions. Second, if instructions are required, then the Shopping Cart interface design must not be intuitive. Users should be able to figure out how to remove or change the number of items desired from viewing the Shopping Cart itself.
9. Requiring a user to scroll to find an Update shopping cart button. Most Shopping Carts offer an Update button or link to update changes made to the Shopping Cart (such as quantity). This function should be located such that it is always visible and clearly distinct from the rest of the Shopping Cart, regardless of the number of items in the cart.
10. Requiring a user to enter shipping, billing, and all personal information before knowing the final costs including shipping and tax. Shipping costs and taxes (if applicable) are a big factor in whether or not users complete their online orders. Users cannot access whether their purchase is truly a ‘deal’ or not until they have the final cost. Many sites require users to enter all shipping, billing, and credit card information before a final cost is provided. Access to shipping rates and tax from the Shopping Cart or item pages (before the user ventures down the purchasing path) is critical.

What is a Shopping Cart?

A Shopping Cart is a software application that typically runs on the computer where your Web site is located (the Web server), and allows your customers to do things such as searching for a product in your store catalog, adding a selected product to a basket, and placing an order for it.

The Shopping Cart "integrates" with the rest of your Web site. In other words, there are typically links on your Web pages that customers can click on, and which allow them to perform some of the functions described above through the Shopping Cart. For example, many ecommerce Web sites have a "search" link appearing on every Web page, as part of the navigation area. The link points to a feature (i.e. the search feature) provided by the Shopping Cart.

A Shopping Cart is written in a variety of different programming languages. Some of the Shopping Cart provide full access to the "source code", thus allowing experienced programmers to make modifications to the system features, some others don't. Some Shopping Cart run on Windows Web servers, some on Unix, others on both. In most cases, you can place the Shopping Cart on your Web server simply by transferring its files there using any FTP software, where FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.

For example, a Shopping Cart software can be a collection of ASP files that you place on a Windows 2000 or 2003 Web server, where ASP stands for Active Server Pages. Experienced ASP programmers can customize the Shopping Cart system as they wish as the source code is included.

How does a Shopping Cart work?
A Shopping Cart normally includes:

• a database that stores information such as product details, customer data, order information, etc.
• a storefront that displays this information to store visitors (e.g. product detail pages, search pages, checkout pages, etc.)
• a Shopping Cart administration area that allows you, the store administrator, to manage your store. For example, this is where you add products, set up shipping & payment options, process orders, etc.

Because most of the information is contained in a database, the Shopping Cart creates pages in "real time" when a customer visits an ecommerce store and requests a specific page. Unlike the HTML pages that likely make up most of your Web site, the Shopping Cart pages don't exist until a customer requests one. The page is dynamically generated by the Web server by retrieving data from the Shopping Cart database. So a store that has 4,000 products, does not actually store 4,000 product pages on the Web server. The pages are created instantly from the Shopping Cart when a customer visits the store and, for example, looks for a specific product.

All the Shopping Cart may use different technology, such as Perl, CGI, or Cold Fusion. The process remains the same. Information is retrieved from a database, and displayed to the customer within the graphical interface that the store administrator has created for the store. Different Shopping Cart offer store administrators different levels of flexibility in setting up how these pages will look .

Storefront vs. Administration

Most Shopping Cart include two components: the storefront, which is what your customers will see (the catalog, the search pages, the checkout pages, etc.), and the administration area, which is what you will use to manage the store. Although you find both components in virtually all Shopping Cart ecommerce applications available on the market, the features that each of them offers vary substantially.

A good Shopping Cart storefront should include at least the following features:

• A store catalog that is easy to browse and that presents product information is a way that is both useful and graphically pleasing.
• A search feature that allows customers to quickly locate a specific product from the Shopping Cart. The more filters are available on the search page, the better (e.g. price, part number, description, etc.)
• A customer service area where existing customers can change their account information, view previous orders in the Shopping Cart, etc. There should also be a way for customers to retrieve a lost password.
• Special pages where customers can easily find products that are on sale in Shopping Cart, featured products, products that belong to the same brand, etc.

A good administration in a Shopping Cart area should include at least the following features:
• A way to easily set general store settings such as the way products should be displayed (e.g. how many products will be shown on each catalog page), the currency and date format to be used, etc. from the Shopping Cart
• A module to create and manage product categories from Shopping Cart, and order the way in which they are displayed on the storefront.
• A module to create and manage products, and assign them to categories in the Shopping Cart. To improve productivity, there should be tools that allow you to change settings across multiple products at once.
• A way to assign options to products (e.g. color and size) in the Shopping Cart, with the ability to set price changes that are dependent on the selected option. To improve productivity of the Shopping Cart, there should be tools that allow you to assign the same options to multiple products at once.
• Flexible ways to set multiple shipping, and payment options.
• A module to manage orders effectively (pending, processed, shipped, returned, etc.) from the shopping cart.
Integrating the Shopping Cart with your Web site

Typically, you will be able to create HTML links that take a user for any HTML page that you may create for your Web site (e.g. the "about us" page), to a page generated dynamically by the Shopping Cart, which retrieves information in real time from the database that contains your store catalog and store settings. For example, the "About Us" page could contain a link to a page created by the Shopping Cart that shows products that are on sale in that particular month.

How easy it is to place such links into your HTML pages varies however from Shopping Cart application to application. Make sure to select Shopping Cart software that allows to do so quickly and easily.

As for the graphical interface used by the Shopping Cart to display the store page, some Softwares limit you to using pre-formatted templates. Stay away from that kind of Shopping Cart software. Choose a Shopping Cart that does not use templates, but rather allows you to use your own Web site design as the graphical interface for the store pages.

Choosing the right ecommerce software

• Shopping Cart features. There are many cheap shopping cart systems available on the market. Typically, you get what you pay for. Make sure to purchase a Shopping Cart that has all the features you will need to build a profitable online store. Once you build an ecommerce store using a specific Shopping Cart, it's difficult and time consuming to switch to a different application.
• When your store is active and accepting real orders your Shopping Cart will need to accommodate real life scenarios. For example: can you edit an order after it has been placed using the Shopping Cart. Can you authorize, but not capture funds during a credit card transaction? Does the shopping cart system automatically notify the customer at every step of the process? Many Shopping Cart have a weak order processing module.
• How easy will it be to manage your online store? Make sure that the Shopping Cart you end up choosing offers an intuitive administration area where you can manage every aspect of your store. Many low-cost Shopping Cart systems have very limited administration features, especially when it comes to updating multiple products at once.
• Integration with your Web site. The Shopping Cart portion of your Web site must seamlessly integrate with the rest of the pages. If it doesn't, the online store will not look professional, and customers will not buy. So make sure to choose an ecommerce application that allows you to easily merge the Shopping Cart with the rest of your Web site.
• Payment & shipping components. The payment and shipping components of any Shopping Cart are an integral part of the checkout process. Pay attention to the shipping options that the various Shopping Cart that you are reviewing offer, and the payment systems that they integrate with.
• Detailed documentation of Shopping Cart. This allows new users to get acquainted with the software much faster. Make sure that whatever shopping cart solution you end up choosing has good support documentation.
• Stay focused. Shopping Cart look similar, but they are not. Focus on the features that will be most important to you, then compare on those specific features the 3 or 4 Shopping Carts that look the best to you.