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If you sell digital products online, you will definitely be using any shopping cart software to sell your product.
Obviously, the checkout process should be as smooth as possible to avoid the cart abandonment rate.
But have you ever thought of this before?
Does your shopping cart solution offer enough features to continue your business’s growth and success?
If not! No worries. We have other remarkable shopping carts to check out with. Yes, Of course, I am talking about Thrivecart and Samcart.
Now, you might find yourself in a dilemma, unsure of which path to take. So, put down your bags, seize a cup of coffee, and come along as we delve into the remarkable features of both options to determine the ultimate winner.
ThriveCart vs. SamCart: Major Differences
Let us have a look at some notable distinctions between SamCart and ThriveCart:
Pricing Structure:
ThriveCart stands out with its lifetime deal, which offers a more budget-friendly alternative when compared to SamCart’s monthly or annual subscription plans.
Membership Features:
SamCart enables you to create and sell memberships. Sadly, this feature is not available on ThriveCart.
Profit Boosters:
ThriveCart enables you to boost your profit by creating One-click upsell funnels, subscriptions, courses, trials, bump offers and much more. Unfortunately, such features are limited in SamCart.
Unique Functionality:
ThriveCart offers several unique features, including link tracking, digital sales tax collection, mobile payment options, and sales prediction. These functionalities are not present in SamCart.
User Interface:
SamCart boasts a smoother and more user-friendly interface than ThriveCart.
Templates:
SamCart offers you a bundle of templates as compared to ThriveCart.
Free Trial:
SamCart provides a 7-day free trial. It allows you to explore all its features before committing to a subscription. But, ThriveCart does not offer a trial period.
By highlighting these differences, you can make a more informed decision between ThriveCart and SamCart.
ThriveCart vs. SamCart: A Quick Overview
Before diving into a deep comparison of features between the two, let us first understand these shopping cart platforms.
ThriveCart
ThriveCart was founded by Josh Bartlett in 2016. It has emerged as a powerful shopping cart builder. ThriveCart has a mission to help businesses create compelling and high-converting checkout pages.
Over the years, the company has experienced remarkable growth. ThriveCart’s primary focus is on converting online surfers into potential buyers, making it an ideal platform for e-commerce agencies.
One of ThriveCart’s standout features is its ability to incorporate “Bump Offers” for extra revenue.
With this, users can strategically position several bump offers on the checkout page. This strategic placement can significantly increase conversion rates by enticing customers to make more purchases.
ThriveCart also provides a user-friendly experience with its “Custom Page Building” feature. Users can effortlessly design attractive product, sales, and funnel pages through an intuitive drag-and-drop interface.
This feature empowers businesses to create a seamless and appealing shopping experience for their customers.
ThriveCart offers “Split Testing” capabilities for those who value data-driven decision-making. Users can experiment with various versions of products and checkout pages.
It allows them to assess and compare each page’s performance. This helps in optimizing the user experience and maximizing conversion rates.
ThriveCart’s versatility extends to “Integration” with various essential tools and services. It smoothly integrates with many payment gateways, email marketing platforms, fulfilment services, and membership platforms.
This flexibility ensures businesses seamlessly incorporate ThriveCart into their existing tech stack while streamlining their operations.
ThriveCart caters to a diverse range of users. This includes individual online sellers and e-commerce owners dealing with physical products. It also extends its capabilities to online training platforms, music websites, and ebook sellers.
The platform proves valuable for large-scale business consultants who manage many clients. Additionally, it’s an excellent choice for businesses that offer membership services. Thanks to its robust feature set.
SamCart
SamCart was crafted by Brian Moran initially for his ventures, Get 10000 Fans and Train Baseball. The platform shares similarities with ThriveCart. But, it has some distinctive creating advanced sales funnels and product pages for beginners.
With over 30,000 customers and facilitating the sale of nearly 10 million products, SamCart has earned its reputation as a top-notch e-commerce assistant. It allows users to craft intuitive sales pages using customizable templates without requiring coding expertise.
Besides its user-friendly page-building capabilities, SamCart extends its functionality to encompass deep market analysis, order management services, tax help, and more.
SamCart empowers users to create intelligent “sales funnels.” It simplifies converting prospects into loyal customers through a few straightforward steps.
SamCart boasts an extensive collection of pre-designed templates. Users can readily customize these templates to suit their preferences. These designs are also optimized for mobile devices. It ensures a seamless shopping experience on smartphones.
