A website can sell any number of products and present them in a very smart and fashionable manner. However, the most important thing to the consumer is getting the goods they want in a timely manner. If a customer cannot even get through the purchase process without a problem, he or she will likely move on to another website.

When an online merchant is in need of a vb.net shopping cart for their website, he or she can usually find their solution with an online storefront provider. These types of service providers are highly familiar with the different compatible programming platforms and languages. By setting things up correctly from the beginning, a merchant has a better chance of building and keeping a consistent customer base.

For the individual just starting out, many of these aspects can seem rather confusing and intimidating. However, with a little bit of research and the willingness to ask questions and learn, many find their fears unfounded. A good storefront service provider typically offers various shopping cart programs that are very user friendly.

A user-friendly shopping cart program is a best bet for not only the customers but the online merchant as well. Even with the best of shopping cart programs, occasional errors can occur; nonetheless, the error should be easy to spot and easy to fix. This can mean having a shopping cart feature that is most reliable even with the occasional glitch.

Once a merchant gets the gist of using the vb.net shopping cart, he or she can do a number of other things that help their business. This can be anything from seeing daily average sales to what kind of credit card is used most often. Accurate accounting information is one of the most important aspects of any business, online or not.

A compatible shopping cart program that runs smoothly is also key for providing customers with a sense of safety while shopping on a site. Many customers have had the unfortunate experience of being double charged when a shopping cart feature halted or timed out in the middle of a transaction. Once this happens, a site often not only loses a customer but will also lose credibility.

As much as people like to shop on the Internet these days, many are just as wary of having their payment information stolen. A reliable shopping cart feature is the best way to build confidence and a solid reputation. This is especially true if the shopping cart program has many functions, such as cross selling, saved searches or shipping and tax calculators.

Along with being compatible with a website’s programming, a shopping cart also needs to fit the number of products being sold. A site that only sells one or two products will not need a program that is overly complex. This should be saved for the site that sells a vast and varied number of products.

Though there are many shopping cart types to choose from, the vb.net shopping cart provides yet another functional option. A good shopping cart program is compatible with many different payment types, from credit cards to online check payments. Giving website owners freedom to customize their sites can create just the confidence that leads to better sales.

As an initial step when it comes to comparing shopping cart software, there are some independent websites in operation today that provide in depth evaluations of different types of shopping cart software programs that are available and on the market today. By taking the time to review and consider the information and analysis that is available at these websites, you will be able to garner useful and necessary information that will aid you in determining which shopping cart software program will best meet your needs. Truly, these independent evaluations will be invaluable as you weigh and balance the pros and cons of different shopping cart software programs that are available on the market today.

Don’t rule out word of mouth. In this high tech age, many an Internet business owner overlooks the obvious. Take the time to discuss shopping cart software with the owners and operators of similarly situated Net based business enterprises. There is no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to selecting a shopping cart software application for your Internet business. If a particular kind of shopping cart software program has proven effective for a Net based business that is similar to your own the odds are great that the program will work well in your own set of circumstances.

When comparing shopping cart software it can be easy to “overkill” – to purchase a more expensive product than you really need. What you really need to focus on is finding a shopping cart software program that will grow with your business. In other words, you can make a more modest invest in the shopping cart software program today and then upgrade the program as your changing business needs demand into the future.

The solution is to use a Quickbooks integrated shopping cart.

Quickbooks shopping carts are among the most powerful and highly integrated shopping carts available in the market today. Quickbooks focused shopping cart solutions automate orders, item data, customers and payment. Thus they automatically synchronize items, orders, customers and payments between your storefront and your Quickbooks financials.

But, what if your shopping cart does not allow automatic integration?

Fortunately, Quickbooks allows you to import online transactions that were created in your shopping cart. A special file format called the IIF (Intuit Interchange Format) is produced by your shopping cart software and this can be integrated with your Quickbooks, without your having to re-key the information.

There are two kinds of shopping carts: shopping carts with built-in Quickbooks integration and shopping carts that need add-on software for Quickbooks integration.

