In Direct Sales, vendors and owners alike have, for years, ignored the traditional avenues for shopping – including the online shopping cart.  With most of their focus on “recruiting”, ‘auto-ship’ and ‘marketing’ to a limited niche, there wasn’t much need for a retail-centric shopping cart.  Then Party Plan companies came along, changing that mindset, somewhat, but not to the level of an Amazon or Walmart per say.

A Different Approach

Typically, web designers and digital store owners in the industry, believe that if the business provides a bunch of options on the checkout page like ‘log in to continue’, ‘add to wish list’, ‘share’, ‘buy later’ or other features, it is providing their customers added benefits.  Xennsoft, on the other hand, has taken a different approach. When entering the Xennsoft shopping cart, customers are given just two options. You can either make a one-time purchase and leave the site, or you can make a one-time purchase and at the same time, set up an auto-restock of the same or other product(s).

The key idea being, to simplify the decision-making process and ensure that if you are ready to buy something, you are not distracted by unwanted option.  If you focus solely on the task at hand (finalizing the purchase), then the conversion rate will be much higher – and it is.

If you do add options, make sure they are purpose-driven.  For example, Xennsoft’s cart shows discount pricing if the customer sets up an auto-restock, purchases a specific item, or spends over a targeted amount. All of which give added benefit, while encouraging the customer to finalize their purchase. It’s that simple, that elegant and that clean! Again, focusing on why the shopper is there is paramount to them finishing the process – and to your success.

Remember This

In the end, when choosing a shopping cart software, remember to focus on these important criteria.

  • Cost & ease of use
  • Features that fit your market
  • Design & customization
  • Payment processing & merchant tools
  • Customer service support and options

In the end, be sure to choose features and services guaranteed to deliver software with outstanding conversion rates, high usability and great overall customer experience.