In online marketing, a shopping cart is a piece of e-commerce software on a web server that allows visitors to an internet site to select items for eventual purchase, analogous to the American English term "shopping cart." In British English it is generally known as a shopping basket, almost exclusively shortened on websites to 'basket'.
The software allows online shopping customers to accumulate a list of items for purchase, described metaphorically as “placing items in the shopping cart” or “adding to cart”. Upon checkout, the software typically calculates a total for the order, including shipping and handling (i.e. postage and packing) charges and the associated taxes, as applicable.