Quick Shopping Cart

Quick Shopping Cart in an effort to serve you more quickly and easily. Infect every shopping cart provider claims that they have Quick Shopping Cart. Quick Shopping Cart includes parts that have just recently become available, as well as an extensive selection of holiday gift items.

Imagine scrolling 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!" and walk away or click away.

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 Quick Shopping Cart.

However, the process before buying - shopping, browsing, and working with the Quick 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

For example, if you want a Quick Shopping Cart you have to use the part number shown on each page, you may place your order very quickly. From there you may enter a part number instead of selecting the product from the list. Enter the 8 digit numeric part number. If you are using 6 digit numeric part numbers, please add two zeros to the end of the part number and then select the Add to Cart button.

Design of Quick Shopping Cart with these features:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 and should be avoided in Quick Shopping Cart. 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.

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 in Quick Shopping Cart.

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 in Quick Shopping Cart. 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.