Shopping Cart Scripts Review

By: Kevin Dark

OsCommerce is an open source software to create online shops. Many hosting providers include osCommerce into their Fantastico bundle. Even the default version is full of various features while add-ons may expand the script abilities to an enormous extent. While osCommerce is positioned as easy to install and configure, this is not always true. In order to utilize all the advantages of osCommerce you'd better find a qualified integrator of this product who will tune everything the way you need it.

OsCommerce shopping cart allow you to add multiple products and organize them, run discounts and promotions, set prices in different currencies and accept payments through all most popular methods.

X-Cart is another popular and powerful solution. This shopping cart script has more than 100 features and it has a very demanded module that allows to deliver software products online.

X-Cart payment gateway supports over 60 different methods and the cart itself is very comfortable and easy to configure. The developers of the script offer installation and configuration services so that you can have a turn-key project in the end.

X-Cart is a commercial script offered in two varieties - Pro and Gold. The only difference between them is that the Pro version allows you to set up unique accounts for different merchants.

CubeCart is an open source script which is very similar to osCommerce and other shopping cart solutions alike. CubeCart needs your hosting to support PHP and MySQL. The script has extended configuration capabilities and can be connected to different payment gateways including PayPal and VeriSign.

Zen Cart is an open source product developed by a group of shop owners who know what they need in product implementing this into Zen Cart. Designers, programmers and ecommerce consultants help them on the way. This is probably one of the most user-friendly shopping cart scripts, though the functionality is still to be extended.

Shopping cart script named Agora is also quite a popular solution which is like osCommerce is often bundled into hosting providers' Fantastico installation packs. It is one of the best shopping carts for beginners and has enough features to satisfy advanced users as well. Agora is famous for the excellent tutorials and support forums. Even if your HTML knowledge is not your strong side, it is quite possible you'll be able to set up a nice online shop if you use Agora.

Of course, it's up to you what to choose. It could be a wise decision to try all of the products described above and maybe some else to understand which of them offers the features you really need to create the online shop you think will be fantastic. Sometimes open source projects are more suitable than commercial ones. Sometimes it's the other way round.

All about Ecommerce Implementation

By Rick Martin

New ways of doing business online are being market tested all the time, but consider these new possibilities with in a framework that minimizes risk for your business. E-commerce as well known as electronic commerce generally refers to selling your products and services over the Web. Electronic Commerce simply means buying and selling of goods and services across the Internet using web sites.

The benefits are often viewed from views such as benefits to organizations, benefits to consumers and benefits to the society at large. The benefits of E-Commerce for your include nominal costs, faster and more efficient processes and expanded markets. By using e-commerce solutions, you can offer customers convenient shopping methods, maintain strong customer relationships, and Stay competitive ahead. This is one of the easier methods to capture online customers.

The Asia Pacific is home to two-third of the world’s population presenting a large and lucrative e-commerce market. Some countries in the region have documented this opportunity and have taken the lead role and are now some of the influential in e-commerce from the world outlook. An ecommerce site can be as simple as a telephone index, can range all the way to a real time credit and processing site where customer can purchase downloadable goods and receive them on the spot.

The region being so diverse in many aspects presents certain challenges in the implementation of a successful e-commerce strategy. In spite of these challenges there are economies in the region that are so well advanced in the deployment of e-commerce strategies while at the same there are still economies in the region that are yet to fully enjoy the benefits of e-commerce in either the supply and consumption chain. The available evidence suggests that there is indeed a divide emerging between Asia Pacific member countries in so far as e-commerce initiatives are concerned.

E-Business is the formation of new, and the redesigning of obtainable value chains and business procedures by way of the application of information technology. E-Business is actually more than e-commerce. It in turn expands the extent of e-commerce to change the company and the industry itself.

The Right Time To Become An Infopreneur

By Gowri Cumba

Whenever I talk to people about becoming an Internet infopreneur, I hear two objections - from different sections of the audience.

One group says, "Oh, the time's not yet ripe for this sort of thing"

And the other says, "But, isn't it already too late?"

The fact is, there is no 'perfect' time to start being an infopreneur.

Let's face it. There's nothing new about compiling data into information. And there's nothing new about selling the processed product. Why, even the Internet is no longer 'new' - though it is constantly evolving.

What is, however, relatively new and unexplored, is the concept of selling information products over the Internet to various niche audiences.

Is the time right to start doing this?

Just look at these numbers.

