Categories   >   Shopping Cart Software
Last Reviewed: November 20th, 2024

Best Shopping Cart Software Of 2024

What is Shopping Cart Software?

Shopping Cart Software facilitates online shopping experience by enabling the selection, storage, and purchase of products or services. With a primary goal to streamline the online transaction process, it resolves the challenge of managing complex order processing and offers a virtual 'cart' for buyers to accumulate items before checking out. Beyond just cart functionalities, it offers extensive features including inventory management, tax calculation, and secure payment gateway integration. In the future, we might see features like AI-powered personalization. E-commerce retailers particularly in retail, hospitality and service sectors stand to benefit most. However, businesses need to navigate potential limitations including setup complexity and ensuring integration with other business systems. The power of Shopping Cart Software lies in its ability to enhance customer experience, optimize transaction processes and potentially boost sales, making it a fundamental tool in the modern e-commerce landscape.

What Are The Key Benefits of Shopping Cart Software?

  • Streamlines transaction processes
  • Enhances customer experience
  • Boosts sales potential
  • Simplifies inventory management
  • Enables secure payment processing
  • Facilitates tax and shipping calculations
  • Offers seamless integration capabilities
  • Allows multi-currency transactions
  • Shows real-time product availability
  • Automates order tracking notifications
Read more

Overall

Based on the latest available data collected by SelectHub for 31 solutions, we determined the following solutions are the best Shopping Cart Software overall:

PayPal
PayPal
Start Price
$0.30
Per Transaction, 5.4% Flat Rate
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked PayPal

PayPal users generally give it a thumbs-up for its convenience and security. Setting up an account is a breeze, and the platform is widely accepted by online merchants, making it a go-to for quick and easy payments. The security features, like encryption and fraud protection, give users peace of mind when making transactions. However, some users find the fees, especially for international transactions and credit card payments, to be a bit of a bummer. Additionally, while PayPal is widely accepted, it's not universally accepted, so users may occasionally encounter situations where they need to whip out a different payment method. Compared to other digital payment platforms like Zelle, Venmo, and Cash App, PayPal stands out with its robust buyer and seller protection policies, making it a safer choice for larger transactions or purchases from unfamiliar sellers. But for splitting bills with friends or sending small amounts of money, the simplicity and social features of Venmo or Cash App might be more appealing.

So, who's PayPal's ideal user? It's perfect for folks who frequently shop online and value security and convenience. If you're someone who makes international payments or deals with large transactions, PayPal's buyer and seller protection features are a major plus. However, if you're mainly looking for a way to split the bill at dinner or send a few bucks to a friend, you might find other platforms more user-friendly and cost-effective.

Pros & Cons

  • Convenient and Widely Accepted: PayPal is a popular online payment method that is accepted by many online retailers, making it a convenient option for shoppers.
  • Enhanced Security: PayPal offers buyer and seller protection policies, which can help to protect users from fraud and scams. For instance, if a buyer does not receive an item they purchased, or if the item is significantly different from its description, they may be eligible for a refund under PayPal's Buyer Protection program.
  • Dispute Resolution: The platform provides a dispute resolution process to help resolve issues between buyers and sellers.
  • Limited Seller Protection: PayPal's seller protection policies can be difficult to navigate and may not cover all types of transactions or disputes, leaving sellers vulnerable to fraud or chargebacks.
  • Account Holds and Freezes: PayPal has been known to hold or freeze accounts without warning or clear explanation, which can disrupt business operations and cause frustration for users who rely on the platform for their livelihood.
  • Customer Service Challenges: Getting timely and effective support from PayPal's customer service can be difficult, with long wait times and inconsistent responses being common complaints among users.

Key Features

  • Accept Payments: Receive funds and streamline the checkout experience with the available tools: 
    • Invoices and Estimates: Generate free customizable invoices to simplify the payment process. Alternatively, create estimates with business logos and personalized details, and automatically convert them into invoices after customer acceptance. 
    • Checkout: Provide customers with a one-touch payment point to check out and make payments without leaving the business website. 
    • Recurring Payments: Improve customer retention by allowing repeat customers to skip the checkout process and set up subscription-based payments. 
    • Installment Payments: Get paid up-front while providing customers a pay-later option with “Pay in 4,” an interest-free installment solution, at no additional cost. 
    • Sell on Social: Quickly create product listings with photos and descriptions. Receive a shareable link to promote and push sales through social media, email, chat and more. Host listings on the vendor’s servers and let customers securely pay through a payment portal. 
    • Point of Sale: Accept in-person card payments with a selection of chip, tap and swipe readers and accessories compatible with mobile devices and desktops. 
    • QR Codes: Generate and print unique QR codes that customers can scan to make payments through mobile apps. 
  • Make Payments: Securely link bank accounts to transfer money to digital wallets and vice versa. 
    • Business Debit Mastercard: Withdraw or spend money as soon as it arrives in the digital wallet and earn rewards and cashback from participating retailers. Use at all locations accepting Mastercards. 
    • Send Money: Electronically pay vendors anywhere within the USA without incurring any additional costs and receive payment receipts instantly through the mobile app. Thorough monitoring helps prevent fraudulent transactions. 
    • Payouts: Send mass payouts to vendors and employees across the world, and auto-convert currencies. Supports more than 24 currencies and 180 markets across the globe. 
    • Crypto Payments: Make payments and checkout from participating online stores with cryptocurrency seamlessly. 
    • Payment Regulations: Leverage tools like transaction monitoring, recipient verification and compliance screening to manage compliance with regulations. Available with the enterprise solution. 
  • Risk Management: Uses intelligent two-sided networks, machine learning and analytics to protect businesses from existing and potential threats. Safeguard card details and transactional ledgers with a secure vault. Receive expert advice on maintaining compliance and security strategies. 
  • Growth Acceleration: Expedite business growth rate with critical funding, sales push and growth insights: 
    • PayPal Working Capital: A fixed-fee loan available without requiring a credit check, based on the account’s history. Repay it automatically with a percentage of each sale through the digital wallet. 
    • PayPal Business Loan: Finance operating expenses with a term loan based on the business’s history and growth since inception. Automate regular weekly payments from the bank. 
    • Cart Recovery: Reduce cart abandonment and drive return visits by sending notifications to shoppers who left midway. Offer incentives and discounts through a Store Cash campaign and boost customer loyalty. 
    • Insights: Get actionable insights and expert advice based on estimated audience size and potential ROI to optimize operations, improve marketing and push sales. 
  • Operation Management: Streamline daily operations and automate repetitive tasks with the following tools: 
    • Shipping Labels: Receive discounts on shipping through United Parcel Services (UPS) and United States Postal Service (USPS). Automatically receive tracking information. Select service type, package size and other details to auto-calculate costs. 
    • Dispute Management: Interact with buyers and customers through the “Resolution Center” to resolve disputes mutually. Clients can escalate claims for unresolved conflicts. Gain expert advice on building a case against a chargeback or a claim against the business. 
    • Funds Now: Receive money from completed sales instantly without any hold or delay at no extra cost to the business. 
Shopify
Shopify
Start Price
$29
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Shopify

Shopify is a robust platform for every type of eCommerce business. During testing, I loved its “Markets” feature that consolidates wholesale, retail, B2B and D2C operations into a single view. You can tailor experiences for each market without creating multiple stores and get a bird's eye view of it all from a unified screen.

Its analytics module is a strong suit. Unlike other platforms that typically involve a 24-hour waiting period to access current data, Shopify lets you stream your business’s data in real time. The drag-and-drop interface is intuitive, and pre-built reports provide a solid foundation. However, the platform truly shines in its ability to access and customize ShopifyQL code for advanced analytics.

