How To Choose A Shopping Cart Vendor For Your E-Commerce Site
Choosing a Shopping Cart Vendor for your E-Commerce Site
It's never easy deciding which shopping cart platform to select for your e-commerce site or app. There are so many options out there and it can be hard to choose just one. These two shopping carts are some of the most popular ones available, with tens of thousands of satisfied customers. They are offering integrations with over 40+ online marketplaces as well as an affordable pricing model that includes everything, from basic sales tax calculations, advertising fees, and more!
This is the perfect guide for anyone who wants to get started in online retailing but is unsure where to start first. It will give you a good idea of what you'll need in a shopping cart before you make a final decision.
"We use Zen Cart for our online store and are very happy with it." - Susan, Exactbox.com
"Zencart is the best for us." - Chris, Nature Power International
These two shopping carts are both great options for small businesses, even though they are competitors. They have different pricing models and features that might make one more appropriate than the other product depending on your individual needs.
Here's a quick comparison of the two products to make it easy to see their similarities and differences. First, I'll give you a short description of each so you get an idea of what they offer. Then I'll go into more detail, including the pricing so you can see how they differ.
Bigcommerce is probably the most popular shopping cart platform today, with over 1 million people using it for their online stores. It's made by a company in Texas that was founded in 2012 and has been growing ever since.
It offers a free plan for 7 days and then charges a $29 per month subscription fee. This is slightly higher than most other shopping carts but the cost isn't more per month than what you would pay for something like Shopify. If you might need more customization and features, this might not be the best option to go with right away. If that sounds like what you are looking for, you can check out their pricing page here .
Another awesome service from Zencart is the Easy Cart Gateway extension. This lets people manage their purchases over at Amazon, eBay, and Etsy without having to enter in their credit card information. It doesn't cost you anything to add this feature, it's included with the Zencart platform.
The actual integration of this gateway is pretty simple to set up. All you have to do is install the extension and it handles everything for you since Zencart is already integrated with these sites. You can choose which marketplace you want added or remove them if you would rather just sell from your site.
The reservation list option will let people reserve products for later while they decide if they want to purchase them. If someone adds something to their cart but forgets about it, they won't lose that item forever.
The product tagging feature in the checkout is convenient for people who want to keep track of what they are buying. It helps you check off those items that you want to make sure are included when your order is shipped. You will also be able to see how many of each product your customers have bought so you can keep a good eye on what they're ordering and keep it fresh.
With the free version, you have the ability to customize things like the logo and color scheme of your store and create advertising campaigns for your sales. If you go with a paid plan, this option is removed but all other features are still available.
If you want to sell on a marketplace, then Bigcommerce has you covered. They offer 3 plans that are all customizable to fit your exact needs. The most basic plan is meant for people who want to sell items from their website without any payment processing required. It's free and you can update your pricing at any time. Most of the other plans come with a monthly fee, depending on what features you need and how many products you are selling. This might be more expensive if you don't have many items in stock and only sell once or twice per month but it does give you the ability to easily add more features as needed through the dashboard.
They also make it really simple for you to use a shopping cart that is built specifically for multi-vendor sites. If you are selling on sites like Etsy or Amazon, they make it easy for customers to buy from you and also lets you know when someone makes a purchase from your vendor page.
With the basic plan, the features and tools are limited but they do have a $20/month upgrade option that gives you access to more features, including advanced reporting and SEO tools. All in all, this platform might be best for people who have some technical skills and want to be able to customize the site more easily. If not, this isn't the best option for you.
They offer an integrated SEO tool to help you make sure that your website is optimized and easy to find on search engines as well as the ability to add advanced products and features. Social media channels are a breeze as well with their free plan. The plan starts at $9/month, which allows you the ability to sell up to $20,000 in products per year. That's pretty decent for a shopping cart that also gives you access to so many free features.
The built-in support from Bigcommerce along with their simple integration with over 40+ marketplaces makes it easy for your customers to purchase your products no matter where they want to shop. They also offer a free plan and a paid one that has all the tools you need to be a small business.
There are free shopping carts out there that are simple to use, but they lack in features and have limited customization options. My recommendation is to go with Zencart because it offers more features, makes it easy for you to add more items and gives you more control over what you do and don't want on your site.
If you are looking for a shopping cart that is easy to use as well as very customizable, then this might be the best choice for you.
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