Which Option at Checkout: Create Website Order Form or Add a Shopping Cart?
The journey to launching a business is full of crossroads — times when you need to choose one solution over the other, hoping it will work for you. One of the instances is when you must decide whether to create website order form or invest extra money and time in a shopping cart. Shopping carts are way flexible and add functionality to your ecommerce store. But they take time and a well-thought-out strategy to implement, so they may not be the best fit for every small or medium business. There are times when an order form may hold the fort for you, even if you have the resources to add a shopping cart. But first, you need to understand that both of these two can offer a wide range of features.

Both forms and carts ecommerce solutions share features that matter to retailers. Here are some of the capabilities they bring;

• Calculate prices in Real-time
• Data encryption for security
• Permit transactions processing through payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal
• Allows customers to view product features
• Anti-fraud actions (e.g., reCaptcha)
• Allows you to attach the product image

With an order form that can accomplish all that, you may not need a shopping cart.

When to Use Shopping Carts
However, shopping carts carry special features that a merchant may need if the following cases apply to their ecommerce business:
1.Your range of products changes from time to time.
An order form doesn't match up to a shopping cart's flexibility when it comes to including new items or changing your offerings. If you create website order form, you must edit every time you add or remove an item.
2.Your customer needs to buy multiple items one by one.
If you are in a sector where your shoppers will need to add to cart, keep browsing, and then add another item, then a shopping cart is the best for you.
3.You offer more than half a dozen products.
It is not easy to organize too many products in an order form. Even worse, it can ruin the customer experience and lead to abandonment. Go for a shopping cart if you're listing more than six products.

When Order Forms are the Best Choice.
Previously, order forms were slow to shopping carts when it came to flexibility in payment. But thanks to third-party integrations, order forms can now accomplish most payment tasks and more. Create website order form if the following applies to you.
1.Single purchases with a few tweaks.
Order forms are an excellent remedy for cases when the buyer makes a single purchase, with a few other customizations. For instance, when you're selling online concert tickets, one can only buy a set of tickets and pay for them. It is not okay to have tickets waiting in a shopping cart for when would-be customers may need them.
2.Your order involves collecting a lot of feedback.
Companies like those that plan events could find an order form useful than a shopping cart because they need to collect information from the client. The order forms help them gather relevant data, like the type of event and number of guests, the budget, catering options, the photo package, and more. This ensures the planner receives all details in just a few clicks.
3.You sell a one-time product.
If you sell goods that are one-off and clients rarely make multiple orders at a go, then you are better off with an online order form. You don't need a sophisticated platform when you have simple needs. What to Look for In an Order Form? If you opt to create website order form, make sure you look for the following features.

• Mobile-friendliness
• VAT/sales taxes calculation
• Coupons and discount codes
• Personalizableautoresponders
• Brand customization

Tips for eCommerce Retailers: How to Create Website Order Form.
The webform you select must be relevant to your audience; otherwise, it will prove to be a disadvantage instead of a gold mine. Here are web form basics to help you prepare yours.
1.Define its Purpose.
Please make sure any visitor who lands on your web form can understand whatever it expects of them and whey they need to fill it. Here are ways to make your intent well known.

• Add clear headers: it helps avoid confusion and ensures a would-be buyer spends the least time possible completing your forms.
• Include clear instructions: be clear on the data or information you need and explain why you need the info to gain a prospect's confidence.
• Make the form user-friendly: organize your form well, add short headers, and avoid lengthy paragraphs.

Why a User-friendly Form Matters?

• You provide a smooth experience for customers
• You build brand trust.
• You look more professional.
• You increase conversion rates.

Being clear about the purpose of a form on your site makes it easy for a prospect to fill it without doubts or questions. Never forget to state the purpose of specific form fields that clients may find difficult to fill for security or confidentiality reasons. How your web forms look can tell a customer straight away whether you took the time to build it or just looked for some random fields and put together to make a form. In essence, a web form has the same impact on a customer as the overall website experience. If it doesn't look official and professional, then visitors may as well abandon you. It also eliminates confusion and cuts the form-completion time, which again goes a long way in improving customer experience. No one is happy to spend an entire day trying to fill a form. Research shows that fixing small matters ruining user experience can boost businesses by increasing their conversion rates by 75 percent.
2.Add Form Fields.
When adding fields to your form, please think of the kinds of responses that you'll need to obtain from them. Listing the answers or type of information you need should guide you in creating the perfect title for every form field. No matter what you add to your form fields, ensure they only ask for basic identifying information that will allow you to single out individual submissions.
3.Insert the Web Form on Your Site.
As soon as you've finished adding the fields and confirmed all the details' accuracy, embed the web form to your site. This ensures any would-be customer who lands on your page will view the form and choose whether to complete it or not. But you need to place it in a strategic location in your multi-page website.

