No internet store is complete without a shopping cart. You’ll need one so that your customers can make purchases and payments. Until you are able to take coding classes and learn to build one of your own, you need to use a software platform. There are some great ones to choose from, with all of the tools you’ll need to run a web store.
Here’s a look at some of the most popular ones:
Volusion – Volusion has competitive pricing and has no transaction or setup fees associated with it. It not only offers a shopping cart, but many other features, such as Amazon and Ebay integration and website templates as well. A 24/7 support team is always available to answer questions and offer assistance. For Premium Plans, there are personal Account Managers.With the shopping cart, you’ll be able to accept all major credit cards as well as Google Wallet and PayPal. The downside to Volusion is that it has bandwidth limitations.
3DCart – 3DCart claims to be “the all-in-one e-commerce solution”, as it provides support for both physical products and digital products. It has partnerships with over 200 business service providers including tax calculators and shipping carriers. Like other shopping cart providers, 3DCart comes with different monthly plans designed for different sized businesses. All plans include unlimited orders and 0% transaction fees. Unfortunately, this e-commerce software also has a bandwidth allotment.
GoDaddy – You’ve probably heard of GoDaddy. It’s only the most popular hosting provider. It also now offers shopping cart solutions and tools. This is a good choice if you are starting from scratch. The setup is pretty straightforward and simple, and there are some nice themes to choose from. You’re allowed to add up to ten photos of each item; the process simply involves pointing and clicking. One of the cons of GoDaddy is that it charges a fee for every transaction.
Shopify and Shopify Plus – The latter is ideal for enterprises. Unless you already have a large store with a high volume of orders, you won’t need the Plus account. All Shopify members can expect easy integration with every major carrier for fast shipping and tracking for orders. The only fees you would have to worry about are those involving the Shopify card reader with Shopify Payments.
BigCommerce – This solution offers some nice built-in functionalities, such as the ability to implemented Product Feed and Google Trusted Stores, but there is no room for modification. If you’re not a programmer then this might not be a big deal. One area where BigCommerce really stands out is blog integration. If you want to run a blog in addition to your store and shopping cart, this is a great choice for you.
Magento Store Manager – This is the open source shopping cart solution for those who would prefer to do some editing on their own. If you already have some HTML knowledge, or plan to take online lessons through www.austincodingacademy.com, it might be the best option for you. There is more freedom with Magento since you’re not limited to pre-made templates. Unlike the other shopping carts, there is no monthly membership fee, only a one time purchase for the software and tools.
As Huffington Post puts it, choosing the right shopping cart “can be pretty challenging”, with the wide variety of software. It’s important to carefully consider your needs and to look over all of the options to determine which software offers exactly what you need.
