E-Commerce
(money making
101)
Making money from a web site is one of the major concerns for most
people who are establishing or considering the establishment of a web
site for a company or for their own home business. Whether the business
is large or small, the end result is often stated in terms of the bottom
line. For some, this means enhanced customer service or corporate
identification is paramount, but in most cases, sales of a product or
products directly to customers who visit the site is a prime
consideration. In either case, the common term for doing business on the
internet is e-commerce. In most cases, that involves sale and delivery
of a product or products along with the ability to process payment.
There are two basic things that EVERY site that is involved with
on-line transactions must have. One is a way to display products and
take orders, and the second is a way for the customer to pay for
them.
Shopping Carts or Product
Information pages
Simply put, either a shopping cart or simple product information
pages can both work. The sole question is how many products are involved
and whether it's cost effective to have a shopping cart display products
from a database rather than have static (individual) pages. If only a
few products are involved and/or they aren't subject to frequent
changes, static pages can work very well. If there are many items, or
the items change often, a shopping cart is well worth the expense.
Static pages display the products in set pages, and that means to
change a product, the page must be edited or updated by either someone
in-house or by an outside agency. The cost for this is usually by the
hour, so frequent price changes, and or product changes can be
expensive. Also, a secure order form that allows the customer to enter
order, payment, and shipping information needs to be set up for
static page sites. Payment can be handled through Paypal and "Buy
Buttons" for ease of payment if that's preferable.
Most shopping carts generate pages "on the fly" from a database of
products. That means that simply uploading an updated database will
change the product offerings quickly and easily. Many also provide user
interfaces to handle this if only a few product changes are
necessary. We use MIVA Merchant for many of our sites. This is a very complete
program that can offer several different options for shipping and
payment. It also can handle thousands of items with ease. A smaller
version that will handle up to a hundred items is also available. This
program can either be purchased or leased depending on which option the
client prefers. If a client prefers another shopping cart program, we
can install and configure those as well, or even have a custom program
written particularly for the client.
In all cases, the important thing is that the order is taken and the
information is sent to the merchant for processing quickly and
seamlessly. A shopping cart usually will take the payment information,
whether credit card or other means of payment and transmit it to the
merchant or through a payment gateway. On-line processing requires a
payment gateway or processor to handle payments. These are usually set
up through one of the companies devoted to that form of payment
processing, such as Verisign. If the client prefers, though, the
information can be sent directly to the client for processing
in-house.
Merchant Accounts and Payment
Processors
For most, the ease with which a customer or potential customer can
pay for the product or products offered is the difference between making
a sale or losing the customer to another vendor. Security of the
transaction, the discount rate charged by the commerce server involved,
and ease of getting started are prime considerations for new and home
businesses. Large and established merchants usually already have
merchant accounts, but many, if not most, new business ventures find the
process daunting. There are two parts to taking payments on-line, a
payment processor and a merchant account.
A payment processor, such as Verisign, provides instant processing of
credit card payments on-line. They charge a handling fee for each
transaction which can vary widely depending on how long the merchant has
been in business and the type(s) of products being sold. Payment
processors can take a credit card on-line, approve it, and deposit the
payment in the merchant account.
A merchant account is simply an account with a bank that allows the
merchant to process credit card payments. Often, a person who is just
starting out can get a merchant account through their bank. This is
preferable if it's available since the bank knows the
individual. If their bank does not handle these, there are several
available on-line. In all cases, there is a handling fee or discount
rate that will be charged. Payment processors can also assist in
setting up a merchant account. If the merchant takes the credit card
information, that information simply needs to be given to the bank
providing the merchant account.
Other ways of taking payment on-line include services like Paypal,
which can handle transfer of funds from one person to another. These can
be for goods, services, or just about anything else. The only
requirement is that both parties have to have an account. Paypal offers
accounts for individuals and businesses.
For more information on how we can help you set up merchant accounts,
shopping carts, or other e-commerce solutions, contact:
info@celticgraphics.com
