Introduction to RealCart
How RealCart integrates into your existing site
Adding RealCart to your site
Although the vast majority of our users already have a web site, some of our users do not have a web site of their own and tend to use RealCart as their entire site. This page is devoted to those of you that already have a web site. You may or may not already have a shopping cart with which you’ve become dissappointed, and wish to replace. RealCart makes the perfect choice to replace a less effective, existing shopping cart.
Unlike other carts, RealCart does not force you to modify your existing site. You do not need to add any cryptic “Button Code” to your existing pages. There is no need to change your existing product pages or revamp your web site navigation. RealCart is an add-on to your site and is completely self contained in a folder called cart off of the root (main) directory of your site. With the exception of possibly removing some old “Add to Cart” buttons the only other way your existing site will change is with the addition of an “on-line store” or “go shopping” link to www.YourDomain.com/cart/ (substituting your real domain name for YourDomain.com)
Understanding the new relationship between RealCart and your web site
The best analogy to describe your web site’s relationship to RealCart is to compare a Sears “brick and mortar” store to the old Sears Catalog. Anyone born in the 1960’s (or earlier) will remember life with the ever familiar Sears Catalog lying around the house. The catalog had everything in it that the Sears store did. In fact, by just calling a toll free number you could have anything in the Sears store delivered right to your doorstep. Not all retailers use catalog sales the way Sears used to. In fact, in 1993 Sears stopped publishing a catalog that they had been putting out since the late 1800’s. The old Sears catalog has been replaced with the Sears web site.
Think of your existing web site pages as the showroom of a Sears Store (or Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Ave, whatever) and think of RealCart as the Catalog. Obviously a showroom is going to be much more detailed than a catalog and, as such, your existing web site’s product pages are likely very detailed with photos, descriptions, sizes, colors and everything else needed to properly display your products or services.
We at RealCart.com know that you have likely spent many sleepless nights meticulously assembling your existing site. You can relax in knowing that none of this work will be wasted. RealCart utilizes your existing product pages in a very profound way.
Navigation of your web site with RealCart
With your existing web site representing the “showroom”, think of RealCart as the “catalog”. Currently your on-line showroom may or may not already have an on-line catalog. Navigation of your site probably involves only a click or two to get from your home page to your individual product pages. It might look something like this:
Site navigation before installing RealCart
Although this is obviously an over-simplified diagram of your existing web site, the point we are trying to illustrate here is the fact that a typical web site consists of a home page and several product pages, among other pages. Although there may be intermediate “department” and other type pages, you probably already have a “path” established in your existing web site from your main page to your product pages.
RealCart leaves this relationship completely intact. As an “add-on” to your site, RealCart merely offers a way to easily buy your products as well as more ways to browse your site. The average RealCart installation would require no more than a single link on your home page to your RealCart storefront (e.g. www.YourDomain.com/cart/). To preserve the usability of your existing product pages you would utilize the More Info Link feature of RealCart. This allows you to link back to your existing product pages from each of your RealCart catalog pages. When making use of the More Info Link feature your site navigation now looks something like this:
Site navigation after installing RealCart
Notice that your original navigation is intact. This will remain true whether you have a very simple site as pictured above or a fairly complex site with many departments, products, photo galleries, FAQ pages, history, about and mission statement pages. None of your existing web site infrastructure needs to be changed to use RealCart. Simply add (or change) links to your new RealCart store-front and your site modifications are complete. Any remnant Add to Cart buttons on your site may now be safely removed.
Don’t Re-Invent the Wheel
If you already have extremely detailed product pages in your existing site don’t feel compelled to completely duplicate them in your RealCart pages. This is why we designed the More Info Link in the first place, for web site owners that have already spent a great deal of time, effort, and in some cases money on perfecting your product presentation pages as they are today. If you fall into the category of someone with extensive product info already on your site then you should enter only brief descriptions (or no descriptions) into your RealCart pages.
The only mandatory info in the RealCart product wizard consists of stock numbers, product names, price, weight and taxable status. Thumbnail images, although optional, are recommended for the casual web shopper. While it is never a good idea to have almost NO information in your RealCart product pages it is advisable to enter only brief information if you already have an established and in-depth product catalog on your existing site. For those of you without detailed product pages RealCart can adapt equally well to becoming your in-depth product pages.
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