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.
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.
