Shopping Cart ZippyScore
 Each licensed shopping cart undergoes extensive research and testing by our expert review team. From this, they are evaluated on 7 Key features and then given an overall ZippyScore which ranges on a scale of 1 to 5. Learn more about our shopping cart reviews and see each cart's report card in our shopping cart software reviews section.
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Pinnacle Cart 4.4 |
ShopSite 4.2 |
X-Cart 4.1 |
Interspire 3.9 |
ViArt 3.8 |
Miva Merchant 3.8 |
| Purchase Direct From Shopping Cart Provider |   |
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a href="http://www.mivamerchant.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SAAS&Store_Code=MIVA&AFFIL=Zippycart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/purchase-cart/miva');"> |
| Shopping Cart Price
The best licensed ecommerce software comes at various price points and in this economy, price does matter. For most carts, there is a one–time licensing fee if you want to host the cart on your own server. If, on the other hand, you want the shopping cart company to host it for you, then you will most likely just be paying a monthly hosting fee. |
Packages range $29.95 - $149.95/mo | Packages range $9 - $125/mo | License begins at $115 | Packages begin at $295 | License ranges $149 - $349 | Packages range $59.95 - $129.95/mo |
| Setup & License Fees
Since the best licensed ecommerce software comes in many different packages, there are sometimes extra fees associated to the cart. If you have a cart that has an option between licensed or hosted, you will see the hosted fee show up in this "other fees" section. Please note, that in that instance, the hosted fees are not added to the licensing fee. Instead, you have the choice between either fee, rather than both. |
Can purchase license for $797 | Licensed from $495 or $1295 one-time | $57 Installation + hosting opt. | Optional maintenance & design fees | Hosting available $49/mo | $49.99 one-time setup OR purchase license for $995 |
| Full Feature List | View | View | View | View | View | View |
| Stats By Package (# of Products, Emails, Etc.) | View | View | View | View | View | View |
| Expert Review | Review | Review | Review | Review | Review | Review |
| Online Store Look & Feel |  |
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Merchant Interface: Click to View ↓
| Ecommerce Solution Zippy Score | Pinnacle Cart 4.4 |
ShopSite 4.2 |
X-Cart 4.1 |
Interspire 3.9 |
ViArt 3.8 |
Miva Merchant 3.8 |
| Store Setup Tools
When comparing licensed ecommerce software like PHP carts and ASP shopping carts, it's important to ask yourself how easy it is to setup. See which ecommerce software solutions have store setup tools and which do not. Store setup tools include templates, a store setup wizard, or one click install. |
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| Customize Look & Feel
Customization is very important to many merchants and even the best licensed ecommerce software can sometimes require extra knowledge of code to fully customize the design. Make sure that the licensed solution you are interested in can be easily customized so that you can spend more time selling and less time tweaking your design. |
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| Access HTML & CSS | Only With Pro and Premium | |
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| Account Software Integration
When doing a shopping cart comparison of PHP carts and ASD shopping carts, consider how your licensed software should integrate with other important reporting tools, like accounting. Can you integrate your accounting information with the software of your choice, like Quickbooks? The carts that are checked come with the ability to export your data to your accounting interface as well as integrate the software completely. |
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| Shopping Cart on Your Own Domain
As identity theft continues to grow, online shoppers are becoming more aware of how and where they use thier credit cards online. When comparing shopping cart solutions, you should consider whether your cart will end up living on your domain, or if it will end up on the shopping cart provider's URL. You know your customers the best, so consider what would make them feel safer when providing their credit card information. |
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| Paypal & Google™ Checkout
More and more consumers trust PayPal™ and Google™ Checkout when making purchases online. To ensure that your customers feel comfortable buying at your online store, consider a shopping cart program that includes full integration with these established brands. |
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| PCI / PA-DSS Compliant PCI Compliance is a new necessity for those using a hosted shopping cart. A PCI Compliant ecommerce solution has undergone a great deal of effort to meet stringent requirements put in place by the 5 major credit card companies to ensure a higher level of security when accepting credit card payments online. The carts with check marks are PCI compliant, with Pinnacle Cart being the only one that is also PA-DSS compliant (providing yet anotehr level of security). If your ecommerce solution is not at least PCI compliant, you may get fined by your credit card companies and may also be held responsible for any identity theft that occurs through your online store. |
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| HTTPS/SSL Certification (Secure Payment)
