When it comes to online business, shopping cart software plays a very important role. It not only helps customers to purchase online but also enables eCommerce transactions to happen.
With these software system solutions, you can add the items you wish to buy. They will also help you calculate the price of the goods including taxes, shipping charges, and handling costs.
Since shopping carts come in a variety of styles and offer different features you need to choose the right one for your business.
Here are some of the best shopping cart software systems that you need to know
1. WooCommerce
If you are looking for a free shopping cart software system for your business, WooCommerce is the right one.
Besides being simple and easy to use, it will allow you to install a good eCommerce site to any WordPress site. However, to ensure that it’s fully functional, you need to install additional functionality.
Examples of add ons that are readily available in the site include payment processors such as Sagepay, PayPal, Stripe, stock control, and inventory management.
While you have to buy some add ons, that’s not a big issue since the majority of them are quite cheap.
While some have one-off costs, others come with renewal fees and upgrades that you have to make.
With WooCommerce, you can process the payments, design a website without much knowledge, and even set up products.
However, there is one thing that sets it apart- You can comfortably integrate it with an open-source WordPress content management system. This allows you to have more control over your site.
If you decide to install it alone you’ll find it quite easy to use. It also has a configuration module that will guide you through things such as adding products, shipping, taxes, and company information.
Although starting out is free once you start growing your customers there are charges that you have to take care of.
Apart from Stripe and PayPal, WooCommerce supports up to 100 other payment getaways so you can always choose the right one. The best thing about it is that it does not take any extra amount.
WooCommerce Pricing
- Starter Plan is $13.99
- Plus Plan is $17.99
- Pro Plan is $31.99
Pros
- It comes with advanced features for larger stores
- Has store and customer account
- There are several themes to choose from
Cons
- The setup process can be a bit hard if you are not used
- It does not come with enough support
2. Wix
Wix is probably one of the best shopping cart software systems in the market today. It allows you to promote and manage your services and goods regardless of what you are dealing in.
As compared to other products, it’s fitted with flexible functionality that you can use to easily create a frontline store.
Once you sign up, you’ll get access to all its management features. With this software, you’ll get shopping cart page, product page and thank you page.
If you are looking for software with several templates to choose from, Wix will not disappoint you.
With Wix, you can track your orders, and manage your inventories in a professional manner and facilitate your customers’ orders.
Moreover, you can use its SEO capabilities and blogging tools to increase your sales and maximize you’re your online store. Given that it’s mobile-friendly, it will provide you with the best experience on the go through.
What makes Wix unique is its level of personalization. It allows you to customize and brand its templates so as to build your store exactly the way you want.
Whether you are looking for a flexible or scalable software system, Wix is the right one for you. To help your visitors easily locate what they are looking for it has searching filters.
The best part is that it offers all its services free of charge. Once you sign up with them you’ll enjoy all its basic operations.
If you like, you can move to its premium plans so as to enjoy a shopping cart and eCommerce facilities.
Wix Pricing
- Free trial plan
- Connect domain is $4.50 per month
- Combo plan is $8.50 per month
- Unlimited plan is $12.50 per month
- Ecommerce plan is $16.50 per month
- VIP plan is $24 per month
Pros
- It’s the best software for sole business owners
- It provides reliable hosting for website
- It has an eCommerce Module
- It’s a mobile-optimized website
Cons
It’s not the best for large businesses
3. NetSuite SuiteCommerce
This refers to an Omnichannel eCommerce system meant for small and medium-sized businesses.
With its basic and advanced features, you can comfortably manage your B2B and B2C business. It will provide you with services such as inventory creation, storefront creation, and marketing of sales.
This means you’ll get almost everything that you need to organize your business. More so, through its full-featured POS, you’ll enjoy the best customer service.
From automating your payment processes to simplifying your checkouts and speeding up transactions, it has everything that you need in shopping cart software.
To ensure that you get more personalized service and analyze your customers’ preferences, it has built-in CRM.
Another good thing about this software is its built-in reporting features. This allows you to view returns, purchases, and support requests.
This will enable you to make business decisions without any guesswork and get a true picture in the running of your business.
Since its mobile ready you can see all your business operations wherever you are. You can also integrate it with other third party software so as to support the security of your website.
Further, it will help you update how prices will feature on your website and provide you with a range of payment methods.
You can comfortably integrate your website with Stripe, PayPal, and Apple Pay among others.
Plus, it has automated most of its operation hence the operation cost has significantly gone down.
