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Choosing an online shopping cart is a big decision. Unlike a traditional brick and mortar business, your website is your only chance to impress potential customers. It needs to project a professional image to capture the trust of your visitors. The shopping cart is a particularly important part of your website because it deals with people’s personal information and credit card numbers. People are nervous about online purchases and need to be assured that they are giving their credit card numbers to a reputable company.

There are several types of ecommerce shopping carts available. They range from merchant services, which require no programming skills, to fully integrated shopping carts that require custom programming. The three main categories of shopping carts are:

• Merchant services such as eBay and 2Checkout

• Hosted shopping cart services

• Fully integrated shopping carts

Merchant Services

Most shopping carts require you to have your own merchant account and gateway. A merchant account is a bank account that allows a business to conduct credit card transactions and the gateway allows the transaction to be conducted over a secure connection. It’s okay if you don’t have a merchant account or gateway. Merchant service shopping carts allow you to use their merchant account, gateway and shopping cart for a higher cost.

Merchant services are beneficial for very small businesses or those that are just starting and don’t have a lot of orders. Merchant services provide the merchant account, gateway, hosted shopping cart and will maintain your customer’s personal information. They usually require a set-up fee between 50 and 200 dollars, transaction fee between 30 and 75 cents, and 5% to 10% of each transaction. Because you are using their merchant account, your customer’s credit card statement will show the merchant services business name not yours. In some cases, customers will not recognize the charge and may dispute it.

Merchant service shopping carts have an administrative interface, which allows you to login to your account to add products, prices and shipping options. The shopping cart generates the html for the purchase buttons and you simply copy and paste the html into your web pages. When your customer clicks on the purchase button, he is taken to another website to enter the credit card information. This indicates to the customer that you are a small business. Some potential customers will abandon the shopping cart rather than enter their credit card information on a website they know nothing about.

Once your business grows to the point where you are processing over $1000 a month, it’s more cost effective to apply for your own merchant account and switch to either a hosted shopping cart (little or no programming) or a fully integrated shopping cart (programming required).

Hosted Shopping Cart

The hosted shopping cart is a great solution for a small business that is processing over $1000 a month but does not have the resources to create or customize a fully integrated shopping cart. Hosted shopping carts are similar to the merchant services because they provide an administrative interface for you to enter products, pricing and shipping options. They will generate the html for the purchase buttons, which can be copied and pasted into your html pages.

Hosted shopping carts face some of same problems as merchant service carts because your customers will be transferred to a different website to enter the credit card information. Some hosted shopping carts allow you to customize the shopping cart so that it has the same look and feel as your websites. Customizing your shopping cart may require some programming skills, but it could also prevent customers from abandoning their shopping carts.

The main difference between the merchant services shopping cart and the hosted shopping cart is the name that appears on the customer’s credit card and pricing. Hosted shopping carts allow you to use your own merchant account and gateway, which means the customer’s credit card statement will show your business name next to the charge. This can decrease your charge backs.

If you are using your own merchant account and conducting over $1000 of transitions each month, the hosted shopping carts can be less expensive than merchant services. Your merchant account will probably charge a monthly fee between 20 and 60 dollars, transaction fee between 10 and 50 cents, and a percentage of the transaction, usually ranging between 2% to 3.5%. In addition to the merchant fees, your shopping cart service will also charge a monthly fee between 10 and 30 dollars and could charge a transaction fee. These fees sound more expensive than the merchant service option, but if you are processing over $1000 a month and growing, it’s better to pay flat monthly fees than continue to be charged 5 to 10 percent of the each transaction.

Fully Integrated Shopping Carts

The fully integrated shopping cart is a great option for any business that can afford it. The shopping cart will be dynamic and will have the same look and feel as your website. The ZIP Baby Potty Training Store is a great example of a fully integrated shopping cart. Fully integrated shopping carts like this contain features that are not found in merchant service or hosted shopping carts. For example, you can discount items, display customer reviews, assign products to multiple categories, display out of stock notifications, sort products and prices, and display shipping estimates without requiring the customer to create an account.

Integrated shopping carts require advanced programming skills and can often be used with your own merchant account or with a service that allows you to use their merchant account for a higher fee. There are many integrated shopping carts available. Free carts require the most programming skills, but if you don’t have the programming skills necessary to customize a free shopping cart, there are many companies that specialize in customizing fully integrated shopping carts.

Your choice of a shopping cart can have a dramatic impact on your business. Your website is the first and only impression you get to make so you’ll want to make it as professional as possible. While shopping for a shopping cart system, put yourself in your target customer’s shoes and browse the Internet. Review your competitor’s websites as well as those outside your industry. Make a list of shopping carts that you find appealing and research them thoroughly before choosing one.

Copyright 2004 Danna Henderson. All Rights Reserved.

About The Author

Danna Henderson started ZIP Baby in order to provide parents with comprehensive potty training information and a large selection of potty training products. For more information visit the Breastfeeding for New Mothers.

