Last update:

11/27/2004

See an example here (and then read below):

Shopping Cart Example

As you've probably surmised by now, we have attempted to make this website an educational tool. Now e-commerce can be a difficult theme for some people to understand. E-commerce is not for everyone, although to judge from the hype you'd think you have left something important behind if it is not a part of your site.

In truth, e-commerce can be expensive and a headache to maintain for a middle or a small sized business. Particularly if you approach this not knowing the cost in terms of time, finances and on-going maintenance. The set-up you choose can make a big difference. Are we trying to drive away business? Of course not, however we would much rather deal with a committed and willing client than with a client who needs to be committed! Particularly if the client feels misled. Thus is page is intended to raise some questions and let you know about some of the issues/decisions that you'll soon have to make.

Since e-commerce involves taking people's money in exchange for our goods or services, you will find that there are extensive security measures intended to protect both parties from fraud or to settle litigation in accordance to existing laws. These protections and guidelines demand the use of secure servers, gateway companies, merchant accounts, shopping carts (hosted or stand-alone), databases, an administrator for the e-commerce side, etc. If any of these terms we've mentioned so far sound foreign to you, you are not ready to make an informed decision on whether or not to dive into e-commerce. Naturally, all of the services mentioned above have fees associated with them.

ISP or Web hosting company:

Your ISP or website hosting company may impose a one-time set-up fee for secure server access and a unique or a shared certificate. Their servers may only work well with certain shopping cart technologies and not others (there may be a couple of hundred such companies and software choices based in the U.S. alone). Issues of compatibility are better addressed after initial discussions have started. Please allow your web designer to guide you in this area. 

[Return to the top]

Shopping carts:

There are many varieties of shopping carts and so you should choose carefully depending on the size of your business, ready availability of an administrator, your willingness to pay for someone else to maintain it, types of reports that you need, flexibility, growth forecast, etc. Generally speaking, you should use a solution that is not going to constrain the growth of your e-commerce site but yet not be so large that it requires an expert to run when all you need is for your teenager to log in from home once a week. 

There are different types of capabilities for shopping carts so, again, the guidance of a knowledgeable person is a must. Do you want a stand-alone cart, one that is hosted by a third party, hosted and maintained by a third party, is $20 or $50 or $100 a month too much for this support? How about the database (of products, prices, shipping weights, state taxes, USPS or UPS rates, country codes, currency exchange rates, etc.) Will it allow customers to download software, send them receipts, will it look like the rest of your site? What kind of programming skills are needed?

While on the subject of shopping carts, have you decided which Gateway company you want to use? Authorize.Net, Wells Fargo, Paypal (or others?) Will your shopping cart be compatible with the Gateway company of your choice?

Merchant Accounts:

Yep, you'll need one of these to conduct business in the internet. Even if all you want to do is business with e-bay or Paypal accounts, that is your merchant account. More professional and better maintained accounts will give you greater protection and more flexibility. We can set you up for all of the above. A merchant account can usually be opened at the same time as you choose the gateway company. 

[Return to the top]

Gateway Companies:

 A Gateway company acts as a conduit for your transaction between the internet and the credit card companies or banks. A shopping cart can submit information regarding a customer's ID, address, etc and the credit card or electronic check or Paypal account information to the Gateway which in turn forwards the information to the proper company, acting on your behalf. The Gateway can then issue a confirmation to both the merchant and the customer. That is simply one scenario, so it is important to know your choices before you settle on what you'd like to do. One more consideration is that the Gateway company will charge a monthly access fee and perhaps issue a monthly report on the activity of your merchant account.

Maintenance:

Yet another aspect to think about. If you choose to do this yourself (again this site is geared to the small or medium size business) you'll have to log on at least weekly to check various reports, add or remove products, change prices, highlight specials, update state taxes or shipping charges, etc. It is a chore that may mean a couple of hours or more depending on how much you are changing. Then again, if you choose to use someone else that person will have access to some of your financial data as well as that of your customers. In other words, you must feel that you can trust this individual. A background check would not be uncalled for. In fact, if they object to it you should move on.

The skills needed to do this job will really depend on the type of shopping cart that you use, whether it is hosted and/or maintained by someone else. If you choose to maintain your own shopping cart, we'd suggest you at least have it hosted by a company that can help you should you get in trouble.

To see an example of a shopping cart that is powerful enough to host a large business (think the size of Home Depot or a Wal-Mart) follow this link:

Customer Interface (this will not show you the reports, etc that are available to the Administrator, but will give you the customer experience):

Shopping Cart Example

Ecommerce on the Cheap:

If you are looking for a rock-bottom price consider this option: Off-line processing. That means that the customer's info is not sent directly to the credit card company but is accessible for you to input. It works like this: