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Surplus Humvee
Friday, February 19, 2010
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Shopping cart software
Shopping cart software is software used in e-commerce to assist people making purchases online, analogous to the American English term 'shopping cart'. In British English it is generally known as a shopping basket, almost exclusively shortened on websites to 'basket'.
The software allows online shopping customers to accumulate a list of items for purchase, described metaphorically as "placing items in the shopping cart". Upon checkout, the software typically calculates a total for the order, including shipping and handling (i.e. postage and packing) charges and the associated taxes, as applicable.
Technical definition:-
These applications typically provide a means of capturing a client's payment information, but in the case of a credit card they rely on the software module of the secure gateway provider, in conjunction with the secure payment gateway, in order to conduct secure credit card transactions online.
Some setup must be done in the HTML code of the website, and the shopping cart software must be installed on the server which hosts the site, or on the secure server which accepts sensitive ordering information. E-shopping carts are usually implemented using HTTP cookies or query strings. In most server based implementations however, data related to the shopping cart is kept in the Session object and is accessed and manipulated on the fly, as the user selects different items from the cart. Later at the process of commit, the information is accessed and an order is generated against the selected item thus clearing the shopping cart.
Although the most simple shopping carts strictly allow for an item to be added to a basket to start a checkout process (e.g. the free PayPal shopping cart), most shopping cart software actually provides additional features that an Internet merchant uses to fully manage an online store. Data (products, categories, discounts, orders, customers, etc.) is normally stored in a database and accessed in real time by the software.
Shopping Cart Software is also known as e-commerce software, e-store software, online store software or storefront software.
Licensed vs. Hosted Shopping Carts:-
Shopping cart software can be generally categorized into two main categories.
* Licensed software: The 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 merchant 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; also known as the application service provider (ASP) software model. Some of these services also 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. In this model users typically have less ability to 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 added.old lg models -
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The software allows online shopping customers to accumulate a list of items for purchase, described metaphorically as "placing items in the shopping cart". Upon checkout, the software typically calculates a total for the order, including shipping and handling (i.e. postage and packing) charges and the associated taxes, as applicable.
Technical definition:-
These applications typically provide a means of capturing a client's payment information, but in the case of a credit card they rely on the software module of the secure gateway provider, in conjunction with the secure payment gateway, in order to conduct secure credit card transactions online.
Some setup must be done in the HTML code of the website, and the shopping cart software must be installed on the server which hosts the site, or on the secure server which accepts sensitive ordering information. E-shopping carts are usually implemented using HTTP cookies or query strings. In most server based implementations however, data related to the shopping cart is kept in the Session object and is accessed and manipulated on the fly, as the user selects different items from the cart. Later at the process of commit, the information is accessed and an order is generated against the selected item thus clearing the shopping cart.
Although the most simple shopping carts strictly allow for an item to be added to a basket to start a checkout process (e.g. the free PayPal shopping cart), most shopping cart software actually provides additional features that an Internet merchant uses to fully manage an online store. Data (products, categories, discounts, orders, customers, etc.) is normally stored in a database and accessed in real time by the software.
Shopping Cart Software is also known as e-commerce software, e-store software, online store software or storefront software.
Licensed vs. Hosted Shopping Carts:-
Shopping cart software can be generally categorized into two main categories.
* Licensed software: The 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 merchant 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; also known as the application service provider (ASP) software model. Some of these services also 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. In this model users typically have less ability to 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 added.old lg models -
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nokia phone price - Nokia offering you the latest nokia models along with best and cheap nokia phone prices in the world
google shopping cart
Do Customers Need to Register With PayPal to Make a Purchase?
Regardless of whether you are using PayPal Express Checkout or Website Payments Standard, your customers do not need to register with PayPal before they make a purchase.
Website Payments Standard does not require that your customer have a PayPal account. Instead, when your customers check out, they will be directed to a page that allows them to log into their PayPal account or pay by credit card without having to sign up for a PayPal account.