SSL is the standard protocol for any online credit card payment system. This allows secure information to be sent over the internet by encrypting it to keep the information safe. If your shopping cart checkout URL begins with "http://" then a customer might be discouraged from making a purchase on your site. Instead, this URL should have "https://" That "s" makes a big difference because it stands for secure, which will make you and your customers more comfortable. |
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| Daily Backups & Restores
If your licensed shopping cart is being hosted by the software company that you purchased it from, then they should keep backups of your cart. This allows them to restore your eCommerce store instantly in case anything goes wrong. |
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| Tech Support
When comparing the best licensed ecommerce software, you will probably be hard pressed to find a cart that doesn't provide some form of tech support, because even though these solutions are licensed, they aren't like getting an open source PHP cart. It's a great thing that all paid shopping cart programs come with this, but it's important to determine if the type of tech support provided fits your needs. |
24x7 Email and Phone, Video Tutorials, FAQ, & More! | Online tutorials, context sensitive help, help forum, live chat, and support from host | E-help Desk & Phone Support | Video Tutorials, e-Tickets, forums, & FAQs | Online Chat, FAQ, & Email | Phone, Email, Instant Chat, Videos, Forums, Knowledge Base |
| Hosted Shopping Cart Option Available
Some merchants prefer to host licensed ecommerce software with the actual shopping cart provider. See if the cart of your choice has this option. |
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| Search Engine Friendly
If you want your shopping cart to show up on search engines, you will need one that is search engine friendly, which means they take SEO (Search Engine Optimization) into account. |
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Miva Merchant Submit™ |
| Purchase Direct From Shopping Cart Provider | |
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a href="http://www.mivamerchant.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SAAS&Store_Code=MIVA&AFFIL=Zippycart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/purchase-cart/miva');"> |
Customer Management & Marketing: Click to View ↓
| Ecommerce Solution Zippy Score | Pinnacle Cart 4.4 |
ShopSite 4.2 |
X-Cart 4.1 |
Interspire 3.9 |
ViArt 3.8 |
Miva Merchant 3.8 |
| Sell Directly on Facebook | ||||||
| Other Integrated Social Media Tools | ||||||
| Search Bar / Store Browse
Is there a tool within your shopping cart software that allows a user to search and browse your product offerings? |
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requires module |
| Email Marketing or Mailing Lists
As online shopping continues to grow in popularity, it's important to build a relationship with customers virtually, and email marketing is a great way to do this. Some ecommerce software solutions have a feature that allows you to gather mailing lists, but you will have to work with a 3rd party email vendor to use these mailing lists. Other shopping carts take away the hassel by providing both mailing lists and email marketing within the cart software. Finally, other carts give you the ability to create HTML emails, but will not help you populate mailing list. Consider what's most important for you during your shopping cart comparison. |
Must Use 3rd Party | Opt-in Email Marketing | Supports HTML Emails | Email Marketing & Mailing Lists | Must Use 3rd Party | ExactTarget service |
| Upsell & Cross Sell Tools
This is a very common feature in the world of eCommerce. Having upsell and cross sell tools allows you to get the most out of every customer by showing them other product suggestions, either through a "customers who bought this also purchased" frame on your page, or offering a list of featured products that pair well with what they are looking at. |
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ShopSite Pro | |
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| Affiliate Advertising Tools
Many merchants running a shopping cart find extra profit opportunities in affiliate advertising and marketing. If this is you, or will be you one day, consider a cart that has affiliate management tools already included. This will help you maximize your ROI and minimize the headache of managing multiple affiliate partners. |
ShopSite Pro | |
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| Coupon Codes
From time to time, you may want to run a special promotion on a partner site or within your PHP cart. To do this, you may consider giving coupon codes out to visitors from that site. If this is you, then a shopping cart solution with coupon codes is an important feature to consider during your shopping cart comparison. |
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ShopSite Pro | |
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requires module |
| Gift Certificates
Do you sell a product that your customers will want to give to their friends and family? Then you will definitely want to offer Gift Certificates in your store. This is made easier with a shopping cart that comes with gift certificates as part of its basic feature set. |
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ShopSite Pro | |
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requires module |
| Automatic Email Order Confirmation
If you are a busy merchant, then you can save time by automatically sending an order confirmation email to your customers. Many shopping carts come with this already, but its always important to make sure this is an option. |
