How to Set up Your Shopping Cart Software in Just 15 Minutes (Or Less)

how to start affiliate marketing

by Martin Hurley. Updated JAN 2023

shopping cart software

How many shopping carts have you loaded with products then abandoned because you found out that the purchasing process…

  1. Lacked your payment method
  2. Didn't work at all; or
  3. Was ridiculously user-unfriendly?

What about a poorly-designed shopping cart that is slow loading or has a confusing interface? (Don’t even get us started!)

You need great shopping cart software. Fortunately, good options exist.

SamCart is one of our favourites. It can help you avoid these little pitfalls, and ramp up your sales. It also allows you to easily…

  • Create an online sales page quickly
  • Start selling wherever you connect with potential clients!

So, in this post, we're going to step through how to set up your online shopping cart software quickly and easily.

Let's go...

The best shopping cart software

You probably know how important shopping cart ecommerce is. For some of us it's like having our cake and eating it too!

But, there's also a ton of shopping cart abandonment going on out there...


A staggering 67.45% of online shopping carts are abandoned. This means that, for every 100 potential customers, 67% will leave your online store without purchasing anything.

Baymard Institute


No one wants to blow the sale once you have a potential client so close to a conversion!

If you're selling products, you really do need an online shopping cart solution that will allow you to close deals with ease – and connect with your clients directly.

samcart best shopping cart software
Is Samcart the best shopping cart software?

We like Samcart because it's easy to set up and use.

In just 15 minutes or so, you can have a secure shopping cart up and running, and can start processing transactions immediately.

Not all online shopping cart software is equal

It's also reliable, so you can be confident that your shopping cart will function properly every time. You can also process coupons, accept payments by credit card or PayPal, and track sales data.

Setting up an online shopping cart can be a challenge for some business owners because there's so many different carts available, each with its own set of features and options.

It can be difficult to determine which cart is the best fit for your business and your customers.

However with Samcart, you can do things like create a custom checkout page with just a few clicks, and integrate with a variety of payment processors, so you can accept payments from your customers quickly and easily.

Making the buying experience as good as possible for your clients is everything when it comes to completing sales...

Especially if you don't want to spend years building up a brand on the internet!

How to set up your shopping cart software

But anyhoo...

Let's run through how to set up your shopping cart software (using Samcart as an example)…

# STEP 1  Grab your Samcart account

To begin, you'll need to register for a SamCart account. (Free 14 day trial available here).

register samcart account cart software
Register your SamCart account.

Depending on where you live, and if you have all the documentation ready, the registration process is unlikely to take more than an hour.

Once the registration is out of the way, the rest of the shopping cart platform is easy.

You'll also need to fill in some details on your sales page, but this can be as simple as adding your company's name and logo (less than a minute to do).

# STEP 2  Set up your online shopping cart

To set up the shopping cart itself…

set up shopping cart software
Setting up your shopping cart software is simple.

Just log in to SamCart with your details.

From anywhere in the SamCart dashboard (see above)…

  • Click the Products Button in your menu bar
  • Then click New Product, and enter your details below:

# STEP 3  Set up Samcart ready to use

How to set up Samcart for use.

setup online shopping cart software
The Samcart shopping cart software ready to use.

Here's what those little red numbers mean…

  • Product Name: The name of your product that will appear on all your pages (including product page, order summary page, etc).
  • Product Description: A short (optional) description of what you're selling.
  • Pricing Type: Select if your product is a one time payment, recurring subscription, or a pay as you want product.
  • Product Price: The price your customers pay when purchasing your product.
  • Create Product: Your product is (almost) ready to go!

If you haven't filled in the rest of your SamCart sales page, there's more info on all those options below.

The basics of SamCart are super simple – and if you're still wondering what ecommerce platform makes sales simple for your potential clients – keep reading!

Make the buying process simple

If you went through those 3 simple steps to setting up your online shopping cart you now know how easy Samcart is to use.

You get to provide your customers with an excellent and easy checkout experience without having to spend a gazillion hours developing or integrating complicated code.

In our books, Samcart is one of the most popular and effective shopping cart ecommerce platforms if you want to achieve a high level of conversions. (And who doesn't?)

The reason it seems that price is all your customers care about is that you haven't given them anything else to care about.

-- Seth Godin

By focusing on your product instead of your store, you'll be able to increase the number of sales without focusing on building a web presence.

Shopping cart software should be easy

Shopping cart ecommerce platforms should be simple, right?

online shopping cart software solution
Online shopping cart solutions should be simple!

Sure, a web presence is important... but when it comes to selling online, your products need to be able to talk by themselves.

SamCart also lets you create a simple sales page (ecommerce store) that clients can click though to a sale in less than a minute.

Setting it up is a breeze, and you can use loads of pre-made templates to sell just about anything.

What sets SamCart apart?

Maybe you're wondering how SamCart distinguishes itself from all of the other shopping cart software platforms out there...

Well, SamCart is all about making the buying and checkout experience easy and straightforward.