PayPal Express Checkout does require a PayPal account, but this will automatically be created for the customer upon checkout.
http://www.coffeecup.com/files/images/shopping-cart_images_paypal-never-logged-in.png
Note: If you have never logged into PayPal™ before on your computer, your checkout box will look like this:
Never Logged In
Note: If you have logged into PayPal™ before on your computer, a cookie will be set on the system, and your checkout box will look this. You will most likely see this screen when you test your payment process because you have logged into PayPal™. To verify that your new, non-PayPal™ users will see the correct screen, you can delete your PayPal™ cookies or test in a different browser that you do not use to access PayPal™.
Logged In
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Regardless of whether you are using PayPal Express Checkout or Website Payments Standard, your customers do not need to register with PayPal before they make a purchase.
Website Payments Standard does not require that your customer have a PayPal account. Instead, when your customers check out, they will be directed to a page that allows them to log into their PayPal account or pay by credit card without having to sign up for a PayPal account.
PayPal Express Checkout does require a PayPal account, but this will automatically be created for the customer upon checkout.
http://www.coffeecup.com/files/images/shopping-cart_images_paypal-never-logged-in.png
Note: If you have never logged into PayPal™ before on your computer, your checkout box will look like this:
Never Logged In
Note: If you have logged into PayPal™ before on your computer, a cookie will be set on the system, and your checkout box will look this. You will most likely see this screen when you test your payment process because you have logged into PayPal™. To verify that your new, non-PayPal™ users will see the correct screen, you can delete your PayPal™ cookies or test in a different browser that you do not use to access PayPal™.
Logged In
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php shopping cart
Introduction
If you take a look around any PHP resource site, you'll notice an exorbitant amount of shopping cart scripts. The fact of the matter is that shopping cart scripts aren't hard to develop. A shopping cart script simply needs to work with some sort of storage device to store a list of items and how many of those items your visitor has chosen to add to their cart.
Typically we would use a database (such as MySQL) to store a list of products and their prices. We would then use PHP's session handling capabilities to store a list of products and amounts relating to each particular visitor, based on their session details.
This is a good way to do things, but what happens if you want to persist the details of that users cart across multiple sessions? I.e., if they close the web browser and come back the next day. You could setup a login system where users register and confirm their details by replying to a confirmation email, but more often you'd like to keep your checkout as simple as possible by just letting the user enter their address and payment method and continue right through to the confirmation page.
By persisting a cookie on the users machine and by using some PHP, we can make a simple shopping cart that will store the details of what the user wants to buy. These details will remain intact, even after the user closes the browser.
So, in this article we will build a simple persistent shopping cart. We will be using PHP and MySQL to do so, so you should have intermediate knowledge of both PHP and MySQL. You will be able to take the code that we will use and adapt it to create your own simple shopping cart for your web site.Building A Persistent Shopping Cart With PHP and MySQL - Creating the database
(Page 2 of 6 )
Let's assume that we're running a web site that sells Sony Playstation 2 games. We need one table to store the details of each product, and we also need a table to store the contents of each users shopping cart, so that they can be persisted over multiple sessions.
Fire up the MySQL console application and create a database named cart. Fill it with two tables: items and cart, like this:
create database cart;
create table items
(
itemId int auto_increment not null,
itemName varchar(50),
itemDesc varchar(250),
itemPrice decimal(4,2),
primary key(itemId),
unique id(itemId)
);
create table cart
(
cartId int auto_increment not null,
cookieId varchar(50),
itemId int,
qty int,
primary key(cartId),
unique id(cartId)
);
The first table, items, will contain a list of items that the user will be able to add to his/her cart. The items table contains four fields, as described below:
* itemId: A unique numeric identifier that gives each item its own ID.
* itemName: The name of the item in the catalog.
* itemDesc: A short description of the item in the catalog.
* itemPrice: The price of the item, such as 45.99.
The cart table will store the details of each item in the users cart as he/she adds them. The cart table also contains four fields, which are described below:
* cartId: A unique numeric identifier that gives each item in the users cart its own ID.
