2011 Fortune3 Review: Overview

• Download Software to Your PC
• 6 Packages Based on Inventory
• Unlimited Bandwidth
• Very Robust Feature Set

Fortune3 is a unique hosted shopping cart solution because it also includes ecommerce software that you download direct to your PC as you would a licensed shopping cart. This ecommerce software has a very robust feature set that continues to evolve based on industry standards and needs. Merchants who use Fortune3 can choose from 6 different packages, all of which are priced based on number of products sold. One of the most popular features of Fortune3 is the fact that all merchants receive unlimited bandwidth, regardless of which package they choose. Fortune3 instead charges a very low transaction fee, which means that merchants only pay when they make money, which ends up being a large cost savings in the long run. Read the Fortune3 review below to see what makes this a popular ecommerce solution among merchants.

2011 Fortune3 Review: Shopping Cart Report Card

Shopping Cart Feature	ZippyScore (out of 5.00)	Shopping Cart Feature	ZippyScore (out of 5.00)
Overall Value (15%)	4.29	Customer Service (15%)	3.86
Level of Customization (15%)	4.05	Ease of Use (15%)	4.02
Search Engine Friendliness (10%)	3.75	Range of Tools Available (10%)	4.09
Depth of Reporting Tools (5%)	4.08	Social Media / Social Commerce Integration (5%)	3.58
Mobile Commerce Integration (5%)	3.89	Free Trial Features (5%)	4.50

Overall ZippyScore: 4.02 out of 5.00

2011 Fortune3 Review: Expert Shopping Cart Review

Fortune3 has been on the ecommerce software scene for roughly a decade, and this Doral, Florida, based company has a number of loyal merchants who enjoy using their Windows based solution. Over the last few years Fortune3 has shifted into offering their ecommerce software solution via hosted monthly plans, which is a model that many merchants prefer over buying licensed ecommerce software. There are a number of merchants who pick Fortune3 as their first ecommerce solution to start an online store, while other merchants switch to Fortune3 from other software providers who are not meeting the needs of their online business. One of the easiest ways to figure out if the Fortune3 ecommerce software solution is the right option for you, is to test it out with a 30 day FREE trial (no credit card required). Ultimately this is the best way to decide on any ecommerce solution, as you will be using it almost every day to manage your online store. Below is a further overview of Fortune3, which has insight into the set up and design, marketing, management, customer service and pricing.

Setting Up & Designing Your Online Store With Fortune3

Once you download the Fortune3 shopping cart software, you can start using the Fortune3 Wizard to configure almost every aspect of your online store. The layout of the Fortune3 Wizard simplifies the process of setting up an online store, as a merchant just needs to take their time and go through each area to ensure that they have all the necessary information inputted to start selling online. Merchants will also be able to create all of the core web pages needed in a great online store, like about us, contact us, FAQ's, privacy policies, and terms and conditions. Consumers are more likely to continue shopping at your online store when these pages are easily accessible. This gives them a better sense of how established and reputable your business is before they make a purchase. Additionally merchants can choose key design elements within the Fortune3 Wizard, including templates, logo design, button styles, fonts, and more.

Overall the process will not take too long to get the minimum requirements knocked out so you can open your online store, however merchants can continue to fine tune things to achieve a more optimal flow throughout the site. When fine tuning, merchants should know that Fortune3 is a PC based ecommerce solution. This means that a large variety of your storefront design elements can only be altered from your PC and not via an online administration panel. If you want to be able to access all elements of your online store through an admin panel, then Fortune3 might not be the best option. Likewise, if you want the security of knowing only you can access the bulk of your store through your computer, then Fortune3 is a great option.

Merchants should not be worried about diving into the Fortune3 Wizard, as HTML or CSS skills are not required, since there is a WYSIWYG HTML editor included. The Wizard might seem a bit dated with regards to design, but that is mainly cosmetic and does not impact the flow of the Wizard's interface. In general the store setup tools and process for Fortune3 merchants provide merchants a great deal of control and flexibility over their online store.

SEO & Marketing

While creating and designing an online store is fun and essential to selling online, it is just the beginning of what a merchant needs to do in order to have a successful ecommerce business. This is where online marketing and strong SEO come into the picture, as these areas are vital to almost every online store, unless they have a big bankroll and can buy lots of PPC ads on Google and Bing. However most merchants do not have an endless marketing budget, so using great SEO techniques is an excellent way to get traffic to their site without having to pay for every click. Merchants who choose the Fortune3 shopping cart software solution will have their core SEO efforts taken care of when setting up their online store, but this is just the beginning, as more work will need to be done off-site to get people linking to your online store. Fortune3 also has the tools to let merchants use email newsletters, which are a smart way to keep customers engaged, so that they want to return to your online store and possibly tell their friends about it. Another area of marketing where the Fortune3 ecommerce software can help merchants is via product feeds, as the solution allows for easy submission to places like Shopping.com, Shopzilla, and PriceGrabber.

Once you are able to get visitors to your site, you can then use the promotion and marketing tools from Fortune3, which will help you to provide discounts, coupons, up-sell, and cross-sell opportunities. Then whenever your customers are ready to checkout of their shopping cart they can do so easily and securely at your online store.

Managing Your Online Store Through Fortune3

As long as you can get your Fortune3 shopping cart software set up on your Windows based PC, then you should not have much troubles with day-to-day management. Once in the administrative panel, you can view all the information you need about your customers, orders, and inventory. This information is critical for merchants, as they need to ensure that they fulfill their obligations to their customers so that they do not receive any negative reviews online. Merchants can also easily access all the vital reports and analytics you need to understand the pulse of your online store, including what is working and what is not. Additionally you can manage gift certificates, promotions, and discounts codes, which are great ways to increase the number of customers at your online store. Overall the management capabilities with the Fortune3 ecommerce software solution are solid, and should meet the needs of most merchants.

Fortune3 Customer Service

Merchants who choose to go with a hosted shopping cart value customer service as one of the biggest factors in their decision making process of selecting a new solution. In terms of customer service at Fortune3, merchants can get chat and phone support 9am to midnight EST, Monday through Friday form their regular support staff. Fortune3 has a service answer calls at other times, and their ticket support system in responded to every day of the week. In addition, Fortune3 is quite active on their Twitter and Facebook pages, so merchants can also interact with the company via these channels for additional support. Merchants also like that Fortune3 has an active blog, which can educate them on how to better use their ecommerce solution and provide tips on how to improve their online store. Additionally Fortune3 has a YouTube channel with a variety of helpful videos, however it does not seem like this effort is very popular, as there are not many subscribers or views for the individual videos. Overall merchants should have confidence that Fortune3 has a way for them to get help, regardless of what day of the week or time it happens to be.

Fortune3 Review: Prices, Packages, & Conclusion

If Fortune3 already sounds like a great ecommerce solution, then the next things to learn about aretheir different packages and prices. Fortune3 has six different hosted ecommerce software options for merchants to choose from, with monthly pricing ranging from $29.95 to $159.95. All packages have unlimited bandwidth, but they also have small transaction fees (under 1%) which are much less than most other ecommerce solutions that charge their merchants. The main difference between the Fortune3 packages is the number of products you can have in your online store, with their high end package allowing unlimited products. To see what all the buzz is about, you can download the Fortune3 ecommerce solution today via a 30-day FREE trial to see if this is the right ecommerce solution for your online store.