Its user-friendly interface makes SamCart an excellent choice for those new to e-commerce. Whether it’s designing web pages or implementing bump offers on checkout pages, SamCart offers easy-to-navigate tools.
SamCart is well-suited for businesses operating on a subscription model. It provides features like automatic membership recovery and recurring subscription management. The platform is best for catering to the needs of membership-based enterprises.
In terms of its user base, SamCart finds value among various segments. These include coaching institutes, independent e-commerce enthusiasts, and e-learning businesses. It’s also popular among online consultants and digital service providers offering ebooks, audio content, and podcasts.
Reasons to Choose ThriveCart over SamCart
- ThriveCart offers a one-time signup. With this, you get lifetime access to ThriveCart. While SamCart requires monthly recurring payments.
- When comparing pricing options, ThriveCart’s lifetime deal is budget-friendly. But, SamCart’s higher-tier plans are relatively more expensive and may not be easily affordable. It’s important to note that SamCart’s lower-tier plan lacks many essential features. Hence making it less cost-effective.
- ThriveCart wins with valuable features such as digital sales tax calculation, sales predictions, link tracking, and mobile payment options. All these features are absent in SamCart’s offerings.
- Additionally, ThriveCart provides a two-step cart option. It enhances the checkout process. However, SamCart does not offer this feature.
- Moreover, ThriveCart supports ApplyPay and Google Pay payment options. It provides added flexibility that SamCart does not extend to its users.
Reasons to Choose SamCart over ThriveCart
- SamCart functions as a membership site platform. A remarkable feature to extend growth is unfortunately absent in ThriveCart’s offerings.
- In terms of user interface, SamCart provides a more polished and user-friendly experience compared to ThriveCart, although ThriveCart’s interface is slightly less refined.
- Additionally, SamCart offers a more extensive selection of templates compared to ThriveCart.
- SamCart provides a free trial option, while ThriveCart does not offer this feature.
In-depth Features Comparison Between ThriveCart and SamCart
It was just a quick overview of the differences between SamCart and ThriveCart. We will now look forward to each feature one by one in detail.
1. Customization
Always remember the more simple and detailed your product page will be, the more the chances are to induce visitors to convert.
The basic rule to follow while selling your physical products or services online is to keep the flow simple and engaging.
Both platforms offer user-friendly, drag-and-drop editors that do not need programming skills. It allows you to unleash your creativity in designing pages.
ThriveCart:
- ThriveCart supports the sale of physical and digital products, online services, and membership-based services.
- It offers a variety of pre-built templates that can be tailored to your business’s style and voice.
- ThriveCart lets you add products with features like pricing information, multiple payment processing options, bump offers, upsell offers, and funnels on the checkout page.
- You can provide options for a pop-up cart placement. This will enhance the chances of conversions using ThriveCart.
- ThriveCart allows the creation of 2-step carts, modal shopping carts, video carts, and embeddable carts.
- Offers simple editing tools to incorporate one-click offers, extra product suggestions, and coupon links on the cart page.
SamCart:
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- Offers similar customization features, with an intuitive GUI-based design tool and a vast selection of ready-to-use templates.
- SamCart supports the selling of a wide range of products. The products include subscription-based music, ebooks, online training services, e-learning courses, and more.
- It simplifies adding products and designing pages with its ultra-friendly interface.
- SamCart also provides templates tailored to different product categories. This gives your store a professional look.
- SamCart also allows you to add products with pricing details, descriptions, billing cycle options, and sales funnels.
- It offers one-click bump offers, upsells, discounts, product upgrades/suggestions on the checkout page, automated membership recovery, FAQ sections, progress bars, countdown timers, and more. All these features enhance your store’s professionalism.
In this comparison, SamCart is better than ThriveCart with its easy-to-use and refined design tools. Hence making it an attractive choice for businesses looking for seamless customization options.
In a head-to-head comparison of customization features between ThriveCart and SamCart, SamCart emerges as the winner.
2. Sales Funnels
Sales funnels unveil the true customer journey. It visually represents the path from initial product discovery to the final sale decision. These funnels serve as a means to illustrate this journey to website visitors, compelling them to take immediate action and convert.
ThriveCart:
- ThriveCart empowers users to create sales funnels strategically. It guides visitors through its services and products. This encourages them to make a sale.
- It also offers the flexibility to test many funnels to determine the most effective strategy for a business.
- ThriveCart simplifies funnel creation by allowing users to click “New Funnel” and devise a strategy for any product.
- It lets you smartly place upsells, bump offers, product suggestions, and upgrades on landing pages based on customer activities and clicks.
