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Online shopping cart software development has taken off in
recent years due to increased interest by small business individuals
who wish to market goods and services online. Online shopping
carts with various features and complexity are readily available
in many different formats. Selecting the best shopping cart
solution is one of the most important decisions that you will
make when setting up an online store. It may or may not be
a complex decision, depending upon your needs. We offer and
support several online shopping
cart solutions. For a free initial consultation regarding
your shopping cart needs, contact
us.
Individual Item Purchase Forms
A simple method to automate sales of products or services
online is with a form. A simple form on your website posts
your merchant ID, the amount of the sale, and a product description
to a secure payment form that is provided by a gateway service
such as AuthorizeNet.
Payment by credit card or electronic debit is processed from
the secure payment form. This eliminates the need for a secure
connection on your website. Notice of the sale along with
the customer's address is e-mailed automatically to the merchant.
A major limitation of this type of system is that it lacks
a method to handle multiple items, shipping calculations,
or state sales tax.
Shopping Carts
There are essentially three ways to build a shopping cart
with hundreds of variations.
Javascript
Cart - An "add to cart" form, containing
Javascript, is inserted near each product within your web
pages. When an "add to cart" (submit) button is
clicked, one quantity of the product is added to the contents
of a shopping cart cookie file, which resides on the shopper's
computer. Other Javascripts, which process shipping charges
and tax, reside either in the header of your product pages
or in other Javascript pages.
Advantages - Most of the script processing is done on
the client side, so they are very fast. A Javascript cart
can be added to existing custom pages. Because the product
pages are static HTML pages, they can be crawled by all of
the search engines. A database and server script support is
not required, therefore hosting costs can be kept low.
Disadvantages - Installation of the Javascripts requires
webmastering skills. The scripts can be tricky even for those
with HTML experience. It is possible for browsers to have
Javascript features turned off or not installed. For instance,
the AOL browser requires a plug-in to be installed before
Javascript will be processed. The client must have cookies
enabled.
Server-Side Scripts With Static Pages
- If search engine placement is a priority and you need an
easy way to manage the content of your shopping cart through
a browser, this is a good alternative. As the name implies,
server-side scripts reside in files on the server. HTML for
static product pages is dynamically generated by the script
from the database contents and stored on the server. When
a product page is called from an HTML page in the shopper's
browser, the script constructs (parses) an HTML page containing
the product information and sends it to the browser. Shopping
cart contents are usually kept in a cookie on the clients
computer, but sometimes are stored in the database.
Advantages - This type of shopping cart is usually
easy to manage through a browser. Since the scripts reside
on the server, all the browser sees are the HTML pages that
the scripts generate making it compatible with all browsers
and computers. The static product information pages can be
crawled by all of the search engines.
Disadvantages - Static product pages and the scripts
to process them can take up a lot of server storage space.
They tend to be slow because the pages must be parsed and
information is passed over the Internet in order to add to
the cart or check out. Customization of web pages is limited.
The client must have cookies enabled. The server must support
the script language.
Server-Side
Scripts With A Database - This type of shopping cart
system is currently the most commonly available and usually
the most user friendly. Server-side scripts process product
information, which is stored in a database. The scripts parse
database information to dynamically generate HTML pages, which
are sent to the browser.
Advantages - This type of system is usually easy to
manage through a browser. Since the only thing that the browser
sees is HTML, it is compatible with all browsers and computers.
Information storage in a database is very efficient and easy
to process. All of the information is secure within the database
on the server.
Disadvantages - Currently, only a couple search engines
can crawl the product information in pages that are dynamically
generated from database information. (There are some database
driven shopping carts, such as the Agora
Shopping Cart, than optionally write the product data
to static HTML pages.) The server must support the script
language and have a database available, which increases hosting
costs. Cookies may need to be enabled on the client's computer.
To further complicate your choice of shopping carts, there
are numerous combinations of the above cart types. Some shopping
carts have more sophisticated methods of calculating shipping
or sales tax. Some shopping carts are easier to use or more
efficient than others. Some have limitations on the number
of product items that can be entered. Some are offered as
a software that you install and maintain. Others are offered
as an online service that you link to from your website. There
are literally hundreds of different shopping cart solutions
available.
We have spent considerable time sorting through the different
shopping cart solutions and can help you to choose the right
one. For a free initial consultation, contact
us .
Here are some other factors to consider.
First decide upon the features that are absolutely necessary
for the type of product that you will be selling.
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