Web Design - Crucial Elements Of The Shopping Cart

By Author: Alex Baker
Total Articles: 149
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The shopping cart is usually that last step that is encountered by the visitor but is very critical for generation of revenue. If the visitor or prospective buyer is not comfortable with the shopping cart he/she may not buy any of the offerings made through the website and this may be harmful for the business. Some of the elements that play a crucial role in the success of the shopping cart are as follows.

• Facilitating the log out process
The log out process can be of two types; one is the step by step process and the other is the one page process.

Let us first study the step by step process. When the visitor logs in the website, the first step is Sign in. After the visitor chooses the products to be bought and added them to the shopping cart, the following step is billing and shipping. The last two steps are about payment and verification.

When all the details such as the product list, buyers details and information about shipping and billing are mentioned on a single page it is called one page process.

• Use of Table
Table is one of the ways to make complex data look simple. When ...
... the layout of the shopping cart page is based on table the information mentioned therein is easy to understand. Complex backgrounds should not be used. One should use only standard font. The cells of the table should be separated by strong borders but not stylish borders. The content of the table should be readable. A miniature image if possible should be included so that the visitor comes to know easily the product he/she has selected or ordered.

• Visible Buttons
Buttons like “towards checkout”, “towards logout”, “add to cart” should be easily visible because if they are not properly visible to the eyes of the visitors they may be left stranded and in confusion about what to do next. The buttons should be large enough to catch the eye of the visitor. The text associated with the button should be legible and understandable.

• Redundant Fields
In the shopping cart form keep the fields that are most needed. If the visitor finds it cumbersome to fill the form just because the number of the fields is more than necessary, it could have a negative effect on the business. One should avoid adding unnecessary fields in the shopping cart form.

• Verification
Inclusion of the verification page should not be forgotten in the check out process. Most of the online buyers would like to have a last look at the things they have ordered before logging out or checking out of the website.

• Help
There should help elements like text in brackets to guide the type of information or data to be entered in different fields. Help to the visitor can also be extended by icons that are quite visible along with the text for its utility.

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