NetSuite Suitecommerce Pricing
- It does not come with a free trial
- For pricing details, you need to contact the company
Pros
- It comfortably works in any selling mode
- It’s an Omnichannel eCommerce mode
- It has responsive design technology
- You can sell anywhere in any currency
Cons
The pricing plan is not found online
4. Shopify
Although it’s not a premium service, Shopify is still one of the best shopping cart software systems for those who deal with products and services.
It has several customizable templates that you can use for all your business needs. Whether you have technical knowledge or not, you’ll find it very easy to use.
If you are looking for software that gives you some level of control, it’s the right one. One thing that you’ll love about it is that it’s quite affordable.
It’s one of the best-priced software in the market today. So whether you are on a tight budget or not it’s the right system for you.
With its range of features and tools, you can develop your online store and sell your products and services with ease.
Used by close to 600,000 people worldwide, it’s believed to be one of the best shopping cart software in the market today.
It’s not only a beautiful and responsive store but it’s also easy to set up. Since your store will be hosted by Shopify you won’t have to worry about maintaining and running the online store.
Apart from its great-looking storefront, it’s quite simple and easy to use. If you are looking for a robust software system, Shopify won’t disappoint you.
If you are planning to run an eCommerce business it’s the right software system for you. While its build mostly for physical products it can comfortably take care of digital products.
Shopify Pricing
- It provides a 14-day free trial
- Basic plan is $29 per month
- Shopify plan is $79 per month
- Advanced plan is $299 per month
Pros
- It’s simple and easy to use
- It has embeddable buy buttons
- Great iOS and Android Apps
- Great app store to support its functionalities
Cons
- It’s not quite flexible as its others
- Some features do not perform quite well
5. X-Cart
X-Cart is a flexible and versatile shopping cart that will help you get your footing in the eCommerce world.
Depending on your needs, you can either use its downloadable on-premise system or hosting suite.
To help you avoid instances where the customer order things out of stock and check the number of products available, it features a good inventory management system.
Since it can handle up to 1M SKUs, you can easily deal with large orders just on its dashboard. Its easy to use interface will provide your customers with a good experience so they can place their orders with ease.
To ensure that you are fully in control of things it has several features and tools that you can use. With this software you’ll fully be aware of the products that are slow, selling fast or gathering dust.
Thanks to its attractive templates your store will look good even without the skills of a good developer. Given that it’s open-source, it’s highly customizable thus you can design it the way you want.
Further, it’s fitted with a native mobile app and several customization options to ensure that the app runs well. Plus its seamless check out process will ensure that everything runs well.
As compared to other software systems, it works with all devices running on Android and iOS thus allowing you to access it wherever you want.
To allow clients to narrow down on their search results it has cloud search functionality. With its cloud search functionality, you’ll get spell checking and search suggestions for the products.
X-Cart Pricing
- Free pricing plan is free
- Business pricing plan is $495
- Multi-vendor pricing plan is $1,495
- Ultimate pricing plan is $5,995
Pros
- It allows you to track items based on a variety
- It allows you to easily order goods
- It comes with store security
- It features stunning templates
- It’s totally scalable and customizable
Cons
- Its technical will cost you extra
- The set up requires manual coding
6. Shopaccino
If you are looking for a shopping cart software system that provides the most versatile services, this is the right option.
Its versatile range of payment systems includes PayPal, Visa, COD, MasterCard, and bank transfer. It also has a very good dashboard that will help you calculate tax.
With its integrated module, you can manage postage costs and set aside areas where you can store the products.
It also allows your customers to create a list of products they may want to order in the future. With its simple and easy to use dashboard, you can easily upload any product information without any difficulty.
To allow you to manage your store on the go it has iOS and Android versions. If you want to create different options you can organize your products in different categories.
With its inventory management system, you’ll easily be notified if your products are running low.
Coming with a guaranteed data backup, it will provide you with SSL level security. In addition to its good reporting system, you’ll greatly benefit from the insights.
Unlike other software systems, it has created a customer satisfaction algorithm that will help gather comments, customer reviews, and a number of important information from different social media sites.
Once this data is gathered it will present it in a very easy to digest form that shows the kind of experience that people have with the system. This will help you make an informed decision.
One thing that makes it stand out is its support system. With this system, you can easily set it up and start using it without any issue. This makes it one of the best software systems out there
Shopaccino Pricing
- Free trial
- Starter plan is $20 per month
- Basic plan is $40 per month
- Professional plan is $60 per month
- Advanced plan is $100 per month
Pros
- It has extremely fast load speeds
- It comes with over 100 pre-integrated modules
- It has a refined checkout system
- You have a variety of tools to choose from
Cons
iOSapp is still under development
7. Ecwid
Ecwid is an easy to add shopping cart that’s very simple and easy to use. With its unique design, you can comfortably add it to a range of platforms including Weebly, WordPress, Facebook, and Instagram sites.