Shopify's scalability is also impressive. The platform grows with your business. Starting with a basic store and transitioning to a complex, multi-channel operation is seamless. The headless architecture offers flexibility for customization, allowing you to create unique shopping experiences using its native Hydrogen visual editor or other third-party solutions.

The mobile app has offline image editing, AI image generation and website editing capabilities. Also, Shopify's native AI, Magic, automates routine tasks and provides data-driven recommendations.

Shopify’s AI-powered virtual assistant, Sidekick, trains itself on your store’s data, customers and transactions. You can ask anything, from using a feature to understanding your business data, and it always provides helpful, contextual answers. It lets you generate customer segments, design marketing campaigns and optimize your sales funnel. Sidekick also identifies customer segments and offers tips to boost conversion rates, like targeted emails, discount coupons and cart recovery strategies.

However, Shopify's cost structure can be prohibitive for some. As the business grows, so do the expenses. And reliance on third-party apps for essential functionalities can lead to increased costs and potential performance issues down the line.

While the platform offers a high degree of customization, mastering Shopify's Liquid coding language is necessary for complex changes, creating a barrier for non-technical users. Lastly, the short duration of the free trial might hinder the evaluation process for potential customers.

Overall, Shopify is one of the best eCommerce solutions that can adapt to evolving business needs. However, you should carefully consider the platform's limitations in terms of cost, technical complexity and app dependency before jumping into a contract.


Pros & Cons

  • Ease of Use: Many users praise Shopify for its user-friendly interface, especially for those with little to no coding or web design experience. It allows users to set up a store quickly and easily.
  • Extensive Customizability: Shopify offers various free and paid customizable themes. It also has a large app store with numerous plugins for additional functionality.
  • Enhanced Security: Users appreciate Shopify’s integrated CDN hosting, SSL certification and multi-factor authentication, ensuring high security for businesses.
  • Support and Community: 24/7 customer support is available, and a large community of users and developers offers advice and solutions.
  • Scalability: Scaling your business with Shopify simply involves shifting to a higher-tier plan to access enterprise features like headless architecture, built-in AI and support for multiple business models.
  • All-In-One Solution: It provides a comprehensive package for managing eCommerce businesses, including marketing, inventory management, order processing, shipping, payments and analytics.
  • Cost: Some users find Shopify expensive, especially since costs can escalate with paid apps and transaction fees.
  • Technical Expertise: In-depth customization requires accessing Shopify’s proprietary coding language, Liquid, which can be challenging for users with low technical expertise.
  • App Dependencies: The reliance on third-party apps for additional features can lead to slower website performance and increased costs.
  • Free Trial Duration: The free trial period is relatively short (3 days), which some users find insufficient for making a fully informed decision.

Key Features

  • Website Builder: Create professional online stores with over 70 customizable themes, mobile optimization and advanced HTML/CSS editing.
  • Checkout: You can offer customers a seamless shopping experience with features like one-page checkouts, multiple payment options and abandoned cart recovery.
Wix
Wix
Start Price
$16
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Wix

Wix offers intuitive drag-and-drop editors and a rich library of designer templates. Users have identified the drag-and-drop editor and intuitive UI as Wix’s standout features. It aids website design without complicated coding and allows users to maintain analytics and manage content with a few clicks from the dashboard.

However, reviews mention that users can’t access the source code, and website designers can only use predefined customizations where personalization isn’t possible.

Also, critical features like payment processing, WordPress plugins, personal email domain and others come as paid add-ons or plugins. It can be a less economical option for businesses with large inventories, comprehensive websites and rapid scaling plans. However, the templates are well-crafted and ideal for new businesses to design unique landing pages and boost their digital presence at a comparatively low cost.

Pros & Cons

  • Website Builder: Offers an intuitive and feature-rich drag-and-drop website editor, according to 93% of reviews on the site building process.
  • Templates: Wix provides a wide range of state-of-the-art website templates, according to 100% of users who reviewed the template library.
  • Easy to Launch Website: About 90% of users reviewing ease of use said they had no trouble launching websites without prior technical knowledge.
  • Cost: It’s a cheaper option than its competitors, according to 72% of reviews on this aspect.
  • Scalability: Inability to access the source code can hinder operational scalability, according to 94% of reviews on backend connectivity.
  • Add-Ons and Plugins: Most essential features are expensive and only available as add-ons, according to 100% of reviews on this element.
  • Mobile Optimization: Optimizing websites for mobile devices is complicated and requires professional assistance, according to 92% of reviews on this feature.

Key Features

  • Website: Use Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) to automatically create a website or choose from more than 500 templates and 100 fonts to design a custom website with drag-and-drop abilities. Make them mobile-friendly, and add animations, images, text, videos and scroll effects like parallax, fade-in, zoom-in and more. 
    • Online Store: Showcase and sell products, track and manage inventory, and handle online stores. 
    • Blog: Create and edit blog posts, view and manage comments, and add multiple writers. 
    • Music: Showcase albums, playlists and tracks on a customizable music player. Allow customers to directly share and buy music from the website and keep track of the most shared, played, downloaded and purchased songs. 
    • Photography: Display images and autoplay videos in more than 30 kinds of galleries, set image quality and sharpness, and protect content using passwords and watermarks. 
    • Video: Manage, create and customize video channels, add videos from computers or social media, and rent, sell or offer monthly subscriptions. 
    • Events: Customize, create and share email invites, track RSVPs, manage and edit guest details, and sell event tickets. 
    • Restaurants: Create a personalized menu with customized pricing and images. Accept orders and manage reservations online, and set an auto-confirmation email. 
  • Domain: Connect or create a custom domain name and get a personalized email ID. 
  • Analytics: Track site performance, statistics, visitors, sales and more. 
  • Contact Management: Manage and collect contact and subscriber information in a single space. 
  • Login and Chat: Allow customers or members to access password-protected pages. Communicate with site visitors via live chat. 
  • Social Media: Connect accounts with Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and other social media platforms. Share blogs, pictures and videos at the same time. 
  • Security: Secure websites and boost SEO with SSL certification. 
  • Payments: Accept payments online via PayPal and credit cards, and offline without commission. 
  • Shipping and Tax: Determine and customize taxation and shipping rules based on location. Also, offer free shipping and dropshipping. 
SquareSpace
SquareSpace
Start Price
$16
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked SquareSpace

Squarespace helps businesses and individuals promote their brands digitally by launching professional websites and integrating every social account in a unified platform. According to reviews, the drag-and-drop website builder and intuitive user interface are the primary pros of the software.

But, users have noted that the drag-and-drop editor lacks intricate customizations like moving image blocks, using multiple fonts, changing website structures and more. If you’re looking to deploy the software, we advise having technical expertise in WordPress coding or CSS editing for in-depth personalization. In conclusion, Squarespace is ideal for creating fashionable landing pages for individuals and smaller businesses, especially those looking for a simple option. It’s less effective for larger organizations with big inventory and that need hyper-detailed websites.

Pros & Cons

  • Website Builder: It’s simple to create a professional website without any coding using the drag-and-drop editor, according to 70% of users mentioning this feature.
  • Ease of Use: The platform is intuitive and straightforward, according to 100% of users mentioning this aspect.
  • Domain: Squarespace helps transfer existing domains without any hassle, according to 90% of reviews mentioning domains.
  • Customer Support: Vendor’s support team offers quick and quality responses, as noted by 92% of reviews on customer support.
  • Rigidity: The drag-and-drop website editor lacks customization features, according to all users discussing personal customizations.
  • Cost: According to 92% of users reviewing the pricing structure, the solution is costlier than its competitors based on the features provided.
  • Performance Speed: 82% of users who mentioned this element said that the platform uses a lot of RAM while running and is prone to crashes.
  • Data Analytics: In-depth analytics is only available with the enterprise pricing plan, according to 67% of reviews discussing this aspect.

