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SamCart, an online shopping cart software, was created by Scott Moran and Brian Moran in 2013. It’s been around for a while, but lately, it seems to be everywhere.
A lot of marketers, business owners, and entrepreneurs are touting it as the best shopping cart software available today.
But does it live up to the hype?
In this SamCart review, I am going to share my experience with this software: who it’s good for, it’s pros and cons, and whether or not it’s worth it for your business.
SamCart: Is it worth it?
Want to see a demo of SamCart in action? Click Here for a free demo
SamCart I believe is a great investment. It offers tons of features, compared to other shopping cart platforms, and is optimized to increase conversions , which in turn will boost your bottom line.
As a marketer, you know the importance of testing your pages to optimize conversions, and SamCart has done all the work for you to make sure that you maximize the profit you make from each sale.
If you sell a $47 PDF and you use a standard checkout page, you might not be allowed to add an extra sale. You may be able sell another $60 product to your customers if you add an upsell (using SamCart).
What does mean for you?
This results in more revenue per sales and higher order sizes. In the end, more money in your pockets.
Sidenote – If you purchase SamCart I would be grateful if you click on this link to buy.
The countless reviews and testimonials from happy customers speak for themselves:
Who is SamCart Good For?
SamCart is ideal for anyone selling stuff online. From physical products to digital products like courses, events, books, and seminars. You can even use it to sell services, such as consulting services on your website.
But, like all other shopping cart software, it’s specifically designed for a certain kind of user, which means that it won’t be ideal for everyone.
Depending on whether you are selling information products, software, or memberships, you will find out the various features and functionality of SamCart to help you decide if it is the right shopping cart for your needs.
SamCart Pros and Cons
SamCart, like all other software, comes with its own set of pros and cons. I have listed them below so you know exactly what to expect from this shopping cart.
SamCart Pros
- User-Friendly PlatformSamCart allows you to sell physical and digital products online using a simple platform.
- Integrations The software can be integrated with many marketing tools and services via Zapier.
- Flexible Payment Models: SamCart also has flexible payment models, including payment plans, subscriptions, and trials.
- Supports One-Click Upsells: You can use one-click upsells, downsells, and even “bumps” to boost your revenue.
- Granular Coupons & Discounts Control: You have complete control over the way you use coupons or discounts on your products.
- Affiliate Management – SamCart offers an integrated affiliate program management system that is comparable to other shopping carts. This will make it easy to manage your affiliate program.
- Excellent Support:SamCart is equipped with a wide range of knowledge to assist you with any type of issue. Support can be obtained via email, Facebook group and live chat.
- Analytics and Reporting: The platform offers an impressive reporting dashboard that gives you useful insights from your data.
SamCart demo available. Click Here to get a FREE demo
SamCart Cons
- Not Great for Services: SamCart isn’t well-suited for selling services. You can still make it work by being creative in the name of your offer.
- Limited Design Options: SamCart’s checkout templates design options are not as extensive as other shopping cart software within the same price range.
- You cannot accept cryptocurrency payments using SamCart. Apple Pay is not available.
- Very Few Payment Integrations: Although SamCart offers a lot of payment options, it only integrates with a few payment processors like Stripe and PayPal.
- High Price: SamCart does offer an impressive range of features, but the pricing is still a bit high for small business owners and individual marketers. This is particularly true when compared to platforms like ThriveCart that offer their services for a one-time payment.
Top SamCart Functionality
SamCart’s functionality is what might convince you to choose it over other shopping cart software. This is where its true strengths lie.
Below, we take a look at each of SamCart’s functions, so you can get a better idea of why SamCart is different from the rest, and how it can be of benefit to your business.
One-Click Upsells
This is what makes SamCart stand out from other platforms. You can maximize your profit from every sale with the platform’s one-click upsells
If you are not using upsells as part of your sales funnel, then you’re leaving a lot of money on the table. The world’s biggest retailer, Amazon, reports that over a third of its revenue comes from upselling efforts.
SamCart makes upselling easy and seamless, and according to their website, once you set it up, it will increase your customer value by up to 68.1%.
Bump Offers
SamCart also offers you cross-selling order bumps. This strategy is also known as “bundling”, which involves combining the main product with other products in order to increase profits.