Carts with built-in integration have buttons or links that enable you to generate files that can be put into Quickbooks, without the use of any additional software. A couple of mouse clicks and your online transactions are posted.

Using add-on software that bridges the gap between the shopping cart and Quickbooks is a complicated process. You will have to ensure that your add-on software is compatible both ways – with Quickbooks and your shopping cart program.

The most vital feature for integration, whether it is using in-built software or add-ons, is that the shopping cart should produce accurate and complete data. Quickbooks requires orders to be properly classified into the appropriate type of transaction. The items should match flawlessly for Quickbooks integration to work.

To make the entire process easy, you must choose a shopping cart software that allows easy, menu-driven installation, initialization and set-up of Quickbooks files. Your cart and/or add-on software should be able to handle large orders, if needed.

Quickbooks integration allows you to synch orders, items and customers easily. Since you don’t have to key-in entries, your inventory will always be accurate. Thus you can save precious time and energy – time that you should spend selling your products, instead of playing around with the numbers on your keyboard!

Keep in mind that while you are provided specific information about osCommerce Shopping Cart, nothing in this article should be construed as being an endorsement of osCommerce Shopping Cart. You need to do your own independent homework before making a decision to purchase any software application, including osCommerce Shopping Cart.

First of all, the osCommerce Shopping Cart has proven reliability time after time. As mentioned, it is a popular brand of shopping cart today. The history of a product is one of the best indications of its overall reliability and the osCommerce Shopping Cart has a solid track record thus far.

Second, the osCommerce Shopping Cart has proven to be quite adaptable in different types of settings. In other words, the osCommerce Shopping Cart has proven to be a good product whether or not you’ve got a small or a large retail operation on the Net. Adaptability is an important consideration particularly if you are starting or already involved in an Internet business that you hope will grow over time. You will want a shopping cart software program that will grow with your own business.

Third, the osCommerce Shopping Cart is accompanied with a reliable system of customer services and technical support. Because in so many ways the shopping cart program you select really will be the heart and soul of your business enterprise, it is important that you select a program that comes with the backing of outstanding customer service and technical support. Generally speaking, when it comes to customer service and technical support, osCommerce Shopping Cart has consistently obtained high marks.

You can use traditional methods to sell products such as direct mail, catalogs and advertising. However, if you have a great online presence, the entire world is your marketplace at a fraction of the cost of most traditional methods. To easily sell to this worldwide marketplace, you need a great shopping cart system.

Choosing a shopping cart system is perhaps the most important single decision you’ll make in your online marketing career.

This is because:

You’re stuck with the decision for a long time.

If you buy into a system that isn’t adequate, it can cost you money–big money- because it won’t maximize the amount of money spent by each visitor.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of off-the-shelf, free and alternative products out there vying for your money, time or both. And most of them are junk.

Don’t suffer like I did I learned the hard way. When I started on the Internet I couldn’t find a decent shopping cart program, so I took one that was highly recommended by my ISP (I now know the only reason they suggested it was because it made them the most money. They didn’t care if it was the best one for me or not). What a headache! The system wouldn’t do anything but take the order, but you had to have a PhD in computer science to work on it.

Here are 21 questions you absolutely, unfailingly must ask anyone trying to sell you a shopping cart. If you don’t hear positive answers to the majority of these questions, put your wallet back into your pocket and evaluate the next option. Don’t get stuck with a crappy shopping cart, even if they give it to you free.

If you have a poor shopping cart, get rid of it. I know that hurts, because you may have spent lots of time and money getting it going, but a bad one will cost you many thousands of dollars by waiting to replace it later rather than sooner.

Oh, and one more thing: if you hear the shopping cart programmer answer one of the questions below by saying, “Well, we could make it do that,” run away even faster, because you’re going to get stuck with a big custom programming bill with no guarantees that the cart is going to work the way you expected.

Every question below is very important when it comes to having a quality shopping cart system that gets more money out of the same number of visitors.

