Order Taking Systems for Small Business Web-sites

To the developer of the company web-site who doesn't want to go to all the trouble to learn a programming language, or research and purchase CGI programs to place on the web-server, another option is available. Companies have bundled necessary CGI programs and HTML code together in what is known as shopping cart software. An internet search reveals that there are thousands of software packages available to purchase. In general, there are two components to these programs: the storefront, and the administration ("Wikimedia" 1.)

The storefront consists of the browser based language (HTML or other,) that is inserted into the company's web-site and CGI programs stored on the web server. Through this code-program package, information about the company's products can be pulled from a database (maintained by the seller,) by the customer when he/she visits the web-site. The customer can arrange selected products on a separate web page that is created "on-the-fly" by a CGI program. This other web page is known as the shopping cart. The shopping cart is basically a form that, when submitted, purchases the selected products.

The administration component of shopping cart software is accessed by the merchandiser. Here the company can manage what products to sell at which price. Most software allows the company owner to create promotions, discounts, and payment settings with ease.

Overall, a good shopping cart software package integrates many functions. When selecting a package, the company should look at how a shopping cart program can work with merchant banking services (a payment gateway company,) and product delivery software. Many software packages make use of advanced web server-side programs like Microsoft's ASP (Active Server Page) scripts, and Flash. This analysis used a shopping cart review web-site to learn about the different packages available ("Shopping Cart Reviews" 1.)