Shopping Cart Design Technology

Some basic information about shopping cart design that every client should know:

1. So what is a "Shopping Cart" anyway?
It is very common for customers to be confused by the term "Shopping Cart". The term shopping cart implies that it is part of a website that helps people on the site purchases items. This broad term is basically meaningless as it means something different depending on who you ask or how it is being used. Lets just say that the shopping cart is part of an e-commerce solution that may or may not be an actual piece of software.

2. Buy Now buttons?
Yep, another useful term that is somewhat meaningless. A Buy Now button is a button that can be clicked on that allows the user to purchase an item off a website. Buy Now buttons are mostly associated with PayPal, but can be found on just about any type of application. Normally, a Buy Now button would then prompt the user for credit card information without formally putting the item into a shopping cart. This type of technology is best used when purchasers will be purchasing only one item at a time. This is very inexpensive to create using PayPal, Google Checkout and Authorize.net.

3. Third Party Payment Processor ?
Here is another term that customers must understand. In this payment method the internet purchases are charged as if the 3rd party payment service is the seller. Though the actual merchant sets up his store with products and pricing, it is the 3rd party processor that is technically the seller. The actual merchant then becomes a supplier and drop shipper. Google Checkout, PayPal and 2CO are Third Party Payment Processors.

4. Authorize.net
Authorize.net is a first party payment processor where Authorize.net processes payments for merchants. This type of payment processing is preferred by most customers as they do not like dealing with a third party. Authorize.net also allows for credit card information to be collected on the merchant's site instead of on a third party's site. One caveat to this type of processing is that the merchant's website must have a secure way to communicate with the public. This is normally done via an SSL certificate.

5. What is an SSL certificate and what does it really do?
An SSL certificate or "Secure Certificate" is an electronic document that is stored on the website that allows "Secure Socket Layer" (SSL) communication which is encrypted. SSL encrypted communication is possible without a certificate, but the visitor to the merchant's website has no way of determining who they are communicating security with. The secured certificate allows the visitor to know exactly who they are communicating with. Secure Certificates are provided by Trust Members who issue trusted certificates. They check the merchant's information prior to issuing the certificate. Each certificate supplier's certificates are basically the same, some with 128 bit encryption and some with 254 bit encryption. Of course, 254 bit encryption is better, but 128 bit is good enough for credit card data. Certificates range from about $20.00 up to several thousand dollars per year, depending on the brand name of the certificate. The best known and trusted certificate provider, in our opinion, is Verisign. However, Verisign certificates are expensive. We offer Comodo certificates, which are not inexpensive, but are widely accepted and a well known brand name.

6. Do I need an SSL certificate?
If you plan to take credit card or other personal information from visitors to your website, you will need an SSL certificate. If you are using a first party processor such as Authorize.net, you will be required to have an SSL certificate. Third party processors such as PayPal offer their clients use of their certificate on their website. The advantage to this is that you don't need to buy a certificate. The disadvantage of this is that visitors end up on another website to make their payments.

7. What is X-Cart and why do you use it?
X-Cart is a shopping cart solution that is based on the programming language PHP. MagicAngel.net is an authorized reseller of X-Cart and Qualiteam products. We offer X-Cart as our shopping cart solution because it is flexible, secure and looks and works very well. We installed and reviewed all of the major shopping cart solutions and were not happy with any of them until we found X-Cart. One of the huge selling points of X-Cart was that we found X-Cart sites that didn't look like X-Cart sites at all. When we couldn't tell X-Cart was being used on these sites, we knew X-Cart was the one for us!

You can find out more about X-Cart at their website: X-Cart.com

8. Do I need X-Cart or Buy Now Buttons on my website?
There are five questions you need to ask yourself to determine if you need X-Cart or not.

1. Will my visitors need to purchase more than one item at a time?
2. Will my visitors need to "Continue Shopping" after making a purchase?
3. Will my products change very often?
4. Will my products be sold ON my website? (As opposed to someone else's with links to yours)
5. Will payments be processed on my site?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, you may need a shopping cart solution such as X-Cart. You will also need an SSL certificate if you plan to take payments on your site.

9. Can I use PayPal, Google Checkout and Authorize.net?
Yes. You can use both with or without the X-Cart solution.

10. Can you actually setup Authorize.net? Have you done it before?
This is a very good question and one that doesn't get asked enough. Yes, we have setup many Authorize.net solutions for clients using both X-Cart and Buy Now type solutions. Setting up Authorize.net payment processing is not a simple task and for those web designers who have never done it, it can be difficult or even impossible. We have many clients who started some place else.

11. How do I get an Authorize.net account?
MagicAngel.net is an Authorize.net Associate Reseller, we can provide you with any service you need to get your Authorize.net account setup and running.

SSL Certificates can be purchased at: MagicAngelHosting.com