 |
The Five Steps of E-Commerce
You set up a retail business, you advertise in your local newspaper, you get customers coming into your store, and you receive payment at the cash register. Create an online store, and...how do you get customers? How do you receive payment? The concept is the same, but the steps are different. Step 1: Create your website If you don't have web design skills, you can hire a qualified web designer to create a website for you, or you can use an online site builder. Think of it as hiring an architect and an interior decorator compared to setting up shop in an existing store. Using a web designer With the services of a web designer, you can have a unique website template and website customized to your specific needs. A web development team can also add features such as Flash headers or any programming needed for your site. If your company image is critical, a custom-designed site that conveys the right professional image is a must. Using an online site builder An online site builder is the budget way to go. With site builder programs such as Site Studio, your website can be online within minutes. A step-by-step menu allows you to choose a layout and colors, and then add a site description, a logo, and content. Your template may not be unique, but your content will. Step 2: Set up an e-commerce store Your customers will browse at your website, select some items, and then pay for them. When you set up an e-commerce shopping cart, you're providing a way for your customers to bring their purchases to the cash register. The program you choose will allow you to enter your products in the database and allow shoppers to choose products when they click on "Add to cart" or something similar. Two well-known shopping carts, osCommerce and Miva Merchant, both allow you to do these tasks: ? Add, edit, and delete product categories and other information
? Set tax rates and charge tax
? Receive payment via numerous online and offline payment processing methods
? Bill customers
? And much more osCommerce osCommerce is an open source program. Store owners can set up their online stores using osCommerce with no costs involved. For small stores, it has all the features you need for an online store. Drawbacks of osCommerce are that customization is not easy, and online stores using osCommerce tend to look similar. Miva Merchant While Miva Merchant carries a price tag of $995, some web hosts offer Miva Merchant licenses with their hosting plans. If you choose Miva as your shopping cart, be sure to host your site with a host that provides Miva support. Its learning curve is steep, and it requires the support of people who know how to work with it. With the price and the steep learning curve, you get more features, and you can customize the program more. Add-in modules can be bought that perform a number of tasks. In addition, a strong support community is available in the Miva user group forums. Step 3: Get a merchant account and payment gateway When customers arrive at the checkout counter, you need a way for their payments to be transferred from their credit card accounts to your bank account. The method you choose may depend on your sales volume. For high-volume sales, an e-commerce merchant account plus a payment gateway will meet your needs. A merchant account provider authorizes the transfer of payments to your account, and a payment gateway transfers the information from your customers' financial institutions to yours. Most merchant accounts have setup fees, transaction fees, monthly fees, and statement fees. The transaction fees are less than what you'd pay using a third party credit card processor such as PayPal. With all the fees, however, the overall cost is typically lower only if your monthly sales volume is over about a thousand dollars. For medium and low volume sales, PayQuake and PayPal are viable options. PayQuake PayQuake offers three merchant account types to choose from. Although they all require payment gateways, the two smaller plans have no monthly minimums. You can upgrade to a higher or lower plan if your needs change. PayPal PayPal has become a household name. Customers can send payment through PayPal via credit card or via money that they transfer into their PayPal account. While the fees per transaction are higher than with merchant accounts, there are no setup or monthly fees, and you don't need a payment gateway. You pay only when you have financial transactions. Step 4: Create a secure payment environment A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate enables you to receive credit card information securely from your customers. When a payment page is using SSL data to encrypt data, a small image of a lock appears at the bottom right of the screen. Some web hosts offer SSL certificates as part of their hosting packages. If your web host package doesn't include SSL certificates, you can purchase one separately. With PayPal, no SSL certificate is required. Step 5: Generate traffic Your products are on display in your newly designed store, your shopping cart is set up and ready to use, and you have everything in place to be able to receive payments securely. Now all you need are customers. This is where marketing comes in.
? Submit your site to search engines.
? Advertise your site.
? Keep your company name in front of your customers with a regular email newsletter.
? Add more content to your website to keep it fresh.
? Monitor your website traffic to see where it's coming from and how you can increase traffic for key content areas. For related information, see these pages:
? Do-It-Yourself Search Engine Optimization
http://articles.websitesource.com/seo_do_it_yourself_8_16_2005.shtml
? Promote your Domain
http://www.websitesource.com/domains/domain_promotion.shtml Lois S. is a Technical Executive Writer for http://www.websitesource.com and http://www.lowpricedomains.com with experience in the website hosting industry.
MORE RESOURCES:
|
PPDA and EC Gateway sign MoUDaily TimesThe 6th International Oil and Gas Asia is being organized by Ecommerce Gateway Pakistan in conjunction with ITIF Asia 2010, a UFI (Paris) approved Event ...and more » |
Google News
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Evaluating Vendors of Ecommerce Fulfillment Services
Once your website has secured an order, you have to fulfill it. While the fulfillment of digital goods is usually handled online, the delivery of physical goods is handled in a "brick-and-mortar" world.
E-marketplaces from Sellers Perspective
What is an E-marketplace anyway?E-marketplace is a business to business web based venue, where buyers and sellers meet online, generate business leads and conduct business transactions. The e-marketplace features are tailored in a manner so that a large numbers of buyers and suppliers can be serviced as a community.