Used by over 1.5 million sellers, this software supports over 50 languages. It also comes with a high level of security that you can rely on.
Believed to be one of the fastest eCommerce platforms, it comes with forever free shopping cart solution. Although it’s free it has some of the most robust features.
Besides being mobile-friendly, it’s a very fast shopping cart software system that seamlessly integrates with your existing website.
Unlike other systems, you don’t have to create any new online store. Instead, it brings the shopping cart to your website, blog, and social media platforms.
Used by over 1.5 million people worldwide, it’s one of the most effective software systems out there. It also integrates with platforms such as Wix, WordPress, Drupal among others.
With its features, you can grow your business, sell anywhere, and develop lasting relationships with your customers.
From smart shipping to language detection, it’s built-in such a way that it will cover everything in between.
If you already have a website then this is the right software system for you. Within only 5 minutes you’ll get everything that you need to sell online.
Featuring some of the best tools, this software will well help you transform your existing website into an online store.
Since you can easily integrate it with Facebook and Instagram you’ll provide your customers with an opportunity to shop for the products that they want.
Ecwid Pricing
- Free plan
- Venture plan is $15 per month
- Business plan is $35 per month
- Unlimited plan is $99 per month
Pros
- It comes with a free plan which is free forever
- It’s highly secure
- It’s very simple and easy to use
- You can sell up to 10 products with its free plan
Cons
Its free plan is very limited
8. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is one of the most popular shopping cart software systems out there. Whether you want to build your store or sell products online, this is the right system for you.
With this software, you can create a professional online store to help you sell your products and goods.
It also has a number of features that you can use to connect and maintain your customers. Although it’s meant for those who don’t have any skills, it comes with CSS and HTML configurations for those who have some expertise.
With its functionalities and tools, BigCommerce will help you to set up and manage your online store with ease. It will also help you create your designs based on your company’s features and brand.
Furthermore, you can use it to partner with your delivery and shipping services so as to always get all your goods on time.
Whether it’s social media or payment processing, BigCommeres features everything that you need for your online business.
Besides, it has API capabilities that you can use to link with other third-party applications. This way you won’t have to move from one app to another anytime you want to do something.
By making your shop attractive, you can always attract and maintain new customers.
To help you yield the best search results, boost conversations, and increase sales, it mobile optimized and SEO friendly.
If you want to boost your business it comes with valuable insights that will help you know about your customers buying habits.
Overall it will help you sync inventory and products so you can comfortably manage multiple sites.
BigCommerce Pricing
- Free trial is free
- Standard pricing plan is $29.95 per month
- Plus pricing plan is $79.95 per month
- Pro plan is $249.95 per month
Pros
- Adding products variants is flexible and easy
- It’s suitable for both small and big stores
- It does not charge any transaction fees
- It’s the best builder when it comes to SEO capabilities
Cons
- It’s not a multilingual store
- It does not come with better email design
9. 3DCart
As compared to other solutions, 3DCart is perhaps one of the most reliable options out there. With its free trial, you can try it out to see whether it has the features that you need.
It combines its marketing capabilities with good shopping cart features to provide you with a solution that can help you grow your business.
Featuring simple to use interface and over 100 fully optimized themes, this is the right software system for every business owner.
If you are looking for a software system that integrates with platforms such as drop shoppers, QuickBooks, eBay, and Amazon, this system will not let you down.
Its marketing tools include SEO, CRM, Drip email marketing, and promotions. As an all in one eCommerce solution, it will help you build and manage your online store without any issue.
Once you’ve signed up you’ll have access to order management software, a blog, email marketing tools, and several built-in social media integration.
Plus you will get a reliable customer service that you can reach any time of the day throughout the week.
In case of anything, its technical developers will do everything to ensure that’s sorted. With its new platform 7.0, it’s a scalable and powerful eCommerce platform that you can rely on.
This makes it the most suitable tool for any retailer or businessman regardless of what they are doing.
Designed to be easy to use software and coming with mobile-friendly features, you can use it to upgrade your store from nonresponsive to responsive store. You can also use it to update your store so as to meet your standards.
3DCart Pricing
- Free trial
- Basic plan is $29 per month
- Plus plan is $79 per month
- Pro plan is 229 per month
- Enterprise plan is gotten by quote
Pros
- It comes with the best features
- You can change the themes wherever you want
- It has over 160 payment methods
- It features mobile responsive themes
Cons
- Staff users are limited by the plan
- It has limited third-party apps
10. AbanteCart
If you are looking for an open-source eCommerce solution that provides a range of features without limitations, this is the right one.