E-commerce over the Internet in the U.S. for the third quarter of 2006 amounted to $27.5 BILLION, a 4.5% increase over the 2nd quarter and a 20% growth over last year (Source: U.S. Census Bureau News, Nov.2006). For this study, ecommerce was defined as the value of goods and services sold online.

Annual spending per buyer increased from $457 in 2001 to $784 in 2006.

The trend is reflected around the world. Below are the total worldwide eCommerce Revenues for 2004

North America $3.5 trillion
Asia Pacific $1.6 trillion
Western Europe $1.5 trillion
Latin America $81.8 billion
Rest of World $68.6 billion

Source: Forrester Research

So what are they buying? And more specificaly, for you as an infopreneur, the important question is: "Are they are buying INFORMATION?"

The answer is a resounding "Yes".

In 2004, more than 14 million Americans made digital content purchases - each for less than $2. TowerGroup forecast that by 2009, the market for micropayments would grow to $11.5 billion in revenue.

One area in which micropayments are growing in the U.S. is for online paid content. Despite double-digit increase for micropayments, at $12.8 million in revenue, the share is only a 1 percent of total online paid content revenues. Do the math - you'll see just how vast the potential is for selling content online.

43.6% of all purchases over $50 were made on Business Content - and that's good news if you are targeting that market. More and more consumers will buy low-priced content online, with music continuing to lead the way.

In 2005, data from Nielsen NetRatings's Holiday eShopping Index showed a 33 percent increase in online purchases over the previous year. Books, music, and video combined were the fastest growing category, with a 238% increase.

Are you convinced yet? Or maybe a smaller, more personal sampling will prove the point more forcefuly.

In my own infopreneuring business, the revenues and profits from the first half of 2006 were higher than entire 2005.

A few marketing changes may have impacted these figures, but my instinctive analysis is that more people are buying specialized information online, are willing to pay more for useful information, and when satisfied they are getting good quality stuff, are buying more of it to meet their growing and changing needs.

And that change has doubled my sales in a year! So, you tell me. Is the time right for you to start doing this?

Finding Products To Sell Online

By Obinna Heche

Remember, when you have a home business, what you have for your inventory is going to be something that you want to focus on, something that you can use as your selling point. It is often hard to decide which products you are going to want to sell and sometimes this choice needs to be made very quickly so that your business can continue to succeed and so that you will find yourself in a position where you can make money and have your home business be a success.

Steps To Follow

When you are making these huge decisions about what should be included in your inventory and what should not, there are going to be several steps that you can follow to make sure that you are making a good choice about what to add and what not to add.

Start With Samples

The first thing that you should do when you are starting up a home business and are thinking about the inventory that you want to add is to take a look at the different products you are going to be offering and buy or make a few samples to start with. You are going to want to do this in a way that you can get more of them quickly but also that you are not losing money if one of the products just does not sell.

A good thing to do is to start with a few different pieces and gradually increase what you are doing and where you are getting your products until you are sure you are doing it right and you are sure that you have the inventory that is going to work best for you. Remember that there are ways to figure out what your clients are going to want and what is going to attract new clients as well.

Checkout the websites and flyers of your competition and see what they are offering and from this you can get a good idea about the inventory your competitors are using and whether or not it is working for them. This is a fantastic way to make sure that you are getting the best deal for your business and that you are having the best chance to be a success.

Another thing that you can do is to make sure you are asking your regular clients what their opinion is about new merchandise and different pieces of merchandise. This is the best way to be sure that you are adding pieces to your inventory that are actually going to be good for you and are going to make you money in the long run. If you follow all of these steps your business can be a success. Obinna Heche. Los Angeles - California Delivering the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home successfully.. http://www.homeincomeportal.com/obhmy365

Oscommerce Customization, to Give Your Online Store Your Style

By Gordon Petten

Owning and operating an online store is now easier then ever. Thanks to the development of many software programs, just about anyone with some basic computer knowledge can manage a busy online shopping site and still have time for the important things in life. This is shown with the oscommerce software setups that are now available to people all over the Internet.

Oscommerce, which is short for open source commerce, is a powerful tool in the online store arena. Using PHP and Apache, this software integrates all of the tools that one needs to operate an online store. This is a vast improvement over the older methods where the stores could only be operated by a person with technical knowledge. With oscommerce you have the opportunity to manage the store without having the knowledge that comes with technical issues.

Oscommerce software is a free to use setup. This has made the distribution of this software vast and just about any online store that you find on the Internet today uses oscommerce in one form or another. Most often you will find that the oscommerce software that is being used is customized in some way. This is the beauty of oscommerce software. There is no kind of limitations when it comes to using the software.

