Shopping cart software is the program or software used in e-shops to facilitate the online transactions and assist customers in purchasing products and goods online. A shopping cart is also known as a shopping basket. Choosing the right shopping cart software can be a daunting task for a website owner who is not familiar with these kinds of programs. However here are some important tips and hints that you can check and make sure when trying to select the right program for your store.

First of all you need to know what this software does. It allows the customers of an online shop to choose the items and place them in their cart. Once the customer chooses to checkout, the software calculates the total amount of the order, summing up all the products chosen, and adding the handling and shipping costs. The software is pre-programmed to calculate the additional fees automatically upon each checkout. In some cases, when taxes are required, the software can also calculate them and add them to total sum, showing the customer what they need to pay. After that, the payment takes place, according to the method chosen by the customer.

The right e-commerce software can determine the success of an online business. If it is too complicated, too slow and too incomprehensible, the customer is most likely to disrupt the process and give up on the purchase, looking for something else. A good and solid e-commerce shopping cart will ensure the customers that they do business in a safe and secure environment. The shop owner can also benefit from good ecommerce software, as it should provide full support and useful features regarding the clients and online shoppers.

A well appointed e-commerce software should feature these characteristics:

Ease of handling : You cannot buy and use an e-commerce software that makes your life difficult. The software should be easy for both the vendor and the customer.

Easy setup: Buying e-commerce software that is hard to setup or update is not recommended, because this can turn your software in to something completely useless soon enough.

Features: The top notch e-commerce software available today should offer a vast array of features, ranging from the basic shopping cart to some more developed and evolved characteristics, such as an accounting option and an inventory function. Needless to say, a well packed software that is easy to use, is the more desirable and useful program you can use for your e-shop.

Technical support: The software should provide full technical support, based on menus, manuals, guides, FAQs and other methods. It should also allow a quick connection to the manufacturer in order to get prompt and useful support and solutions.

Owning an online business is not so easy and requires a great deal of knowledge and information. An online shopkeeper should be able to keep up to date with latest technologies and news, but should also be aware of several economical and technical details regarding the business. Most of the shop owners are not familiar with the payment processing statements and services and have a hard time in understanding several terms related to the issue.

Doing business online is synonymous with money transactions. The client that reaches the website and e-shop is ready to use a credit card, an online account, a service like PayPal or MoneyBookers and wire transfer. The vendor or the other hand is supposed to accept the payment and provide the desired products within a short period of time. The payment process is vital; there are several steps that are associated with the e-commerce regulations and facts. A conscientious shopkeeper should be aware of these facts and terms, in order to be able to deal with any potential issues.

Third party transactions: In some cases, e-shops accept Diners, American Express and electronic checks, which demand the existence of a third party transaction feature. Visa and Mastercard are the main payment methods used in e-commerce, but in the case of these cards different fees and different terms apply, thus they are not supposed to be stated in the total amount.

Total Amount Submitted: Almost all payment transaction statements have the total amount submitted section stated first. This refers to the basic income, the part of the total payment that stays with you and includes all the transactions that were submitted during the processing. In order to check if the amounts stated at the ‘total amount submitted’ are correct, you need to check if they match the income calculated from the sales total.

Interchanged Fees : The interchange fees are the fees that are mostly known as ‘credit card costs’ and are calculated based on the credit card used and the initial agreement with the card vendor. The Visa or Mastercard associations are the ones that maintain and process the card payments and the ones that set the limits of fees. Your payment processor has to pass these fees on to you and you usually pass that on to the client. The fees can be very low or nonexistent, depending on the association, but in most cases you will need to pay a fee.

A typical payment processing statement includes many more elements and features. The payment charges, the overall fees and the deposit or refund charges are some of the features you are most likely to come across with. Although it can be tough in the beginning, paying attention to the statements can give you a full idea of what is mentioned and stated.