* cookieId: This is the most important field in both of the tables. It's used to persist the users cart over multiple sessions. It is the value of the session ID with which the user first started browsing our product range.
* itemId: The ID of the item that the user is purchasing.
* qty: The number of this specific item being purchased.
In this article I won't show you how to create forms to add, edit and delete items from the database. That's out of the scope of this article. We will manually add some products (Playstation 2 games) to the items table now:
insert into items values(0, 'Tony Hawk 3', 'Tony Hawk is back. Join him in this popular skating game where speed, collisions and tricks come together to produce the best skating game of all time!', 23.95);
insert into items values(0, 'FIFA Soccer 2002', 'The FIFA range of soccer games are the most popular in their genre. FIFA Soccer 2002 includes an all new team line up, advanced management capabilities, and richer, more realistic graphics.',36.50);
insert into items values(0, 'SSX Tricky', 'Image snowboarding down a steep hill at 100 miles per hour and you have SSX Tricky. It\'s packed with new players, new moves, and a whole new list of stages to complete.', 45.50);
Now that our database is good and ready to go, let’s create a simple PHP script that will list each item from the items table, providing a link to add each item to our shopping cart (which we will create later).
If you take a look around any PHP resource site, you'll notice an exorbitant amount of shopping cart scripts. The fact of the matter is that shopping cart scripts aren't hard to develop. A shopping cart script simply needs to work with some sort of storage device to store a list of items and how many of those items your visitor has chosen to add to their cart.
Typically we would use a database (such as MySQL) to store a list of products and their prices. We would then use PHP's session handling capabilities to store a list of products and amounts relating to each particular visitor, based on their session details.
This is a good way to do things, but what happens if you want to persist the details of that users cart across multiple sessions? I.e., if they close the web browser and come back the next day. You could setup a login system where users register and confirm their details by replying to a confirmation email, but more often you'd like to keep your checkout as simple as possible by just letting the user enter their address and payment method and continue right through to the confirmation page.
By persisting a cookie on the users machine and by using some PHP, we can make a simple shopping cart that will store the details of what the user wants to buy. These details will remain intact, even after the user closes the browser.
So, in this article we will build a simple persistent shopping cart. We will be using PHP and MySQL to do so, so you should have intermediate knowledge of both PHP and MySQL. You will be able to take the code that we will use and adapt it to create your own simple shopping cart for your web site.Building A Persistent Shopping Cart With PHP and MySQL - Creating the database
(Page 2 of 6 )
Let's assume that we're running a web site that sells Sony Playstation 2 games. We need one table to store the details of each product, and we also need a table to store the contents of each users shopping cart, so that they can be persisted over multiple sessions.
Fire up the MySQL console application and create a database named cart. Fill it with two tables: items and cart, like this:
create database cart;
create table items
(
itemId int auto_increment not null,
itemName varchar(50),
itemDesc varchar(250),
itemPrice decimal(4,2),
primary key(itemId),
unique id(itemId)
);
create table cart
(
cartId int auto_increment not null,
cookieId varchar(50),
itemId int,
qty int,
primary key(cartId),
unique id(cartId)
);
The first table, items, will contain a list of items that the user will be able to add to his/her cart. The items table contains four fields, as described below:
* itemId: A unique numeric identifier that gives each item its own ID.
* itemName: The name of the item in the catalog.
* itemDesc: A short description of the item in the catalog.
* itemPrice: The price of the item, such as 45.99.
The cart table will store the details of each item in the users cart as he/she adds them. The cart table also contains four fields, which are described below:
* cartId: A unique numeric identifier that gives each item in the users cart its own ID.
* cookieId: This is the most important field in both of the tables. It's used to persist the users cart over multiple sessions. It is the value of the session ID with which the user first started browsing our product range.
* itemId: The ID of the item that the user is purchasing.
* qty: The number of this specific item being purchased.
