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Shopping cart technology enables retailers to expand and save money

by Kathy Hagood
Brevard Technical Journal

The Web is being used ever more often as a source for goods and services for businesses and consumers. Suppliers that aren't tapping into it could get left in the dust.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research, an independent technology research company, predicts U.S. companies will sell more than $316 billion over the Internet by 2010. Online sales will account for about 12 percent of total retail sales, up from 7 percent today, Forrester projects.

Nielsen/NetRatings deter-mined online shopping sites accounted for 17 percent of time spent online in November. Even though now there's no doubt that the Internet is a powerful sales tool, in the early days, many wondered whether Internet shopping would ever catch on.

Netscape helped kick off the e-commerce revolution in 1994, with a point and click Web browser. Amazon.com and eBay were among the earliest significant e-retailers and are two of the biggest success stories in e-commerce today.

While Amazon has become ever more famous over the past decade, it only posted its first net profits two years ago. Amazon's patience with the early days led to the e-retailer setting a single-day record during the past holiday of more than 2.8 million units ordered, or 32 items per second, worldwide.

Not every e-retailer has faired as well. A number of ambitious dotcoms, like Boo.com, fell by the wayside. And some retailers, including Toys R Us, faced embarrassments as they entered the e-commerce world by not being able to deliver products in a timely manner when online shopping demand outpaced their distribution system's ability to supply products.

But such problems have been less frequent as companies have benefited from lessons learned from early e-commerce technology adopters. Supply systems have become more reliable and companies have provided for easier tracking of product shipping.

Faster connections and better Internet security also have increased consumer acceptance of online shopping, which is driving ever-growing demand.

"Once someone tries online shopping and has a positive experience with it they realize how much time it saves," said Richard Martin, president and chief executive officer of Web Connection.Net. Inc. in Indian Harbour Beach. Martin's company provides Web design and database development.

Martin himself does much of his shopping online to save time both for his business and personal life.

"Ordering office supplies is a snap online," he said.

A recent study, "The Evolution of the Multi-Channel Consumer," conducted by e-tailing group Fry Inc. and comScore Networks demonstrated that many consumers tap into online resources to help them in their purchase decisions.

Internet surfers who have gone to retail sites such as Circuit City to gather information before purchasing products at a retail store are more often deciding to save time by ordering over the Internet. Department stores, including Sears, are offering purchase over the Internet with the option of delivery or quick pick up at a nearby retail outlet.

But big companies aren't the only ones benefiting from shopping cart setups these days, Martin said. Even small companies are tapping into e-commerce these days to expand their sales.

"Shopping cart technology has become more affordable and as more and more businesses adopt the technology it's becoming a requirement even for smaller businesses," Martin said.

A custom Web site with a shopping cart has come down in price from about $5,000 to $2,000.

"More than 80 percent of the Web sites we create these days includes a shopping cart," Martin said. His company has designed sites for a diverse client base including technology, automotive and suntan lotion companies.

"It's so much easier and often cost effective for a company that wants to expand into a new service area to invest in a shopping cart and then spend the money it would have spent on a brick-and-mortar retail site on advertising," Martin said.

While custom-designed shopping carts with local customer support help ensure easy adoption of the technology, some businesses are opting for less expensive cookie cutter solutions provided by off-the-self software or monthly services offered by such vendors as MonsterCommerce.

"You can save money by taking a more do-it-yourself attitude to building a site with a shopping cart, but then you're going to spend a lot of time, which may cost you money," Martin said.

Working with a Web company knowledgeable in shopping cart design can also provide better integration with accounting software tools such as QuickBooks.

Regardless of how businesses decide to setup their shopping cart, it's important to have the shopping cart hosted by a company that provides high server reliability.

Martin provides hosting through Creative Networks of Central Florida, which maintains servers with generator backups on the mainland.

"When your server is down you're not going to get any business over the Internet. Otherwise you have the potential for business 24 hours a day seven days a week," Martin said.