Key Features

  • Templates and Design Tools: Access customizable templates that support all major content types, like blogs, galleries, pages, calendars and more. Use the latest HTML, Javascript and CSS transcripts to edit templates. Use customized color palettes, video and background banners, images via Unsplash, Google and TypeKit fonts, a built-in photo editor and more. 
  • Layout and Pages: Use pre-designed structures to create websites and add blocks, menus, links, maps, forms, files, buttons, charts, custom codes and social media icons. Duplicate text pages, use CSS editor and create custom redirect pages. Design websites that automatically adapt to the device it is accessed on without changing the overall style of the website. 
  • Commenting System: Incorporate a commenting system that helps with community management, flagging spam messages, disabling comments, threading comments, counting individual likes and moderating content. 
  • Multiple Contributors and Access Levels: Restrict permission to access based on role and use a single login to handle multiple sites simultaneously. Provide access levels, including content editing, reporting, store managing, administrating, billing and more. 
  • Passwords and Page Lock: Lock websites with a password while editing it, use a password to create private sections and customize page displays for visitors when locked by a password. 
  • Built-In Mobile Websites: Design websites that automatically adapt to the device it is accessed on without changing the overall style of the website. 
  • App: Use an app available on Android and iOS to manage websites, add or edit pages, add images, write and edit blogs and review traffic analytics. Manage inventory, orders and customers as well as add products and issue returns while on the go. 
  • Extensions: Use third-party tools to manage sales transactions, handle inventory and accounting, file taxes, streamline bookkeeping, promote products, ship products and more. Connect with Google Analytics and Disqus. 
  • Blogging: Publish, draft, schedule and mark posts for review. Use markdown block to add text, change layouts as per the blog content and automate the process of reformatting content for email campaigns. Manage audio blocks, blog post options and podcast support for better visibility. Save excerpts and source URLs, use accelerated mobile pages to create lightweight web pages, add subscribe buttons, access built-in RSS feeds and link titles to external URLs. 
  • Portfolios: Drag and drop images, add videos and audio files to pages or blog posts, and set videos or images as backgrounds. Access a built-in image editor, create landing pages with links to sub-pages, use lightbox to highlight images, define focal points for images and auto-fill tags, tiles and descriptions when importing images. 
Weebly
Weebly
Start Price
$10
Monthly, Freemium
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked Weebly

Weebly, a website builder owned by Square, empowers entrepreneurs to establish and expand their online presence. Users consistently commend its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, making website creation accessible even for those without coding expertise. The platform's affordability, with both free and paid plans, further enhances its appeal. Weebly's extensive template library and integrated marketing tools streamline the website building process, while its e-commerce features, including shopping cart functionality and payment processing, enable seamless online selling. However, some users note limitations in design flexibility and customization options compared to platforms like Wix or Squarespace.

Weebly's strength lies in its simplicity and affordability, making it ideal for small businesses and individuals seeking a straightforward solution to establish their online presence. Its e-commerce capabilities cater to those venturing into online selling, providing essential tools for product management and transactions. The platform's ease of use allows users to focus on their core business rather than grappling with technical complexities. "Weebly: Your website, without the wobbles" perfectly captures the essence of this platform, offering a stable and user-friendly experience for building and managing online stores.

Pros & Cons

  • Simple to Use: Weebly provides a drag-and-drop interface, making it easy for users to build and customize their online stores without needing coding knowledge. The platform offers a straightforward and intuitive experience, allowing users to quickly add products, manage inventory, and set up payment processing.
  • Affordable Pricing: Weebly offers a range of pricing plans to suit different business needs and budgets. The platform provides a free plan with basic features, as well as paid plans with more advanced functionality and scalability. This affordability makes Weebly an attractive option for small businesses and startups.
  • Mobile-Friendly Design: Weebly's themes are designed to be responsive and mobile-friendly, ensuring that online stores look great and function properly on all devices. This is crucial for providing a positive user experience and reaching customers who shop on their smartphones or tablets.
  • Integrated Marketing Tools: Weebly offers built-in marketing tools to help businesses promote their online stores. These tools include email marketing, SEO optimization, and social media integration, allowing users to reach a wider audience and drive traffic to their websites.
  • Limited Design Flexibility: Weebly's drag-and-drop interface, while user-friendly, can feel restrictive for users who desire more control over their website's appearance and functionality. The platform's templates and design options might not cater to all aesthetic preferences or accommodate complex layouts.
  • eCommerce Functionality: Weebly's eCommerce features, while suitable for smaller online stores, may not meet the needs of businesses with extensive product catalogs or complex shipping and inventory management requirements. Users seeking advanced eCommerce capabilities might find the platform's offerings somewhat limited.
  • SEO Limitations: Some users have expressed concerns about Weebly's SEO capabilities, noting that the platform's built-in tools might not provide the level of control and customization required for comprehensive search engine optimization strategies. This could potentially impact a website's visibility in search engine results.

Key Features

  • Professional Website: Build a professional website, online store or blog: 
    • Designing: Drag and drop widgets, use mobile-friendly templates, add photos and dynamic content, and easily edit text blocks to build websites. Leverage the built-in code editor for further customization. 
    • Domain Names: Search for suitable domain names, purchase a domain, manage CNAME, A records, WHOIS information and more from the dashboard. Alternatively, create a free subdomain in case of small-scale requirements. 
    • SEO: Leverage a site map, SEO-friendly HTML formatting, meta descriptions, alt tag placement and more to rank websites on top of Google search results. 
    • Hosting: Experience navigation speed and reliability with its free cloud-based website hosting infrastructure. Provide visitors with a seamless online experience. 
    • Forms: Create custom contact forms, RSVP lists and surveys. Integrate these into the website to create unique engagement and data gathering opportunities. 
    • Blogs: Customize the structure, layout, category, tab and sidebar of posts, and manage comments to build a personalized blog. Enable easy distribution through RSS and social sharing built into every blog. 
    • Dynamic Content: Upload and edit photos and create slideshows. Embed videos from Youtube, Vimeo and other video sharing platforms, or upload and host videos on the website. Adjust spacing, presentation and more to deliver high-quality content to visitors. 
  • E-Commerce: Build a complete e-commerce solution. 
    • Payment Processing: Leverage partnership with Square to accept all major credit cards and streamline the checkout process. Use its POS system to unify payment processing across digital and non-digital storefronts. Other payment gateway integrations include PayPal, Stripe and more. 
    • Inventory Management: Track inventory, manage supply, categorize products and create urgency by displaying the number of items remaining in stock. Easily import and export products to external marketplaces like Etsy and Amazon and collect data in a CSV format. 
    • Email Marketing: Customize messages, use templates, showcase new products and advertise upcoming sales with branded and personalized emails. 
    • Discounts: Provide free shipping or create custom coupon programs by setting discount percentage, expiration date and the number of coupons available. Additionally, design and generate custom gift cards to increase engagement and build brand awareness. 
    • Shopping Cart: Provide customers with a fully integrated shopping cart and a secure checkout experience. They can safely navigate and shop with a 128-bit encrypted connection and an SSL certificate. 
    • Cart Recovery: Recapture tentative shoppers that abandoned their carts or dropped out of the checkout process via timely automated reminders and personalized messages. 
    • Site Search: Maximize inventory exposure and create more buying opportunities by providing customers with filtered product searches to expedite the selection process. 
  • Mobile Application: Customize the website, receive real-time site analytics, edit offline and save and sync work across all devices with with apps for Android and iOS. 
  • Analytics: Track store performance, online traffic, technical SEO metrics and engagement. Fine-tune email campaigns, identify top products and streamline promotions from a unified dashboard to support growth ambitions. 
  • App Center: Choose from various apps to build a complete solution for website management. Available apps can improve search ranking and set up sales channels, CRM, auditing, packaging and shipping, and more. 
WooCommerce
WooCommerce
Start Price
$25
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked WooCommerce

WooCommerce facilitates eCommerce on any WordPress website. It’s a popular solution among users for its flexibility and ease of implementation. The plugin is easy to install and use without complicated coding. The basic plugin is free but only provides essential eCommerce features. Advanced modules like data analytics, email marketing, CRM and more are available as paid extensions.

