Using free shopping cart software makes it easy to sell products or services from your website. An ecommerce site almost always requires a shopping cart, and both websites that use paid hosting and those that use free hosting can use free shopping cart software. This article discusses free shopping cart software.
The Basics of Shopping Cart Software
Key functionality of shopping cart software includes providing a system for customers to choose products, including quantity, size, and color—or other qualities, as applicable—review the cart’s contents, edit the cart’s contents, and initiate a credit card transaction to cover the purchase. Shopping cart software can only work with an operating system that is compatible, and usually requires SSL certificates, a payment gateway, and a merchant account, in order to work.
The term shopping cart software can be used to describe a software that is used to develop an entire website. It can also refer to a module, either developed in sync with the rest of a website or as an add-on to basic site functionality.
When shopping cart software is referred to as free, this can mean several different things:
- The shopping cart software is included in a web hosting plan in which there isn’t a separate charge for it.
- The shopping cart software is free, open source software.
- Both 1 and 2
Things to Be Aware of as You Consider Free Shopping Cart Software
Here are some things to check and/or consider when you’re thinking about free shopping cart software:
- If you are a programmer or have access to a programmer, you can adapt and develop the free shopping cart software in any direction you like or need. This software can form the basis of your website or just be an added option that makes your site more robust.
- Open source software has no guarantee that you can depend on should anything go wrong. You cannot be sure of bug fixes or continued development.
- Support may only be offered through forums.
In some cases, the word free may not mean what one might assume it to mean.
- Some functionality may not be offered in the free version and may only be available in a paid upgrade that requires a subscription.
- In at least one case, the shopping cart software is free, but there is a manual that costs nearly $50, so although the software is technically free, using the software is not free if you need the manual.
- In another case, the shopping cart software is free but you have to pay to have the developer’s copyright removed from the web pages; you have to pay if you need installation or if you want upgrades.
- In yet a different case, a company offers a “free” shopping cart, free store builder, free templates, and free email and phone support. Despite the plethora of free items, there is a monthly subscription fee that is far higher than most companies charge for entry level ecommerce sites with shopping carts, and web builders.
As with any type of “free” service there will likely be some “hidden” costs or charges for other elements related to the service and/or software. Always make sure you are reading the fine print, terms and conditions, and FAQs. Where possible talk with a company representative to find out exactly what is included with the free shopping cart software and what things will cost extra or have to be added on. In some cases you may be able to talk to other clients that are currently using, or have previously used, the software. Talking to some of these businesses or individuals is a great way to find out what their experience was like. They can clue you in on the limitations of the software, as well as the elements that they really liked.
If your web host does not offer free shopping cart software or you are choosing software other than what they include, be sure to talk with a service representative from your web hosting service to make sure the software is compatible. If you don’t have a lot of experience with the software or installing software to your web hosting account, you may also want to find out what, if any, support your web host will provide you in setting up the software and getting it running. This type of support it often VERY limited. Even with the free shopping cart software they provide the host will often not do any more than help you set it up. So be sure that the software you are using has good information about the setup and check around to see what kind of help and documentation is available.
When choosing an open-source shopping cart software spend some time talking to members of the support community. Some of them are very helpful and will likely be able to point you in the right direction for finding the type of help and information you need. Be aware that some communities have no patience for beginners that don’t have ANY experience. Some forums are quite technical but users may be able to point you to other threads or areas where beginner information is available.
There are also many providers that offer a hosted shopping cart, this type of service can be a little easier to setup up and use than a paid web hosting account with the free shopping cart. If you don’t know anything about web hosting or creating a site and you are ok with customizing a template for a web store, this may be a great option. While it is not technically a free shopping cart, many of these are comparable in price to what you would pay a web hosting service that provides the free shopping cart software. Because these services specializes in web stores they generally have a lot better support and help available to individuals with no experience.
With so many options available it can be difficult to find the best service to meet your needs. We would recommend checking out some of the top ranking providers and then deciding which is the best choice for your individual business needs. From our personal experience we recommend checking out:
Volusion – For a Hosted Online Store
or
WebHostingHub – Web Hosting w/Free Shopping Cart