- ThriveCart provides the convenience of using a single sales funnel for multiple products. Hence, it saves time for businesses dealing with a wide product range.
SamCart:
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- SamCart offers a funnelling feature under the Upsells tab. It enables users to create awareness and interest in prospects and guide them towards purchasing.
- It allows users to craft product descriptions, adding upsells or downsells, offers, suggestions, and order bumps.
- It provides the option to test individual funnels and components on landing pages. Thus offering a higher degree of control compared to ThriveCart.
While both platforms offer sales funnel capabilities, ThriveCart is the more comprehensive and versatile.
Its user-friendly interface and the ability to create sales funnels for multiple products make it a compelling choice for businesses seeking effective sales funnel strategies.
On the other hand, while SamCart provides funnelling features, it falls slightly short in terms of versatility and ease of use when compared to ThriveCart.
In the realm of Sales Funnels, ThriveCart takes the lead with its robust and versatile features.
3. App Integration
SamCart and ThriveCart don’t possess in-built automation tools. However, they give many third-party integration options to automate email processes. Similarly, these platforms offer many other integration options to utilize other services seamlessly.
Let us explore which platform wins in offering a more extensive range of integrations across various categories.
ThriveCart:
- It provides numerous app integrations in diverse categories. The integration options include notification services through Zapier, auto-response services such as HubSpot and GetResponse, and a wide array of payment gateways like G Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal.
- Also, include fulfilment options such as Kunaki and ShipStation and support for subscription platforms like MemberMouse and Thinkific.
- Offers compatibility with email marketing services like Mailchimp, Sendy, and Drip, as well as webinar platforms like Demio.
- It covers a wide spectrum of applications, making it a versatile choice for users with various integration needs.
SamCart:
- SamCart falls short in this category. It offers more limited third-party integrations compared to ThriveCart.
- It notably lacks support for Apple and Google Pay services.
- SamCart supports integrations with product/landing page builders like WordPress. Membership services such as Thinkific, Wishlist, and Kajabi. Email services include Mailchimp, Maropost, iContact, and GetResponse. Payment gateways like Braintree, Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net.
- It competes with marketing intelligence tools like Ontraport, Drip, and ActiveCampaign.
ThriveCart is the superior choice in the App Integrations feature due to its extensive range of integrations across diverse categories. It provides users with greater flexibility and adaptability.
In contrast, SamCart offers a more limited selection of integrations. This could be a limiting factor for businesses with complex integration needs.
In the realm of App Integrations, ThriveCart emerges as the clear winner.
4. Marketing and Analytics
In the battle of Marketing and Analytics features between ThriveCart and SamCart, let us check out who is a winner.
ThriveCart:
- Empowers users with behaviour-based email communication triggered by predefined actions like abandoned carts and overdue payments, streamlining customer engagement.
- ThriveCart gives in-depth analytics. It gives you insights into checkout clicks, real-time traffic, projected revenue, and average daily revenue.
- It offers an automatic sales tax estimation feature. Hence, it eliminates the need for third-party applications and considers geographical location and product type.
SamCart:
- SamCart offers sales reporting capabilities. It allows users to access sales reports by product, date, traffic source, and subscription.
- It provides advanced filters for precise report retrieval.
- SamCart features an order management system with detailed reporting. Also, it enables you to calculate VAT and sales tax without third-party integrations.
- SamCart gives user-friendly and straightforward analytics.
While both platforms offer robust marketing and analytics features, ThriveCart stands out due to its comprehensive automation capabilities and detailed analytics.
However, it’s important to note that ThriveCart’s data presentation can be somewhat complex for users who are not deeply familiar with analytics. In contrast, SamCart provides a more straightforward and user-friendly approach to data analysis.
In the battle of Marketing and Analytics features between ThriveCart and SamCart, ThriveCart clearly leads with a comprehensive set of tools.
5. Product Creation
In the realm of product creation, both ThriveCart and SamCart offer functionalities to create and sell products. These products can be physical or digital. Let us check which out of these wins the battle.
ThriveCart:
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- ThriveCart allows users to create and sell both digital and physical products.
- It provides a straightforward process to create a new product by selecting the product type and setting essential details. The details include the product URL, pricing options, payment gateway integration, and affiliate invitations.
- ThriveCart also offers the option to add either physical or digital products as bump offers. It enhances marketing efforts for higher conversions.
SamCart:
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- SamCart also enables the creation and sale of digital and physical products.
- It follows a similar process for creating new products. Here, users can include specifying details like product name, price, description, and more.
