Disk Space and Transfer

Whether it is a blog, community or e-commerce site, disk space and bandwidth are the core elements of any hosting solution.  It is these two resources that will ultimately determine what size package you need.  Though making this determination can be difficult, it should help to know that most e-commerce sites require a little more than others.  This is because you have to factor in product images, shopping cart applications and hopefully, frequent customers.  Regardless of how much disk space and bandwidth you start out with, make sure you choose a service that has the future in mind with a path to easy upgrades.

Payment Options

The multitude of payment options is enough to keep you up for nights but this is a bridge that must be crossed.  Fortunately, the preferred method of payment online is by credit card and there are several ways to meet this need.  Services such as PayPal make a nice option for small start up stores that don’t have a need to sell a large number of products.  The service is free, very secure and virtually anyone can get an account.  The downside is the hefty transaction fees attached to every sale you make.  At the end of the month, you might notice that these fees are taking a sizable chunk out of your bottom line.  An alternative would be a merchant account as it shows more credibility and has considerably lower transaction fees.  The problem here is a strenuous review process in which only a select few qualify.  It would be wise to compare a few carts so you can make an informed decision on which method works best.

Shopping Carts

After getting your payment options together, you must then figure out how those transactions will be facilitated.  The answer here is an aptly named piece of software known as a shopping cart.  These days, hosting providers offer a wide variety of shopping carts to choose from, many of which come free in e-commerce hosting packages.  While the software is a matter of preference, it is best to choose one that has your customers’ best interests in mind.  The shopping cart should be simple for you to set up and easy for your customers to use. You can learn more about what’s available by reading shopping cart reviews as they generally give you a good idea of what to expect.

Conclusion

There is so much that goes into e-commerce hosting and most of it has to do with your personal requirements.  Aside from the factors mentioned here, you will need a special set of management tools, security features and an overall reliable service.  These are easily obtainable when purchasing service from a reputable provider.

Related posts:

• April 8, 2009 – Open-source Shopping Cart Options
• July 9, 2009 – Introducing the nopCommerce Shopping Cart
• May 6, 2009 – What You Should Know About Merchant Accounts
• January 12, 2009 – The Essentials of E-commerce
• November 21, 2011 – The WePay Surge: Why They May Dethrone PayPal
• October 2, 2011 – How Much RAM / Bandwidth / Disk Space Do I Really Need?
• September 1, 2011 – Budget Web Hosting: Is It Worth the Buck?
• June 24, 2011 – Preventing e-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment
• January 13, 2011 – Web Hosting Guide
• September 28, 2010 – Ecommerce Site Building Checklist

Why a Merchant Account?

A merchant account is the easiest way to accept both credit and debit card payments on your website.  Sure, you could sign up for a free PayPal account, but there are disadvantages that could hinder your success.  It may not be fair but some customers feel like PayPal isn’t credible enough and they will look down on your inability to process payments like other larger corporations.  There are other options you can take but most charge up to 10% of the transaction along with other fees that cut into your profits.  These factors make the merchant account the best option.

Considering the level of importance, you might think that obtaining a merchant account is a smooth and painless process.  Simply find a provider, sign up for an account and get an approval in a matter of days, right?  Unfortunately, the process isn’t quite that seamless for most applicants.  In fact, getting a merchant account can prove to be lengthy, complex process, especially for the new or small business owner enduring the process for the first time.   In order to ensure as few complications as possible, one should no one to expect when applying for an account.

How Long Does it Take?

Obtaining a merchant account can actually take anywhere from a few days to a couple of months, with the latter mainly applying to a situation where mistakes were made.  It is these mistakes that lead to delays that could end up costing you in sales, forcing you to wait it out when customers are reading to buy now.  This is why you need to initiate the process as soon as possible.  Don’t just assume that because someone you know got approved in a matter of days that the same will hold true for you.  When compared to the fast paced internet world, some banks are incredibly slow at processing merchant account applications.  The sooner you get on it, the sooner you can get rolling with your plans.

Tricky Numbers and Fine Print

Merchant account providers have been known to introduce complex fees that don’t necessarily match up with the offers from other banks.  More unscrupulous ones will even throw in a bit of trickery that hike up the fees when you least expect.  Others might come at you with ridiculous fees up-front, suggest that you wait an ungodly amount of time to receive your money and the list goes on.  To avoid a rude awakening, you need to make yourself familiar with the numbers and go over all the fine print before turning in your application.  Rates aren’t all difficult to understand so the most important thing is finding out how long you have to wait for your money.  As an online business owner, consistent cash flow is the key to longevity.

In Closing

Going through the merchant account process can be a real nightmare the first time.  However, it doesn’t have to be.  As with most services, the best advice is to research providers, compare services and most importantly, ask questions and gather all the information you can.  If not, you may never get a merchant account or at best, end up with a terrible service.

Related posts:

• May 20, 2009 – Factors to Consider for E-commerce Hosting
• April 8, 2009 – Open-source Shopping Cart Options
• January 22, 2010 – Tips for Increasing Profits in E-commerce
• January 7, 2010 – Establish Credibility and Trust with Private SSL
• October 29, 2009 – Cashing in on the E-commerce Phenomenon
• July 9, 2009 – Introducing the nopCommerce Shopping Cart
• January 12, 2009 – The Essentials of E-commerce
• November 21, 2011 – The WePay Surge: Why They May Dethrone PayPal
• October 14, 2011 – How the Kindle Fire is a Catch-all Reflection of Current Web Trends
• September 25, 2011 – Linux and E-Commerce: The Top 5 Best Hosts for Two Long-term Trends

osCommerce

As open-source software, the osCommerce shopping cart is free to use.  The program is integrated with a number of features that can easily be enabled and configured.  The osCommerce shopping cart gives you the ability to add multiple items to your store, organize them in categories, give out discounts, run special promotions and much more.  It also offers built-in shipping and tax capabilities to ensure accuracy.  With this shopping cart, you can set prices in different currencies and accept payment through methods such as credit cards, Payal and e-checks.  osCommerce is extremely popular and currently powers a large number of stores on the web.

