What is a Shopping Cart?

by admin
August 31st, 2009

In a basic definition, it’s a series of scripts that keep track of items a visitor picks to buy from your site until they proceed to the “checkout”. A popular misconception is that shopping carts handle the whole financial transaction, but they only really act as a front end which passes information via a secure connection (another service) to a payment gateway – a separate service altogether.

The payment gateway service then channels the requests and transfers throughout relevant financial networks, including the Internet merchant account with your bank. It then sends back confirmation or denial back to the shopping cart software.

The good news is that there are literally hundreds of shopping cart packages available. The bad news is the same as the good. Sometimes, too many choices make it very difficult to make a decision – especially when all companies claim to have the superior product.

At MivaDesign, we have more than six years experience in working with Miva, OsCommerce and Zen Cart. If you would like a professional consultation regarding your ecommerce business, please visit our site at mivadesign.com or send us an email to design@mivadesign.com.

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