There are numerous third party-shopping cart applications your webmaster can add to your website and they range in quality, functionality and price. As you can imagine, a $10 a month shopping cart gets you exactly that… $10 worth of shopping cart. If you have the time to analyze pages of data, we invite you to visit this Wikipedia link which offers a comparison between known shopping cart platforms.

Of course, a custom shopping cart design just for your company can have all of the functions you need. Custom cart do not have limitations or, perhaps we should write that they are limited to the skill level of your programmer. They are by far the best option if your budget allows for it.

There are many factors to consider. Do you need any of the following?

– Integrated payment processing (full merchant account using Authorize.net for example)? Paypal?

– Photos or photo galleries (how dynamic do you want your photo gallery to be? Zoom in functions? How many photos? Etc)

– Videos? (uploaded on your server or embedded from YouTube or Vimeo?)

– How much textual description? Any PDF forms?

– How many category levels? Subcategories? Sub-subcategories? Etc…

– Integration to your inventory system?

– Integration to your accounting system?

– Integration to your shipping system?

– How do you ship? (Flat fee, variable fees based on the item, etc)

– Ability for your clients to review products they bought?

– Email marketing integrated into the cart?

– Client’s account to remember their prior order?

– Reward point system?

– Ability to sell gift cards?

– SEO integrated into the cart? (friendly URL, etc)

– And so forth…

The list of questions goes on. As you can see, there are many elements to consider prior to selecting the best shopping cart for your business. It depends on your needs but also on your goals and vision for your company. Our team can help you select the best suited and affordable eCommerce option for your unique situation.

Call us today at (707) 794-9999 (Pacific Standard Time).