Shopping for Kids

Archive for October, 2011

Shopping Cart Hero 2 is the next game in a series of shopping cart antics and vastly improved from the first, many of you may ask, how you can improve a game that has one man and his shopping cart?

Let’s find out…

When you start the game it appears very similar to the first, you are at the top of a hill with a shopping cart. Your objective is still to get as far as possible; and when you land you are still given a score, which you can use to buy items, this is where the game has improved vastly.

So let’s take a look at some of the new items and what they do:

• Wheel upgrade, when you start your wheels are not round, therefore you do not gain as much speed on your descent.
• Rockets, these give you extra speed down the hill and help with the speed of your lift off.
• Groupies, they help with the style of your jump, which improves your score.
• Air Tricks, which all have different controls and offer you points depending on the type of trick you pull off.
• Helmets, if you crash they can save your life and offer you a bonus in the form of your style, however they disappear after one crash and can get expensive to replace.
• Sombrero’s, absolutely no idea why you would want to buy this, it makes a small difference to your style and costs $3800.
• Propeller Beanie hat, makes little difference to anything and costs $9000.
• Baseball bat, which is are used for tricks by pressing spacebar.
• Ground tricks, which all have different points.
• Dumpster truck, this replaces your shopping cart and is harder to pick up speed with but you need it for completion of the game.
• Rocket, which you attach to the dumpster.
• Dumpster dive, A trick you need for another stage.
• Solid gold cart, which adds 0.5 to style but costs an arm and a leg.
• The hand glider, another trick that you need for another stage.

Now along with the massive increase in items, there are also two additional stages to the game itself… Two boss stages. The first is an underground worm. To activate this level set off as usual, and once in the air perform the dumpster dive. Your task then is to hit bombs scattered on the floor into the worm with the baseball bat.

The second and final boss is the flying monkey; to get to him you need to use the hand glider. Once again you must use the bat to hit bombs into him. This time he attacks you with bananas which he throws at you, you can hit these back at him.

On both of these boss stages it’s handy to have groupies, they effectively act as an extra life it’s also handy to have a helmet on as crashing is more than likely.

The addition of two boss stages has brought in a definitive end to the game, on the previous game when you brought all the items and jumped a few times that was the end, on this game there is hours of fun to be had.

If you’re launching an ecommerce site, you’re going to need a shopping cart. Even if you’ve owned an ecommerce site before, you may not be as thoroughly knowledgeable about shopping carts as you’d like to be, so spend a couple of minutes with this brief tutorial so that you can make an informed choice of software.

Not all shopping cart software is alike. Some of the features that exist on some software may not exist on others. Let’s look at the two main types, to start:

There is software that you purchase and install on your server, and there is hosted software. Which is right for you?

Software that you purchase outright is more vulnerable to hackers and scammers, who often look to target ecommerce sites. If you purchase this type of shopping cart software, be sure the security features are robust. Otherwise you are at risk of hackers stealing customers’ credit card numbers. This can be very damaging to your reputation and even cause you to incur fines.

If you do not have your own server, you need to verify that the owner of the server hosting your site will permit you to install shopping cart software. Some do not allow that. You may need to change servers or install your own. Do your homework.

You will need a payment gateway company, and the ability to display the approval message to the online customer.

Software that you purchase outright and install on a server gives you greater control but is also more problematic.

Hosted shopping cart software resides on an existing external server and works with your ecommerce site. You will need to upload your items, descriptions, photos, and other data. Here the risk is that you are relying on someone else to provide you with adequate security and with software that is not subject to frequent breakdown or outage. There are fewer set-up headaches, but there may be more hassles on an ongoing basis.

If you choose this type of shopping cart, be certain you are dealing with a reputable and experienced provider, not someone doing this from home as a sideline or post-retirement part-time gig. (Yes, such companies are out there.)

Whichever type of software you decide to go with, choose the company well, not only on the basis of features provided but on the reputation and experience of the company.

Shopping is an activity which each of us indulges into to buy something which we need in our life. Shopping with ease has become today’s trend. Shopping Carts are a boon in this regard as they not only help customers to carry their heavy merchandise from one point to another but also give immense pleasure for the fact that they do not have to take up any strenuous activity while enjoying shopping for their near and dear ones. Since their advent in 1937, shopping carts are of great utility.

Shopping carts are available in various shapes and sizes depending upon their utility. They are often made some kind of metal or plastics. They themselves are light weight but can carry huge amount of load in terms of the merchandize bought by the customer.

With innumerable features, it is often confusing for the customers to select just the right cart for themselves. Folding Shopping Carts are gaining popularity not only with the seniors and parents but also with the young adults as these carts give them the freedom of shopping with physical ease. Parents often carry their kids with them to the shopping malls and the supermarkets. There are shopping carts which have the facility of carrying infants besides carrying the merchandize, giving the parents the satisfaction of keeping their adorable kids in front of them.

Talking of shopping grocery carts the most important part of the carts is their design. Most commonly used and perhaps the most popular design is the “Wheelie Design” wherein the rear wheels are made a bit larger than the front ones. Wheels are often made of plastic or rubber. The other popular design is “The Swiveler” which is often found in the grocery shop.

Grip handles are also another important feature of the shopping carts. Handles often come with an ergonomic design with foam or rubber grip for proper handling of the cart. Local Groceries often come up with carts which have handles with plastic grips, but they are not only cheap but also uncomfortable to handle. But since they are meant for people who belong to middle class or lower middle class families, so shop owners often go for cheaper designs.

Today’s economy is seeing a boom in the retailer market which results into growing number of shopping malls, retail stores and departmental stores. This has given rise to increase in the usage of shopping carts. Lately usage of huge number carts is seeing small accidents taking place in the supermarkets. These accidents though not very serious for the adults but might often prove fatal for the infants involved.

So to avoid these unfortunate incidents, today’s shopping malls are using electronic carts. They are easy to control and are safer than ever before. They are also very useful as they cannot be stolen easily and can be collected from the parking lot easily. These carts are also a boon to physically challenged people who can control them easily. Folding Shopping Carts are of great use to today’s buyers.

Online shopping has become a regular pastime of Americans. Not only is home shopping convenient for most people it also provides much more variety in a smaller amount of time than driving around town might produce.

However, internet shopping has its pros and cons just as anything other advance of technology does. Online shoppers should be careful and aware that just because they feel anonymous while shopping, they may not always be.

Pros of Discount Shopping Online and Other functions of Internet Shopping:

1. Most people can generally find what they are looking for online just as easy if not easier than finding it at the local department store.

2. Variety is more diverse since the market is global and not local.

3. Prices are sometimes negotiable online since the products might be sold by individuals or auctions.

4. Items are more generally lower priced due to the high percentage of auctions and discount sites.

Cons of Discount Shopping Online and Other functions of Internet Shopping:

1. Shipping costs occur 90% of the time, sometimes bringing the discounted price back up to the normal price of the same item found locally at a department store.

2. Descriptions on bid sites and online auctions may not be accurate. Sometimes sellers will talk up their item in order to sell it.

3. Refunds are not as accessible and may not always be possible when conducting online shopping.

4. Payment devices may not be secure, allowing access to more people than simply the seller, or abused access by the seller.

Internet shopping can be very useful and very convenient, however the individual thinking about using a discount shopping online should carefully weigh the pros and cons before ruling out the local market. Common sense can save you a lot of money online, and when in doubt just log off and go the old fashion route of shopping locally.