In this article I won't show you how to create forms to add, edit and delete items from the database. That's out of the scope of this article. We will manually add some products (Playstation 2 games) to the items table now:
insert into items values(0, 'Tony Hawk 3', 'Tony Hawk is back. Join him in this popular skating game where speed, collisions and tricks come together to produce the best skating game of all time!', 23.95);
insert into items values(0, 'FIFA Soccer 2002', 'The FIFA range of soccer games are the most popular in their genre. FIFA Soccer 2002 includes an all new team line up, advanced management capabilities, and richer, more realistic graphics.',36.50);
insert into items values(0, 'SSX Tricky', 'Image snowboarding down a steep hill at 100 miles per hour and you have SSX Tricky. It\'s packed with new players, new moves, and a whole new list of stages to complete.', 45.50);
Now that our database is good and ready to go, let’s create a simple PHP script that will list each item from the items table, providing a link to add each item to our shopping cart (which we will create later).
shopping cart template
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shopping cart
Top Ten Mistakes of Shopping Cart Design
Barbara S. Chaparro , barbara.chaparro@wichita.edu
Software Usability Research Lab,
Ahhh, shopping. Imagine strolling down the aisle of your local store with your shopping cart. You find an item that you want but before you can put it in your cart you have to give your name and other personal information to a store employee! Then, you want to put an item back on the shelf but every time you try, it appears back in your cart! Then you realize that to really get rid of it you have to state "OK, I want zero of this item!"
Chances are if any of these things happened to you in an actual store you would quickly leave your cart behind. However, these are only a few of the things shoppers must face to purchase online. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that 60 - 75% of shopping carts are abandoned in e-commerce sites (Thumlert, 2001; Gordon, 2000). Have web designers forgotten that the purpose of using the terminology 'shopping cart' is so that users assimilate the behavior of a 'real' shopping cart to a 'virtual' one?
In our Software Usability Research Lab ( www.usabilitynews.org), we have examined the usability of many shopping web sites and are always surprised by the inconvenience of 'convenient' shopping. Typically when people shop in a store, they are rarely aware of our shopping cart, unless it has a squeaky wheel or is hard to steer. If this happens, at least they can trade it in for one that runs smoothly. Online users, unfortunately, do not have that choice.
The Shopping Process
Table 1 shows the process you may encounter shopping for two items in a brick-and-mortar store versus a typical e-commerce site.
Table 1. A Comparison of Traditional and Online Shopping
Traditional Shopping
Online Shopping
1. Find Item #1
2. Place Item #1 in shopping cart
3. Find Item #2
4. Place Item #2 in shopping cart
5. Check-out
6. Pay with cash or credit
7. Leave store
1. Find Item #1
2. Add Item #1 to Shopping Cart
3. View Shopping Cart
4. Find Item #2
5. Add Item #2 to Shopping Cart
6. View Shopping Cart
7. Check-out
8. Create an account. Enter name, email
9. Enter Shipping Address
10. Enter Billing Address
11. Choose Shipping Method
12. Enter credit card info
13. Review order & final price
It is not surprising, given the nature of online shopping, that extra steps may be necessary at the payment process (Of course, adding the use of a gift certificate, special offer, or shipping to multiple addresses only complicates the online experience even more.) After all, the convenience of not having to get into the car and drive to a store is worth a few extra clicks and keystrokes, right? Popular dot-com companies (i.e., amazon.com) are continuously trying to streamline the buying process by offering predefined accounts and one-click buying.
However, the process before buying - shopping, browsing, and working with the shopping cart - is in many ways more critical to a site's success. Users frustrated with the online shopping will never even get to the point of online buying. In our usability studies, we have observed many shopping features that impact user performance and satisfaction. The following is a list of Top Ten Mistakes of Shopping Cart Design that we have compiled.
Top Ten Mistakes of Shopping Cart Design
1. Calling a Shopping Cart anything but a Shopping Cart.
Calling a shopping cart anything other than a shopping cart only causes confusion. Users are accustomed to the cart terminology and while certain domains may find it 'cute' to use a term specific to their product line (i.e., bookbag, order, basket) it is best to maintain consistency and stick with the 'cart.' Adding a graphic of a shopping cart also helps quick access.