Most of the customization issues have to do with how and when you add inventory to the store that you own. This is one of the major points that most of the stores like to see because that is usually the most difficult part of the entire process. Adding inventory to a store is difficult because there is the issue of uploading pictures as well as the specific information about the item that you are adding. With the customization there is the matter of being able to bulk upload such information in one easy to use form without a lot of knowledge and time being expended.

It is very simple to customize the oscommerce software. The software itself comes with detailed instructions on how you can make the program work for you in the proper way. All you really need to do is make sure that you read all of the instructions correctly and of course make sure that your web hosting company is compatible with the oscommerce software. There has been a rash of web hosts that have come onto the scene that have not been keeping up with the many updates to oscommerce software. For this reason they will not work with the program and this is something that you should be asking ahead of time to ensure that you are not getting the short end of the stick.

Online Web Stores

by Bruce Whitehead

Summary : If you are selling products on the web, one of the first things you will need to put into place, is a place on your website where customers can view your products and select them for purchase. In the real world, you would build a store...

If you are selling products on the web, one of the first things you will need to put into place, is a place on your website where customers can view your products and select them for purchase. In the real world, you would build a store.

You can do the same thing in the virtual world as well, without having to cover the expense of a real brick and mortar building. There are several ways to create and implement a virtual storefront:

1. Design and program your own website, if you have the time and knowledge needed. This would require building not only the site, but the shopping cart and the backed database, payment processing system and so on.

   The benefit to this approach is that you get exactly the store that you need. The drawback, of course, is that you need to be a programmer to do it.

2. Hire a programmer and web designer to custom write your site and shopping cart system. This is usually a very expensive undertaking since there are a lot of scripts to program and implement in even a small and basic online store. In addition to the expense, this will also take some time to complete.

   The benefit to this approach is that you can have your store customized to do exactly what you want it to do. The biggest drawback to this though, is simply the expense of hiring a staff of designers to create what you are looking for.

3. Buy an existing script from a programmer and add it to an existing website but you would have to have some knowledge of programming or scripting to properly implement the script and properly integrate it into your existing website.

   The problem here is pre-built scripts are difficult to configure or integrate exactly the way you want them to appear or behave, since they have only the options that the programmer (who knows nothing about your business) decided to put in.

4. Purchase a pre-built online store website, complete with shopping cart and payment processing. There are many variations of this type of service on the web. You can purchase stand alone store systems, or stores already integrated into virtual shopping malls.

   The benefit to this sort of system is that you don't need to hire designers or programmers, to write store software or system admins to maintain a store based on a pre-built script.

   Most of these types of stores have administration features you can access through your web browser, and you don't usually need any special knowledge to maintain your store look or update your online catalogs.

The drawback to this approach is a lack of flexibility. In many cases, pre-built stores provide limited customization options, require use of a specific payment processor and so on. However, if you are on a limited budget, have a small assortment of merchandise that does not have to be updated constantly, this can be an affordable way to put your business into its own virtual storefront.

Take a look at your business and budget and choose the method best suited to your needs!

Ecommerce Shopping Carts

by: Glenn Roy Ormond

Shopping carts are more commonly used as a way to display physical products, products like televisions, groceries, electronic equipment, clothes, and memorabilia, etc, not digital products. Shopping carts make it easy to cross-sell and up-sell your customers once they arrive at your store. Shopping carts typically handle the shipping and handling calculation, taxes and credit card processing. A good shopping cart handles all of these efficiently and securely.

Dynamic Operation

A good shopping cart program also creates dynamic order forms on the fly as the order takes place. The shopping cart should be totally dynamic; meaning it only executes code and retrieves products, images, and product descriptions from your database when your customers request it. During the checkout process it should also calculate shipping/handling and taxes for you.

Real-Time Credit Card Processing

Powerful CGI, PHP, CFM, ASP, etc, scripting, processes commands for you on secure servers when your customers place their orders. Don't get this confused with credit card processing. That’s mean passing of your customers' order information from a secure form, to your merchant or payment processor, using one of the scripting languages above. Your payment processor or merchant, like PayPal, 2CheckOut, or Authorize.Net will then process the credit card. If you don't currently have a merchant or payment processor, and you are going to be selling online, then you need one.

Usability

You can choose what options you want your customer to see. For instance, you can choose to display a search form on your shopping cart. A search form allows your customers to search your store for items by keyword or product name, etc. You can choose to display options like color, size and quantity, and even adjust the price based on the customer's selection. These are called options. Your shopping cart should also allow you to upload images of your products as well.