McDonald’s will offer fries and drinks along with your burgers to illustrate this concept. Or, if you purchase sports equipment, you might also get an offer for half price gym membership or something like that.
So, for instance, if you sell laptops using SamCart shopping cart software, you might also offer bump offers of laptop bags, antivirus packages (Avast could really use this) , etc. as a way to increase your customer value.
SamCart makes it easy with just one click. It’s easy to set up and customers will make purchases through the optimized checkout process.
Checkout Pages
At the time of this writing, the checkout platform of Samcart has 18 professionally designed shopping cart templates – all of which are proven to convert.
All the pages are mobile responsive and they have a unique “sandbox” mode that allows you to check that everything is working perfectly before going live. This is different from other shopping cart software, where you actually have to publish your page and then test it.
A lot of well-known marketers use SamCart which means that you will be able to avoid having to spend countless hours designing and testing checkout pages on your own. You can simply take the word of the experts that came before you and leverage their hard work to start seeing immediate results in your marketing and sales campaigns.
All the checkout page templates on SamCart also come with built-in testimonials, security reassurances, guarantees, and various other trust elements designed to boost conversion rates.
Want to see a demo of SamCart in action? Click Here to get a FREE demo
All you have to do is pick a template to use, and then customize it to match your brand colors and style.
One-page Checkout
This is a unique feature that offers you the ability to add multiple payment options to a single checkout page.
Here’s an example:
SamCart can be used to sell an online course at $447. On other shopping cart pages you may have to use separate checkout pages.
SamCart’s single-page checkout keeps customers on the page while they choose the best payment method for their product.
As an online marketer, I’m sure you know the importance of being able to keep your visitors on-page, otherwise, you risk losing them altogether if they leave for any reason.
Affiliate Center
SamCart makes it easy for you to not only sell your products online but also to enlist a whole army of affiliates who will promote your stuff and increase your revenue.
In fact, the platform’s affiliate management feature is so robust that you don’t even have to spend any time promoting your products or services.
Affiliates are a great way to promote your product or service without having to spend money on advertising or other marketing. You only pay them once you make a sale.
Subscription Saver
This SamCart feature is very appealing if you are selling subscription products online.
As you well know, not everyone pays on time, every time. Some missed payments might be due to credit cards that simply expired, or it might be unscrupulous people who decline charges or cancel their cards to avoid honoring their obligations.
Regardless of the reason why payments don’t go through, it’s bad news for the marketer because oftentimes you can’t get your money (barring taking legal action against the customer).
SamCart helps to guard you against expired credit cards and declined payments by sending your customers an email on your behalf whenever a payment fails.
In the email, there will be a link where customers can update their payment information on file straight from their inbox. This saves you from having to waste valuable time chasing down customers who have failed to make their payments.
SamCart will automatically cancel a customer’s subscription if they fail to update their payment information. After receiving multiple emails, SamCart marks them as “delinquent”. This allows you to identify the person and contact them if necessary.
Subscription Saver’s easy-to-read dunning report from SamCart allows you to keep track of what’s happening.
A/B Testing
All marketers have a good idea of how important it is to split test everything. Split testing can be especially helpful if you have a high cart abandonment rate. A small increase can make a big difference in your revenue.
This applies to your blog headlines, opt in pages, email subject lines and sales pages.
But, few marketers ever really bother testing their checkout pages. When you consider just how much money you stand to make by optimizing your pages, it makes no sense that someone would knowingly ignore such an important part of their sales funnel.
SamCart makes it easy. Live A/B testing is possible on your pages. This feature is quite unique in the world of shopping cart pages.
There are tons of different things you can test on SamCart, such as changing the template, trying out a different guarantee/testimonial, etc., removing fields (tests have shown that the fewer fields you have, the better), and much more.
Want to see a demo of SamCart in action? Click Here to get a FREE demo
SamCart Integrations
SamCart has many integrations that allow you to connect your shopping cart with the rest of your marketing strategy.
These are the major integrations available on the platform:
Payment Providers: One of the first things you’re prompted to do once you log into SamCart is to set up your payment processor. SamCart has only two payment options, but they are constantly adding more integrations to the shopping platform. It’s also important to note that there are no cryptocurrency payments, such as bitcoin, or mobile payments, such as Apple Pay on the platform.