Add to Cart
2. Requiring users to click a "BUY" button to add an item to the shopping cart.
Adding Items to the shopping cart should be effortless and noncommittal. After all, the user is putting items into the cart for possible future purchase. When users are required to click a BUY button to add an item to the cart it is often unsettling since they are not necessarily ready to buy the item at this point - they just want to place it in the shopping cart. Buying is the final step in the shopping experience and it should not be presumed that adding an item to the cart is a commitment to buy. Users in our studies are very hesitant to click the BUY button and search for an Add to Cart button on the page instead.
What if a user is not yet ready to buy an item - how does he simply add it to the cart?
What if a user is not yet ready to buy an item - how does he simply add it to the cart?
3. Giving little to no visual feedback that an item has been added to the cart.
Some sites do not automatically take users to the shopping cart page when an item is added. This allows them to continue shopping without interruption. Generally, these sites have a shopping cart indicator somewhere on each page that updates and summarizes the cart content. A problem with this method, however, occurs when the visual feedback of the change to the cart's content is too subtle or nonexistent, or is not in the users' current browser view. In all cases, users do not believe anything has been added to the cart. As a result, they click on the Add to Cart button again and add the item a second time (and maybe again for a third time). Users end up having to go to the shopping cart page anyway just to see if the item has been added. Often times, they are surprised with multiple quantities of the same item.
4. Forcing the user to view the Shopping Cart every time an item is placed there.
As long as there is adequate visual feedback of the cart's content, there is really no need to take the user to the shopping cart page every time an item is added. In fact, it is disruptive for multi-item shoppers, requires extra mouse clicks to continue shopping, and potentially limits how many items a person buys (they may be more inclined to checkout if they are already at the shopping cart page).
Visual feedback is very important when adding an item to the cart
Visual feedback is very important when adding an item to the cart.
5. Asking the user to buy other related items before adding an item to the cart.
This is the online equivalent to "do you want fries with your order?" and is not only irritating to users but also disorienting. After clicking a button or link to add an item to the cart, users are ready for some kind of feedback that the item has been added. Asking them to make a decision about other items makes them second-guess whether they actually pressed the correct button or link to add the desired item, or it aggravates them by soliciting items they do not want. A better approach is to place related items (i.e., batteries) on the item page or on the shopping cart page so they have the option to purchase them before checkout. Placing the control on the users makes them more willing to purchase.
Users are forced to accept or reject 'related' items before adding a desired item to the shopping cart
Users are forced to accept or reject 'related' items before adding a desired item to the shopping cart.
6. Requiring a user to REGISTER before adding an item to the cart.
Some sites we have tested require a user to register with personal information before an item can even be placed into the cart! This is a turn-off to users who may be browsing or comparison-shopping. They may or may not purchase the items, but they definitely do not want to commit personal information just to fill the shopping cart and will leave the site because of it.
7. Requiring a user to change the quantity to zero to remove an item from the cart.
Updating the shopping cart's content can be tricky to program but should be seamless to the user. Many sites still require a user to enter '0' in the quantity field and click an Update button or link to delete the item. Use of a Remove or Delete button next to an item is a far more intuitive way to achieve this.
To remove or delete items, change the quantity to zero. Huh? Why not just delete it
"To remove or delete items, change the quantity to zero." Huh? Why not just delete it?
8. Requiring written instructions to update the items in the cart.
Requiring users to read instructions on how to update the shopping cart is, in itself, a sign of poor design. First of all, users do not read such instructions. Second, if instructions are required, then the shopping cart interface design must not be intuitive. Users should be able to figure out how to remove or change the number of items desired from viewing the cart itself.
9. Requiring a user to scroll to find an Update cart button.
Most carts offer an Update button or link to update changes made to the shopping cart (such as quantity). This function should be located such that it is always visible and clearly distinct from the rest of the shopping cart, regardless of the number of items in the cart.
The Update Cart link (left) may be less evident than the Update Quantities button (right).
The Update Cart link (left) may be less evident than the Update Quantities button (right).
10. Requiring a user to enter shipping, billing, and all personal information before knowing the final costs including shipping and tax.
