What is a Shopping Cart ?
A shopping cart is a software application used to facilitate shopping on the Internet. It allows shoppers to select and store items for purchase.
Customers can then proceed to checkout, where they will enter their shipping information and payment information. Once the order is complete, the shopping cart will generate an invoice and send it to the customer's email address.
E-commerce shopping cart examples
An awesome example of a shopping cart can be seen in the following scenario: Imagine a super-friendly customer visiting an online store, selecting multiple items, and happily adding them to their virtual shopping cart.
The virtual shopping cart serves as a temporary storage space for selected items until the customer is ready to proceed to the checkout process.
Customers are able to review and modify their selected items before finalizing their purchase. This includes the ability to change quantities or remove items.
The shopping cart is a convenient tool that enhances the overall online shopping experience by providing flexibility and control to customers.
Why shopping carts are important?
The shopping cart has its own importance in the shopping process. A most common benefit of a shopping cart is to enable buyers to select products and then make a payment. Other importance that is often part of a shopping cart include:
- A front end of the online store, i.e. the homepage, product pages, category pages, and search pages that customers use while shopping.
- browse and select products to buy
- Inventory management tools
- Order management tools
- delivery option tools
- sales tax, and accounting tools
- Marketing and promotional tools
- Third-party integrations
In reality, shopping carts' advantages vary from provider to provider. For example, in an online payment system (Like PayPal)the shopping cart has very limited features while Shopify and shopee are packed with advantages.
How to reduce cart abandonment and increase sales
A shopping cart is a vital tool for online retailers, as it allows them to streamline the shopping process and make it more convenient for customers. Additionally, it helps to prevent shopping cart abandonment, as customers are less likely to abandon their carts if they can easily access them and view their contents.
Types of shopping cart in eCommerce
Every online seller must have a shopping cart functionality in their stores to be able to sell products to buyers. There are two types of shopping carts – hosted and self-hosted shopping carts.
1. Hosted shopping carts
Hosted shopping carts are an easy solution managed by the company that created them. Simply, what you need to do to set up your online store is to sign up with your chosen host and you’re ready to go.
You can use one of the pre-made templates to set up a completely new e-commerce website or simply add purchase buttons to your existing store and start selling immediately. The most popular hosted shopping cart is Shopify and it is easy to set up with konigles tactics.
2. Self-hosted shopping carts
Self-hosted shopping carts are fully customizable shopping solutions that you host on your own server. This simply means that you created or download the software and run it yourself.
You will get more flexibility with this, but it requires more technical expertise including development and server management skills.
What shopping cart options are available?
When it comes to shopping cart options, you have several choices to consider. These options offer different features and functionalities to meet your specific business needs. Let's take a closer look at some of the available shopping cart options.
Option 1: Simple Shopping Cart
This shopping cart option provides a simple and intuitive interface. It enables customers to effortlessly add products to their cart, view their selected items, and smoothly proceed to the checkout process.
Option 2: Advanced Shopping Cart
For businesses that require more advanced features, there is an option to use an advanced shopping cart. This option offers additional functionalities, including inventory management, order tracking, and customer analytics. It is recommended for businesses with larger product catalogs and complex sales processes.
Option 3: Integrated Shopping Cart
Some businesses may choose to integrate their shopping cart with other systems, such as their inventory management or customer relationship management (CRM) software. This option allows for a smooth flow of data between different systems, making operations more efficient and streamlined.