When I explain to people that I work for a company that does online payments processing, most people stare blankly at me. It's only when I mention shopping cart software that I see a flicker of understanding, and even then only a brief nod. Most people don't seem to know what it's all about, so I'm going to set the record straight, and give an overall explanation of what those two concepts are.
Most people will have come across a website online where they can purchase goods (either physical, or non-physical), and most people will have purchased something on one of these sites. When you make a purchase on an ecommerce website, you generally make a payment via your credit card. This payment makes use of shopping cart software to send a payment request to a payment processor.
The processor will contact your issuing bank (for your credit card) programmatically to have the money transferred. The processor will generally settle this amount (and the amount of all their other transactions) to the website or merchant on a weekly basis. At the time of the transaction, the processor sends a response to the shopping cart software that is hosted on the site, and the shopping cart software then knows the status of the transaction. If successful, it will take you to the page where you can either download your item or agree delivery. If it failed, it will show an error message on screen.
The shopping cart software itself is generally quite basic, taking the form of a basic web page which will display which objects you have put into your virtual cart. You will have the option to add, edit, or delete items from your shopping cart, and each time you do so, the value of that item will be added to your total amount. Usually, you will be able to click a button that says "checkout", which will take you to a page where you can enter your billing and shipping address information, and then you will be taken to a page where you will enter your credit card information. Once that's been entered, the shopping cart software will send the request off to the banks to determine whether or not you have enough money available on your card.
This is the process in a fairly simple explanation. Step by step, the process is as follows:
- Browse website and select items to buy
- Each item you select buy is added to your virtual shopping cart
- When you are done selecting, you will click "checkout"
- You'll enter your billing and shipping addresses, and credit card information
- The shopping cart software talks to your bank programmatically
The shopping cart software will redirect you to the appropriate action based on the outcome of the above steps.
As you can see, it's really not a complex process, and most ecommerce websites have their own shopping cart software on their sites. As with most IT things, the more you understand the concept, the less scary it becomes.
About Webmama
Webmama.co.uk is a leading provider of shopping cart software and e-commerce website solution in the UK. We have packages that suits every budget, with industry leading client centric service and competitive, honest prices, it's no wonder 1500+ worldwide customers look to Webmama.co.uk for all their ecommerce solution needs.
We’re excited to offer you a completely free 14 day trial to evaluate our software with zero risk (no credit card required). We’re sure that once you see what our shopping cart software can do, you’ll know it’s the right choice for your business and your online success.
Contact: 44 (0) 845 634 4586
Source: webmama.co.uk
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