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 Primary Steps in E-Commerce
Selling your products on the Internet
Potential customers must to be able to find your Web site on the
Internet. The site must grasp their attention and keep it. It must be fast
loading, attractive, visitor-friendly and easy to use. Define your product
with photos and descriptions and make purchasing as simple and efficient
as possible. What is the product? Why should I buy it? How much does it
cost? How do I buy it? Shipping costs should be stated up-front. Clearly
explain why one should buy your product and then provide a call to action:
Buy Now! Call today! 800 numbers, free offers, free shipping, and
guarantees are enticements to get the customer to buy from you rather than
someone else.
Most people use their Web sites as brochures to advertise their products
or services. Along with the product display, they post contact
information. Customers can call or write for more information or for
orders.
A merchant can add an order blank that customers can print and then
mail or fax along with payment information. The next logical step, so that
a customer does not have to make a phone call or send a letter, is to
facilitate orders directly through the Web site.
A very important point to remember is that when you or your customer
transmits personal information, especially credit card information, it
needs to be transmitted on a secure connection. That means that for
successful e-commerce you must use a secure Web server that supports one
of the major security protocols that encrypt or code messages to protect
them against third party tampering. That means that the information is
only readable (decrypted) at the destination. Additional hosting costs are
involved for using a secure server.
Here are three different ways
to do this.
1. Buy or rent your own secure server, buy software for shopping
card and credit card processing, do your own programming, have a merchant
account with your financial institution for the credit cards and then ship
the consumer goods. That is fine, if you have the budget and the technical
know-how for the project. Large companies with large inventories, sales,
and staff need to use this method for efficiency.
2. Use a merchant payment gateway account service.
A bank or other financial institution maintains the secure server and
shopping cart software. You rent space by the month for using their
equipment and software. Price per month is often dependent on the number
of items you list. Usually someone from your organization enters your
items in their “back office” catalog set up. The company generates a
parcel of code for each item and that code has to be placed in your Web
site, generating “buy item” buttons that when clicked on take the buyer
from the body of the original Web site to the shopping cart and payment
gateway that resides on the financial company’s secure server. There are
procedures involved for adding shipping and handling costs. When the sale
is completed, the financial company then notifies the seller that an order
has been placed and the seller is responsible for shipping the
merchandise. Costs for this start at $30-$70 per month plus credit card
fees. A merchant needs to be careful to choose a reputable financial firm.
The provider’s servers should be able to handle the volume of traffic that
you expect. A slow server with downtime will just infuriate your customers
causing them not to complete a purchase. Good technical support is also
important.
3. Use PayPal.
PayPal acts as an intermediary and uses the existing bank and credit card
systems to help individuals and small businesses pay each other. Since its
early years, PayPal is often used to purchase auction items, and was
acquired by eBay in 2002. It has become a recognized and reputable payment
gateway.
PayPal has no monthly service fees. When the payment service is used, a
fee is charged as a percentage of the total sale. No merchant account is
needed for credit cards. For each item that you sell, PayPal generates a
snippet of code that must be placed in your Web site to generate a “buy”
button. Shopping cart features are also available.
All these methods require programming savvy.
The average person who
does not maintain their own Web site will need to hire a professional
to do the job. Be careful to choose one who understands your industry and
who can do the work in a timely fashion. E-commerce is a big, but
important step for your successful Web site. |
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