Shopping cart software can be generally categorized into two categories.
Licensed software:
The software is downloaded and installed on a Web server. It is most often associated with a single payment, although many free products available. The main advantages of this option is that the merchant has a license and therefore can host it on any web server that meets the needs server, and that the source code can often be accessed and edited to customize the application.
Hosted service:
The software is never downloaded, but rather is provided by a supplier of hosted service and is usually paid for monthly / yearly basis, also known as the supplier of application services (ASP) model of software. Some of these services charge a percentage of sales, in addition to monthly charges. This model has often predefined templates that the user can choose to customize their look and feel. In this model, users generally have fewer opportunities to modify or customize the software with the advantage of having the seller permanently keep software up to date on security patches and adding new features added.
