Shopping Cart Solutions Key Terms

Some key terms for online shopping cart solutions for Ecommerce
By J. Stoltzfus, writer/programmer LOCAL CITIZEN As more businesses do their selling online, "shopping cart solutions" have become popular ways to reach out to customers. Companies with an online presence use shopping cart solutions to help visitors browse products and select and buy items. Knowing about some of the key terms for ways that businesses set up shopping cart systems can help an Ecommerce beginner figure out the best way the company can get and retain customers over the web.
 

Payment gateways and merchant accounts

As pointed out by ecommerce experts, shopping cart solutions are not usually fully integrated models for transaction processing. Instead, a shopping cart solution tends to be a user interface, with the actual transactions being routed to what many call a "payment gateway."
Try: Find out more about the interaction between standard shopping carts and payment gateway, or merchant account, options at Taming the Beast: "Web marketing and ecommerce tools, tips, and resources."

Shopping cart functionality

Shopping cart functionality means a cart with built-in software features can do different things for customers. "Add to cart" functionality, for example, means customers can easily add items to their own shopping carts online. "Save for later" functionality means customers can come back to the online site and follow through with their prior actions.
Try: Find out more about shopping cart functionality at Practical ECommerce.

ISP

When it comes to setting up a business shopping cart system online, an ISP, or Internet Service Provider, can be a handy helper. A business with a need for more Ecommerce installations can talk to the ISP about developing a customized solution.
Try: Get tips on using ISPs for Ecommerce setups at WebSiteTips.com.

Cookies

Cookies-small electronic files that reside on the computer-are popular for getting and keeping customer data on Internet shopping cart sites. A cookie is any bit of data that is stored on a computer to provide information on a visitor.
Try: A set of tutorials by Joe Burns on HTMLGoodies will help readers figure out the connection between shopping carts and cookies. Read the shopping cart page first, then click through for a cookie tutorial.

Conversion

This handy term is useful for talking about how many regular visitors actually buy something from a site. Tracking conversion is often a necessary way to do return-on-investment research.
Try: Find out more about conversion and how to attain it at Practical ECommerce.

URL

The URL, also known as a web address, is the location of your shopping cart. Getting a customized URL is often one of the first steps in putting together a shopping cart Ecommerce site. Managers can buy or rent specialized web addresses otherwise known as "domain names" from big holders, such as Yahoo.
Try: Find out more about the URL and other shopping cart startup details at GoEMerchant.