- SamCart offers flexibility in selecting payment types. It includes weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly recurring options.
- Overall, SamCart offers well-organized product creation options for user convenience.
In terms of product creation, both ThriveCart and SamCart provide a user-friendly and efficient experience with similar features and processes. Neither platform holds a significant advantage over the other in this regard.
In the realm of product creation, both ThriveCart and SamCart offer similar capabilities, making it a tie in this aspect.
6. Affiliate Management
ThriveCart and SamCart both offer affiliate management options.
ThriveCart:
- It offers a built-in affiliate center that allows users to enable or disable affiliates per product.
- The affiliate platform is also integrated into a ThriveCart Pro account, which fuels numerous customer affiliate campaigns daily.
- It provides flexibility in setting commissions and various affiliate options.
- ThriveCart allows users to specify either fixed fees or percentage-based commissions for affiliates.
SamCart:
- SamCart also provides a built-in affiliate program but with a limitation. It’s unavailable in their lowest plan and requires higher-tier plans.
- It offers the ability to make affiliate links private. Thus allowing to select affiliates to promote products.
Thus, ThriveCart excels by offering its affiliate management features across all plans. It provides users with more comprehensive affiliate program capabilities.
Conversely, SamCart restricts its affiliate feature to higher-tier plans. This makes it less accessible for users on lower-budget plans.
In the realm of affiliate management, ThriveCart holds a notable advantage over SamCart. This is due to its more inclusive approach.
7. Checkout Pages
Both ThriveCart and SamCart support appealing checkout pages for your online shopping cart. However, there is not an equal match. Let us check where which one lacks.
ThriveCart:
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- ThriveCart offers a limited selection of four checkout templates, including standard, sales cart, embeddable, and pop-out.
- Provides some customization options but is comparatively more limited in template variety.
SamCart:
- It presents a wide array of checkout templates. Thus offering users a plethora of professional and visually appealing options.
- SamCart allows users to preview templates before making a selection. It ensures a design that aligns with their brand and needs.
- Provides robust customization options and seamless integration with payment gateways.
In terms of checkout templates, SamCart surpasses ThriveCart by offering a more extensive range of professional and customizable options. It allows users to create a checkout experience that suits their brand and business needs.
In the Checkout feature department, SamCart emerges as the victor. It has a diverse and professional-looking template selection.
8. Coupons
Coupon management is another exclusive feature of shopping cart platforms. It helps induce more customers as well as enhances customer retention rate. Let us see who wins.
ThriveCart:
- ThriveCart allows users to create coupons by setting up the coupon code and specifying the discount.
- It offers three types of discounts: fixed price, percentage, and free shipping.
- It also provides flexibility in applying coupons to all products or specific ones. Also, it gives you the authority to enable or disable coupons as needed.
SamCart:
- SamCart offers coupon options like ThriveCart. It allows users to create one-time or recurring coupons.
- It provides similar coupon creation features, including specifying coupon codes and discounts.
There is no clear winner between ThriveCart and SamCart in the coupon feature category. Both platforms offer robust coupon management capabilities. This makes it a fair choice for businesses leveraging coupons to incentivize and keep customers.
In the realm of coupon management, ThriveCart and SamCart are evenly matched. It offers similar features and capabilities.
9. A/B Testing
Testing several variations may help you make informed decisions to enhance business growth.
ThriveCart:
- ThriveCart enables users to split-test various elements. It includes different prices, pricing options (recurring fee, one-time fee, or flexible payments), payment options (PayPal & Stripe vs. just Stripe), payment button colors, countdown timers, logo presence, testimonials, checkout design (2-step vs. 1-step), bullet points, bump offers, product images, and checkout form fields.
- ThriveCart offers these elements in each plan.
- It allows users to test the inclusion of custom fields on the checkout page versus none.
- ThriveCart offers extensive A/B testing capabilities across multiple sales funnel aspects. Thus, it provides valuable insights into optimizing conversions.
SamCart:
- Unlike ThriveCart, SamCart restricts the Split testing feature to its higher-tier plans.
- SamCart allows users to split-test both pages and upsell funnels. Thus offering valuable insights into optimizing the sales process.
In the A/B testing feature category, ThriveCart excels. It offers a broader range of split-testing options across various sales funnel aspects. This makes it a more accessible and comprehensive choice for users.
In contrast, SamCart limits A/B testing to higher-tier plans, which may not be as accessible to all users.
In the domain of A/B testing, ThriveCart is clearly winning the battle. It offers a more comprehensive and accessible range of split-testing options.