Reviews noted that heavier websites with many extensions tend to work slow. So for users without WordPress and coding experience, it’s tough to maintain the website. In conclusion, WooCommerce is a robust solution that businesses of any type can mold based on their needs and scale with adequate technical expertise.

Pros & Cons

  • Flexibility and Customization: It’s a flexible platform that offers various customizations through plugins and add-ons, according to 94% of users mentioning this element.
  • Ideal for WordPress: Users can add essential eCommerce features to any website on WordPress, as noted by 97% of reviews on this aspect.
  • Implementation: According to 96% of reviews on implementation, it’s easy to implement the software without in-depth technical expertise.
  • Training: A vast amount of tutorials are available from vendors and external user bases, according to 100% of reviews on training.
  • Costs: It’s a cheaper option than its competitors, as noted by 85% of users mentioning pricing.
  • Advanced Features: Most of the advanced eCommerce features are only available as paid plugins, according to all the reviews on this aspect.
  • Website Performance: More plugins can affect the website’s speed and performance, as mentioned by 90% of reviews on website functioning.

Key Features

  • Online Store: Setup an online store and personalize its design and layout through “Storefront.” Or integrate into a WordPress website for a nestable grid system, enhanced SEO performance and innovative design templates. 
  • Content Creation: Display products and content in a modular way, adding different categories like bestsellers, top-rated, on-sale and more, and post them anywhere on the site. Leverage the Wooslider integration to create interactive slideshows and transitions to boost engagement. 
  • Payment Processing: Streamline the checkout process, monitor charges, accept multiple currencies, handle disputes and track deposits from a unified dashboard. Customers can save their credit card details and set up recurring payments for subscriptions or memberships. 
  • Order Management System: Update products, fulfill orders and track shipment from the dashboard. Track orders throughout the fulfillment process using status bars. 
  • Shipping: Execute fulfillment from the dashboard with a built-in shipping module. Print labels and drop off packages without waiting in a queue at the post office. Leverage DHL and USPS integrations to display prices and charge customers directly during checkout. 
  • Product Information Management: Sell physical products, catalog appointments or offer members-only digital content. Let customers choose from product variations, subscription options, single items or bundle variations. 
  • Integrations: Enhance the online store with plugins and extensions from the WooCommerce Marketplace to add design, marketing, point of sale, accounting, tax management capabilities and more. 
  • Marketing: Increase brand visibility and boost engagement: 
    • Listings: Manage product listings on all major marketplaces, including Facebook Ads, Google Listings, Amazon and more. 
    • Email Marketing: Generate customized emails to recover abandoned carts and automate campaigns. 
    • Discounts: Drive repeat sales and increase customer loyalty with customizable coupons, redeemable points and rewards, and gifts upon direct purchase. 
  • Global Audience: Cater to customers from across the globe with multilingual content and easy currency exchange. Supports 24 major languages and all major currencies. 
  • REST API: Gain complete control of the online store with a flexible and scalable API solution conforming to the constraints of the REST architecture. 
  • Mobile App: Use the app for Android and IOS to create, edit and publish products, receive real-time notifications and alerts, manage orders from purchase to fulfillment, track statistics and switch between sites in case of multiple stores. 
  • Jetpack: Secure the site with automated malware screening, authenticated customer logins and brute force attack prevention. Maintain a backup of sales data and monitor insights on orders, trends and traffic. 
BigCommerce
BigCommerce
Start Price
$29.95
Monthly
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request Pricing Request Demo

Why We Picked BigCommerce

During testing, I noticed right off the bat that BigCommerce is a feature-rich platform that needs a lot of customization to fit my exact needs. Plus, there aren’t guided onboarding experiences, making implementation time-consuming. You must manually explore the interface to learn how to create or connect a domain, add products, set up fulfillment workflows, connect sales channels and design a storefront.

Secondly, what caught my eye was the platform's speed and operability. BigCommerce boasts a 99% website uptime, and I could see why. It automatically optimizes images, minimizes HTTP requests and uses browser cache to identify customers. Also, a global content delivery network allows visitors worldwide to view your site from the nearest server.

I loved how intuitive it is to connect and manage sales channels using BigCommerce. You can set up differentiated experiences for each channel using dynamic pricing, multiple product views, product swatches and bulk pricing tools. A robust customer segmentation module automatically groups similar customer personas based on your rules and helps design personalized experiences.

The storefront editor uniquely lets you design a carousel for the website header. However, I didn’t like anything else about the storefront editor. It has limited free themes, and paid ones are comparatively more expensive than what competitors offer. That said, the platform's headless architecture helps compensate by enabling custom storefront development.

My only point of contention was its unique pricing model. It charges a base subscription fee and puts a cap on your business's annual sales. If you exceed this cap, BigCommerce takes a percentage of your revenue based on your subscription plan.

Also, if you connect the platform to a POS, every POS sale is considered an eCommerce sale, leading to a higher sales volume and cost. This leads to complex TCO calculations for enterprises with large sales volumes and international customers.

Overall, BigCommerce is one of the best options for growing mid-sized businesses that can offset the platform cost with their sales revenue. It's flexible and can adapt to multiple business models, including B2B, D2C and dropshipping, with separate storefronts for each.

However, the platform can be overkill for small businesses and may require significant investments to unlock its full potential. That's because all the good features like multi-storefront, personalization, customer segmentation and headless architecture are available in higher-tier plans. Also, lower-tier plans are comparatively more expensive than those of competitors like Shopify.

Pros & Cons

  • Customer Service and Support: Many reviews highlight excellent customer service, with helpful and responsive support teams that are available via phone and chat.
  • Functionality and Customization: BigCommerce offers a robust set of features, including SEO tools, custom URLs and 301 redirects. It also has strong B2B capabilities, multi-store functionality and a variety of apps for integration.
  • Stability and Reliability: Users praise the platform for its reliability and lack of downtime.
  • Scalability: The platform is scalable, making it suitable for businesses of different sizes, including those looking to grow.
  • Cost and Hidden Fees: BigCommerce has tiered pricing based on sales volume. Many users feel this pricing model can be restrictive and costly, especially for businesses with significant brick-and-mortar sales.
  • Limited App Selection: Reviews mention a relatively limited selection of apps compared to competitors like Shopify. Users may need to rely on external developers for custom integrations.
  • Limited Free Website Themes: Some reviews have complained about the lack of free storefront themes and templates. Users have to pay for good templates on top of the subscription fee.

