e-Commerce Shopping Cart Solution

By now you may be comfortable with the importance of an e-Commerce shopping cart solution for your online store, and you may already have an idea of what you want it to look like and how you are going to go about getting it set up. You’ve no doubt thought about the various features you want it to have, including how you want the cart to be navigated and what options your customers will have to browse and manage the items in their cart. But have you given any thought to adding a wishlist feature to your e-Commerce shopping cart solution?

If you aren’t familiar with a wishlist, this is an option in an online shopping cart for a customer to select an item or items and put them aside for later purchasing. In order to implement this e-Commerce shopping cart solution and remember what is on a particular customer’s wishlist, there does have to be a logon feature so that when the customer returns at a later date the data associated with their list can be retrieved.

When a wishlist option is provided, the shopping cart basically is divided into two sections. The first section of your e-Commerce shopping cart solution is the cart itself, where items are placed that will proceed to checkout when the customer is ready. The cart is emptied either when the purchase is made or when the user logs off the store site. The second section is the wishlist. This is where items are put that the customer is interested in but does not wish to purchase on this shopping trip. Wishlist items are saved under a customer’s login and will remain there even after they log out of the store.

So when and why would a user pick out an item and not decide to buy it? There are various scenarios where this might occur.

Scenario One: You are shopping for a book by your favorite author on an online bookstore. After you navigate the site and perform your search, you realize the author has two new books out that you haven’t yet read. But you can only read one book at a time, and you only intended to buy the one you are going to read next. You can save the second book to your wishlist, and the next time you go to that online store you won’t have to navigate through the search again to find the item. It will be waiting for you when you log on, and all you have to do is transfer it into your shopping cart.

Scenario Two: You are looking for the perfect watch for your sister’s birthday. While you are shopping on an online store for the watch, you not only find the one you want to buy her but you also find one you would like to buy for yourself. But you are there to shop for your sister, and besides you are having the entire order shipped directly to her house. You can save the watch you found for yourself in your wishlist and come back later to make your final decision and then purchase it in an order you will have shipped directly to you.

While a wishlist isn’t absolutely necessary for your e-Commerce shopping cart solution, hopefully you can see the advantages it offers your customers when shopping your store.