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| Instant Credit Card Processing
This shopping cart feature is a win-win for both the merchant and the customer. It allows you to process your credit cards in real time, which ensures that you get paid and your customer gets a timely delivery. |
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| Payment Accepted In Any Currency | |
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Curreny Converter | |
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Currency Converter |
| Accepts Checks | |
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| Tell a Friend
A great tool for marketing your products online is to allow your customers the chance to sell it for you. Having a "Tell a Friend" feature available in your online store allows your customers to email your products to friends and brings you even more sales |
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requires module | |
| Automatic Tax Calculation
Tax is different state by state. This shopping cart feature allows your customers to see the tax they owe instantly by using a geo specific tax table, without you having to guess at a flat rate. |
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| Always On Screen Cart
If you want to take your sales to the next level, consider licensed ecommerce software that has an "always on screen" shopping cart. This lets customers browse your store, add things to their cart, and keep a tab on how much they are spending before they make their final purchase. Without the constant reminder of what their shopping cart holds, many customers will abandon the purchase right before hitting the "confirm sale" button. So if you want to increase your sales, then this feature will take you a long way. |
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| Customer Accounts / Memberships
Letting frequent customers "join" your online store is a great way to keep them loyal to your brand. Customer accounts or memberships give customers the opportunity to save their order history, their carts, billing information and more. This also allows you the chance to give special discounts to valued customers. |
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ShopSite Pro | |
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| Wish Lists
Often, a customer will come to your site in search of one specific product. While honing in on that product, they may see something that they also want, but haven't yet budgeted for it. Giving them the option of a "wish list" lets them save that product and will remind them to purchase when they have the money. |
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requires module |
| Newsletter Subscriptions
Newsletters differ from email marketing only slightly. Customers can hit a "subscribe" button on your site to subscribe to a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly newsletter. These emails are expected and setup on a regular schedule, while email marketing can be sporadic, focused on a specific deal, and cover any topic you wish. |
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| Checkout Efficiency
The Internet has greatly changed the expectations of most consumers. They have become accustomed to quick results, so you don't want to loose a sale because your checkout process is too time consuming. During your shopping cart comparison, consider carts with a speedy checkout process to decrease cart abandonment and increase sales. |
1 Page Checkout | 2 Page Checkout | Express Checkout | 1 Page Checkout | 3 Page Checkout | Quick & Easy Checkout |
| Identity Theft / Fraud Protection
In many states, there are laws setup that protect consumers from identity theft, but at the merchant's expense. If a merchant accepts a fraudulant payment, they are sometimes required to pay back the credit card company. To avoid this, look for a shopping cart that has Identity Theft Protection features that require the CVV2 code from the consumer. |
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| Purchase Direct From Shopping Cart Provider | |
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a href="http://www.mivamerchant.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SAAS&Store_Code=MIVA&AFFIL=Zippycart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/purchase-cart/miva');"> |
Product Management & Shipping: Click to View ↓
| Ecommerce Solution Zippy Score | Pinnacle Cart 4.4 |
ShopSite 4.2 |
X-Cart 4.1 |
Interspire 3.9 |
ViArt 3.8 |
Miva Merchant 3.8 |
| Inventory Management Let your PHP cart or ASP shopping cart take inventory for you while you kick back and relax. Inventory management includes tracking of product sales, returns, and overall count. |
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ShopSite Pro | |
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| Sell Downloadable e-Products Sometimes you may want to sell a software package that can be downloaded by your customer and save on shipping costs. Other times, you may need to sell an important eBook or instruction manual. If this is you, then consider a shopping cart that has this feature. |
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ShopSite Pro | |
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requires module |
| Apply Shipping Location Permissions You may only want to ship within certain states, countries, etc. If this is true, when comparing shopping carts, look for software that allows you to apply shipping permissions. |
