Design and Shopping Cart Solutions for Ecommerce Web Site
A Home Business Article Contributed by Marsha Maung
The Simple Approach for the Design of an Ecommerce Web Site
A web site with a simple design is key to turning visitors into ecommerce customers. In saying 'simple', we mean simple in layout, simple in navigation, simple in loading, simple in buying, simple in paying, simple in browsing, well, simple in everything else! The simpler the web site is, the better and easier it is to sell ideas and products online. This is not an idea plucked out of thin air. In fact, many online marketers have long speculated and then confirmed this as a FACT! Ecommerce web sites will only survive if the design is simple, fast and easy to use!
Unfortunately, many ecommerce web sites don't survive past their first anniversary because of poor promotion and the complicated design that sends their potential ecommerce web site customers scurry for cover.
Design Done. Now the Shopping Cart for the Ecommerce Web Site
Ecommerce web sites, all of them, need a shopping cart. Those that don't use one will bomb. Designing a flashy web site with options to purchase products and services using EMAIL is simply not good enough anymore. Online buyers will no longer tolerate online purchasing using email because in their minds, ecommerce business owners are business people and business people should understand a thing or 2 about investment. And a reliable shopping cart IS an investment an ecommerce web site cannot do without.
Finding Shopping Cart Solutions
Many web hosting and web design companies offer shopping cart and online payment services for their clients. But expect to pay relatively hefty fees for those customized solutions. Some web site design companies offer their standard ecommerce solutions for lower fees. It would be worthwhile to check out both their standard and custom ecommerce solutions and compare the prices first.
If it is expensive, check out the type of services they offer in their package like customized shopping cart integration with payment processors and payment gateways, merchant programs, multiple options, integration with shipping and order options...etc. To ensure that you're paying a worthwhile price for the whole thing, it is best for you to ensure that someone is there to handle the maintenance and back-end processing of your shopping cart for you.
Free Shopping Carts to Complete the Ecommerce Web Site Design Process
Some smaller companies, like home based businesses, look for free shopping carts to use on their web sites. If not free, at least, affordable. Free shopping cart codes are easy to use and implement once the script is understood. With the same web editor that is normally used for maintaining and updating the site, the shopping cart system can be individually configured to accept online orders from customers.
For example, www.mals-e.com and www.agoracart.com offers free shopping cart codes and by far, these are 2 of the most popular free shopping cart systems in the world. They are reliable and relatively easy to use and implement. Their online course and guides will ensure that even a non-designer can use their shopping cart.
