What is a Shopping Cart?
A shopping cart is a special piece of software that allows a visitor to your site to browse through your products in a secure environment, then allows them to purchase them, automatically calculating any taxes, shipping costs, or any other additional fees to come up with a final total. The shopping cart will then do various things like email a receipt to your customer, email you with the customer and order details to let you know you have received an order, and lots more.
The shopping cart is your web store (the pages from which customers will see and order your products). It’s actually split into two parts, as far as functionality goes. The “storefront” is where the customer selects the items he or she wants to buy, and the “cash register” presents the customer with the order form that will collect all of the relevant credit card information. It is then sent to the gateway for processing.