A User-friendly Process Can Help Reduce abandonment at Checkout.

Having understood the four pillars of an excellent checkout process, we can now get down to the crux of the matter to understand how each element should be executed to ensure customer-friendly checkout. 1.Security.
Never ignore security when looking to add a shopping cart or create website order form. Many customers prioritize security that many of them—almost 20 percent— will abandon a cart if they doubt a retailer's trustworthiness or ability to safeguard their credit card info. Proving that you offer safe checkout is essential in proving to buyers that you are legit—and prioritize the safety of their payment information. This can be done by listing the various payment avenues and displaying their logos prominently. Make sure your site has a Secure Connection Certificate that guarantees information safety.
2.Design.
Your checkout page's design impacts customer experience and determines whether a buyer abandons cart or converts. The best designs attract a shopper's attention without putting off or confusing them.

Here are some top design elements and why you should consider making these changes.

• Reduce Clutter: Customers hate too much congestion because they lead to accidental clicks. The need to display more and more products is understandable, but users prefer some unused space for easy navigation.
• Use prominent colors for CTA buttons; all buttons that "call to action" should be noticeable to avoid confusing visitors. Use a different easy-to-spot color for those.
• Use visual error pointers to correct form-filling mistakes there and then; pointing out any mistakes made in real-time can help buyers spot and correct errors when completing forms.

Lastly, you want to gather only the pieces of info that matter from a buyer. Maintain a friction-free checkout experience by including a reasonable number of fields in your checkout forms and eliminating unnecessary steps.
3.Usability.

Usability is key to a page that should convert your website visitor into a buyer. Usability can also mean the ease-of-use or accessibility of your pages by all website users. Customers prefer an easy-to-use site designed to direct them on where to go next and simplify the order request and payment process.

Here's how to improve the usability of your checkout page.

• Confirm Availability of Product at checkout - Buyers hate to find out the product they added to cart and paid for is out of stock through an apology email. That's why it is advisable to give clues on the availability of products. An easy way is to show and update the number of items remaining in stock. And provide an ETA for items out of stock.
• Provide Numerous Options at Checkout – Offer your visitors more than one option. For instance, you can allow them to either "View Cart Contents" or "Proceed to Checkout." You can also use this chance to market-related products.
• Allow Shoppers to "Change Cart Contents" or "Add to Cart" – Allows shoppers to change or add cart contents if they wish to.
• Pre-fill redundant form sections – Don't make a customer enter the same information over and over again. Pre-fill form sections where applicable to give repeat buyers an easy time.
• Offer the "Guest Checkout" option – Many shoppers abandon online sites because they prompt one to sign up before buying an item. Providing the "guest checkout" option can help reduce cart abandonment rates related to mandatory account creation.

A user-friendly page converts more prospects than a difficult-to-navigate checkout page. Always make tweaks from time to time to improve usability.
4.Features.
Features are the X-factor that makes a killer checkout zone, whether you choose to create website order form or add a shopping cart. They are the extra perks an ecommerce site offers on top of the fundamentals. A checkout page with the most attractive features to shoppers stands a better chance of converting visitors because they provide more user-friendliness and convenience.

Here are some features you need to prioritize;

• Offer a Product Description: Include product size, color, dimensions, and any other specifications that can help a shopper make an informed buying decision.
• Indicate the Total Cost of the order (including taxes and shipping fees): Many customers—more than 20 percent— abandon ecommerce brands because they can't work out the full cost of ordering an item.
• Numerous delivery options: if possible, provide economical shipping options to accommodate the changing needs of your shoppers.
• Add a Wishlist – More than 50 percent of customers are willing to buy an item on the cart if offered at a cut-rate. A wishlist is, therefore, a wonderful way to encourage repeat buying.
• Adding the above features and more is the key to building a killer checkout page that will maximize conversion.

Final words
Shopping carts are way flexible and add functionality to your ecommerce store. But they take time and a well-thought-out strategy to implement, so they may not be the best fit for every small business. There are times when an order form may hold the fort for you, even if you have the resources to add a shopping cart. Savvy business owners should pick solutions that fit their specific situations. Whether to create website order form or shopping cart depends on your business's needs. Remember to refer to this comparison when making the decision.