Key Features

  • Page Builder: You can create and edit web pages without coding. Or you can jump into built-in HTML, CSS and JavaScript for advanced customization. Plus, you can ensure your pages look great on mobile devices and use Stencil CLI for in-depth development.
  • PunchOut: BigCommerce makes it easy to create a unique checkout experience for customers. You can either use their server-to-server checkout API or the PunchOut2GO solution.
Magento
Magento
Company Size
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Deployment
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Platform
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Key Features

  • Page Builder: Enhance customers’ shopping experience with an intuitive professional web page. Save time with in-line editing, reusable dynamic blocks and templates for design and content. Engage shoppers with rich and up-to-date content. Customize pages to match the business brand with flexible layouts and a drag-and-drop content management interface. 
  • Live Search: Leverage Adobe Sensei AI and real-time data to provide shoppers with highly personalized search results. Modify search queries based on KPIs, reduce manual inputs with AI-supported workflows, and offer accurate results to shoppers with suggestions on each keystroke and flexible synonyms. Open API and GraphQL coverage allow for headless content delivery. 
  • Order Management: Create seamless cross-channel experiences amongst multiple brands, sites, stores and warehouses. Track inventory across various channels, manage refunds, cancellations and back-orders, and provide customers with flexible options such as Buy-Online-and-Pick Up-in-Store (BOPIS). 
  • Progressive Web Application (PWA) Studio: Increase engagement, boost conversion rates and diversify revenue streams with a web application runnable on mobile and desktop. Design and launch the PWA seamlessly, leverage the Adobe Experience Manager or custom-build the front-end experience, and save money on hosting costs. 
  • Product Recommendation: Automatically analyze customers’ shopping behavior with AI-fueled algorithms and offer personalized recommendations. Eliminate page tagging and manual analysis. Exclusive to merchants signed up with Adobe Commerce. 
  • Amazon Sales Channel: Sync inventory, product catalogs and pricing to the Amazon marketplace, and seamlessly sell and distribute products from the dashboard. Self-deliver products or use Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) to get orders into customers’ hands. Automate intelligent repricing of Amazon listings to win the buy-box position and offer tiered pricing to other businesses. 
  • Shipping:  Integrate storefronts with ShopRunner, an e-commerce platform and a FedEx subsidiary, to better manage shipping and logistics. Offer customers two-day shipping, easy product return processes backed by FedEx, and storage for multiple forms of billing and shipping information. 
  • Financing: Leverage partnership with Wayflyer, a funding platform, to generate revenue-based financing as needed. Receive offers based on performance and obtain the money within one to two business days. Receive analytics-driven investment recommendations to improve sales and scale business. 
  • Magento Marketplace: Discover thousands of free and premium extensions to streamline business processes. Install extensions to help with customer support, payment and security, marketing, accounting, reporting, site optimization and more. 
Big Cartel
Big Cartel
Start Price
$12
Monthly, Freemium
Company Size
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Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
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Why We Picked Big Cartel

Big Cartel has been making waves in the eCommerce world, but like any platform, it has its fans and its critics. Users who dig Big Cartel often point to its user-friendliness and affordability as major pluses. It's a great starting point for small businesses and artists who want to get their online stores up and running without breaking the bank or getting bogged down in technical complexities. However, some users find Big Cartel's features a bit too basic, especially compared to more robust platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce. If you're looking for advanced marketing tools, extensive customization options, or top-tier customer support, Big Cartel might leave you wanting more. Ultimately, Big Cartel is a solid choice for those who prioritize simplicity and affordability, but if you need a platform that can scale with your business, you might want to explore other options.

"Big Cartel: the perfect platform for your big dreams." Whether you're an artist selling handmade crafts or a musician hawking merch, Big Cartel provides a straightforward way to turn your passion into profit. Just remember, as your business grows, you might need to upgrade to a platform with more bells and whistles.

Pros & Cons

  • Simple Store Setup: Big Cartel is known for its straightforward and user-friendly interface, making it easy for users to set up their online stores quickly, even with limited technical expertise.
  • Free Plan Availability: The platform offers a free plan that allows users to sell up to five products, making it an attractive option for individuals or small businesses starting with a limited budget or inventory.
  • Affordable Paid Plans: Big Cartel's paid plans are generally considered affordable compared to other eCommerce platforms, providing scalability for growing businesses without breaking the bank.
  • Focus on Artists and Makers: Big Cartel caters specifically to artists, crafters, and independent creators, offering features and tools tailored to their needs, such as customizable themes and the ability to sell digital products.
  • Limited Design Flexibility: The platform's design options can feel restrictive for users seeking extensive customization, especially when compared to other platforms that offer a wider range of themes and more advanced design tools.
  • Feature Limitations: Big Cartel may not be the best fit for businesses with complex needs, as it lacks certain features commonly found in other eCommerce platforms, such as abandoned cart recovery, detailed analytics, and extensive marketing tools.
  • Scalability Challenges: While suitable for smaller stores or those just starting out, Big Cartel may not be the best choice for rapidly growing businesses due to limitations in product variations, inventory management, and order processing capabilities.

Key Features

  • Professional Website: Build and design a niche standalone website to create product USPs. Personalize web pages and add business branding through design templates or editing source code with the HTML and CSS editor. Websites are compatible with both mobile and PC. Host sites on the vendor’s domain or use a custom domain, available with paid plans. 
  • Inventory Management: Keep track of sold units, add new products, supply products with descriptions and photos, and receive notifications when a product is about to go out of stock. Available with paid plans. 
  • Order Management: Send confirmation emails after purchases. Arrange shipping, print shipping labels, track orders and bulk export order history to a CSV file from a unified dashboard. 
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Provide targeted product descriptions, collect inbound links and receive expert advice on optimizing search engine results. 
  • Discounts: Provide discounts on the checkout page to boost customer retention and improve loyalty. 
  • Analytics: Track monthly sales, visitor statistics, conversion rates and more from the analytics dashboard. Leverage integrations with third-party applications for in-depth analysis, available with paid plans.  
  • Mobile App: Access free mobile apps to streamline workflows and increase efficiency. Available apps assist in custom printing, social media marketing, site analytics, customer support, shipping management and more.  
  • Payment Processing: Choose between PayPal and Stripe to provide customers with a one-touch checkout and payment point on the website. Additionally, utilize the mobile application and a card swiper to accept in-person payments, without incurring additional processing fees. 
  • Integrations: Leverage partnership with Zapier to facilitate connections with over 1,000 third-party solutions like Google Analytics, Facebook Store, Instagram, Pulley, Mailchimp and more, available at a cost. 
Sell On Amazon
Sell On Amazon
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Key Features

  • Listing: Provide the product category, brand name, features, specifications, images and pricing. Register business brands with Amazon Brand Registry to gain better control over product pages. Hire professionals from Service Provider Network (SPN) to create better performing listings. 
  • Packaging and Shipping: Handle order fulfillment, packaging and shipping through any one of the following schemes:  
    • Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA): Once the order is placed, the vendor takes charge of storing, packing and shipping products. Businesses leveraging FBA will have increased visibility of products and higher chances of winning the “Buy Box.” 
    • Easy Ship: Store and pack products after order placement while the vendor takes charge of shipping. Enable customers to pay on delivery and track their order information. 
    • Self Ship: Take charge of storing, packing and shipping orders. Hire third-party courier services or use personal delivery associates, and set personalized shipping prices. 
  • Marketing: Target relevant customers with focused ads through the “Sponsored Products” module. Optimize advertisement to land products on the first page of search results — bid for each ad and pay per click. 
  • Discounts: Boost sales by offering exclusive discounts with the following: 
    • Automated Pricing: Retain a competitive edge by setting rules to automatically adjust product prices based on competition and market trends. 
    • Coupons: Create special offers through coupons to boost sales and customer loyalty. 
    • Deals: Offer limited period promotional offers and increase inventory visibility. 
  • Seller Dashboard: Monitor customer feedback, update inventory accordingly and interact with customer reviews from the dashboard. Reduce the frequency of receiving returns and negative feedback, and optimize profitability. 
  • Selling Programs: Access different programs to target specific markets and grow business: 
    • Suppliers and Wholesalers: Sell in bulk to businesses across the globe with Amazon Business. Set bulk purchase prices and utilize input tax credit, shipping and packaging support. 
    • Startups and MSME: Gain guidance and sales support to grow a customer base and build brand recognition with Amazon Launchpad. Protect brands against abuse and create a trusted experience for customers. 
  • Mobile Application: Monitor inventory, pricing alerts, business performance and account health with the app. Research and respond to customer feedback and receive support options anytime, from anywhere. 
  • Payment: Get paid securely within seven days of order delivery, including pay-on-delivery orders. View deposited balance and receive tips to maximize profit through the Seller Central account. 
  • Integrations: Discover apps that help research products, automate pricing, fill out tax forms and build custom reports through the Marketplace Appstore. Additionally, partner with third-party service providers for listing, accounting, marketing and more through the Service Provider Network (SPN). 

