8 Best Shopping Cart Software For Businesses In 2024

The success of your online store depends on your selection of shopping cart software.  When choosing your choice, take into account your company's size, level of technical proficiency, and product offering. Every kind of organization can find the ideal fit among the many options available, ranging from feature-rich enterprise platforms to user-friendly solutions.  To make sure you get the software that best supports your online sales journey, don't be hesitant to look into free trials and demos. Now investigate these 8 best shopping cart software to enable your company to prosper in the dynamic field of Internet commerce.

What is Shopping Cart Software?

Shopping cart software, also known as e-commerce shopping cart, is a type of software that allows businesses to set up online stores and conduct transactions over the Internet. shopping cart solutions provide a platform for managing products, processing orders, and facilitating payments securely.

How Does Shopping Cart Software Work?

Shopping cart software acts behind the scenes to power a smooth online shopping experience for both you (the store owner) and your customers. Here's a breakdown of shopping cart services key functions:

Product Management: You can add, edit, and organize your product information, including descriptions, prices, images, and inventory levels. The Shopping cart software keeps track of everything in a central database.

Customer Experience:  When a customer adds items to their cart, the software remembers their selections using cookies. Shopping cart software displays the chosen products, allows quantity adjustments, and calculates the subtotal.

Checkout Process: During checkout, the software captures customer information like billing and shipping addresses. Shopping cart software integrates with tax calculators to add appropriate taxes and may offer options for discounts or coupons.

Payment Processing: Securely connects with payment gateways to process transactions. It doesn't store sensitive payment details itself but facilitates safe communication between your store and the payment processor (e.g., Stripe, PayPal).

Order Management: Once a purchase is complete, the software creates an order record with customer details and purchased items. Shopping cart software allows you to manage order fulfillment, track inventory changes, and communicate with customers about their orders.

Inventory Management:  Some software can track inventory levels and alert you when stock gets low. Shopping cart software helps avoid overselling and ensures a smooth buying experience.

Reporting & Analytics: Many online shopping software platforms offer reporting tools that provide insights into sales performance, customer behavior, and popular products. Shopping cart software data is valuable for optimizing your online store and marketing strategies.

What is the Price of Shopping Cart Software

Shopping cart software pricing can vary depending on the features you need and the scale of your business. Here's a breakdown of the general cost structure for the best online shopping carts:

Free Plans: Many Shopping cart software platforms offer free plans with basic functionalities like product listing and a limited number of transactions. These are suitable for small businesses just starting out or those with a very limited product range.

Freemium Model: Some providers offer a freemium model, where you get basic features for free but have to upgrade to a paid plan for advanced functionalities like abandoned cart recovery, marketing tools, or higher product limits.

Tiered Subscription Plans: Most shopping cart software free comes in tiered monthly subscription plans. The price typically increases as you unlock more features, such as increased storage, bandwidth, product variations, or advanced marketing tools. Prices can range from around $10 per month for basic plans to $200 or more for enterprise-level solutions.

Transaction Fees:  Some platforms may charge additional transaction fees on top of the monthly subscription. These fees are a small percentage (usually around 2-3%) of each sale you make.

8 Best Shopping Cart Software For Businesses

Here are 8 best shopping cart software for small businesses:

Shopify

In the list of shopping cart software examples, Shopify is the leader in user-friendly ecommerce solutions, Shopify offers a drag-and-drop interface and a vast app store to extend functionalities for your online store. It's perfect for beginners and scales well as your business grows, but lower-tier plans have transaction fees and customization might be limited compared to open-source platforms.

• Pros: Easy to use, user-friendly interface, vast app store with extensions for almost any functionality, excellent scalability for growing businesses.
• Cons: Transaction fees on lower plans, and limited customization options compared to open-source platforms.

WooCommerce

Woocommerce is a free, best shopping cart for digital products and open-source plugin turns your WordPress website into a full-fledged online store. WooCommerce offers extensive customization through plugins and integrates seamlessly with WordPress, but requires some technical knowledge to set up and maintain.  Security updates are also your responsibility.

• Pros: Open-source and free to use (though you'll need web hosting), highly customizable with plugins, integrates seamlessly with WordPress websites.
• Cons: Requires some technical knowledge for setup and maintenance, security updates are your responsibility.

BigCommerce

Built for high-volume stores, BigCommerce boasts excellent scalability, built-in SEO tools, and strong omnichannel features to sell across different channels. However, it has a steeper learning curve than Shopify and higher pricing plans for larger businesses.

