eCommerce software providers that want to grow their businesses and expand into new markets need to place a strong emphasis on eCommerce cart integration. With the right integration in place, they can easily provide superior services to their target niche and stand out in a competitive market.
eCommerce cart integration is the practice of using software code (an API) to connect an application to one or several shopping cart platforms, such as Magento, WooCommerce, or Shopify. This kind of shopping cart API integration allows software providers to deliver their core services to e-retailers by giving them the ability to manage data related to orders, products, shipments, taxes, warehouse stocks, and more.
Below, we dive deeper into the concept of ecommerce shopping cart integration, explain the definition and main aspects of an API, and show you how to overcome common integration difficulties so you can build robust and reliable API integrations.
What Actually is an API?
An API, or Application Programming Interface, is a connection built with code that allows two or more applications and systems to communicate with each other. In an eCommerce cart integration, the API acts as a “middle man”: it sends a request to the shopping cart’s server — the cart server — and then returns a response with the requested data.
You can normally use one of the following methods to work with an API:
- GET: pull information related to a specific query, product, or customer
- PUT: update pieces of information, such as product descriptions or warehouse stocks
- POST: create a new category or product listing
- DELETE: delete an actual item in one of your clients’ stores
The most common types of APIs you can find today include:
- SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol): this is a protocol that uses the XML format to transfer data seamlessly and whose main function is to define the method of communication and the structure of the message.
- JSON-RPC: this protocol uses JSON to transfer data between systems.
- XML-RPC: similar to JSON-RPC but uses an XML format and minimal bandwidth.
- REST (Representational State Transfer): this is not just a protocol but also a set of architectural principles. REST needs to follow a certain set of characteristics to function properly, including simple interfaces.
eCommerce Cart Software API Explained
For retailers, shopping carts are crucial for facilitating the purchase of their products: they accept the customer’s payment method and organize the distribution of that sensitive data to the payment processor and other third parties. Typically, a cart has three main features:
- Stores product info
- Represents a gateway for the catalog, orders, and customer management
- Renders product data, site information, and category information
An eCommerce cart software API is what connects your solution to any shopping cart platform used by your existing or prospective clients to sell their products. This kind of API to cart connection typically uses the methods listed above — GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE — to work with resources and give you unrestricted access to your clients’ shopping cart data, including product types and variants across different eCommerce platforms.
The Importance of Developing a Shopping Cart Integration
Setting up an eCommerce cart integration is highly beneficial for you as a B2B software provider. First, such integration helps shop owners better organize and automate their operations and stay on top of pending orders in their carts. Retailers generally want their data automatically transferred and updated across all of their platforms. By integrating your software with multiple shopping carts at once, you let them work with all their data in a single interface and keep tabs on new customers — for example, by adding shipment tracking to orders or keeping product listings in sync across channels.
Developing a reliable ecommerce shopping cart integration comes with a number of proven benefits, including:
- The possibility to greatly expand your business and reach a large number of e-shop owners across many platforms
- Saved time and costs on integrations when you choose a third-party integration service, such as API2Cart, that can connect your software to numerous platforms at once
- A broader and happier clientele, thanks to new capabilities and improved features
- Access to all the data needed to perform your software functions, helping you avoid challenges related to data shortage or data security
How to Develop an API Integration with eCommerce Cart Solutions?
You can develop a reliable eCommerce cart integration with virtually any shopping cart, be it WooCommerce, X-Cart, Shopify, Magento, or PrestaShop. However, as a rule of thumb, building shopping cart API integrations in-house for each platform requires a significant financial investment.
First, you need to consider the cost of hiring dedicated developers with experience in the specific integration you want to implement. For example, if you need an Amazon API integration, there is little point in looking for developers experienced only in WooCommerce integration, because the APIs of these platforms differ significantly — and because connectivity requirements vary across eCommerce platforms. The more complex the task, the higher the required salaries, and an experienced in-house developer for a single integration can easily cost several thousand dollars a month.
Second, you need to factor in subscription costs for the services your team relies on, such as code repositories, cloud services, and CI/CD tools.
Third, there are maintenance expenses and server hardware costs to consider. Altogether, building and maintaining a single custom integration can add up to a substantial ongoing cost. Fortunately, there is a faster and more cost-effective way to perform an eCommerce cart integration.
You can avoid these integration difficulties altogether by using API2Cart. This ready-made shopping cart API integration solution connects your software with 80+ shopping carts and marketplaces through a single API, and it also provides ongoing maintenance, upgrades, and support — including features such as real-time store data sync via webhooks and batch operations for high-volume data sync. You can use our TCO calculator to see for yourself how much money you can save by using API2Cart as your eCommerce cart integration platform.
