Today we again turn the spotlight on our forum members and the issues some are having, and of course, the advice others are offering. Using live chat on your e-commerce Web site, finding a well-rounded shopping cart platform that can be customized and a request for a site critique are some of the many issues up for discussion in the ECommerce-Guide forums.

In case you haven't been trolling our forums as often as you should, we highlight several recent threads that provide insight for small online businesses. Of course, we encourage you to add your own comments by following the links to each discussion.

E-Commerce Issues: Live Help
Live chat, also called live help, is all the rage these days in e-tailing. And for good reason. What better way to convert customers than by offering immediate text-based chat assistance right from your Web site.

Forum member devs added live customer help/chat and asks if anyone else has had success increasing revenue using it.

Corey Bryant says, "We use Who's On on some sites and it seems to fare better. It seems more and more people are afraid to e-mail because of the potential for future e-mails. It helps to keep the visitor anonymous while at least giving you some referring information."

opensourceforce adds "... people might not call as much, which will reduce your call load. This is good since calls can take 15 to 40 mins or so, even if it could be addressed in 1 to 5 mins by e-mail. However, it will reduce people using the e-mail support. Why e-mail if you think you can get live help? It is a popular request for a support option. So if you can staff it, then it is great, but if you see the demand is too high or you're not able to staff it all day then you might want to remove it."

devs also adds that it's been two weeks and not much in demand. They have not received any inquiries at all while e-mail questions are still coming in constantly.

opensourceforce adds "It seems like a nice feature. I just went to the site and tried the live chat and within five seconds or so I had someone activate the chat from your staff. It is a much nicer feature for the live chat then I have seen on other sites.

It could also be that some of your users are "regulars" and they might just not have noticed the new addition to the site and are just use to contacting you by email. I would just give it more time to see how it goes."

• If you have used live support products you can tell us about your experience with it in the Live Help forum thread.

E-Commerce Issues: What's the Best Solution? (Shopping Carts & Payment Systems)
The great shopping cart debate returns. This time forum member worldofrugs says he's trying to find an affordable shopping cart that can be completely re-designed in terms of its layout — and a WYSIWYG editor would also be a bonus. "This cart probably will have a SQL database, but I have to connect this database with another SQL database so those two can synchronize (at least) two times a day with each other. Clients should be able to register in the cart to save their information, I'd like to have a gift certificate option in it, it must be a secure checkout, and must be able to have multiple options on a product and must have multiple steps in categories."

That is a tall order, but worldofrugs says the company has found two options worth consideration: Uniwin and x-cart, and asks if anyone else can offer any recommendations for carts as well systems for handling credit card payments.

Corey Bryant says, "The only one that I can think of that will work with a WYSIWYG editor somewhat is Total E-Commerce. A shopping cart is usually written in a server-side language so you might have a problem to some extent. Also, keep in mind that Verisign sells SSL certs — you can also get an SSL cert from Comodo at a cheaper price. Verisign also offers a few other things. Most carts will usually be capable of using an electronic payment gateway — i.e. LinkPoint, Authorize.net, Payflow, Cybersource and so on."

Both JEccles and FormPay suggest that worldofrugs check out Volusion's shopping cart. JEccles says the customer support is very helpful and FormPay says, "It is the best one (off the top of my head) for what you are looking for".

opensourceforce adds "I like Zen Cart or CRE Loaded for free cart options. If you need a CMS, then Virtuemart is an interesting option as well....but if you like ASP then VPASP is a good cart to try."

• If you'd like top offer your opinion or advice on shopping carts and payment systems, you can reply to worldofrugs here in the What Would Be The Best Solution forum thread.

Rate My Site: Does Anyone Have Any Suggestions?
firegurl08, a new member to our forum, asks if anyone can offer advice on www.inkreloaded.com. "I really need to know if I need to change something on my Web site to make it better and actually catch the eye of my customer... . I'm not sure what to change around in it or how to organize it."

What do you think of InkReloaded.com? The site owners wants to know your opinion.

Forum moderator roban says, "I think that in this day of disposable products you have a steep hill to climb. First, when I see that I have to drill a hole in my cartridge I am gone and secondly, for about $10 more I can run out to Staples and get an original guaranteed cartridge for my expensive Canon MP530 without the risk of ruining it. I like the look of your site but don't really understand what a Razor phone has to do with ink replacement."

dvdtvshows says, "There is a little bit of random text above each manufacturer's name on their individual pages. You are also missing my printer — Canon i550. Overall, it looks good, a much cleaner design than the product you're selling is likely to be. Drilling holes to fill ink catridges is not in my future."

Forum Administrator JPnyc says, "I think the look is great. Loading was a little slow, but not terrible. The look is just fine." Later he adds "Honestly, what's wrong with what's there? You show products, pricing, payment methods, I mean what else is there?"

• If you are interested in giving firegurl08 some site design tips and suggestions, you can add your comments here in the Rate My Site discussion.

The Small Business & E-commerce discussion forums offer advice on online marketing issues, security tips, Web site design elements, and general discussion related to current trends and practices. Fellow small-business owners can network and share tips, tricks and advice. You can use the forums for knowledge gathering or create a free member account to take part in the discussions and ask your own questions.