Services: E-Commerce Solutions

There are several ingredients necessary to sell products or services directly on the Internet:

Step 1: The Shopping Cart (Merchant Software) - E-Commerce is an online storefront that allows you to display and describe the products you offer for sale. It allows the customer to add/delete items from their order (shopping cart). Then once they are ready to checkout, the order processing system relays the order and payment information to you.

Step 2: The Payment Processing Protection (Secure Server & Server Digital ID Certificate) - Your website should be running on a secure web server running SSL Encryption. Consumers will not enter private information such as credit card numbers into an order form on a web page that is not secure. In addition, banking institutions have rules against allowing credit card information to be entered into a non-secure site. Not only must a site use SSL encryption to keep transactions secure, but consumers need to know that you are who you say you are. A digital certificate from a trusted 3rd party agency like VeriSign not only ensures that you are a legitimate organization, but prevents someone else from "spoofing" your site.

Step 3: The Merchant Account - To conduct eCommerce you need a way to transfer funds from the buyer to you. Depending on volume, you can either manually process the credit card numbers on a daily basis by downloading orders through a secure connection, or have the transfer of funds take place in real-time when the order is placed from your Website. Most traditional credit card merchant accounts do not permit Internet transactions of any kind or charge a very high "discount rate" when used this way. A number of banking organizations have specialized in this area however and have made it relatively easy and affordable for a merchant to transact business on the Internet.

Other E-Commerce Solutions:

PayPal "Buy Now Buttons"

PayPal's "Buy Now Buttons" allow you to sell individual items from your website, or even using a link in an email! Buy Now Buttons is a low–cost way for you to accept bank account payments, and can be fully integrated with your website in a few easy steps.

Benefits?

• Easy to implement – no CGI scripting necessary.
• No up–front costs – you'll have the same low fee schedule used when you receive other PayPal payments.
• Sell with ease – PayPal maintains detailed transaction records on their website.
• Improve buyer experience – with customizable buttons and secure payments, happy customers become repeat customers.