COMPARE THE BEST Shopping Cart Software

Select up to 2 Products from the list below to compare

 
Product
Score
i
SelectHub’s Analyst Rating is based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Shopping Cart Software, user reviews, and our own crowd-sourced data from our free software selection platform. Scores are periodically updated via ongoing selection projects and user activity within our platform.
Start Price
Free Trial
Company Size
Deployment
Platform
Logo
PayPal
$0.30
Per Transaction, 5.4% Flat Rate
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
PayPal
Shopify
$29
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Shopify
Wix
$16
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Wix
SquareSpace
$16
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
SquareSpace
Weebly
$10
Monthly, Freemium
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Weebly
WooCommerce
$25
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
WooCommerce
BigCommerce
$29.95
Monthly
Yes
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
BigCommerce
Magento
Still gathering data
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Magento
Big Cartel
$12
Monthly, Freemium
No
Small Medium Large
Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Big Cartel
Sell On Amazon
Still gathering data
No
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Cloud On-Premise
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Sell On Amazon

All Shopping Cart Software (31 found)

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SAP Commerce Cloud

by SAP America
SAP Commerce Cloud
SAP Commerce Cloud helps online businesses manage omnichannel commerce. It enables enterprises to deliver personalized customer experiences from acquisition to retention and unify every touchpoint, including online, social media, mobile, POS and more.Its features include omnichannel marketing, product information, order and customer experience management, analytics, and more. Use the headless architecture to customize the backend and add required functionalities through plug-and-play integrations.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$1,000 or more
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
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Demo Pricing

Zen Cart

by Zen Ventures
Zen Cart
Zen Cart is a well-known software product that ranks 92 among all eCommerce Platforms according to our research analysts and 12 crowd-sourced reviews from 1 source. Starting from $0, Zen Cart is priced initially at no cost and is most suitable for small-to-mid-sized businesses with less than 1000 employees. Zen Cart can be deployed on-premise and is accessible from a limited set of platforms including Windows and Linux devices. Similar alternatives to Zen Cart include Aimeos, BaseLinker and eWards.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
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Unilog

by Unilog
Unilog
Unilog is a flexible, cloud-based platform designed specifically for mid-market B2B distributors, manufacturers and wholesalers looking to sell online. It digitizes the entire commerce process from customers setting up business accounts to final delivery.Its core components include a website builder, product information management (PIM), content management system (CMS), site search analytics, event management and a mobile app. It helps businesses enrich product catalogs and syndicate on multiple listing sites.
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
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Adobe Commerce

by Adobe
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce is an end-to-end platform for creating digital storefronts, managing catalogs, setting up fulfillment workflows, and personalizing shopper experiences based on location, preferences, and navigation history. It supports all the major eCommerce business models, including B2B, D2C, dropshipping and B2C.It provides tools for catalog management, inventory control, order processing and customer management. Businesses can efficiently organize their product information, track stock levels, handle orders and maintain detailed customer records. The platform also offers dynamic pricing and promotions, allowing businesses to implement various pricing strategies and create targeted marketing campaigns.One of its key strengths is the ability to handle complex B2B scenarios. It supports features like multi-tier pricing, customer-specific catalogs and complex approval workflows. Additionally, the platform offers tools for quote management, contract management and purchase order processing, making it suitable for businesses dealing with large-scale transactions and multiple buyers.The platform also supports personalization and customer experience optimization. It offers data analytics to provide insights into customer behavior, allowing businesses to tailor product recommendations, promotions and content to individual customers. Integration with other Adobe Experience Cloud solutions enables a holistic view of the customer journey, helping deliver consistent experiences across different channels.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$1,000 or more
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
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Snipcart

by Snipcart
Snipcart
Snipcart is a promising application that ranks 25 among all Shopping Cart Software according to our research analysts and 6 crowd-sourced reviews from 1 source. Starting from $0, Snipcart is priced at no cost when starting and is most advisable for companies on the small side. Snipcart can be deployed in the cloud. Similar alternatives to Snipcart include Weebly, PayPal and Zen Cart.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

ShopSite

by ShopSite
ShopSite
ShopSite is a promising software product that ranks 26 among all Shopping Cart Software according to our research analysts and 2 crowd-sourced reviews from 1 source. Starting from $6, ShopSite is priced below average and is most fitting for businesses on the small or medium side. ShopSite can be deployed online. Similar alternatives to ShopSite include WP EasyCart, 1ShoppingCart and SunShop.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
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Pinnacle Cart

by Pinnacle Cart, Inc
Pinnacle Cart
PinnacleCart is a shopping platform that helps businesses increase sales, create mobile-friendly websites and cater to a global audience. It includes inventory tracking, over 25 payment gateways, Quickbook integration, credit card storage, shipping management and real-time tax calculations. Users can leverage customer and order management, SEO and marketing modules, reporting, PCI and PA-DSS compliance, password encryption, and fraud detection.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
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Oracle Commerce

by Oracle America
Oracle Commerce
Oracle Commerce offers a comprehensive suite of tools for complex B2B buying processes, such as multi-step approvals, contract pricing and bulk ordering. One of its key strengths is the ability to handle complex product catalogs and pricing structures. It can manage various products, variants and configurations, ensuring accurate product information and pricing across all sales channels.Additionally, the platform has robust order management tools, including complex order types, subscriptions and returns. This feature is invaluable for B2B businesses as they often deal with large and customized orders that require precision handling.Businesses can set up self-service portals for clients and use account management tools to deliver personalized shopping experiences that mimic the intuitiveness of B2C customer journeys. They can create tailored product recommendations, offer personalized pricing and provide dedicated support channels for different customer segments.Oracle Commerce is built on a scalable and flexible architecture to adapt to changing market conditions and customer demands. It offers a range of deployment options, including on-premise, cloud-based and hybrid, helping meet specific IT infrastructure requirements.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$1,000 or more
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

Shop Builder

by C A H M
Shop Builder
Shop Builder is an up-and-coming software solution that ranks 29 among all Shopping Cart Software according to our research analysts. Starting from $120, Shop Builder is priced less than most others. Shop Builder can be deployed in the cloud. Similar alternatives to Shop Builder include WP EasyCart, ShopSite and 1ShoppingCart.
Cost Breakdown
$100 - $500
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

AbanteCart

by AbanteCart
AbanteCart
AbanteCart is a rising software platform that ranks 164 among all eCommerce Platforms according to our research analysts and 278 crowd-sourced reviews from 2 sources. Starting from $0, AbanteCart is priced free of charge to start, commonly offers a free trial and is most advisable for large corporations. AbanteCart can be deployed online and on-premise and is accessible from a limited number of platforms including Windows devices. Similar alternatives to AbanteCart include Aimeos, SixBit Software and eWards.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
Demo Pricing

WP EasyCart

by Level 4 Development
WP EasyCart
WP EasyCart is a promising software application that ranks 31 among all Shopping Cart Software according to our research analysts and 3 crowd-sourced reviews from 1 source. Starting from $89, WP EasyCart is priced more economically, has offered a free trial in the past and is most advisable for companies on the smaller side. WP EasyCart can be deployed in the cloud and on-premise and is accessible from a limited set of platforms including Windows and Linux devices. Similar alternatives to WP EasyCart include 1ShoppingCart, Volusion and Ecwid.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
Company Size
Small Medium Large
Deployment
Cloud On-Premise
Platform
Mac Windows Linux Chromebook Android
Request with no obligation:
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Buyer's Guide

Shopping Cart Software Is All About Streamlining Customer Experience From Entry To Checkout In An Online Store

By Riddhiman Roy, Market Analyst at SelectHub

Shopping Cart Software BG Intro

Gone are the days of custom-building bespoke checkout systems to facilitate payment processing and shipping on a website. Today, shopping cart software is a one-stop shop for converting blogs and normal websites into eCommerce storefronts. With a plethora of plug-and-play solutions available, website owners can effortlessly integrate a catalog, design checkout pages, accept payments and track shipping.

