Jump to first page
Shopping cartsImplementation and interface
by Dylan Tweney www.tweney.com [email protected]
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Shopping carts: A brief history In use on the Web since at least
1994 Simplify purchasing process,
enabling multi-product orders Widely adopted by 1996 Now: virtually required component
of e-commerce sites Beginnings of de facto interface
standards
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Anatomy of a cart
checkout path
Product list
availability
quantity
Price
Continue shopping
“remove” button
Check outshipping cost preview
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Key shopping cart functions Provide checkout path Confirm list of items to purchase Provide information about availability Select quantity to purchase Price confirmation / totaling Enter / confirm mailing and billing
information Make additional purchases easy
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Alternatives? Not really, unless your site is very
small 800 numbers
effective, except for dialup customers requires call center support
Fax / email order forms low-tech, simple, but clunky
One-click shopping Very rapid purchases of single items Amazon.com patent: Enforceable?
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Key considerations: Merchant features Ease of installation Ease of configuration /
maintenance / modification Tax calculation Shipping cost calculations Integration with existing catalog,
customer databases
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Key considerations: User interface Readability Completeness of information Ease of navigation to other parts of
sites Ease of modifying the order Persistence if “abandoned” Security / privacy assurance Compatibility with browsers
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Tweney’s 3 Laws of Shopping Carts
Simplicity = sales. No surprises. Repetition is reassuring.
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Shopping cart case studies Amazon.com CDNow Walmart.com SFGiants.com Webvan.com
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
How do I get a cart?
Buy software Let someone else host your
shopping cart Use e-commerce package
solution’s built-in cart Sign up for free store; integrate
into your existing site Let someone else build everything
for you
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Standalone cart software MiniVend, www.minivend.com (free!) WebCart, www.mountain-net.com
($650, $399 “lite” version) SalesCart, www.salescart.com, for
FrontPage ($399) AbleCommerce,
www.ablecommerce.com, for Cold Fusion ($795-$7,000)
CAUTION: Dansie Shopping Cart, http://www.dansie.net/cart.html
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Hosted carts
VirtualCart, www.vcart.com ($20-30/month)
AmeriCart, http://www.cartserver.com/americart/ ($20-30/month)
DXCart, www.dxcart.com ($40/month)
iCat Commerce Cart (price dep. On ISP)
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
E-commerce software packages iCat Web Store (Intel) InterShop Open Market / ShopSite BroadVision IBM Net.commerce Microsoft Site Server 3.0
Commerce Edition
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
e-Malls
Amazon.com zShops - with Amazon.com Payments feature ($10/month)
Yahoo Store, http://store.yahoo.com ($100-$300/month)
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
All-in-one commerce solutions Encanto e.Go ($1,495 + $60/mo.) Vstore (free, hosted, “super-
affiliate” program)
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Managing and benefiting from “data exhaust” Reporting options will vary
depending on software/service used
Track clicks, inquiries, selections -- not just purchases
Abandoned shopping carts: Real or phantom problem?
Dylan Tweneywww.tweney.com
Seller beware
Security: provide it, and make sure buyer knows it’s there
Privacy protection -- what do you do with purchase data?
Data integrity -- “is that ticket to Paris really $3.99?” It might be, if your site says it is
Product inventory availability Don’t sell what you don’t have
Top Related