eCommerce, Shopping Carts and QuickBooks

Technology has changed the way we shop and it continues to evolve at a dizzying pace.  In my last article, I talked about eCommerce and all of the various components.  This time around, I will take a look at the first point of contact in the online purchasing process: the shopping cart.   Shopping cart software can be generally categorized into two main categories.

• Licensed software: The shopping cart software is downloaded and then installed on a Web server. This is most often associated with a one-time fee, although there are many free products available as well. The main advantages of this option are that the user owns a license and therefore can host it on any Web server that meets the server requirements, and that the source code can often be accessed and edited to customize the application.
• Hosted service: The software is never downloaded, but rather is provided by a hosted service provider and is generally paid for on a monthly/annual basis. This is also known as the application service provider (ASP) software model. Some of these services may charge a percentage of sales in addition to the monthly fee. This model often has predefined templates that a user can choose from to customize their look and feel. Predefined templates limit how much users can modify or customize the software with the advantage of having the vendor continuously keep the software up to date for security patches as well as adding new features.

With all the choices out there, where do we start?  What do we look for in a shopping cart?    This article will cover:

• What to look for in a shopping cart
• How to integrate that shopping cart data with my accounting system
• Provide a matrix of shopping carts and QuickBooks integration tools
• Do I do the integration myself, or do I hire someone?

A Selection of Shopping Carts that are available

What to Look for in a Shopping Cart – Helping Your Clients Choose

There are many factors that you should consider when choosing a shopping cart for you or for a client.

1. Data security – This is perhaps the most important aspect of the online transaction. Because of the sensitivity of the data, is it safe? The shopping cart must comply with the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which provides a framework for payment card data security – including prevention, detection and appropriate reaction to security incidents. For more information about PCI DSS, see https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/index.php.
2. Catalog compatibility – Make sure the items that you are going to sell will work with this shopping cart. Look for other similar types of sellers that use this shopping cart. If your product has attributes/options (size, color etc.), make sure your shopping cart can handle it and make sure that data is passed through to your accounting system.
3. Design issues – Whether you are setting up the site yourself or you have a web designer, make sure you are able to create the look and feel that you want for your site.
4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Some shopping carts have support for meta tags per product, dynamic page names, breadcrumbs etc. This may require more detailed technical assistance from a search marketing specialist.
5. Marketing features – Check out things like promotional discounts, volume discounts, bundles, sort features etc. to see if this fits in with your marketing strategy.
6. Gift Cards – How does your shopping cart handle gift cards?
7. Customer Information – Does the platform keep your customer information: can you use it for email marketing to send out promotions and specials?
8. Returns and back orders – How does the system handle out-of-stock scenarios, and how are returns handled?
9. Support – What are their support hours? I personally like chat support since it allows me to multi-task, and I don’t have to wait on hold. Check the support forums to see what kind of issues people are having and the responses they get.
10. Community – Is there a strong community of users and third-party developers?
11. Integration – Will it integrate with my accounting system, and/or with my CRM system? (A list of shopping carts and eCommerce software that will integrate with QuickBooks is detailed below).
12. Cost – Cost considerations include monthly charge vs. one-time charge, how much time will it take me, what are the other costs involved, can I make the changes myself or do I need to hire an expert?

For a detailed shopping cart comparison, check out Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_shopping_cart_software

Integrating The Shopping Cart into the Operation

OK, I sold stuff, NOW what do I do? Here are three order management systems that will integrate your shopping cart data into QuickBooks:

• eCC by Webgility
• T-Hub by Atandra
• Order Manager by Stoneedge Technologies

Here is a list of the shopping carts that are supported by each (check the individual websites for the most current information).

AbleCommerce			X
Altura (Shop.com)			X
Americart		X	X
AmeriCommerce		X
ASPDotNet		X	X
Avactis	X
Big Commerce	X	X
BVCommerce			X
Candy Press		X
Channel Advisor		X
Claim the Web	X
Commerce v3			X
CoreCommerce			X
CRE Loaded	X	X	X
CS-Cart	X	X
CubeCart	X
Ecommerce Templates		X
GoDaddy		X
Infopia Transact		X
Interspire	X	X
LaGarde Storefront			X
LiveCart	X
Magento	X	X	X
Magento Go		X
Mal’s Ecommerce	X
Mighty Merchant		X
Miva Merchant		X	X
Modular Merchant			X
Monsoon			X
MonsterCommerce			X
MountainCommerce			X
Network Solutions			X
OpenCart	X
osCommerce	X	X
osCMax	X		X
Overstock.com			X
Pinnacle Cart	X	X	X
Prestashop	X
SearchFit			X
Shop-Script	X
Shopsite		X	X
StoreHost			X
SunShop		X
Ubercart	X
Underbid			X
UniteU			X
Vevocart		X
ViArt Shop	X
VirtueMart		X
Volusion	X	X	X
VP-ASP		X	X
Webjaguar		X
WordPress Ecommerce	X
X-Cart	X	X	X
Zen Cart	X	X	X
3DCart	X	X	X
7Cart		X
E Commerce Platforms
Amazon	X	X	X
Ebay	X	X	X
Yahoo Store		X	X

What to do next

In order to best support your clients, familiarize yourself with the different technologies, stay plugged in to user groups  to learn from others’ experiences and consider setting up a store of your own. Decide whether this is something that you want to tackle yourself, or do you want to hire someone to help? Sometimes it is easier to hire someone from the beginning, like when I try to do plumbing and end up calling the plumber at midnight to fix what I have done.