Mistakes in designing and configuring a shopping cart can result in abandoned shopping carts, customers leaving in frustration, and lost income. Most ecommerce owners never think of configuring the site when buying it. They just look at the images and graphics. They want easy to understand stats, and a site that is easy to build.

It isn't until the site sits on the web for months, and the sales are dismal, that these ecommerce business owners start looking at the site from the customer's point-of-view.

Action Buttons

The buttons that ask customers to take action are vita. They should be easy to configure, unfortunately, the free and open-source shoppi9ng carts rarely let users alter their buttons.

The Add To Cart button is the most vital. There should be an option to save the user's email address, so the shopping cart can be saved until a future visit. The Add to Cart button must be in an obvious place, be a bright color, and be easy to use.

A ?Buy Now? button lets customers escape once they make a selection. Many people hit a site to buy one thing. The buy now, and add to cart, may both take the visitor to the same web page, but it is a matter of perception.

The action buttons should encourage the visitors to do something. Do not let them flip through sites. If they are not ready to buy, then give them the option of looking for more information, a better picture, or view more stats and comparative prices for the product.

Customer's Personal Information

The first reaction to a long personal information form is to abandon the shopping cart. The shopping cart is not a mailing list builder.

The best time to collect information is on the shipping form. If you want to ask the customer to join the company's mailing list, or request marketing information, then invite them to participate in a marketing survey before they reach the shopping cart.

The old belief that ?they are so far through the process that they would rather answer questions than abandon the cart? is a drastic mistake. Today's consumers are more likely to abandon their carts ?as an act of revenge? than they are to risk being the victim of a phishing or identity theft scam.

Keep the forms short. Consumers are frustrated when asked questions such as ?how did you hear about us,? and ?do you want to join our newsletter.?

Reliability and Credibility

Credibility is vital. Unfortunately, the ?about us? page often receives the least attention by business owners.

Today's online consumers are wary of phishing and identity theft scams. They are being taught to check out the company, make sure they are legitimate.

- There are a few ways to build credibility.

- Add the address of the business

- Add photos of your place of business.

- Include a telephone number

- Include a live chat

- blog about the company, improvements, and community information

are also good customer service tools. Many sites include SLL or other security images on each page, to remind consumers that their information is safe.

A disclosure statement promising that the consumer's information is safe and will not be sold to mailing list companies will help calm consumer's fears.

The most important step is to make sure each level of the shopping cart has the same domain name, and templates. If the customer is being sent ?off site? then post a warning, and tell the consumer that you value their security and are hosting your shopping cart on a safe site.

Check Out Process

The check out process on most shopping carts is confusing. The consumer clicks ?check out? and end up on a personal information form, leaving them confused, wondering if they are in the right place. Or, they must wade through as many as five pages before reaching the Confirmation Page.

Shopping carts should be configured to tell customers the check out process, where they are in the process, and what will happen next. The most common method is by using the step-by-step method to track the customer's progress.

This method includes ?call-to-action? buttons or phrases. These phrases are also used as Call to Action page titles such as Check out now, Make Payment, Arrange Shipping, Final Step.

Each is designed to reinforce the ?decision to buy? message by promising quick delivery, a guarantee, posting a HackerSafe or VeriSign seal on the page, and making the shopping experience as painless as possible.

The last step is the Confirm Order Page. This page should have a prominent ?Buy Now? button. Let the customer know that they are only one step from a purchase.