ecommerce web design

Shopping carts

After years of inferior shopping carts limiting web developer to deliver effective ecommerce (at a effective cost), lately several very slick shopping cart shave arrived.

Most shoppingcarts run on their own server (they want control as so many little thins can go wrong) which was horrible for SEO years ago. It seems now this is a fair mix of functionality and a slight compromise in SEO.

Shopify

Shopify is a shopingcart (software) using Liquify code to pretty effective intergate collections/ products in a slick looking shoppingcart. You have to tweak several areas to achieve effective SEO however. The functionality of searching the web site by color, size or price is very nice. Being able to put product pretty easy in several categories is very functional: for example have a SALE section or NEW section.

An example of a very succesful ecommerce store using Shopify: www.tiedeals.com

What do you need to sell online:

Domain Name :
Domain registrars offer this service for $9 - $35 a year.

Web Hosting:
Have you web site online 24-7, a web hosting company also will trouble shoot technical issues.

Ecommerce Web Site:
A web site were people can buy - add-to-cart - products and check out over a secure connection. A merchant is needed to process the received funds.

Simple shopping cart like Paypal or Ultracart can be added to an exciting web site. You copy some code were you want the "add to cart" button and in the control panel you can fine tune the settings.

Professional web sites need nowadays to have a very effective shopping cart with a lot of features to showcase products and marketing tools to promote the business. Shopping cart companies charge often per month or year. Expect to pay from $50 - $600 a month depending on complexity and level of customer support.

Checklist:

• Domain Name Registration
  Can be done also at most web hosting companies
• Web Hosting
  Why not host the web site at company that support your shoppingcart
• Shopping Cart Software
  Any programming skills needed? Is there support?
• Merchant
  Company whom will porcess creditcard payments received through your web site. Note: a merchant processes credit card they do not guarantee the payment comes through however.
• Web Site Design
  HTML/ Dreamweaver and sometimes PHP skills very usefull. Design skills and/or use of Photoshop (Elements) comes in handy.

Shopping Carts Good and Bad

Assumptions:

• Some level of computer and HTML skills are needed
• Spending $500+ a month on a shopping cart (including product page creation etc.) is reasonable when you want to have a professional web site making real money

Reviews carts
Each shopping cart is used in real world situations for several days up to several years.

Shopify Shopping cart www.shopify.com

Paypal Shopping cart www.paypal.com
Use basic HTML to accept credit card, bank account, and PayPal payments. Easy to set up. Good solution for start-ups. No monthly payment, start paying when you sell, only. No options for grown businesses, very limited, Paypal branding horrible, which creates confusion.

Pinnacle Cart www.pinnaclecart.com
Basic tools to set up shopping cart are reasonable, but even basic adjustment to look and feel create frustration and are not top-notch. support is limited. Not suggested when you want to stand out online.

Ultracart Shopping cart - www.ultracart.com
Simple, Add to Cart buttons can be added to HTML pages, limited features, lacks some important options.
UltraCart integrates with your entire ecommerce business, including shopping cart, payment processing, marketing & affiliate management, shipping systems, product fulfillment, and accounting systems.

Competition can increase significantly within weeks!

Easy way to make money!? Yes and No!
It's like every job: people how have better skills and work harder will be successful other people will not be successful.