Border7 Studios

When searching for a Shopping Cart solution, there are six questions one should always ask.

1. Do they support my Merchant Account/Gateway? If you’re a brick and mortar store, you already have a Merchant Account to process your credit card transactions. Generally they will have a Gateway that you can utilize when you decide to take your store online. In E-Commerce, shopping carts have to develop specific integrations with the various gateways. Its best to know if a cart is already integrated with your Merchant  Gateway & Account; then finding out later that you will need to use one of their supported Merchant Gateways & Accounts and pay extra for having two of the same thing.
2. Can they handle the options/attribute sets that my products have? Every store has a unique situation. When selling tee shirts, you may have different SKUs for the same product that has different options. You should always ask how the cart handles this, if it can handle it, and if it adds to the bottom line. Or, you have a furniture company that not only needs the different SKUs, but you also need to modify the pricing based on the options selected. Not all carts are made to handle these configurations, you do not want to be stuck with a shopping cart that is unable to handle your products.
3. Does it integrate with my Shipping Carrier of choice? If you already utilize UPS and sign up for an e-commerce solution that only supports FedEx, what does that do for you? Are you going to sign for FedEx and pay for two shipping accounts? One that you’re not even allowed to use? Or, what if they don’t calculate live rates at all? Are you going to charge the same shipping price for all locations and lose money because of it?
4. Does the cart allow for a custom design? Most carts come with a default template, but its default; meaning everyone else has it too. In E-commerce, design is a factor in where people shop. If you look like every other store, what sets you apart? Some carts come with a few standard templates as well, but that just means fewer stores will have the same exact template as you. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if someone noticed?
5. What features are available in regards to Promotion? Coupons? Discounts? Buy 1 get 1 free? etc? Part of every business model is some sort of marketing scheme. Standards include coupons and discounts and get progressively more diverse from the “Buy 1, Get 1 free,” “Free Shipping over $99,” or Price Brackets based on quantity ordered. Make sure the E-Commerce solution allows for a variety of these, and always check that it will work before running an advertising campaign.
6. Is there technical support available? Does it come at an additional cost? E-Commerce generally has a high learning curve, and setting up a store is not the most fun thing on a business owner’s to-do list. A shopping cart that has technical support is always a perk. When something breaks or doesn’t work according to the manual, you want to ensure there is someone to explain why. Some carts come with technical support as part of the price, and others have additional fees, this is also something to keep in mind.