Launched in 2011, AbanteCart not only supports MySQL but also features basic layout management tools that makes it customizable and easy to use.
Although it’s open-source, it allows you to set it up and start using even if you don’t have any coding knowledge.
It allows you to decide which products, images, and categories appear on your website. Featuring multistore capabilities, you can use it to manage different stores from one point.
When it comes to customer management, it will provide you with a discount coupon system, text message notification, and customer account management to ensure that everything goes on as planned.
It also supports payment options such as PayPal, Stripe, MOLPay, SagePay, and Bitcoin Pay. Additionally, its shopping partners include UPS, FedEx, Royal Mail, and USPS.
Completely free to download and use once you sign up you just need to pay for any add ons that you want and security certificates.
Although it recommends the use of A2 Hosting, you can still comfortably use other hosting companies. Unlike other software systems, it provides a personalized demo that you can use to see how it works.
Once you sign up with your email address and name, you’ll get a link to use for your pre-install trial.
Moreover, it comes with a number of built-in features including images, unlimited categories, orders, and other products.
Overall it’s one of the best products for those who want to sell their products without paying any monthly fee.
AbanteCart Pricing
- Lite Plan starts at $3.92 per month
- Swift Plan Starts at $4.90 per month
- Turbo Plan Starts at $9.31 per month
Pros
- It’s quite easy to use
- It’s free to download and use
- It has several features
- It has a supportive community
Cons
- It comes with limited customer support
- It has old template designs
11. ShopSite
Previously known as iCentral, ShopSite comes with a number of features and tools that are meant for both small and large businesses.
As one of the best shopping cart software systems, it’s meant for users who have little technical knowledge.
Apart from being suitable for businesses with small inventories, it features an important store wizard that makes both easy and fun to use.
Easy to install and manage, it’s one of the best shopping cart software that integrates well with WordPress
It also has several integrations and features that you can use anywhere thus making it among the best platforms. Meant to be a basic solution, you can use it to host your store anywhere.
Whether you have a hosting or web Design Company you’ll find everything that you need. Since everything is clear and easy to understand you don’t have to dig down to look for what you want.
Whether you are just starting out or already established it has everything that you need. To make your online store one of the best.
With this software, you can build the right store for your business and even configure everything in as little as 15 minutes.
If you already have a website you just need to add order buttons without complicating anything. More so, you can add buy buttons to your Facebook page, blog, and even link it to a single web-based office.
These features will allow your customers to check your products, complete credit cards, and even choose the shipping methods from their devices.
ShopSite Pricing
- Free plan
- Starter plan is$5.99 per month
- Manager plan is $29.99 per month
- Pro plan is $59.99 per month
Pros
- It comes with a cheap monthly cost
- It’s quite easy to use
- Its cloud-based eCommerce solution
- It comes with a free online demo
Cons
- It has limited features
- It does not include any hosting
12. CS-Cart
CS-Cart is a self-hosted fully licensed shopping cart software that comes as a multi-vendor solution and shopping cart software.
Having been launched in 2005, the company has sold up to 35,000 copies of the software in over 170 countries.
One thing that sets it apart is that you only have to buy it once. As compared to BigCommerce and Shopify, you don’t have to make any monthly payments.
However, for you to maintain the ongoing online store you have to pay for the ongoing expenses such as SSL certificate, web hosting, and any web development.
Although this software is the right solution for small and medium-sized businesses, you need to have some technical knowledge for you to run it well.
If you want to test how it works you can opt for a demo. With this method, you won’t be required to provide any information. This means you’ll avoid any sales calls or credit card charges.
With this feature, you can view your storefront, check the back end, and even change the layout into something that you want.
Once you download and install it you’ll access the dashboard and then move to every part of the store. Simple, intuitive, and easy to use you can add your products and even edit them the way you want.
To take care of all your needs it has a number of features. These include drag and drop editor, product filters, multi-language and return merchandise authorization feature
CS-Cart Pricing
- The shopping cart software is $385
- The storefront software is $865
Pros
- Intuitive and easy to use
- It’s highly customizable
- Provides easy addition of new languages
- Unlimited category nesting
Cons
Some features can slow down your website
13. PrestaShop
While PrestaShop is not one of the oldest software systems in the market, it’s still quite influential.
Using over 60 languages and supporting up to 250000 websites already, it’s free to download and use. As an open-source platform, you can either download or host it in the cloud.