• Pros: Scalable solution for high-volume stores, built-in SEO tools, strong omnichannel features for multi-channel selling.
• Cons: Steeper learning curve compared to Shopify, higher pricing plans for larger businesses.

Magento

Magento is the ultimate customization for large businesses with complex needs, Magento is a free, open-source platform offering complete control over your online store. However, Magento requires significant technical expertise to set up and manage, making it a non-starter for beginners.

• Pros: Open-source platform with ultimate control and customization, ideal for large businesses with complex needs.
• Cons: Requires significant technical expertise for setup and management, not recommended for beginners.

Square Online

Perfect for businesses with a brick-and-mortar presence that use Square's point-of-sale system, Square Online offers easy inventory management across channels and affordable pricing for smaller businesses.  The downside is a limited app store compared to giants like Shopify and BigCommerce, and it might struggle with highly complex product catalogs.

• Pros: Integrates seamlessly with Square point-of-sale systems for brick-and-mortar stores, easy to use for managing inventory across channels, and affordable pricing for smaller businesses.
• Cons: Limited app store compared to Shopify or BigCommerce, may not be ideal for highly complex product catalogs.

Wix eCommerce

Wix ecommerce is ideal for beginners with limited technical knowledge, Wix eCommerce is a user-friendly drag-and-drop website builder with built-in ecommerce functionalities. While it's a good starting point, Wix eCommerce offers limited design flexibility compared to dedicated shopping cart software and may not scale well for large businesses.

• Pros: User-friendly drag-and-drop website builder with built-in ecommerce functionalities, a good option for beginners with limited technical knowledge.
• Cons: Limited design flexibility compared to dedicated shopping cart software, may not scale well for large businesses.

3dcart (now Shift4Shop)

3dcart is an all-in-one solution includes built-in marketing tools like email marketing and SEO features, offering good value for the price with a wide range of features. However, the interface can be overwhelming for beginners, and it has lower brand recognition compared to some other options.

• Pros: All-in-one solution with built-in marketing tools like email marketing and SEO features, good value for the price with a wide range of features.
• Cons: Interface can be cluttered for beginners, not as widely known as some other options.

Ecwid

Ecwid is a great option for getting started with a free plan, Ecwid integrates easily with existing websites and allows you to sell on social media platforms. However, the free plan has limited features, and it might not be suitable for complex stores with a large product range.

• Pros: Free plan available for getting started, easy to integrate with existing websites, good option for selling on social media platforms.
• Cons: Limited features on the free plan, may not be suitable for complex stores with a large product range.

How to Pick Your Company's Ideal eCommerce Shopping Cart?

Selecting the ideal shopping cart software for your online store is like to selecting the ideal cuisine. Find the ideal fit using these tips:

Recognize yourself: Think about your product line, budget, IT expertise, and business size.

Select the essentials you must have: Consider features like marketing tools, security, payment methods, and mobile friendliness.

Make an investigation: Examine the features and costs offered by BigCommerce, Wix, WooCommerce, Shopify, and other platforms.

Before you buy, try this: To evaluate the program, the majority offer free trials.

Think about extras: Search for transaction fees, app shops, and customer service channels.

The best AI Shopping Assistant for your Shopify store

The ideal AI shopping assistant for your Shopify store is Manifest AI, a tool designed to seamlessly integrate with your online platform. Manifest AI specializes in understanding customer behavior and preferences through real-time interaction. This intelligent assistant engages shoppers who are hesitant or about to leave without purchasing, offering personalized product recommendations and answering queries to guide them toward making a purchase. Its capability to analyze browsing patterns allows it to provide tailored assistance, significantly enhancing the shopping experience. Moreover, Manifest AI simplifies the checkout process, addressing common obstacles that lead to cart abandonment. By implementing Manifest AI, Shopify store owners can expect not only to reduce cart abandonment rates but also to increase customer satisfaction and sales through a more intuitive and supportive shopping environment.

Conclusion

In 2024, e-commerce expands with a variety of shopping cart software options. There is a platform out there that is ideal for you, regardless of your level of tech expertise or experience with internet sales. You may use this advice to choose the best software for your online store by taking your budget, level of technical skill, and growth goals into account. Always keep in mind that the ideal fit is the one that fits well, grows with you, and supports your particular e-commerce objectives. So go ahead, investigate these leading candidates, and get ready to create a web sales success that will blow your mind.