Stand-Alone –Vs.- Hosted Shopping Carts

You can purchase standalone shopping cart software or services. The stand alone software, of course, requires skill and expertise to install it on your web host or on your own server. Some of the shopping cart services, although it may not seem like it at first, limit you as to what you can and cannot do. These services are most commonly offered by web hosts as a way to entice you to host your site with them. When using these types of services, remember, you're locked into using that web host when you opt to use their shopping cart service. Your business is not portable and becomes a part of that web host. Make sure there is a simple export process that allows you to easily download your website and shopping cart if you no longer wish to use their services. The best option is to use a shopping cart that runs from your own website, independent of your web host. Both Prowebware and stand-alone shopping cart applications run from your website, giving you both control and flexib!
ility.

Choosing a shopping cart boils down to 4 things:

1 Your Budget

2 Your Skill-level - Do you have the expertise to edit & install scripts on your server?

3 Desired Functionality - Want a professional results oriented system or a display case?

4 Time - Have time to take away from your business to shape and mold a new program?

Whatever you decide, your cart should also permit you to follow-up with your customers automatically and even instantly auto-subscribe them to your mailing list.

To implement most out-of-the-box applications, you will need to know how to edit PHP, HTML, or ASP code and how to set up a MySQL database on your server for dynamic operation. Then, with some, all you need to know is how to copy/paste some simple code to your existing web pages or the template you're using. The system should also include some type of easy help or instructions, like an HTML file or contextual help menus that walk you through setting up your new cart.

Increase Conversion Rate In No Time!

Identifying your site’s conversion rate is vital to determine whether your site is surviving the internet business or not! Conversion rate refers to the number of site visitors that are converted into customers. The higher your site’s conversion rate is, the higher is its sales and return on investment. Sales and ROI are directly proportional with the conversion rate. Along with your efforts of improving your website, you should also consider improving your site’s conversion rate. Here are some of the effective strategies you can use in ensuring that your site gets the best conversion rate it could possibly have.

• Maintain honesty in dealing with your customers.




More often than not, online customers appreciate honesty. If you are running out of a particular product, tell your customers right away so they won’t expect for it. Just imagine what your customers will feel if they go on the usual procedure of adding the product to their online cart only to find out that the product is out of stock? This could be a reason enough for your customers to be annoyed and purchase from your competitor instead.




Even when it comes to pricing, be very honest with your customers. Avoid the idea of hiding additional charges – like shipment charges. Tell your visitors right away if the price is inclusive or not of shipment charge and other additional costs. It can be frustrating enough to have budget your money then later on find out you still need to pay for additional costs, right?



• Don’t waste your visitors’ time.




Online shoppers and users are usually the busy ones. Don’t waste their time by letting them fill up too many boxes just to be able to purchase your product or service. To ensure they will purchase from your site, ask only for the most relevant information. If they see that they need to fill up pages of forms, they might just leave your site and transfer to other sites where less information is required.



• Offer a reasonable return policy.




Admit or not, there will be an instance wherein the customers are not fully satisfied with your products – for instance a dress doesn’t fit. When instances like this happen, what guarantee can you give to your customers that they won’t end up being the loser in the transaction? In these cases, the return policy becomes beneficial. It makes your customers more at ease in pursuing the purchase.



• Provide your customers various payment alternatives.




It will be a whole lot easier and comfortable for your customers if they will be given various alternatives when it comes to payment. There may be customers who don’t have a credit card so provide them with a different alternative. This will increase the number of your site’s customers; thus, increasing your site’s conversion rate, as well.



• Identify your Unique Selling Point.




From the name itself, USP or Unique Selling Point is your business’ unique edge over your competitors. It is the factor that lets your customers decide to purchase from your site instead from your competitors’.

Simple as they may seem, these strategies actually work and they can really be trusted. Follow these simple strategies and your conversion rate is bound to boom in no time!

10 Steps To Profitable E-commerce

By: wood1e

The following steps can be used as a checklist to ensure that you have everything in place for doing business on the Internet. Once your Web site is up and running, you'll be able to implement low-cost marketing and advertising techniques for promoting and managing your business.

