Let me take the liberty of differentiating between a shopping cart and associated payment gateways. Hopping cart is the backend software that enables you to sell products online whereas payment gateway is a service without which a business cannot accept money for goods/services sold. Personal and financial details submitted on e-store are transmitted to payment gateway service, which then securely routes the information through the relevant financial networks. For more details www.greateducationonline.com Upon real time confirmation, your transaction appears completed. Its just like you have gone to a grocery store and on checkout, you are asked for mode of payment - cash or card or voucher. For your convenience, store has partnered with different agencies for being able to accept money, and these are payment gateways.

In the world of search engines and social networking, you can't control the message anymore, but you can control your process. On Web, with the options of shopping carts available, choice of payment gateways is enormous. A correct selection is required; else, business might end up losing money rather than earning profits!

A good number of the shopping cart software are capable of processing orders using most of payment processing companies available over the Internet, like:

* authorize.net

* QuickBooks Merchant Services

* Bankofamerica.com

* Paradata.com

* Cybersource.com

* Paymentech.com

* Ecs-world.com

* Paymentech: smwp.com

* Korta.is

* Paypal.com PRO

* Google Checkout

* Linkpoint.com

* Plugnpay.com

* Innovativegateway.com

* NOVA viaklix.com

* Internetsecure.com

* Verisign.com

* Moneris.com

* Worldpay.com

Rather than listing many factors that might affect your business to run efficiently, here are few things to be kept in mind while deciding on choice of shopping cart with payment gateways:

* Transaction fees of payment gateway: Do your homework on finding the transaction cost per sale, which generally can dent your profits.

* Ability to add "custom" payment option/s: Though you might not feel the need to offer other options apart from some standard ones, however, if you going to sell international, your current one might not have global presence. Or, in another case, you are looking forward to expand your customer base by penetration. For more details www.greatindustrialguide.com Therefore, it's imperative for you to check with your shopping cart provider (hosted / stand-alone) about the ability to add a custom option easily, without over the top investment!

* Effect of multiple payment option: As a business owner, you have to understand whether offering multiple payment options is an intelligent choice or it dilutes the brand value. Though you get a better reach, it might eat up on your margins through the processing cost. Plus, depending upon the industry, size of business, the customer might like multiple payment option, however, if you are a small entrepreneur, managing multiple payment options might turn out to be a hassle.