Shipping costs and taxes (if applicable) are a big factor in whether or not users complete their online orders. Users cannot access whether their purchase is truly a 'deal' or not until they have the final cost. Many sites require users to enter all shipping, billing, and credit card information before a final cost is provided. Access to shipping rates and tax from the shopping cart or item pages (before the user ventures down the purchasing path) is critical.
Barbara S. Chaparro , barbara.chaparro@wichita.edu
Software Usability Research Lab,
Ahhh, shopping. Imagine strolling down the aisle of your local store with your shopping cart. You find an item that you want but before you can put it in your cart you have to give your name and other personal information to a store employee! Then, you want to put an item back on the shelf but every time you try, it appears back in your cart! Then you realize that to really get rid of it you have to state "OK, I want zero of this item!"
Chances are if any of these things happened to you in an actual store you would quickly leave your cart behind. However, these are only a few of the things shoppers must face to purchase online. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that 60 - 75% of shopping carts are abandoned in e-commerce sites (Thumlert, 2001; Gordon, 2000). Have web designers forgotten that the purpose of using the terminology 'shopping cart' is so that users assimilate the behavior of a 'real' shopping cart to a 'virtual' one?
In our Software Usability Research Lab ( www.usabilitynews.org), we have examined the usability of many shopping web sites and are always surprised by the inconvenience of 'convenient' shopping. Typically when people shop in a store, they are rarely aware of our shopping cart, unless it has a squeaky wheel or is hard to steer. If this happens, at least they can trade it in for one that runs smoothly. Online users, unfortunately, do not have that choice.
The Shopping Process
Table 1 shows the process you may encounter shopping for two items in a brick-and-mortar store versus a typical e-commerce site.
Table 1. A Comparison of Traditional and Online Shopping
Traditional Shopping
Online Shopping
1. Find Item #1
2. Place Item #1 in shopping cart
3. Find Item #2
4. Place Item #2 in shopping cart
5. Check-out
6. Pay with cash or credit
7. Leave store
1. Find Item #1
2. Add Item #1 to Shopping Cart
3. View Shopping Cart
4. Find Item #2
5. Add Item #2 to Shopping Cart
6. View Shopping Cart
7. Check-out
8. Create an account. Enter name, email
9. Enter Shipping Address
10. Enter Billing Address
11. Choose Shipping Method
12. Enter credit card info
13. Review order & final price
It is not surprising, given the nature of online shopping, that extra steps may be necessary at the payment process (Of course, adding the use of a gift certificate, special offer, or shipping to multiple addresses only complicates the online experience even more.) After all, the convenience of not having to get into the car and drive to a store is worth a few extra clicks and keystrokes, right? Popular dot-com companies (i.e., amazon.com) are continuously trying to streamline the buying process by offering predefined accounts and one-click buying.
However, the process before buying - shopping, browsing, and working with the shopping cart - is in many ways more critical to a site's success. Users frustrated with the online shopping will never even get to the point of online buying. In our usability studies, we have observed many shopping features that impact user performance and satisfaction. The following is a list of Top Ten Mistakes of Shopping Cart Design that we have compiled.
Top Ten Mistakes of Shopping Cart Design
1. Calling a Shopping Cart anything but a Shopping Cart.
Calling a shopping cart anything other than a shopping cart only causes confusion. Users are accustomed to the cart terminology and while certain domains may find it 'cute' to use a term specific to their product line (i.e., bookbag, order, basket) it is best to maintain consistency and stick with the 'cart.' Adding a graphic of a shopping cart also helps quick access.
Add to Cart
2. Requiring users to click a "BUY" button to add an item to the shopping cart.
Adding Items to the shopping cart should be effortless and noncommittal. After all, the user is putting items into the cart for possible future purchase. When users are required to click a BUY button to add an item to the cart it is often unsettling since they are not necessarily ready to buy the item at this point - they just want to place it in the shopping cart. Buying is the final step in the shopping experience and it should not be presumed that adding an item to the cart is a commitment to buy. Users in our studies are very hesitant to click the BUY button and search for an Add to Cart button on the page instead.