1. List goals and ideas.

Determine what your goals are for using the Internet for the promotion of your business and/or selling products on the Web. Sit down with the people who are going to be helping you with your online Web site and the e-commerce part of your business so that you can go over your ideas for design, implementation, and promotion. It's important not to discard any of your goals and ideas, no matter how silly and farfetched they seem. You want to be as creative as possible to start with, and then you can fine-tune your list by getting rid of those ideas that are not cost effective or not considered for adoption. This is a good time to do a preliminary projection of your budget, incorporating all the potential costs so that you can set realistic expectations for your Web site and online storefront. You will adjust your budget later, after you complete steps 1-4.

2. Review the products and services you intend to sell.

Take some time to carefully review the products and services that you're offering on or through your Web site. Things that you should be asking yourself include the following: What are the advantages and disadvantages to your business of selling or advertising online? Are you willing to accept payment online, and if so, what payment methods? What logistics will you have to consider about shipping your product, including cost, method, etc.? Are you willing to consistently update and maintain your Web site to reflect current products, market trends, and pricing?

3. Compare online e-commerce Web sites.

Find Web sites that are related to your business and take some time checking them out. Look at how they promote and advertise similar products or services as well as how each Web site is laid out and navigated. If a similar Web site uses a shopping cart for online purchases, try it out, stopping, of course, at the point where you're ready to commit to a purchase. See how smoothly the process works and what can be done to improve the process. Don't just look at e-commerce sites that are within your own country, since consumers won't limit their shopping to those businesses where they live. Look at the way other countries handle e-commerce Web sites so that you have a broad spectrum of Web sites with which to compare yours. A wide range of experience and knowledge of how competitors operate their online businesses is valuable information that you can use to get the upper edge on competition.

4. Determine your target market.

Determine what market of consumers you want to target with your Web site. If you're using your Web site to promote your brick-and-mortar business, decide if you're going to be selling your products and services only locally or if you're willing to sell outside of your immediate market area. Since the Internet is global, there are many reasons to promote your Web site to the national or global marketplace. If you're selling your products or services online, you'll need to decide if you're only selling within your own country or if you're going to be an international e-commerce company. It's important to know who your Internet audience is going to be so that you can target them effectively. If you're selling your products internationally, you're going to have to be prepared for some potential language barriers.

5. Budget for your Web site.

It's important that you have a predetermined budget for your Web site so that you can stay within the guidelines of what you can afford. There are many aspects to your Web site that you're going to need to take into account, including the development of your Web site, marketing of your Web site and business, customer service and maintenance, Web hosting, the cost of a merchant payment system, secure server certification, domain names, search engine submissions, and any new staff that you may need to hire to maintain your Web site or to handle the inflow of new business. You want to know where your business costs are going so that you can allocate them appropriately. In most cases it is not necessary to hire a full-time Web designer. After your initial Web site design is completed, all you will need is monthly maintenance and updates in most instances.

6. Determine your unique selling points.

Determine what the unique selling points are going to be for your business. There are many Web sites on the Internet that are going to be selling the same products and services that you are, and you must separate yourself from the competition. This means that you need to have selling features that will make consumers want to buy from you instead of the next Web site that they hit. Make a listing of unique selling points that you have currently and those that you're willing to consider for future use.

7. Create a marketing plan.

You need to have a solid marketing plan in place so that you know exactly where you want your business to go and how you want to get there. This should be a written plan that you can sit down and read logistically. An online marketing plan should address search engines and techniques for improving a Web site's visibility on the Internet.

8. Decide on a Web site structure.

Determine what you want the structure of your Web site to be like. You want to know ahead of time what you want your Web site to do and how you want to achieve that function. This is crucial to implementing your Web site design plan and integrating how you want your shopping cart to act and perform within your Web site. Careful planning should be given to designing and laving out the structure and organization of your Web site.

9. Implement online Web services.

Have all of the services that you're going to need for your Web site ready to go. This includes Web hosting, a digital certificate, and your completed Web design, including detailed product or services descriptions (including digital images and pricing, if appropriate). Once you launch your Web site, ensure that you have ample amounts of product in your inventory ready for sales.

10. Launch your Web site.

This last step marks your entry into the world of e-commerce. Keep in mind that you need to keep a close eye on your Web site when you first go live so that you can catch any mistakes or areas that need additions or improvements. Listen to customer feedback for potential problem areas or areas for improvement. Also, encourage friends and relatives to give your site a thorough "shakedown."

By following the above steps, you'll be well on your way to a live Web site for promoting your traditional brick-and-mortar business or for selling your products and services to the global Internet community. Having all of the above e-commerce concepts in place will ensure that your business is ready to earn you new customers and greater profits, and doing your research and planning will ensure that your e-commerce solution is obtained at the lowest possible financial investment.