Email Marketing Providers Email marketing is a key integration for most marketers before choosing a shopping cart. SamCart supports many email marketing solutions including iContact and HubSpot, Ontraport. Active Campaign, MailChimp and Drip.
Membership Platforms: SamCart supports a wide range of membership platforms, including Thinkific, Post Affiliate Pro, WishList Member, Digital Access Pass, Optimize Member, and Membermouse.
Webinar platforms: SamCart’s check-out software can be used to help you sell your products and services if you host webinars . Although there currently aren’t any native integrations for webinar platforms on SamCart, the software easily integrates with Zapier which allows you to connect to a wide range of webinar platforms, including GoToWebinar and WebinarJam.
Fulfillment Services: If you sell physical products using SamCart shopping cart software, you only have one option available to you for fulfillment: ShipStation. Zapier allows you to link to many other fulfillment systems, which can be tailored to your business’s needs.
SamCart Alternatives
There are many shopping cart options available today, as we have already mentioned.
SamCart is just one of many, and although it has amazing features and functionality, there are a few others that can give this platform a run for its money.
Listed below are four SamCart alternatives, and depending on the specific features you need for your business, these may prove to be a better (or worse) option. This post has more alternatives.
SamCart vs. ThriveCart
Note : You can find my SamCart and ThriveCart Comparison Review here
ThriveCart is an online shopping cart software designed for e-commerce sites. It offers many of the same features as SamCart, such as one-click upsells and affiliate management center.
But, SamCart does have significantly more features than ThriveCart. SamCart’s only advantage over ThriveCart is in price.
SamCart can be purchased at a monthly cost, but you can also get ThriveCart by paying a $495 one-time fee.
This is just one reason why many digital marketers prefer SamCart over the other.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that ThriveCart integrates with most of the major payment processing systems available right now, whereas SamCart only integrates with PayPal and Stripe.
SamCart vs. PayKickStart
PayKickStart is a flexible shopping cart that will help you power your online business in an affordable way.
The software includes features like a page builder for sales funnels, powerful page editors, and pop-ups for checkout forms. You can integrate PayKickstart with Braintree, Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, and Easy Pay Direct.
This is the main difference between SamCart and PayKickStart. Everything else is pretty much the same.
Both platforms support multiple languages and currencies. They offer deep actionable insights through a robust reporting dashboard, and both shopping cart solutions are easy to set up. Each comes with a smart dashboard and conversion tools.
PayKickStart offers four subscription plans when it comes to pricing: Basic $99/month; Growth $199/month; Scale $299/month and a custom plan which will be customized to your business.
Compared to SamCart’s price, which starts at just $49/month, it’s easy to see why most marketers are drawn to SamCart over PayKickStart.
SamCart vs. Shift4Shop (formerly 3D Cart)
Shift4Shop is a renowned e-commerce platform that was established over two decades ago. It has many features that allow you to easily create optimized checkout pages for better conversions.
This makes it a good alternative to SamCart, particularly for anyone who wants a wider variety of checkout page templates to choose from. Shift4Shop has over 50 free templates, each of which contains all the features and elements required to boost your conversions.
You will get more templates if you select a higher-level plan. Premium templates are responsive to mobile devices, which will ensure excellent viewing experience for your customers on mobile.
Shift4Shop allows you to promote products on social media. All plans include $50 in ad credits that will help you reach a larger audience on various social media platforms.
Shift4Shop prices range from $19/month in “Startup” shops to $229/month in “Pro” shops.
SamCart vs. Clickfunnels
You can read my in-depth SamCart vs. Clickfunnels comparison here.
Clickfunnels is yet another great shopping cart software you can use to create attractive checkout pages.
It supports a wide range of payment processors including Stripe and PayPal. It also has support for many email marketing and marketing automation tools, including Infusionsoft, Ontraport, and NMI.
Compared to other shopping cart software, Clickfunnels is a more complete system as it allows you to build landing pages as well as shopping cart pages.
It’s more than a shopping cart. It’s an A-Z sales funnel that removes the need for a ton of other marketing tools for anyone who wants to sell services or products online.