Amidst the abundance of options, blindly opting for the top Google recommendation can lead to a misfit solution that results in complicated workflows, bad customer experiences and operational breakdowns. To avoid such pitfalls, in this article, we’ll explore the world of shopping cart software and discuss software comparison strategies that’ll help you make an informed decision and ensure a streamlined shopping experience.

Executive Summary

  • Shopping cart software allows customers to save products on a merchant site and smoothly transit them through payment, invoicing and shipping.
  • Businesses can track customers’ cart data and improve their marketing efforts. They can deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences through intelligent suggestions and unique discounts.
  • Numerous software options are available with varying features, pricing modes and deployment options, so it’s advisable to have a comprehensive comparison strategy before starting the selection process.
  • Start an internal conversation within your organization to recognize business-specific requirements and make sure to ask plenty of questions while comparing vendors.
What This Guide Covers:

What Is Shopping Cart Software?

Shopping cart software is an eCommerce tool that facilitates online transactions between website visitors and merchants. You can install these solutions to a normal blog or website to add eCommerce functionalities such as product catalogs, checkout pages and shipping trackers. These tools allow customers to add items to a cart, edit the cart list and transition to a checkout page.

You can connect the system with your preferred gateway to accept payments and offer customers a bill breakdown. Define rules to relay order information to concerned parties upon checkout for smooth fulfillment workflows.

Shopping Cart Software Categories

Shopping carts are useful for most business types and sizes, whether you’re selling one or two items or cataloging thousands of products. Of course, the type of software used in both cases will differ.

Types of Shopping Carts

There are various types of shopping cart solutions available based on the deployment mode and the number of products you’re selling:

Shopping Cart Software Types

Deployment
  • Fully-Hosted: Also known as SaaS shopping carts, these solutions require minimal setup costs and offer access for a monthly or yearly subscription fee. The vendor hosts the platform on a proprietary server, maintains software architecture and allows you to use the solution via the cloud. Examples include Shopify, Ecwid and Optimizely.
  • Licensed: These solutions require you to purchase the software license and deploy it on on-premise servers. You have maximum control over software architecture and can make unlimited customizations to fit your operations. But you need adequate IT infrastructure and expertise to host these solutions. Common examples are Adobe Commerce Cloud and BigCommerce.
  • Open-Source: Similar to licensed shopping carts, these solutions require you to host the platform on on-premise servers. But the only difference is that the software license is free. You can download the software and only pay for IT infrastructure maintenance. Examples include WooCommerce and Magento.
Catalog Size
  • Add-Ons: These are shopping cart widgets, plugins or add-ons that you can add to a site for eCommerce capabilities. They allow you to sell a handful of products, design catalogs and handle inventory. Typically, you need to upgrade to a higher pricing plan if you want to expand your catalog. Examples include Ecwid, Big Cartel and WooCommerce.
  • Ecommerce Platforms: These solutions span a whole spectrum of running an online store, from site designing, inventory management and product listings to payment processing, tax computing, and tracking and fulfilling orders. They come with a built-in shopping cart solution. Examples include Magento, Shopify and BigCommerce.

How Does It Work?

To better understand, let’s look at the impact of shopping cart software on a typical buyer’s journey in your store.

  • Customers arrive at the online store and can easily add desired items to their virtual shopping cart with a click.
  • Shopping cart software provides real-time inventory updates, ensuring customers can view accurate product availability.
  • Customers can review and edit their cart contents before proceeding to checkout, minimizing errors and buyer’s remorse.
  • During checkout, the software securely processes payments, offering various payment options, including credit cards, digital wallets and more.
  • Automatic tax calculations, discounts and shipping costs ensure transparent and accurate pricing.
  • The software generates order confirmation and shipping notifications, informing customers about their purchase’s progress.
  • Advanced tracking capabilities allow customers to monitor shipping progress until the package arrives at their doorstep.
  • Shopping cart software fosters a positive post-purchase experience by providing easy returns and customer support options, encouraging repeat business and brand loyalty.

Primary Benefits

Benefits of Shopping Cart Software

Create a Secure Environment

The importance of a safe payment gateway in eCommerce cannot be understated. Customers don’t prefer to shop from a store with a dodgy payment gateway. This is where shopping cart software can shine. It creates a PCI-compliant checkout page, offers flexible payment options and securely stores customer payment information without redirecting them to external sites.

Manage Databases

Shopping cart software is a central repository of valuable customer data that captures their behavior, navigation, viewed products and final purchase information. This data helps businesses reveal patterns and realize trends in real time.

Improve Customer Experience

Businesses can recognize customers’ unique choices and preferences by tracking their online trail from entry to checkout. It helps you track a customer’s preference and offer personalized journeys, suggestions and recommendations. Customers can save items in their carts for future checkouts, store payment information for recurring purchases and receive personalized offers and shipping charges.

Enhance Marketing Efforts

Most solutions come with advanced marketing features to help retain existing customers and acquire new ones. Receive notifications when customers abandon their carts and send recovery emails with discounts and promo codes to entice them to finish the purchase.

Additionally, you can use data insights to discover current and upcoming trends and aggressively pursue your audience through targeted campaigns.

Increase Customer Reviews

Shopping cart software helps businesses stay in touch with their customers and audience. You can embed feedback forms on checkout pages and acquire customer reviews to enhance products and listings and improve your business offerings.

Key Features & Functionality

There are various software in the market with different features, catering to various business types and sizes. Here are some of the features necessary to run and improve an eCommerce channel:

Administration Panel

You can leverage an intuitive panel to categorize product information and customer data and set role-based access permissions for each team member. The customizable dashboard helps showcase personalized metrics for better monitoring of business processes.
Product Catalogs

Create information-rich product catalogs coupled with multimedia elements. Customers can resize, zoom or save a product image from listings. It offers easy search capabilities to expedite the product selection process.
Filters

Add attributes to products and group similar ones to help customers identify their ideal items. It provides intuitive filters to shortlist products according to their characteristics and quickly arrive at a preferred virtual destination. For example, grouping bicycles with their spare parts can help customers with a flat tire find desired products online.
Customer Identification

Identify and record unique cart details and items stored by automatically transmitting cookies to every customers’ browser, registering temporary IP numbers and generating cart numbers appended to each URL visited. This way, businesses can keep each customers’ cart separate and identify returning customers and their previous experiences. Use this feature to ramp up marketing efforts and upsell to returning buyers.
Shipping and Tax Calculator

Shipping calculations have become ever more sophisticated with time. Your cart should allow you to calculate shipping based on personal parameters like weight or sales total or a fixed shipping price for all products. You can partner with preferred shipping labels and handle surcharges on top of the shipper’s estimate.

Calculate state-specific tax structures for each item and provide a consolidated bill with product prices, shipping charges and tax costs.
Payment Processing

You can process credit and debit cards, sync with popular payment gateways and streamline billing and invoicing to keep buyers updated on their order status. This is one of the most sought-after features that provides a secure environment for customers to spend their money.

It’s important to select a payment gateway before deciding on your shopping cart software because many gateways are not compatible with every system in the market.
Marketing

Although more of an advanced feature, it’s beneficial to have a marketing suite built-in or integrated with a shopping cart solution. You can post products on social media and manage every listing from a dashboard. Automate order confirmation emails and send recovery emails to customers who abandoned their carts.

