Online shopping cart: manage your Internet store with a Web-based shopping cart
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Differences between using an offline and online shopping cart
Offline and online shopping carts
This is one of our ecommerce tutorials. It is intended for those that are just getting started with the concept of using a shopping cart to run an ecommerce store. Software that helps you build and manage Internet stores can typically be divided into two categories:
- software that resides partially on your PC or MAC workstation, and
- software that resides entirely on the Web server where your ecommerce store is hosted.
We will refer to the first group as offline shopping carts, and the second group as online shopping carts.
Using an offline shopping cart
When you are using an offline shopping cart, typically you manage the store on your local computer. Changes that you make to the store (e.g. adding a new product, changing a category description, editing a payment option, etc.) are not applied to your live store until you publish them.
Publishing changes is normally a process that involves transferring files from your PC or MAC to the Web server. The software will take care of that for you. eCart by Web Assist is one of the shopping carts that works this way, for example.
Advantages of using an online shopping cart
When you are using an online shopping cart no software is installed on your local workstation*. All software is installed on the Web server, including the administration area of your store. Therefore, to manage the storefront, you just need a standard browser.
So what are the advantages of using an online shopping cart?
- Store administration. Since an online shopping cart can be fully managed using a standard browser, you can access your store's administration tools from anywhere, at any time. All you need is an Internet connection and a browser compatible with your store's control panel. Practically speaking, this means that you can make changes to your product catalog, update store-wide settings, or review and process orders without having to be in your office. This is not true when you are using an offline shopping cart, which requires software to be installed on a local computer for you to be able to edit your store.
- Multiple store administrators. A sophisticated online shopping cart will likely allow you to set up multiple administrative accounts, each with access limited to selected administration tools. Since the store can be administered by simply connecting to it with a browser, different administrators can help you manage your ecommerce Web site from their computers, wherever they may be (e.g. same office, difference offices, home offices, etc.).
- Live changes. In most cases, updating a store using online shopping cart software means that any change to make to the product catalog or other store settings are immediately live. You don't need to remember to "publish" the changes to apply them to the storefront. This speeds up the process, but also means that you have to be extra careful when making changes. If you use an offline shopping cart, then typically changes are not applied to the storefront unless you "publish" them.
ProductCart is an online shopping cart
As you review and compare shopping carts, you will find programs that belong to both categories. ProductCart, our ecommerce software, is an online shopping cart. Nothing is installed on your local computer*.
ProductCart is an asp shopping cart (written in ASP, active server pages), and all of the ASP files are transferred to the Web server where your store will be hosted upon installing the program. A ProductCart-powered storefront is then managed entirely through your browser (see a demo of the Control Panel).
About this ecommerce tutorial
Since 2001, Early Impact has been developing professional shopping cart software and providing complete ecommerce solutions. Our quality ecommerce software, coupled with fast and accurate technical support, is the foundation upon which businesses around the world have built successful online stores. Read more of our ecommerce tutorials.
(*) The exception to this is the scenario in which you are running your whole ecommerce store on your workstation for testing purposes. For instance, learn more about installing ProductCart on your desktop.