Online Shopping Cart Software: How to Choose the Best

Behind the scenes of every successful online store is a crucial tool: online shopping cart software. This software is the backbone of eCommerce, enabling customers to select products, add them to a virtual cart technology, and complete their purchases.

With so many options available, how do you choose the best solution for your business, especially if you run a high risk classified business? Let’s cut to the chase and go over the options.

What Is Online Shopping Cart Software?

Online shopping cart software is the technology that makes online buying and selling possible. This tool handles everything from product selection to the final checkout process.

Key Features to Look for in eCommerce Shopping Cart Software

First of all, when looking at different online shopping cart software options, you’ll want to consider a few important features: 

• User-friendly interfaces: Makes it easy for customers to shop, reducing frustration and abandoned carts.
• Product catalog management: Helps you organize and update your products efficiently, saving time and reducing errors.
• Secure payment processing: Protects your customers’ financial information, building trust and preventing fraud.
• Order management: Keeps track of sales and inventory, ensuring smooth fulfillment and happy customers.
• Customer account creation: Allows repeat customers to save information and shop faster, encouraging loyalty.
• Mobile responsiveness: Ensures your store works well on smartphones and tablets, reaching more customers.
• Integration with other business tools: Connects your shopping cart with other software (like accounting or email marketing), streamlining your operations.
• Analytics and reporting: Provides insights into your sales and customer behavior, helping you make smart business decisions.

If you already have all these features in place, you shouldn’t have a problem creating a smooth shopping experience for your customers and efficiently managing your business.

Types of Electronic Shopping Cart Software

In general, there are two main types of shopping cart software:

1. Hosted solutions: These are managed by a third-party company, for instance, Shopify, BigCommerce, Wix or Squarespace. Such platforms are often easier to set up but may offer less customization. For high-risk businesses, this means less hassle tech-wise and more time focusing on compliance and security issues. However, the limited customization can be a drawback especially if you need special risk management options or unique payment processing.
2. Self-hosted solutions: They run on your own web server, offering more control and customization, but require more technical know-how. Examples include WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart. Here, you need to implement specific security measures, integrate with specialized high-risk payment processors, or add custom features to manage the unique challenges of your industry.

Main Online Shopping Cart Software Options

When choosing the best shopping cart software for your business, consider these factors, as no single solution can fit the needs of every business:

1. Your business size and type
2. Your budget
3. Your technical skills
4. Growth potential
5. Integration needs with other tools you use

Hosted Solutions:

• Shopify: Shopify is an easy-to-use online store platform. It has built-in payment processing and lots of apps to add features. It’s good for all sizes of businesses. But, it can get expensive with extras, and there are charges unless you use their payment system. 
• BigCommerce: This is a strong platform that can grow with your business. It has many built-in features and doesn’t charge extra for payments. It’s great for multiple channels and for search engine optimization. However, it can be harder to learn than some other platforms, and its designs can be expensive.
• Wix eCommerce: Wix eCommerce lets you build a website and online store easily. It’s best for small businesses and beginners. Wix includes everything you need to start selling online. However, it might not have enough advanced features for bigger businesses, what’s more, you can’t change your design easily once you’ve chosen it.
• Squarespace: Squarespace is known for beautiful designs and is a good choice for creative businesses. It includes tools for blogging and marketing. While it looks great, Squarespace has fewer payment options and add-ons than other platforms. It can also become pricey when adding advanced store features.

Self-hosted Solutions:

• WooCommerce: This is a free add-on for WordPress websites. It’s very flexible and has remarkable support thanks to its large community of users.. It’s great if you already use WordPress. You can add many features with plugins. But, you do need to pay for hosting and security separately. As your store grows, it might become too complicated to manage.
• Magento: Magento is a powerful platform for large businesses. It can handle lots of products and multiple stores. However, Magento is hard to learn and often needs expert help to set up and maintain. This can make it somewhat expensive for smaller businesses.
• OpenCart: OpenCart is a free, fast option that’s good for businesses on a tight budget. It’s fairly easy to set up and has a simple control panel. But, it has fewer built-in features than other platforms. You might need to buy add-ons for some important functions. It also has a smaller community for support.
• PrestaShop: PrestaShop balances features and ease of use. It’s popular in Europe and works well with multiple languages and currencies. It has a good selection of themes and add-ons. However, you often need to buy extra features, which can add up. Some users find it hard to use cheap hosting, and its control panel can be confusing.

Online Shopping Cart Software for High Risk Businesses

Some businesses are considered “high risk” by payment processors due to higher chances of chargebacks or fraud. These might include:

• Online gambling sites
• Adult entertainment businesses
• Subscription services
• Travel agencies, and more. 

For these businesses, finding the right online shopping cart software can be challenging as they need :

• Advanced fraud protection
• Chargeback prevention tools
• Integration with high-risk payment processors

Some extra options that work well for high-risk businesses include:

• X-Cart: X-Cart is a flexible eCommerce platform that works well for the high-risk sector. It’s self-hosted and offers strong security features. It can also be customizable to fit the specific needs of each industry. X-Cart supports many payment gateways, including those for high-risk merchants. However, it may require good technical skills to set up and maintain compared to simpler platforms.
• Shift4Shop: Shift4Shop, formerly known as 3dcart, is a hosted eCommerce platform. It offers built-in features for fraud protection and supports many high risk payment processors. Shift4Shop is easier to use than some self-hosted options, making it a good choice for those who want to balance features and simplicity. However, some advanced customizations might be limited compared to self-hosted platforms.
• Magento (with specific high-risk extensions): By adding specific extensions, you can enhance its security and integration with high-risk payment processors. 

These platforms offer extra security and flexibility, allowing for custom risk management, special payment systems, and compliance with rules. 

Electronic Transfer Inc.: Boosting Your Online Store

Electronic Transfer Inc. offers advanced credit card processing integration specifically designed to enhance your shopping cart solution. It improves your store in several ways

1. Quicker checkouts: Speeds up the payment process, so fewer customers leave without buying.
2. Better security: Keeps customer information safe thanks to strong safety measures.
3. More ways to pay:  Customers can use different forms of payment.
4. Easy to add: Works well with most online store software.

Wrap Up 

Choosing the right online shopping cart software is crucial to the success of your eCommerce business. Before anything, think about what you need, how much you can spend, and your tech skills. The best option isn’t always the priciest or the one with the most features. It’s the one that works best for your business and helps your customers shop easily.

Adding Electronic Transfer to your online store improves more than just payments. It makes shopping simpler and safer for customers. This can boost your sales, encourage customer loyalty, and, more importantly, help your business grow. Need more guidance through this process? Contact us today and our experts will work with you to understand your unique needs and find a setup that helps your online store.