Choosing an ecommerce solution

With so many shopping cart software options to choose from, it can easily be overwhelming - taking the time to really think through your requirements can save you a lot of headache (and money) down the road.

Number of products
How many categories and products will you be selling? Some shopping cart programs with very attractive pricing can be restrictive, including limiting the number of categories and/or products you can list for sale.

Product requirements
Do your products have special requirements?  Will certain products have special shipping requirements, while others will not?  Do your products come in multiple sizes, colors, etc?  Some shopping cart programs do not support multiple product attributes “out of the box”. 

Layout
Will the templates that come with the shopping cart program be sufficient for your layout needs, or will you need some customization?  Some shopping carts say they offer flexible design layouts, but this can be misleading- you may need to purchase an add-on to modify the design templates, only be able to modify certain sections of your store, or their design options simply may mean you can choose from a red, blue, or green menu.

Shipping
How will you ship your products?  Will you offer price-based shipping rates (0-$25 costs $7.95, $26-$49 costs $9.95, etc) or do you want to pull real-time shipping rates from the big carriers?  Do you need to be able to offer free shipping?

Inventory
Will you be tracking inventory down to the piece, or will a simple in/out of stock system suffice?

Payment
Your shopping cart program may support credit card processing, but that generally means it’s compatible with a lot of processing options out there…it’s not going to move the money into your bank account without a little legwork on your end.  There are just as many payment processors out there as shopping cart programs, so again, do your homework- you’re going to have a per-transaction cost whether you’re using PayPal or AuthorizeNet, so think about what’s best for your bottom line.  There is a lot of online payment processing lingo to wade through, too- knowing the pieces and how they work together will help you make the right decision for your business.

Not ready to handle real-time credit card processing, or want to use that point-of-sale machine in your shop?  Some shopping cart programs do not allow for offline credit card transactions, so make sure this in your list of requirements.

Little extras…
Will you have special online offers or coupon codes?  Do you want the ability for customers to keep a wish list?  How about having an “add me to your mailing list” checkbox during checkout?  Some programs offer these options ‘out of the box’, and others will require modules or add-ons (more $) to make it happen.  What about the checkout process…is it a one-page checkout, or several steps where you may lose the customer in the process?  Prioritizing all those little shopping extras will help in selecting a program for you.

Hosted vs. downloadable solutions
You guessed it, there are pros and cons to both of these.  Using a hosted solution means you have someone to call that knows your shopping cart program if something goes wrong - but it also can mean high monthly hosting charges.  Downloadable programs will probably save you money on those monthly charges and are generally more flexible to use.  Honestly, chances are that your answers to all of the questions above will determine question for you.

Thinking carefully through the above questions will go a long way in finding the right shopping cart software for you.