Used by a number of businesses, and coming with robust features, this system can help you build your online store right from scratch.
It allows you to have a fully customizable and up and running store within a very short time. Regardless of the level of your business, you can use it to create a customizable and centralized store with ease.
Given that its a completely open-source, you can comfortably build your site and enjoy additional inspiration and support.
If you decide to download it you’ll have to buy several modules and pay for the web hosting. This means you may have to get a good web developer to help you out.
Although it does not come with a free trial it provides a demo that you can use to see whether it has the features you need.
Plus if your business is small you need to have some technical knowledge for you to use it well. Its main features include unlimited listings, inventory features, digital products, and SEO features.
PrestaShop Pricing
The pricing depends on the mode and the features you are looking for
Pros
- It comes with a great user interface
- It has a range of great third party modules
- You can customize it the way you want
- It has excellent support materials
Cons
- Expensive customer support
- You require developer skills
How to Select the Right Shopping Cart Software System for Your Business
1. Know Your Needs
When looking for the right shopping cart software, it’s very important to understand your needs. Since businesses are different they also have different requirements from one another.
For instance, the hospitality industry is quite different from the hardware store. You should also know the size and rate of growth of your business. If you have a small business, you should not start with a large platform.
Plus, you should check whether the software can comfortably grow with your business.
2. Know the Pricing
Different shopping cart software systems come with different price points based on the storage and bandwidth that they have.
While web-hosted plans are costly, open-sourced platforms are largely free. So when looking for the right plan you must consider the storage, bandwidth, features, and support that you are looking for.
3. Choose Whether You Need Self Hosted or Web-Based Plan
Most shopping carts currently come as self-hosted solutions or SaaS. Solutions hosted by the vendor SaaS are normally very easy to use. To access the software you just need to pay monthly fees.
On the contrary, self-hosted solutions are not only free to download but also to use. While you still pay the cost of operating your site you don’t have to pay the vendor anything to use the software.
Since these solutions have their advantages and disadvantages, you need to choose the right one for your business.
4. Know The Ease of use
You should also look for a software system that’s intuitive and easy to use. Since the dashboard has everything that you need in software it’s important that you are able to use the features and navigate around.
You should also sign up for free trials and then try out the different features to check whether it’s something you can use.
Testing the ease of use of software can be one of the most important things to do when looking for the right software.
You can also try adding product variables, new products, discounts, and categories. So dedicate a few hours or minutes to see how the software works.
5. Check the Support
The best shopping cart software system should come with a good support system. If you are doing this for the first time, you should choose one that provides a personalized support system.
You need one that offers a 24/7 support system through email and live chat. You should also confirm to see whether they have up to date self-help information.
In addition, check out their Twitter and Facebook to see how they respond to their customer queries and try contacting them to see how they will respond to your needs.
6. Check Security Features
For you to carry out your transactions you must choose a secure software system.
The right software solution should come with a free SSL certificate that allows the customers to securely navigate the checkout page.
If it does not have this you may need to buy one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Once you’ve identified the right shopping cart software system, you simply need to download and install it.
From there, you can use it to manage and customize your store the way you want.
It will help you handle things such as purchases, track down the relevant data, and direct the customers to where they can make the payments.
Just like other eCommerce businesses, this software will make it easy for you to run the business.
Different shopping cart software systems come with different pricing plans. While some are free to use others may cost you a lot of money.
Besides these, there are others that charge commissions based on the transactions that you make.
If your business is small you don’t expect to pay a lot of money. But if you are running a large business expect to pay thousands of dollars for you to use the software.
Yes if you are looking for a basic one you can get it from PayPal. Although the main features are buy now, donate now buttons, you’ll get options for calculating taxes, shipping charges, and collecting customer information.
It’s therefore effective if you are only dealing with a few products.
Regardless of how good your software is, there are things that you may need to add. So before signing up for the service, check out whether it has the extensions that you need.
If you are looking for specific features you need to check out where it has the same. If not you may need to add these through extensions.
Since different businesses require different features, knowing the right software can be tricky.
The right solution generally depends on what you need and how much money you can afford. So the best you can do is to check the features and the pricing.
If you are still in doubt, you can use the free trial to check whether it has everything you need.
Final Words
Well, choosing the right shopping cart software system generally depends on your needs and how much money you are willing to spend.
If you are not sure where to start, you can try out the above. Since they are some of the most affordable software out there you’ll definitely get what you are looking for.
Once you get the right one, do not forget to sign up for a free trial to see what it has to offer. This way, you’ll end up with the right system for your business.