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| Drop Shipping Available Drop Shipping is a great tool for any ecommerce solution. Through drop shipping, you can let wharehouses around the country ship your products for you, or you can sell their products on your site for a cut of the sale. This is a great way to sell online with low overhead. |
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| Printable Shipping Labels To streamline the ordering process, many etailers look for licensed ecommerce software with the Printable Shipping Label feature. This allows you to print out customized shipping labels from your desk each time an order is placed at your online store. Consider this time saving asset when comparing shopping carts. |
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requires module | |
| Multiple Product Image Sizes The one downfall of buying a product online is that the customer cannot hold it before purchase. To make up for this, eCommerce solutions allow for multiple image sizes and angles so that a customer can get a better idea of what the product is and how they can use it. |
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| UPS/FedEx Integration This ecommerce software feature lets your customers choose shipping rates in realtime, which allows them to find accurate rates for their location instead of estimated or flat rates determined by you. |
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| Moderated Product Reviews Product reviews give customers the opportunity to get honest input about the products they are considering. This also fills your website with unique user generated content, which will help you in search results. Consider how moderated product reviews can help your online store when comparing shopping carts. |
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| Flexible Shipping Options Some customers will want the cheapest possible shipping, while others will want to get your product as fast as possible. To give your users options, look for a shopping cart with a flexible shipping option during your shopping cart comparison. |
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| Purchase Direct From Shopping Cart Provider | |
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a href="http://www.mivamerchant.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SAAS&Store_Code=MIVA&AFFIL=Zippycart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" onClick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/purchase-cart/miva');"> |
Compare The Best Licensed Ecommerce Software Solutions
The Shopping Cart Comparison Chart above lists the 45 most sought after features of the best licensed ecommerce software solutions available today. Many merchants choose to purchase a license for their ecommerce software so that they can maintain full control over their storefront. If you are trying to decide between a licensed ecommerce solution or a hosted shopping cart, consider the following benefits of licensed ecommerce software like a PHP cart or ASP shopping cart:
- The best licensed ecommerce software gives merchants full control over storefront design and customization
- Unlike hosted shopping carts, licensed software comes at a one-time fee instead of having to pay monthly
- With licensed software, merchants do not need to pay any monthly sales fees
- With licensed software, merchants can decide where to host their online storefront
- The best licensed ecommerce software makes it easier to transfer hosts, websites, and domain names
Now that you have considered the above, it is also important to consider the subtle cons of using a licensed PHP cart or ASP shopping cart:
- While all solutions provide easy setup tools and an intuitive user panel, even the best licensed ecommerce software requires some knowledge of PHP, APS, JAVA, and/or MYSQL to unlock the full potential of the ecommerce solution
- When you are hosting your online store yourself, you are in charge of the security of that store. You will also have to find a host that can handle the complexity of your shopping cart software and will still need to pay a monthly fee for that hosting
- Tech support generally costs extra after the first year of using your licensed shopping cart, so consider this when deciding if licensed is the way to go.
The above are just a few of the pros and cons that come with using licensed ecommerce software as your shopping cart solution. For most merchants that choose a licensed shopping cart, the pros definitely outweigh the cons simply because merchants have so much control over their online store and truly own the software. To learn more about the licensed cart options listed above, simply click on the "view" link to get a detailed list of features available with the license. Also be sure to browse the shopping cart customer reviews and shopping cart software reviews sections of this site to further research the software of your choice.
Finally, it is important to compare multiple statistics when searching for your next ecommerce solution. Because of this, we provide 3 shopping cart comparison tools and we encourage you to use all three to narrow down your options. The Shopping Cart Statistics Guide allows you to sort carts based on price, bandwidth, disk space, and more. The Shopping Cart Checklist allows you to check off all of the features you want in a shopping cart and get matched to the best licensed ecommerce software for you. Combining these tools will help you buy with confidence. When you have found the licensed cart you want, simply click one of the "Sign Up" buttons next to the cart name to go directly to the software provider's website and make a secure purchase.