10. Pricing Plans
With ThriveCart review and SamCart review in Pricing Plans, ThriveCart holds a significant advantage over SamCart due to its unique and budget-friendly lifetime offer.
ThriveCart:
- ThriveCart offers two pricing options: ThriveCart Standard for $495 and ThriveCart Pro for $690 as one-time payments.
- Both plans include essential features like an affiliate management system, rebilling capabilities, a custom domain name, and automatic sales tax calculation.
- It provides an attractive and cost-effective solution for marketers seeking an all-in-one online selling platform with no recurring fees.
SamCart:
- SamCart offers four distinct plans: Launch at $49/month, Grow at $99/month, Scale at $199/month, and Enterprise at $399/month.
- It provides a 14-day free trial for each plan. Hence allowing users to test the software before committing.
- SamCart also offers discounts for annual payments and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- While SamCart offers flexibility in plan selection, its pricing can add up over time. Hence making it less budget-friendly in the long run.
In the Pricing feature category, ThriveCart is better than SamCart, especially for users who prioritize cost-effectiveness and prefer a one-time payment model.
In contrast, SamCart offers various plans with recurring monthly fees. Hence making it a more expensive option in the long term.
However, the final choice should also consider individual business needs and the specific features given by each platform.
Pros and Cons: SamCart vs. ThriveCart
Now, let us explore the positive and negative aspects of SamCart and ThriveCart separately.
SamCart Pros
Beginner-friendly
It offers a smooth user experience and an intuitive interface. Thus making it highly accessible even for beginners.
Exceptional Templates
SamCart does offer modern and sleek built-in templates with niche-specific options, such as fitness product checkout pages.
Free Trial:
A free trial allows prospects to test the product before committing.
Industry-Leading Training:
CreatorU provides valuable beginner-focused training on increasing conversions, running a business, creating funnels, and related topics.
SamCart Cons
High Cost
SamCart is relatively more expensive than ThriveCart. Even the basic features need large monthly payments.
Limiting Features
It lacks the extensive feature set found in ThriveCart. Such things can be restrictive for advanced marketers.
Missing High-End Features
While it includes a CRM and basic tagging, it lacks essential features like two-step checkouts and advanced behavioural automation.
Limited Payment Options
SamCart only supports Stripe and PayPal payment options. It potentially excludes a significant customer base, especially outside the USA.
Not Ideal for eCommerce or Services
Faces challenges with limited payment options, shipping complexities, tax calculation issues, and flexibility for selling physical products or services.
ThriveCart Pros
Cost-Effective
ThriveCart shopping cart offers a one-time payment model. It is significantly cheaper than SamCart’s recurring monthly fees. Hence providing a lifetime of shopping cart features.
Advanced Features
ThriveCart is more flexible in terms of currencies, payment processors, and payment options. Also, advanced features like behaviour automation, cart embedding, and integrations. Thus making it suitable for professional marketers.
Global Sales
It supports various payment methods, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and cryptocurrencies. Thus enabling businesses to reach a global customer base.
Suited for Products and Services
ThriveCart offers features for charging deposits, displaying shipping options, automatic tax calculations, and managing coaching services.
Multiple Payment Processors
ThriveCart integrates different products to separate payment processors or accounts. Thus offering flexibility in payment management.
ThriveCart Cons
No Free Trial
Lacks a free trial option. ThriveCart is a one-time payment platform without testing the tool beforehand.
Limited Learning Resources
While it has a substantial knowledge base and community support, it lacks a structured learning service taught by experts.
Steeper Learning Curve
It takes a bit longer to master due to the abundance of options and features.
Limited Templates and Page Builder
It encourages users to utilize custom sites, resulting in fewer templates and a simpler landing page design tool than SamCart.
Which one will work well for you?
So, this was the final ThriveCart vs. SamCart comparison.
I hope you have found your part by now, especially as per your requirements.
Still, to give you a nutshell, I would say,
If your primary goal is product selling, ThriveCart is ideal due to its compelling one-time payment option.
However, if your end goal is selling membership sites, SamCart becomes the preferred option.
Additionally, for beginners or those seeking significant cost savings, ThriveCart’s lifetime deal is a highly recommended choice.
However, if you focus on having appealing templates and an easy-to-use interface, SamCart works well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Keep reading the article at Blog – SaaS Ultra. The article was originally written by Kulwant Nagi on 2023-10-07 00:42:16.
The article was hand-picked and curated for you by the Editorial Team of WP Archives.