Upsell products to returning customers with special deals, discounts and promo codes. You can also set up seasonal sales through social media marketing.
Chat Support

There are many benefits of live chat support in eCommerce, such as faster responses, chat documentation and personalized customer experiences. Some solutions offer a flexible API or open-source coding that integrates with CRM tools to store customer data and respond to questions from a dashboard.
Reporting and Analytics

Most solutions offer robust accounting capabilities that automate bookkeeping and ledger maintenance. But to make sense of collected data, it’s vital to have in-depth reporting features.

Integrating popular analytics modules like Google Analytics helps managers understand business operations and identify new opportunities.

Software Comparison Strategy

The global shopping cart software market is expected to grow at a 27.48% CAGR and reach $9.74 billion in global valuation by 2030. With this growth, there’s an abundance of options in the market, making it trickier to find the perfect solution that fits your operations and doesn’t complicate workflows.

Before kickstarting the buying process, it’s crucial to make a comprehensive list of your business requirements. Consult your team members and narrow down your must-have and good-to-have features to sift through a variety of options available. Here are a few factors you should consider when devising an eCommerce requirements checklist:

  • Deployment: SaaS solutions are more convenient but offer limited customizations, while on-premise deployment gives you control over the software architecture but requires you to host and maintain the software. Choose a deployment mode based on your business’s needs, IT expertise and infrastructure.
  • Website building: If you want a new eCommerce website, make sure that the software offers website hosting, domain registrations and website designing tools. If you already have a website, consider eCommerce add-ons and widgets for a plug-and-play shopping cart experience.
  • Inventory Management: It’s important to ensure that the software can handle your entire catalog and track inventory across warehouses and fulfillment centers.
  • Integrations: Look for a platform that can connect with your existing software stack and other potential modules your business can use in the future. It’s useful to have a connected tech stack as it helps avoid data silos, double entries and manual errors.
  • Team member onboarding: Find a platform that helps onboard your entire team comfortably. Businesses with more than 10 team members must look for solutions that offer adequate HR tools to streamline and optimize workforce management.
  • Support and documentation: Lastly, keep an eye out for product documentation, as it can help you customize and integrate the software’s source code. You should opt for a vendor with sufficient support and documentation based on your business’s IT expertise and personnel.

The next step is to list all popular and established vendors and consult other companies and colleagues using shopping cart software for opinions and recommendations. Knowing what software your peers in the industry use can help narrow down your choices. You can check social media forums to get insights into a particular solution.

Finally, you need to gain first-hand experience by accessing free trials or requesting demos, eBooks, webinars and other informational tools from vendors to understand how the software works.

Cost & Pricing Considerations

The cost of shopping cart software primarily depends on the number of products you’re selling and desired features. The overall cost can vary between $5 to $200 monthly for a fully-hosted shopping cart solution.

New entrepreneurs and small businesses can also go for free shopping cart software like Ecwid and Big Cartel that allow you to sell up to five products indefinitely at no cost. You only need to pay the payment gateway’s processing fee, and you’re good to sell.

Alternatively, you can download free open-source software like PrestaShop and WooCommerce to design robust and personalized shopping cart solutions for your business from scratch. But this option requires you to pay for software and website hosting and demands in-depth coding knowledge to mold the source code.

Other than that, a few factors that can affect the cost of shopping cart software are:

  • Sales channel integration
  • Social media integration
  • Customer relationship management
  • Priority Support
  • Multi-language website translations
  • Tax, shipping and ETA calculators
  • Reviews and feedback management
  • Content management modules

Having a budget ready is important before investing in shopping cart software. Consider factors such as deployment option, migration cost, the total cost of ownership and recurring maintenance charges while preparing your budget. Once your budget is ready, compare it with your requirements list and strike out every option not providing the right features within the specified cost.

Most Popular Shopping Cart Software

To give you a starting point in your hunt for an ideal shopping cart software, we’ve compiled a list of some popular solutions in the market.

Shopify

Shopify is a global eCommerce platform that allows you to set up shops and sell worldwide. It helps design branded professional websites and provides a reliable built-in shopping cart solution. You can securely accept credit and debit cards without forcing customers to leave the homepage during checkout.

Track every customer’s cart, store data in a centralized library and send recovery emails for abandoned carts. The solution is Level 1 PCI compliant and uses 256-bit SSL certificates to keep order details safe.

Shopify

Fred Jourdain’s eCommerce site for selling his art was created on Shopify. Source

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is an enterprise eCommerce solution that supports both on-premise and cloud deployment. It has a built-in shopping cart that doesn’t charge transaction fees and offers pre-negotiated PayPal payment processing rates, helping you improve profit margins while scaling your business. You can sell to an international audience by translating storefronts to multiple languages, displaying exchange rates and accepting worldwide currencies.

You can use mobile-optimized templates to design sites and use the built-in SEO module to improve rankings across search engines. It offers an abandoned cart recovery module that automatically sends recovery emails to customers abandoning their carts. BigCommerce also allows you access to the proprietary API to build your own shopping cart solution from the ground up.

BigCommerce

Use customizable templates to design appealing storefronts. Source

Adobe Commerce

Adobe Commerce is an all-in-one, fully-hosted headless eCommerce solution. It lets you design multiple bespoke landing pages and storefronts for different web-browsing devices while connecting them to a centralized backend for easy management.

You can also use the native AI, Adobe Sensei, to analyze trends, gain insights on how to boost performance, offer personalized suggestions to customers based on past navigation and more. Its shopping cart allows you to upsell or cross-sell items by displaying banners such as “people also search for” or “customers who bought X also bought Y.”

Adobe Commerce

Define attributes to create rich catalogs and assign multiple multimedia elements to product pages. Source

 

 

Questions To Ask

Use these questions as a starting point for internal conversations:

  • How many team members would need onboarding?
  • How big is your target audience, and would you need multilingual support?
  • What level of reportage does your company need?
  • How many eCommerce channels does your company market its products on?
  • Which existing software requires integration with your new shopping cart solution?

Use these questions as a starting point for conversations with vendors:

Shopping Cart software Key Questions To Ask

  • Can the software handle your entire inventory?
  • Does it support omnichannel marketing?
  • What are the technical support options available?
  • Is training and onboarding support provided?
  • Can it integrate with the existing software stack?

Next Steps

Choosing the right shopping cart software for your business requires careful analysis. Otherwise, it’s easy to get stuck with generic software that does more harm than good. You must carefully analyze your business requirements, implementation goals and overall budget before making the final purchase.

To make it simpler, you can use our free comparison report that lets you analyze the industry’s leading shopping cart solutions to find the perfect one for your business! So what’re you waiting for? Take your eCommerce game to the next level today. Happy selecting!

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Additional Resources

About The Contributors

The following expert team members are responsible for creating, reviewing, and fact checking the accuracy of this content.

Riddhiman
By Riddhiman Roy
Technical Content Writer
As a Senior Technical Content Writer at SelectHub, Riddhiman Roy delivers content about eCommerce, legal, employee scheduling, procurement, hotel management and property management software. He holds a Master's in multimedia journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. When he is not fighting huge-article-ogres and evil Grammarly suggestions, you can find him in his natural habitat grooving to music and banging his drumkit.
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Pooja
Edited By Pooja Verma
Content Editor
Pooja Verma is a Content Editor and Senior Market Analyst at SelectHub, who writes and edits content for endpoint security, legal, CRM, fundraising software, eCommerce, and mental health software. She earned a literature degree from Miranda House, DU and also holds Master’s in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication in India. In her free time, you can spot her reading a book or binge-watching the latest web series and movies.
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