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An eCommerce merchant account can be likened to the cashier of an actual, physical store. They process payments, and eCommerce merchant accounts do the same, albeit, with added flair and whole lot more features.

Much like how an actual, physical store cannot do business with a cashier, an online business would falter without a reliable eCommerce merchant account, sales can be lost and credibility lost.

But what is an eCommerce merchant account, exactly?

An Ecommerce Merchant Account Is The Heart Of Your Business.

An eCommerce merchant account can be likened to the human heart which makes living a reality by pumping blood to every vital organ of the body. An eCommerce merchant account does the same thing for an online enterprise. The operations of an Internet venture depend on the profit that can be made, and an eCommerce merchant account makes this possible.

An eCommerce merchant account can be availed of by choosing the many services that can be found in the World Wide Web. But bear in mind that not all eCommerce merchant accounts are built alike. Some eCommerce merchant accounts are simply better than others.

Choosing The Right Ecommerce Merchant Account For Your Business’ Needs.

There are certain considerations which you must pay attention to when choosing the right eCommerce merchant account for your needs. Let us take a look at them so that we may be guided in determining the most appropriate eCommerce merchant account worthiest of our investments.

* Applicable fees. Some eCommerce merchant accounts charge a monthly rate. Some eCommerce merchant accounts charge a onetime fee. With this regard, your choice of an eCommerce merchant account would depend on how much you are capable of spending.

* Credibility. Ecommerce merchant accounts are your partners for profit. As such, you should select the eCommerce merchant account with a proven history of reliability. You wouldn’t want to entrust your payments to an eCommerce merchant account that would just crumble as soon as you sign up, right?

* Coverage. The perfect eCommerce merchant account should be able to process payments from popular payment sources. This means that such an eCommerce merchant account should be able to accommodate users who would pay with major credit cards. Additionally, it would be ideal if such an eCommerce merchant account would also be able to process payments from other alternative online payment schemes, like PayPal, Stormpay, E-Gold and the likes.

An eCommerce merchant account could also be likened to a ship that would bring your to the Promised Land of online success. The waters may be rough, but if your eCommerce merchant account is made of sturdy stuff, you will reach your destination with flying colors.

Jeff Usher researches and writes articles on all aspects of Internet Marketing and eCommerce. For further information on the subject of this article please visit:-
http://www.more-merchant-account.info

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Have you picked out your Oscar’s night outfit? I have. You should. Have you thought about what you will say when you accept your award? I have. You should. At least in your mind, that wonderful playground for imagination. The very place we are going to venture today for great publicity ideas. Razzle, dazzle, sparkle, and shine. Isn’t this how we think all those stars get to the Oscars in the first place? However, it’s less glitter, and more planning that creates the reality. First comes the dream, then the work, then usually a host of disappointments to test the resolve, then a series of small successes, and then….publicity. It is a fairly predictable road, but often as business people we forget to plan our own personal Oscar’s night. We also miss the key ingredient, publicity. Marketing is what gets you in front of your target market to make the sale. Publicity is the spot light that shines on you and solidifies you with mass appeal as the popular expert in your field. You drive marketing to your buyers. Publicity drives the masses of buyers to you.

When your focus has been marketing it’s a little tricky to change your paradigm to publicity. However, the important difference between marketing and publicity is your target audience. You are no longer pitching to buyers of your product or service, now your audience is the media. This means editors and producers. These important people are looking for one thing, the story. A unique story. Something inspirational, motivational, newsworthy, or educational. Period. Nothing else will do. In order to be successful in the media you have to think like a publicist and find your unique story. If you don’t have a story, it’s time to create one. What is unique about you or your business? Sometimes it’s an attitude. Like the employer that regularly asked her employees what they didn’t like about their jobs and then proceeded to shift responsibilities. It may be an event, like a charitable event that raises money for starving children but serves beans and rice at the gala event to demonstrate how it feels to be poor. It may be your wit, your way of thinking, what you care most about, or how you integrate your values into your business. Only, you can find it, but trust me it’s there.

Begin to explore your own unique angles and media curves by keeping notes on your thoughts and attitudes. Scribble, color, or paint it out, it really doesn’t matter as long as you begin to devote time to exploring your “story”. Not your ad, not your price, not your product, but your story.
Once you’ve angled into your own unique media offerings, find the appropriate avenues to make your pitch. Take care though; the media should always be treated with good will and respect. Do not, I repeat, do not go for the hard sell. This is not the time. If you must, save the hard sell for marketing, or better yet, chuck it all together. Do not wheedle, whine, or beg the media. Make your pitch, respect their time, and their decision then work toward building long-term relationships. In the end, you’ll have the kind of names in your pocket to begin dropping at parties, and you will be a star! A star with the mind of a publicist.

Anne Marie Baugh is a noted publicist and published author. She owns and operates Write-Promotion, an online marketing and publicity firm that work hands-on with businesses looking for promotional avenues to cyber-success! Visit today at: http://www.write-promotion.com for a package that will fit your budget and propel your business to success.

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