Feature Comparison of Popular Shopping Cart/Store-Building Programs

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Hosting

Type

order form only

order form only

order form only

ASP

merchant's choice of host

ASP

merchant's choice of host

ASP

Site design

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Page design

-

-

HTML page generator available, pages then uploaded

Different templates or customer HTML design

Different templates or custom HTML design

Different templates or custom design language

Wizards and some templates. Custom design possible

Many templates and styles. Wizard

Product page generation

-

-

-

dynamic

static HTML

static HTML

dynamic

dynamic

Products

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Product database

-

yes

-

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Product categories

-

-

-

-

-

yes

yes

yes

Appropriate max number of products

hundreds

hundreds

hundreds

hundreds

thousands

20,000

hundreds of thousands

hundreds of thousands

Product database upload

-

yes

-

with catalog manager option

yes

yes

yes

yes

Product database export

not easily

-

-

yes

-

yes

yes

Option handling

-

multiple options at same price

multiple options at different prices

multiple options, same price, require catalog manager option

options with different prices in Pro

multiple options at same price

multiple options at different prices

options with different prices module

Monograms, inscriptions field

-

yes

yes

-

yes

yes

yes

yes

Cross-selling

-

-

-

-

yes

yes, accessories, families

yes

yes

Additional info/pics

-

-

-

-

yes

-

yes

yes

Featured products

-

-

-

-

yes

yes

yes

Product indexing

-

-

yes

-

Pro version

yes

yes

yes

Digital products

-

Not allowed

yes, with website

-

-

yes

3rd party licensing module

yes

Shows if in-stock

-

yes

-

can indicate unavailable

Pro version decrements inventory

database or real-time inventory connection

yes, inventory level notification

yes

Pricing

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Sale pricing

-

-

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Discounts

-

-

quantity & flat discounts

-

Pro version based on transaction total

quantity pricing

discounts based on transaction total

discounts for groups

Member prices

-

-

flat discount

-

-

-

yes

yes

Taxable/non-taxable

-

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

Minimum order option

-

yes

-

-

-

both min. quantity and min. price

yes

Order Form

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Order retrieval

web interface

web interface

secure e-mail

web interface

web interface

web interface

web interface

web interface

Digital Certificate

included

included

included

included

host's or own

included

host's or own

host's or own

Customer registration

Must join
PayPal

-

-

yes

only in TX versions

yes

yes

yes

Taxes

single state

single state

state, VAT, multiple counties

yes

multiple states, VAT, multiple counties

multiple states, VAT

multiple states, VAT, CertiTax plugin

multiple states, VAT, optional DPT tax plugin

Gift wrapping

-

-

yes

-

yes

-

yes

Gift message

-

-

-

-

-

yes

-

yes

Coupons

-

-

yes

-

yes

3rd party module

yes

Shipping

flat amount or % based on purchase total

flat amount charged per order for US, Canada, Int'l

many options, UPS/FedEx plugins

many options

USP, USPS, FedEx, other tables for various methods

many options, UPS plugin, 3rd party FedEx, UPS WorldShip, USPS modules

many options, UPS, USPS, European, and other plugins

Ship to multiple recipients

-

-

-

-

-

yes

-

-

Single-page order form

-

-

option

-

-

-

-

-

Multiple items in a "package" deal with a single order button

-

-

yes

-

-

-

-

-

Custom ordering scripts

-

-

-

-

Pro version

-

3rd party plugins

-

Order faxing

-

-

yes

-

-

yes

-

-

Orders via XML

-

-

-

-

-

yes

-

-

International

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Order form languages

-

-

partial

-

any single bit lang.

16 lang/country choices

any single big language

Currency

US only

US only

any

US only

any currency, 2 display at a time

18 currencies

any currency

Payment System

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Merchant account

not needed
2.9% discount rate

not needed,
8%-9% fee

needed

needed (unless PayPal)
CardService Intl, $24.95/mo., US residents only

needed

needed. Payment Tech, $22.95/MO, US residents only

needed

needed

Payment gateway

included

included

VeriSign, Authorize.net, LinkPoint

included

VeriSign, CyberCash, Authorize.net, ClickPay

included

VeriSign, CyberCash, Authorize.net, LinkPoint, CyberSource, etc.

Authorize.net, VeriSign, Netbanx, and several others

Types of payment

PayPal,
credit card,
bank debit

credit card (Visa, MC, Disc, Amex)

credit card, PayPal, online check

credit card, PayPal

credit card (other options are not real-time)

credit cards (other options are not real-time)

credit cards

credit cards, electronic check, etc.

Marketing

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Search engine registration

-

-

-

yes

-

yes

-

yes

E-Mail customer list

-

-

-

yes

-

yes

yes

Affiliate program

-

Allows 3rd party affiliate program code

Allows 3rd party affiliate programs, basic program included

Pro version

no, but works with CJ.com

yes, built-in and 3rd party programs

optional module

Site statistics

-

-

-

crude

crude

excellent

good

good

Gift register

-

-

-

-

-

-

optional module

Accounting

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Data export

tab-delimited, Quicken, QuickBooks

-

-

tab-delimited

Excel, Access, CSV, M.O.M., Quicken, QuickBooks, PC Charge, XML

flatfile, QuickBooks

CSV, QuickBooks

Vendor management

-

 -

-

-

-

-

-

optional vendor interface

Order management

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

E-mail upon shipping

-

-

-

-

TX versions

yes

yes

yes

Customer tracking interface

-

-

-

-

TX versions

yes

yes

yes

Order management

-

fair

3rd party StoneEdge Order Manager

fair

3rd party StoneEdge Order Manager

good

good

good

B2B Features

Some

Pro TX version

yes,
3rd party modules

yes,
optional modules

Vendor Management

yes,
3rd party modules

yes,
optional modules

Fees

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Licensing fee

-

-

-

-

$495 Manager, $1295 Pro

-

 Purchased thru resellers

-

Set-up fee

-

-

-

-

varies with host

-

varies with host

$149 to $500

Monthly fee

-

-

$249/yr

$44.90 to $74.90

host

hosting $49.95

host

$95 to $500

Gateway fee

-

-

varies

-

varies

-

varies

varies

Merchant acct fees

-

-

varies

CardService Intl. 24.95/MO.

varies

optional Paymentech
22.95/MO.

varies

varies

Discount rate

2.9% on sales

8-9% on sales

varies

 2.35%
20¢ transaction fee plus 15¢/day

varies

2.32%
20¢ transaction fee

varies

varies

Misc fees

-

-

-

0.5% transaction fee, 10¢ item insertion per month, 3.5% revenue share on Yahoo! Shopping sales

-

various optional modules

Miscellaneous

PayPal

CCNow

Americart

Bigstep

ShopSite

Yahoo!
Store

Miva

Merchan-
diZer

Mass pay feature

yes

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Auction interfaces

yes

yes

-

Auction Manager

-

yes (Yahoo only)

-

-

Customer rating

-

-

-

-

-

yes

-

-

Forms-to-email program

 -

 -

yes

contact us page

-

contact form

contact form

contact form