The House Of Print.Com
Publishing has always been a difficult business to promote
successfully, which titles by which authors to promote,
which genre, will it be fiction or non-fiction? Will they
sell? Will they make money, both for the publisher and for
the author? So many questions which there is no definitive
answer and so the publisher takes a chance with his money
and his time and resources and decides on which books to
publish, promote and distribute to the bookshops. He may
only distribute to bookshops in his own country and if they
don't sell well enough, will not be seen by anyone else in
the world.
10 Second Internet Person, sound familiar?
Some people do not understand the Internet idea of online commerce, but then again some people do not understand themselves either. To fully understand Internet Commerce you really only need to monitor your "clicking habits" for a few days to see where you are going and what if anything you are buying.
How To Accept Credit Cards Online
Anyone with an online business, whether for auctions,
services, or virtually any type of product, has asked the
same question at some time during their quest to create
the ultimate online business - "How do I accept credit
cards?"Since over 90% of all transactions on the Internet
involve customers paying by credit card, accepting
plastic money rates a must for almost any business.The problem for most small online business owners
involves the high cost of setting up and maintaining a
credit card merchant account.
Creating Legal Framework for E-commerce Taxation; non-tax statutes
We have to make amendments in existing substantive and procedural laws to make it compactable with changing technological advancement of e-commerce?Amending Contract Act, 1872I recommend the amendments in section 3 and 4 of contract Act 1872 so as to make the compactable with section 13, 14 and 15, of the electronic transaction ordinance 2002 related with attribute of communication, acknowledgement of receipt and time and place of the communication between the parties. Either additional section should be added for acceptance device of 'electronic communication', or words be added in matter connected with electronic communication relevant section 13,14 and 15 be evoked while interpretation of section 3 and 4 of contract Act 1872.
The Origins of E-Commerce
What is the Internet?In order to provide a discussion on the Internet it is essential to provide a short description on what the Internet actually is.
Put in the most basic of terms the Internet can be described of as a massive collection of computers that are sited around the world and that are connected together in order to create a huge network that allows information to be collated and shared by millions of people.
12 Powerful Ways To Use Autoresponders That Will Take YOU To The Top
If only I had known that autoresponders are a necessity
to your online business when I first ventured online, I
would have saved a lot of time and money. You have to
automate in as many areas as possible and if used
responsibly, autoresponders can be your best friend.
Shopping Cart Abandonment - Discover 5 Things you can do to Lower Cart Abandonment
A common frustration among merchants who sell online via a shopping cart is the percentage of people who abandon their cart and leave the site never to return. This is known as the shopping cart abandonment rate.
A Beginners Guide To Setting Up A Successful Online Store
A beginner's guide to setting up a successful online store
Online selling is by no means a simple task. To sell products online not only requires making use of high end marketing strategies but also involves lots of planning.
Accepting Credit Cards For Your Online Business
Did you know that one of the best ways to increase sales for any online or offline business is to offer your customers the convenience of paying by credit card? As a merchant, you have several options available when it comes to becoming part of the credit card acceptance and processing chain. Here's a quick guide to get you thinking.
The Internet Challenge
In spite of the increasing attention on how the Internet is changing the business landscape, many small business owners are still struggling to understand its influence. But unlike the ceaseless blinking of the home VCR, the impact of the Internet cannot be ignored.
Intranet Portals - Collaboration through Team Rooms
Knowledge Management for beginnersKnowledge Management (KM) can be defined simply as the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets. Knowledge assets are often grouped into two categories:(1) Explicit Knowledge
Generally, everything and anything that can be documented, archived and codified.
Does Your Shopping Cart Have a Squeaky Wheel?
Have you ever gone grocery shopping just before a holiday? The aisles are packed with people pushing carts, shelves need restocked, all the checkout lanes have long lines..
Effective Management Of Your Customer Services
With a third party merchant account you will have a dedicated 24/7 support team to handle your credit card payment on your behalf as part of your package.
You will also need to provide your own support for issues relating directly to your product.
Chinas Online Shopping May Be Booming In The Next Few Years
Data from China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) shows that till June 2004 Chinese online user has reached 87 million, of which, 7.3% has experience of online shopping.
7 Must Have Scripts to Look for When Shopping for E-commerce Hosting
When shopping for e-commerce hosting there are a lot of things you need to keep and mind. When you know what to look for it is a lot easier to ensure you get exactly what you need and not leave any important information out.
Intranet Portals - Personalisation and Customisation
The key difference between an (old-fashioned) Intranet and a PortalWhat typifies a modern intranet portal is that there is a standardised user interface ("UI") with a built in system for user authentication. In other words, the user signs in to the portal rather than simply accessing it.
Prompt Delivery Rules - Internet Product Sales
The Internet is the fastest growing source of mail order sales. The explosive growth in the goods and services sold online has in the past taken many online sellers by surprise: demand has outpaced supply, depleting inventories and disappointing customers.
The Top 10 E-Commerce Ways to Follow up with Clients - Part 2
Did you know that 80% of all sales are made after the 5th contact?
The biggest mistake we make is not following up with our clients regularly. We not only lose the chance to offer other services and products, we lose the chance for satisfied clients' referrals.
|