What if a user is not yet ready to buy an item - how does he simply add it to the cart?
What if a user is not yet ready to buy an item - how does he simply add it to the cart?
3. Giving little to no visual feedback that an item has been added to the cart.
Some sites do not automatically take users to the shopping cart page when an item is added. This allows them to continue shopping without interruption. Generally, these sites have a shopping cart indicator somewhere on each page that updates and summarizes the cart content. A problem with this method, however, occurs when the visual feedback of the change to the cart's content is too subtle or nonexistent, or is not in the users' current browser view. In all cases, users do not believe anything has been added to the cart. As a result, they click on the Add to Cart button again and add the item a second time (and maybe again for a third time). Users end up having to go to the shopping cart page anyway just to see if the item has been added. Often times, they are surprised with multiple quantities of the same item.
4. Forcing the user to view the Shopping Cart every time an item is placed there.
As long as there is adequate visual feedback of the cart's content, there is really no need to take the user to the shopping cart page every time an item is added. In fact, it is disruptive for multi-item shoppers, requires extra mouse clicks to continue shopping, and potentially limits how many items a person buys (they may be more inclined to checkout if they are already at the shopping cart page).
Visual feedback is very important when adding an item to the cart
Visual feedback is very important when adding an item to the cart.
5. Asking the user to buy other related items before adding an item to the cart.
This is the online equivalent to "do you want fries with your order?" and is not only irritating to users but also disorienting. After clicking a button or link to add an item to the cart, users are ready for some kind of feedback that the item has been added. Asking them to make a decision about other items makes them second-guess whether they actually pressed the correct button or link to add the desired item, or it aggravates them by soliciting items they do not want. A better approach is to place related items (i.e., batteries) on the item page or on the shopping cart page so they have the option to purchase them before checkout. Placing the control on the users makes them more willing to purchase.
Users are forced to accept or reject 'related' items before adding a desired item to the shopping cart
Users are forced to accept or reject 'related' items before adding a desired item to the shopping cart.
6. Requiring a user to REGISTER before adding an item to the cart.
Some sites we have tested require a user to register with personal information before an item can even be placed into the cart! This is a turn-off to users who may be browsing or comparison-shopping. They may or may not purchase the items, but they definitely do not want to commit personal information just to fill the shopping cart and will leave the site because of it.
7. Requiring a user to change the quantity to zero to remove an item from the cart.
Updating the shopping cart's content can be tricky to program but should be seamless to the user. Many sites still require a user to enter '0' in the quantity field and click an Update button or link to delete the item. Use of a Remove or Delete button next to an item is a far more intuitive way to achieve this.
To remove or delete items, change the quantity to zero. Huh? Why not just delete it
"To remove or delete items, change the quantity to zero." Huh? Why not just delete it?
8. Requiring written instructions to update the items in the cart.
Requiring users to read instructions on how to update the shopping cart is, in itself, a sign of poor design. First of all, users do not read such instructions. Second, if instructions are required, then the shopping cart interface design must not be intuitive. Users should be able to figure out how to remove or change the number of items desired from viewing the cart itself.
9. Requiring a user to scroll to find an Update cart button.
Most carts offer an Update button or link to update changes made to the shopping cart (such as quantity). This function should be located such that it is always visible and clearly distinct from the rest of the shopping cart, regardless of the number of items in the cart.
The Update Cart link (left) may be less evident than the Update Quantities button (right).
The Update Cart link (left) may be less evident than the Update Quantities button (right).
10. Requiring a user to enter shipping, billing, and all personal information before knowing the final costs including shipping and tax.
Shipping costs and taxes (if applicable) are a big factor in whether or not users complete their online orders. Users cannot access whether their purchase is truly a 'deal' or not until they have the final cost. Many sites require users to enter all shipping, billing, and credit card information before a final cost is provided. Access to shipping rates and tax from the shopping cart or item pages (before the user ventures down the purchasing path) is critical.
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