CREloaded

The CREloaded shopping cart is a fork built on the source code of osCommerce.  This feature-rich platform caters to beginners and professionals alike, offering the ability to process credit card payments via PayPal or Authorize.net.  You can list a large number of products, set discounts and shipping costs.  CREloaded’s greatest attribute is the wide variety of themes that allow you to customize the look of your storefront.  This software is tailored to help you create a store that fully brands your identity and enhances the customer’s shopping experience.

Zen Cart

Zen Cart is another open-source shopping cart freely distributed under the GNU General Public License.  This software was designed with simplicity in mind but offers some very powerful features.  Zen Cart lets you set up an unlimited amount of products and organize them in numerous categories.  The program supports multiple payment options and different currencies as well as top-notch security mechanisms such as SSL certificates.  The built-in control panel allows you to mange products and all related items from a centralized area.

Magento

Magento is one of the latest open-source shopping cart applications.  This e-commerce platform offers a lot exclusive features geared towards managing customer relations and marketing your store.  The user-friendly interface allows you to control virtually every aspect of the store from listing and organizing products to setting up browser options and special promotions.   This shopping cart software sets itself a part from the competition with built-in analytics, reporting and promotion tools.  Magento is completely scalable and backed by an extensive support team.  Though cost effective in comparison to premium shopping carts, Magento isn’t free like the other software mentioned in this article.

Conclusion

These are just a few of several highly functional open-source shopping carts.  Like most open-source technologies, these programs can be easily incorporated into your existing e-commerce site.

Related posts:

• May 20, 2009 – Factors to Consider for E-commerce Hosting
• January 12, 2009 – The Essentials of E-commerce
• September 25, 2011 – Linux and E-Commerce: The Top 5 Best Hosts for Two Long-term Trends
• June 24, 2011 – Preventing e-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment
• June 13, 2011 – An Expansion of eCommerce Web Hosting in the United Kingdom
• April 6, 2011 – Using Free Shopping Carts for Your E-Commerce Website
• September 28, 2010 – Ecommerce Site Building Checklist
• March 25, 2010 – Setting Up an eCommerce Website With Ease
• January 22, 2010 – Tips for Increasing Profits in E-commerce
• January 14, 2010 – Three Steps to Choose an Ecommerce Hosting Plan

Building the Site

Obviously, creating your website is the first essential step.  There are several tools available to help with this process from simple web building programs to dynamic programming languages.  While a piece of cake for the experienced webmaster, this could present a huge challenge for someone who lacks web design skills.  In this case, you should strongly consider hiring a qualified designer to build your site.  A costly investment?  Perhaps, but look at it from this perspective – it will cost far less than paying the architecture and construction company to build the facility for a traditional storefront.

Collecting Payments

Whether you’re dealing in goods or services, you need a way for customers to select items and take them to checkout.  To accomplish this your e-commerce site will need a shopping cart.  A quality program will allow you to add different products and categories, add taxes and shipping options, accept payment in various methods and more.  When it comes to shopping carts you generally have to options: you can purchase a commercial product or go with an open-source solution.

Open-source shopping carts like osCommerce are widely available and may be offered at no additional cost with your web hosting package.  Such a program will provide all the features you need to set up an online storefront.  The disadvantage of open-source shopping cart is that some are not easy to customize and don’t cater to inexperienced users.  Additionally, stores created with open-source software tend to look very similar to one another.

Commercial solutions are generally easier to customize and offer more features.  This type of shopping cart will provide the uniqueness that allows you to standout from all the other store owners on the web.  The downside here is that a program like Miva Merchant carries a high-end price tag that ranges from hundreds to thousands of dollars.  You also need to make sure that your web host supports the software so it can be easily incorporated into your e-commerce platform.

Selecting a Payment Gateway

In addition to the shopping cart, you will require a payment gateway that enables credit card payments to be transferred to your banking account.  To accomplish this task you can either sign up for a merchant account or use a third-party payment processor.  Merchant accounts have setup fees, transaction fees and strict qualifications.  However, the transaction fees are lower than using a service such as PayPal.  In either instance, the overall cost are typically less when your monthly sales are over $1,000.  Keep in mind that you will also need to secure the payment environment and protect your online transactions.  The best way to ensure this security is with an encryption protocol known as SSL.  You may have to purchase a certificate with a merchant account while PayPal takes care of securing your transactions.

Bringing in Customers

After creating the site and setting up the store, it’s time to generate some traffic and sell your items.  There are many ways to go about this including advertising, getting your visitors to sign up for a newsletter, pay-per-click campaigns and specially crafted landing pages.  Succeeding with e-commere is no easy task, but when laying a solid foundation, you can give yourself a much better chance of making continuous sales.

Related posts:

• April 8, 2009 – Open-source Shopping Cart Options
• January 28, 2009 – Do You Need a Merchant Account?
• December 29, 2009 – Five Steps to Owning a Thriving E-business
• December 2, 2009 – WebNet Hosting offers Holiday Bargains for New E-commerce Customers
• November 18, 2009 – How Complete is Your E-commerce Solution?
• October 21, 2009 – Four Hot E-commerce Tips that Payoff
• July 15, 2009 – How to Install osCommerce and Activate SSL Through cPanel
• July 9, 2009 – Introducing the nopCommerce Shopping Cart
• May 20, 2009 – Factors to Consider for E-commerce Hosting
• October 30, 2008 – What You Need in E-commerce Hosting