1. Will it calculate shipping and tax?

2. Does it handle specialized shipping like FedEx and UPS?

3. Will it automatically deliver hard goods and soft goods (e- books and other digital products) in the same transaction?

4. Does it offer customizable “Return to Shopping” pages without needing custom programming? This is important so you can send your customers to the most likely product they will buy next. Standard carts just send customers back to the main catalog, which forces them to search for related products. This is both irritating and time-consuming. Any delays in finding what they want could mean a lost sale, when they finally throw their hands up in disgust and move on to your competitor’s site.

5. Does it offer customizable “Thank You” pages based on what the customer just bought? These are pages where savvy marketers put affiliate links and other offers specifically related to the customer’s interests. When a customer clicks on one of these links and buys something from someone else, you get a commission.

6. Does it deliver receipt and confirmation e-mails automatically? The customer wants to know immediately that the order went through. If he or she is unsure, you are going to have to field many wasted e-mails and phone calls letting the customer know everything is OK.

7. Does it allow multiple order and dropship e-mails? In many cases, several different people in your organization and/or outside your organization need notice of an order. Again, you don’t want to have to do this manually.

8. Does it have a Web-based administration page so you can work on your cart from any computer that has Internet access?

9. Does it include encryption technology and a secure server? Many companies make a fortune by sucking you in with a cheap or free cart and then make money on selling you an overpriced secure server.

10. Does it deliver easy output to your accounting software? You want to be able to import and export data easily between the cart and whatever programs you have that need to share the customer and sales information.

11. Does it have its own associate/affiliate program or is it easily compatible with other major brands of associate software? An affiliate program lets other people promote and sell your products on their Web sites. You don’t pay them unless they sell something. When I tried to get an associate/affiliate program to work with my old cart, it cost me six months of down time and untold amounts of money lost because it wouldn’t work. The associate program people blamed the shopping cart people and vice versa. But ultimately I was left holding the bag.

12. Does it have integrated up-sell modules? The ability to offer more related products to customers making a purchase makes me a small fortune each month. We call it, “Do you want fries with that?” If you don’t have this ability, you are leaving many thousands of dollars on the table from people who would have spent more if your cart just gave them the chance.

13. Does it have an integrated sales and prospect database? In the old days I would have to print out orders and then retype them into ACT or some other database program. A good shopping cart system eliminates all this hassle and potential for error and gives you instant access to your sales reports and clients.

14. Does it have broadcast e-mail capability? Good shopping cart systems are able to manipulate your customer database instantly and send e-mails to any segment or sub-segment of your clients and handle unlimited e-mail magazines. Again, in the old days I would have to be genius enough to pick out segments of the database, export them to a file, import them into a mail program and then an hour later send the darn e-mail. Now this is all done in a few seconds.

15. Does it have mail merge capability? The e-mails sent are personalized to the recipients in any number of ways. Their names can be popped in to the subject line and in various portions of the body of the e-mail. You can merge “what they bought,” “when they bought,” “where they live” or just about anything that will make them feel the e-mail was just for them. Virtually all studies show that mail merge gets a much higher response than plain broadcast e-mail.

16. Can it handle coupons and other discounts? You can make a deal with Joe Blow that everyone coming from his Web site gets an automatic discount — either a percentage or dollar amount. This makes Joe look great to his visitors and makes more sales for you. Here’s a secret: Joe is your affiliate and makes money on the sale too, so he’s got a great incentive to keep your discounts and coupons in front of his visitors. Good shopping cart systems can automate all of this and also handle any quantity discounts you offer.

17. Can it work for multiple Web sites with no extra fees? When I first started I had to get a separate (and expensive) license for each site and a separate merchant account too. Not only was this a great deal of expense, the hassle with installation every time you wanted a new site to go up was enormous. Modern carts can sell bras on one site and bibles on another, and no one knows the difference. The carts run on their own servers so there is no expensive installation and set-up is immediate.

18. Does it have unlimited and fully integrated “sequential” autoresponders? This is one of the most powerful features when it comes to Internet marketing. This feature follows up automatically over and over again to your clients and prospects to provide them customer care and to sell them more products and services. You can even provide free or paid e-mail courses, and each part of the course is delivered automatically.

