Setting up an eCommerce business is easier than ever these days with a wealth of economical online services to speed your products to market. The key to a successful web store is a strong shopping cart that is easy to navigate, incorporates customer security, and accepts credit cards online.
Here is a step-by-step guide to setting up a shopping cart on your website to ensure your customers’ experiences lead to sales for your business.
Strategy
Perhaps the number one reason for eCommerce business failure is a lack of strategy. If you don’t think through a plan for your business, you cannot make simple decisions later in the sales process. All decisions should be driven by a guiding strategy to move you toward your business goals.
First you need to define your product or service. Most products can’t be “all things to all people.” To have a successful shopping cart, you need to understand your product.
First, answer these questions:
- Who is going to want to buy this product?
- How is this product different from what’s on the market now?
- What are these targeted customers willing to pay for this product?
- What’s important to this customer group?
- How do they feel about costs, safety, image, style, etc.?
Now that you have the answers to how you’re going to approach online sales of your products, you can design your shopping cart.
Hosting Integration
First check which shopping carts are supported by your website hosting company. It makes life a lot easier if integration has already been optimized and you don’t have to do it from scratch. The list of supported programs is usually listed in your host’s sales documentation, but can be easily searched on their website.
Complete eCommerce Packages
If you’re new to programming and having limited experience with HTML or other code, a hosted solution is an easy way to get started in eCommerce. Customization is more limited, but the best packages offer so many options, the tradeoff is worth it.
In addition, you won’t have to worry about security yourself, as these packages are designed to provide the highest level of security available today. Plus, you’ll get technical support, which for those new to the language of online website design is important to save both time and money.
One of the most popular hosted eCommerce solutions is Shopify. Creating an online store is simple, and live chat and 24/7 contacts make this a great choice for new business owners. There are a range of plans to fit every business budget, and they offer a wide variety of themes to reflect any business strategy you choose.
1ShoppingCart goes beyond just purchase capabilities to include some marketing tools as well. You can choose some up-sell options to display as customers go to the shopping cart—for example, adding accessories on to the order. The program also has an email marketing component, which means you won’t need an additional service. This is a time saver for any business.
For Advanced Users: Scripts
Obviously, you’ll have far more control if you’re able to use custom scripts to create your shopping cart. However, buyers beware! You’ll be fully responsible for the security of your customers’ sensitive financial data, which is no small matter in a world of increased cyber-fraud. Plus, you really do need to feel comfortable with code. If you’re still interested in moving forward with custom-owned scripts, there are some good options available.
Given the popularity and ease of use of open-source WordPress, it was only a matter of time before a team of developers came out with an eCommerce solution specific to the platform. WordPress eShop integrates well with WordPress websites and blogs, and is easy to install. Documentation, as always, is plentiful, and user forums are a treasure trove of useful help.
Options if you don’t use the WordPress platform include ZenCart, Magento, and Interspire.
Set Up Online Payments
The next choice for your shopping cart is how to take online payments. Again, security is a big issue in this area. Using one of the new online merchant services providers is much easier than working through a bank’s credit card processing program.
Some, such as Intuit’s Merchant Services, will even link to your QuickBooks program for easy integration with bookkeeping.
Of course, millions of customers are used to using PayPal, which is a trusted partner as you start an eCommerce business.
Once these back-end decisions are made, the fun begins! You’re ready to create the look and feel of your shopping cart with pictures, captions, ad copy, and descriptions. Remember that this part is guided by the winning strategy you chose in the beginning, and you’ll be headed for eCommerce success!
Featured images:
License: Royalty Free or iStock
source: scottchan via FreeDigitalPhotos.net
License: Royalty Free or iStock source: winnond via FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Sarah Boisvert has set up a number of shopping carts for commercial businesses and non-profits. She writes about marketing, sales, and the importance of accepting credit cards online for companies such as Payments.Intuit.com.