Whether Samcart is the 'best' shopping cart software or not, is relative to your needs, but it is an affordable way to sell products online, in just minutes, without any headaches or hassles.

Actually, every shopping cart software platform could learn from SamCart.

The less time your client has to spend completing the purchase, the more likely they are to buy and make you a profit.

An efficient shopping cart solution

How many times have you added items to your shopping cart and got lost looking at the catalogue, just to decide you're not buying anything yet?

With SamCart your customers have a streamlined experience that allows them to easily select what they want to buy and pay for it without any hassle.

You can send your sales page out on any platform, and your potential customers don't need to navigate though a website to close the deal.

integrate shopping cart online stores
Easily integrate online stores with a shopping cart.

No need to browse through a catalogue, hack though options, create an account for a specific purchase, or so forth!

Making online shopping easy

SamCart focuses on the product level, not the store level. Users are not here to browse, the goal is easy sales that create nice returns.

We want empty shopping carts and a high conversion rate!

Or should that be full shopping carts, and high conversion rates?

Either way is good!

Choose your cart software style

SamCart allows you to customise your products page by using existing page templates or their drag and drop editor (online store builder) if you have a specific design in mind.

Just by dragging & dropping, you'll be able to add testimonials, terms and conditions, form fields, images, or any customised content you want.

SamCart have a cool template library!

You don't need any design knowledge or experience!

Plus…

  • Zero coding required
  • Drag and drop page builder
  • 100% mobile responsive
  • Library of pre designed templates
  • Drag and drop conversion widgets
  • Payment options

Here's an example of some of the SamCart templates...

shopping cart solution template gallery
One of many SamCart shopping cart templates.

The ultimate ecommerce solution?

The point is that you can build something like this with the drag and drop content builder. Or just use the available templates.

Either way you're closer to selling more of your online courses, digital ebooks, gym memberships, or whatever else you can possibly imagine!

See the entire library of SamCart's hybrid page templates here.

All of the designs you create, build or use are also compatible with mobile devices like phones or tablets without any extra steps.

I have to say that the templates are stunning, so there is a good chance that you won't find the need to do more than a few slight adjustments.

Not all of us have coding or design knowledge, and with SamCart, you don't need to have any!

Increasing your revenue is simple

SamCart also allows you to increase your revenue in other ways.

By taking advantage of the cool “order bumps,” you allow customers to buy more products by providing relevant additions they might be interested in.

The A/B testing option also gives you insights to see how your customers react to different approaches, allowing you to improve your selling strategy.

Businesses that offer 1-Click Upsells regularly double their average customer value. SamCart makes implementing 1-Click Upsells so simple, that you could have your own 1-Click Upsells running in just a few minutes, with zero complicated technical hurdles.

- SamCart

In addition to being a simple shopping cart ecommerce platform, SamCart helps you learn what works the best.

Advanced reporting and smart pixel tracking allows you to know where the money is coming from and focus your efforts to make more.

Online payments and ecommerce business

SamCart offers support for some of the most popular payment processors such as PayPal, Stripe, Braintree, and Authorize.net.

You'll be able to add as many products as you want, in any language (yes, really!) or location, and easily take advantage of digital wallets.

pay what you want shopping cart solution
The SamCart ‘pay what you want' shopping cart solution.

This last option is pretty valuable in my opinion. It is becoming more common for customers to use payment methods like Microsoft, Google, or Apple Pay.

(Got to admit, I'm starting to use Apple Pay more and more myself!)

They also have a simple, and brilliant way to acquire new customers called Pay What You Want Pricing.

As you can guess from the name, it has a tendency to boost conversions by letting customers have a choice in how much they pay you!

All these cool options make for a convenient checkout!

An option for every budget

Ok, so this is the part that might concern you the most.

SamCart can be more expensive than other platforms, but it offers a lot for the money. While the basic plan can be more expensive than the competition, you'll find it's totally worth it!

SamCart has 3 different tiers that offer different features that are sure to adjust to what you need.

SamCart pricing

There is no paying for stuff you won't use with SamCart.

The plans start at $49.00 to $199.00 a month. Save on the subscription by paying for a year.

The difference between the tiers is the plugins you'll have at your disposal, management options, and some integrations for the highest tier.

But don't worry, chances are the first tier has everything you need to start with!

SamCart doubled my conversions instantly. And now being able to easily do subscriptions & recurring membership, our lifetime value is skyrocketing. Add in the extra sales I make from add-on and one click upsells, and SamCart has literally multiplied the size of my business.

-- Kimberly Ann Jimenez

Conclusion

There are so many features that it'd be impossible for me to discuss them all.

This is why SamCart offers a free 14-day trial you can take advantage of to try the product in any tier.

SamCart is a really good option when it comes to improving the checkout experience and increasing conversions – and with that subscription fee, you'll be able to tap into its existing market of shoppers.

While the price might be higher than other alternatives, it is worth every penny. You need to make sales as easy as possible – SamCart will make that happen!

Click here to start your 14-day free trial of SamCart today.

So what shopping cart software do you currently use?