Also, I wrote this Shopify Comparison.
Samcart isn’t the only one with checkout functionality. Systems like Aweber, Convertkit, Kajabi, and more. As good as these platforms can be for their intending purpose, they aren’t nearly as focused as Samcart is.
Pricing
SamCart has four different plans:
- Launch: $49.
- Grow: $99/month
- Scale – $199/month
- Enterprise: 399/month
The pricing structure is simple, and the features available in each plan build on the ones from the previous plan.
You get the Launch plan and the Grow plan.
The same goes if you opt for the Scale plan. You get all the features available in the Grow plan, as well as additional features like the dunning tool, affiliate center, CRM integrations, and A/B testing.
Each plan comes with a 14-day free trial, as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee. Additional discounts are available if you pay annually.
Product Support
SamCart provides support via email, chat and Facebook groups. The site also has detailed documentation. It also features an intuitive interface that makes it easy to navigate.
Want to see a demo of SamCart in action? Click Here for a free demo
Here is a more detailed look at the support offered by SamCart.
Intuitive Interface From the moment you log in to the platform, you’ll be guided through the steps necessary to get you set up as quickly and easily as possible.
Help Center: SamCart has a thorough knowledge base with written posts and video tutorials to help you solve any type of potential issues you might come up against.
Live Chat: If you come up against a problem that requires urgent assistance, you can get support via SamCart’s live chat. Although the reply time can vary, for the most part, SamCart support is very responsive to requests for help.
Facebook Group: SamCart has a huge Facebook community of over 24,000 members and includes a support team that will happily answer all your questions on Facebook.
Email Support: Although SamCart doesn’t offer direct contact to the support team, they do offer email support during business hours (that is, 9 AM to 5 PM ET weekdays).
FAQ
What is Samcart?
Samcart allows you to sell digital products and online services. It can also be used to sell physical items. It allows you to create sales pages, marketing funnels, run an affiliate program, ecommerce, and more. Through excellent marketing and widespread adoption from business owners everwhere, Samcart is the leading online shopping cart on the market.
What is Samcart used for?
Samcart can be used across many industries. Samcart is a tool that can be used to help individuals sell products or services online. They have solutions for course creators, authors, coaches/consultants, agencies, side hustlers, amazon and Etsy sellers, Physical product sellers, entrepreneurs, and even non-profits.
Can You Integrate SamCart with Zapier?
Zapier allows you to integrate SamCart. This will allow you to instantly connect to over 3,000 marketing automation apps and tools to automate your work, increase productivity, and improve your bottom line.
Can SamCart Handle VAT?
SamCart helps keep your online tax simple. SamCart automatically calculates the correct tax rates for your customers and charges sales tax accordingly.
SamCart allows coupon codes
SamCart not only allows coupons, but the platform also has one of the most granular control features (compared to other shopping cart software) over the way you use coupons for your products and services.
Instead of one coupon being applied to all your products, you can apply a coupon to a specific product and a differentcoupon for other products within the same sales funnel.
SamCart:
SamCart offers a powerful A/B testing tool that will help you increase your conversions. You can test every aspect of your checkout page to find out which versions work best with your audience. The platform also has in-depth tutorials for those who are new to split testing and provides a step-by-step process to help you hit the ground testing.
Does SamCart have a Money Back Guarantee?
SamCart offers a 30-day money-back guarantee if you decide that the software is not for you. To avoid paying an extra month, cancel your subscription at least a few days in advance. The platform also offers a free 14-day trial, which will make it less likely that you will need a refund since you’ll have the chance to get to know the platform in-depth before opting for any of the premium plans.
How Does SamCart Pay You?
With regards to affiliate commissions, SamCart doesn’t pay you. Instead, the vendor or your platform manager will pay you. Payments will be made using any of the supported payment methods, such as PayPal, and Stripe.
Is SamCart Legit?
SamCart is a great tool for digital marketers looking to sell products or services online.
It’s an affordable shopping cart software that makes it easy to optimize each of your sales through the use of various payment models, discounts, coupons, and bump offers so you can increase your revenue.
SamCart is a valuable tool that is easy to set up and makes a great addition to any online business.
If you do decide to try SamCart, I’d be greatly appreciative if you use this link to suppo