Three Alternative Perspectives of What Constitutes a Shopping Cart
- The Entire Ecommerce Website Is a Shopping Cart
Some people refer to the entire ecommerce website as a shopping cart. That means the catalog, product descriptions, images, payment gateway, order form, and all features of an ecommerce website together constitute a shopping cart.
This view, however flawed, is quite popular as online storefront providers are often referred to as "shopping cart providers."
- The Shopping Cart Includes All Software Functions Required to Capture Orders and Accept Payments Online
This is a more specific view of a shopping cart. It does not consider the ecommerce website to be part of the shopping cart. Notably, this view incorporates a payment gateway as part of a shopping cart. Therefore, the shopping cart includes functions such as authentication, credit card processing, invoice generation, and the like.
- The Shopping Cart Is Only an Order Capturing Software
In my opinion, this is the most precise definition of a shopping cart. When you read the term "add to cart," it implies that the online shopping cart is akin to the shopping cart in a physical retail outlet.
In the case of online shopping, the shopping cart is a little form that stores the details of all the products that you have marked for purchase. The shopping cart is not the payment gateway, though it interfaces with the payment gateway. Likewise, the shopping cart is not the product catalog, though it interfaces with the product catalog.
Functions of a Shopping Cart
- Storing the Customer's Order
As the shopper browses around the ecommerce website, she must have the option to add any item to the shopping cart. If the shopper is logged in, the shopping cart must retain the order list even if the shopper leaves the website.
- Capturing Contact Information
Upon checkout, the shopping cart should accept the customer's contact information that is required for fulfilling the order. If the customer is a registered customer, then the shopping cart should pull up this information from the database, and request the customer to verify it.
- Serial Numbering and Generating Codes
The shopping cart needs to generate order-identifying codes such as: order number, tracking number, invoice number, or something along those lines. This will help in bookkeeping as well as recollecting orders in the future.
- Computing the Order Value for the Customer
The equation to compute the order value is:
(The price of the purchased goods) plus (additional costs such as shipping, taxes, and gift-wrapping) minus (discounts and credits).
The shopping cart software should compute the order value and present it to the customer.
- Interface With the Payment Gateway
Once the final order is computed, the shopping cart should call the payment gateway into action. This is where payment is accepted.
Types of Ecommerce Shopping Cart Software
You can classify shopping carts along several parameters. The most useful classification is: hosted vs. licensed shopping carts.
Hosted shopping carts are provided as a service along with website hosting and other services offered by online storefront providers such as Yahoo! Stores and Shopify. Setting up a hosted shopping cart involves filling up a couple of forms. This makes it easy to set up. At the same time, it is far less customizable than a licensed solution -- leading to the complain of cookie cutter ecommerce sites.
Licensed shopping carts on the other hand offer are customizable to your heart's desire. Despite what sellers of licensed shopping carts say, they are much tougher to set up and maintain. Licensed carts also involve a higher upfront cost and can be prohibitive for small ecommerce businesses.
Conclusion
It is important to develop an understanding about the shopping cart, as the cart is an important piece of software for ecommerce businesses. However, the important issue relates to customer behavior. Only if you understand that will you increase your shopping cart conversion.
