Ecommerce Hosted Shopping Cart That Let You Host On Your Server

Before we talk of Ecommerce hosted shopping cart, imagine shopping at Walmart. You pick a shopping cart and start walking around the shelves, placing items that you wish to take home in the cart. Then, you arrive at the cash counter and pay the bill. You empty the items from the cart into your vehicle.

Basic informatio

In an ecommerce website application, a shopping cart is similar to the one you imagined in Walmart. But, in real world, the cart is a metal item only. In virtual world, the cart includes the store shelves, discount tags, online store builder, cash counter, and, many times, the card-swiping machine too. It's almost an entire online store.

Common shopping cart software is a kind of content management system. It stores product information and displays it to the website visitors; it serves as the platform for cross-selling and on-site merchandising; it offers administration portal for product order, catalog, and customer management; it transfers transactional details to a payment gateway; it may also start processing orders automatically.

More on ecommerce hosted shopping cart

Almost all shopping carts possess a license and are hosted on a web server, which can be located in another country or in your own office. But, there are two ways a merchant can pay for using the online store software.

One is a "licensed" model where you pay a license fee (only once) and the software becomes yours. You can put the model on any web server and can alter or customize the software according to your business needs.

Another is a "hosted" model where you don't really possess the ecommerce software, but use it as a service. You pay a monthly fee to use the software from the service provider. You can neither choose the location or configuration of the software, nor can you alter or customize it.

You can also get "free" licensed shopping carts. Here too, you first need to own the software or rent a server. The model of ecommerce website solution is free.

The right ecommerce hosted shopping cart for you

• Watch out for the price. It should be in proportion to your sales. Certain reputable cart providers offer models at reasonable rates. They also offer features like unlimited email support and updates for a year or so, lifetime license for a single domain, and even round-the-clock phone support for a month or so.
• Have a glimpse of other website using php shopping cart. If you like these online stores, chances are high that they are using shopping carts from reputable providers.
• Evaluate the administration panel. It should be easy to use and efficient. Moreover, you must know how to use it.

If you are planning to build an online store and sell the best items to customers, choose a smoothly functioning ecommerce hosted shopping cart. It affects your online reputation too. Customers notice your cart and easiness of its use. If they like it instantly, they wouldn't think twice to order from you.