It is imperative that online traders put to use the best and most effective shopping cart software that they can afford because it is ultimately this feature that will get you customers. One can go on and on about how to design a shopping cart for a website but here are some of the things that need to be kept in mind while creating an effective shopping cart.

1. Layout- The key to an effective ecommerce shopping cart is ease of use. A customer must be able to "pile up" all the products that he or she may be interested in and then take a last look at it before check in. Perhaps if a drag and drop layout is feasible, it would make to most sense for a user. The website must also be aesthetically designed so that customers who reach your site are able to find what they want and don’t feel like leaving. This is important because online purchases usually arise out of impulse.

2. SEO - This is what will actually bring customers to your website when they search for a product on prominent search engines. Using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) you will make your site appear more relevant to the typed keywords and will thus appear higher in search results thus attracting more customers.

3. Transactions-The shopping cart must be able to sell in multiple currencies given the fact that there are a large number of overseas customers in the marketplace as well and not everyone is able to think in US dollars. Moreover, your shopping cart software must be integrated with Google, Pay Pal, FedEx etc to ensure that no customer who might be a user of even one of these would feel alien to your website. The software must be able to display the total price of all the products added to the cart and must show the discounts and other coupons being used.

4. Augmented product- This refers to the additional options and features that you would give to a customer that would put you a cut above your competitors. Things like bulk discounts, free shipping, real-time shipping quotes, gift wrapping and messages refunds and store credits would make customers feel that it is more profitable to buy a product from your site than your competitors.

5. Security- This is one aspect that online sellers can’t afford to ignore because the credit card numbers and other sensitive data is being handled and must be handled responsibly. Today there are an ever rising number of users who feel insecure about making online payments and their worries must be put to rest. Making highly secure payment gateways will help keep your customers coming back.

Using the above steps would guide you on how to create an effective

website design and shopping cart. Remember that today’s businesses are moving from "customisation" to "customer-isation". And that is what makes all the difference between you and your competitors!