19. Does it have ad tracking tied into actual sales? Simple ad tracking can be had all over the ‘Net, but it is pretty much worthless unless it is tied to actual sales. This is called the “conversion ratio.” Your cart system should be able to tell you how many people clicked on a particular promotion and how many people bought. This is the only way you can determine if an ad paid off. Good carts will also automatically split test one of your sales pages against another and tell you which page sells more. You keep the page that sells more and get rid of the page that sells less.

20. Does it have a pop-up box builder? Even though many people hate popup boxes, they work. I use them judiciously to make all kinds of offers, and I have the sales figures to prove they get more money out of the same number of people. If you know how to use them properly, no one gets upset.

21. Does it have a printable off-line order form? Believe it or not, many people are still afraid to put their credit card numbers into a Web site. I still get lots of fax orders and phone orders. If you want to maximize your sales, your cart must take these kinds of orders easily.

22. Does it provide free training? You’ll need training in both the basic set up of using your shopping cart and determining your online sales strategy, so that you maximize the amount of money spent by each customer.

You may not understand what all the above questions mean right now, but I can assure you they are important in putting more money into your bank account. If you want to know even more about this subject, you can download a free e-book, How to Pick a Shopping Cart System That Makes You Money at www.public- speaking.org/ebook.htm.

What shopping cart system do I use? I have my own private label called www.KickStartCart.com.

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About the Author

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In other words, it is a make it or break it decision and one that you should take seriously and not rush into.

One of the most important considerations to look at is that the online shopping cart software you choose must make it easy for the consumer to use it. If, it is not, you will loose people at the cart level of the check out process.

So, think with the consumer in mind first and how the ecommerce solution you are considering will fit their needs, not just yours.

While it is important that the individual entrepreneur be able to use the online shopping cart software easily – without the intervention of an expensive programmer, the emphasis should still be placed on the consumer and their relationship to the site and the ecommerce shopping cart program that they will ultimately be asked to use when they make their purchase.

These days, the novelty of “shopping online” has worn off. Consumers today rightfully expect that their checkout process is quick, smooth and easy to follow. If you can’t offer that, they will buy from someone who can. Competition online is fierce and you can bet that there is more then one online store in your market niche.

You managed to get the visitor to your site, do not lose them because of a clunky check out process. If you do, you are just throwing money down the drain so to speak.

Other things that the entrepreneur should keep in mind when reviewing all the different types shopping cart software available today, include things like: the specific capabilities and features of the program itself, what security protections are built in, what sort of sales tracking and reporting do they offer, do they take a percentage of your sales, and of course the cost of the program on a monthly or annual basis.

You will also want to take note of weither they offer things like a digital delivery system, autoresponders, compliant shopping carts, affiliate tracking, and the like.

Some of the online shopping cart software options will be very complex, in terms of set up and server configuration. This type of software is typically a one time purchase and is installed on your web site.

There are many options to choose from on the market, but should you choose this type of ecommerce store solution, make sure that the company you buy from offers free live support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sadly, many don’t but still appeal to new ecommerce business owners because of the cost to get started.

What happens if your cart goes down at 2:00 in the morning, but the software you bought does not offer live support until 9:00? This can be the type of mistake that can ruin your business.

Other examples of ecommerce shopping cart programs and software offer less complicated set up and operation, but still offer very powerful and flexible features and capabilities.

These types of ecommerce carts are typically of the online or “hosted” variety and require no special set up to use. A good example of this sort of online ecommerce store solution is 1AutomationWiz.com.

Remember, the more complicated an ecommerce software program is, the more expensive it is likely to be to purchase and operate long term.

So you want to future proof your decision by choosing a shopping cart solution that can grow with your business. It should have the ability to “scale” without expensive plug-ins or upgrades.

To find out more about ecommerce shopping cart automation software visit: http://www.1automationwiz.com/ecommerce-tips/ecommerce-cash.html