Online Catalog, Virtual Store

A shopping cart is an e-commerce web application that mimics a virtual store. It allows customers to browse and select a product(s), then purchase them at a virtual check out.
 
Most e-commerce is done with one of the many preprogrammed shopping carts that are available. While these packages should prove adequate for most e-commerce needs, custom programming is always an option for more advanced features.

E-Commerce Tips

• For standard shopping carts two major options exist, buy or lease. Be careful of leasing shopping carts, while they have lower up-front costs they can be more expensive in the long run. Additionally, when leasing you may not actually own the cart, therefore, if you wanted to leave your service provider you will have to leave the cart behind.
• Once you have a shopping cart you must add your products to it. This can be a simple procedure if the data is in an organized electronic form, however, the processes can be quite lengthy otherwise.

Activities, Time and Costs Estimates

• Standard shopping cart: $250 - $2,500+ Packaged application with online catalog and checkout. (Setup is extra)
• Shopping cart Setup: 1 Day - 2 Weeks, $500 - $2,500+ Installation of cart and product entry. (assume products are in electronically importable form)
• Custom shopping carts: 1Wk - 6Months, $1,000 - $100K+ Custom programming must be custom quoted based on your needs.