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Ecommerce Hosting Guide
What is
Ecommerce?
Ecommerce stands for electronic commerce; we will use the term
Ecommerce to refer to Internet sales of services and products. In particular we
will use it to refer to doing the whole process online: from selecting what is
being ordered to accepting payment.
How do I know if I need an Ecommerce Host?
If
you want to sell products or services online then you are going to need an
Ecommerce host. Unless you want to take a chance that people will send you a
check to order a product from a site. Just think about how many times have you
sent a check though the mail to order something online from a web site; that
number is probably zero.
Do I
have to accept credit cards?
Yes is the short and simple answer.
Ask yourself how many items
a week you buy that you really do not need. Then figure out how many of those
items you bought using a credit card. In retail stores it is pretty well known
that accepting credit cards increase impulse purchases between 50% to 80% and
that is why any retail store you walk into accepts credit cards.
When a customer walks into a
retail store the customer can pay with cash, check, or credit card. In the
online world cash is not possible and no one ever sends in a check to buy an
item from an online merchant. Accepting credit cards online is the only way to
have a viable business.
What is shopping cart software and do I need
it?
Shopping cart software is software that runs on the web server that
keeps track of the items or services the customer wants to purchase. Once the
customer is done browsing and has selected all the items and/or services they
want to purchase then they go to the checkout area. In the checkout area is
where the customer will put in all their personal information and their payment
form. Using shopping cart software allows the developer or owner of the
web site to get the site up and running a lot faster than if they were to create
the entire shopping experience from scratch.
You can get away without
using shopping cart software if you only have 1 or 2 items and/or services to
sell. However, if you have more than that, then you should seriously consider
using shopping cart software. The great thing about shopping cart software is
that most hosts will let you test the shopping cart software even before you
setup your account with them. So make sure you test out all the versions you can
find to figure out which one you like best.
How do I accept credit cards?
There are two different ways to accept credit cards. One is to
sign up for a service like PayPal where they actually accept the credit card and
then they send you the money. This might be okay for a smaller site but if you
are serious about doing Ecommerce then you should get a merchant
account.
A merchant account is very
similar to a bank account but it is only used to accept payments from credit
cards and online checks. The money is then transferred into your normal business
account. The time it takes to go from the merchant account to your business
account depends on a few variables, which will need to be discussed with the
company you setup your merchant account with.
What
is a virtual Terminal?
When a customer is in a store then
the merchant has access to the credit card and can process it though a
“terminal” right next to the cash register. In the online world that is not
possible though. In the online world we have “virtual terminals” which is where
users give all their personal information and credit card information. This
information is used to verify that this is really the owner of the card. If the
information the customer gave matches what the credit card company has on record
then the sale will go though.
Is PayPal a good way to accept credit cards?
Customers want to pay the way they want to pay
so being able to accept PayPal payments is a good idea but it should not be the
only way you accept payments. Having a number of different ways a customer can
make a payment will increase impulse sales and that will significantly increase
your bottom line.
What is real-time credit card processing?
Real-time credit card processing is when a user
enters their personal information along with their credit card information into
the order form and they get a response as to if their credit card was accepted
or rejected right away. Most merchant account and software combinations allow
for this but some do not so make sure if you want to do this that yours has the
ability.
The other option instead of
real-time credit card processing is manual credit card processing. What this
means is if a user enters an order at midnight then it would go into a queue,
which you would then have to check in the morning. If the order looked
legitimate you would then process the credit card. Doing the credit card
processing manually just adds another step in the process and the more steps
there are the more chances there are that a mistake will be made.
Should I look into accepting checks online?
Yes you should; you want to increase the number of
ways a person can pay because it will increase your sales. A good number of
merchant accounts do check verification online so ask your merchant account
provider.
Do I need SSL?
Yes you need SSL because it secures the information being sent
between the users computer and your web server. If this transaction is not
secured then personal information along with credit card information could fall
into the wrong hands.
Glossary of terms:
SSL
Stands for
“Secure Socket Layer” which is a web security protocol used to protect data
being sent between the web browser to the web server.
Merchant Account
An account setup so that a business can accept payments for products or
services with by credit card.
Shopping Cart
Shopping cart software is software that allows the owner of the web site to
easily add new items to their store without any programming. The software also
allows users of the site to easily add multiple items to their list of items
they want to buy and then checkout with all items at once.
Virtual Terminal
This is a web-based interface for processing credit cards.
Check Verification
This is the ability to accept checks online from a customer without actually
having to have the customer send you the check.
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