Oftentimes the reason this is the case is that whoever is #1 is there for a reason.  Google offers the most extensive search results; Apache offers the most stable web hosting package, and so forth.  Sometimes, though, #1 doesn’t try harder.  In those cases, their top ranking is based on little more than momentum, meaning that it’s only a matter of time before a competitor sweeps in, finding that company’s weak spots, and seizes the day.

PayPal: a decadent king

PayPal has been ripe for this seizing for a long time.  It is still easily the #1 payment processor online.  For years, though, this has been a title rather grudgingly awarded.  The complaints about the company have been piling up.  Most of these have centered around customer service, which branch out into various subcategories, such as bad decision making on fraud determination and poor customer communication.

These complaints were highlighted by an incident in which PayPal froze the account of the Flux Foundation.  The group was planning an historic exhibit at Burning Man, and though PayPal responded to the negative publicity by quickly granting them an exception, the story shined an embarrassing light on the company’s approach to their customer base.

It was from a far smaller incident, though, that a competitor to their services was birthed.  In 2008, Rich Aberman, now 25, was attempting to raise money for his brother’s bachelor party.  The hassle of trying to get the $4,200 from 14 different people presented the kind of headache that, in the right kind of mind, results in that very special realization otherwise known as, “There has to be a better way”.  While PayPal provided, and still does, some small types of group fundraising, it didn’t have a lot of the functionality for this kind of purpose that he required.

WePay steps into the ring

Aberman soon found investors who agreed with both the general complaints about PayPal and the belief regarding that “better way”.  They received $17,000 in seed money.  That was 2008.  Today, their investment capital has hit the 8-figure mark.  That’s an amazing increase.  What’s even more amazing is the list of people that this comes from, a list which includes PayPal founder Max Levchin.  Big names are seeing reasons to bet big on WePay.

It’s not just venture capital that’s increasing.  WePay’s revenue, transaction stream, and employee count are all shooting up with the kind of geometric growth that gets a company’s CEO’s grinning picture on the front page of financial magazines.  So what is it that makes this company so hot?

The selling points

There are several things that WePay is doing right that could mean PayPal has a serious challenger to contend with here.  Some of them are as follows:

• Customer service: Recognizing that this is one of PayPal’s primary weak points, WePay has been putting serious effort into making sure that their customers don’t feel brushed off.  24/7 support by phone, chat or email is available.  One subtle sign that they take this seriously is that tech agents and customer service agents are located next to each other.  Many in the tech community have experienced the phenomenon wherein a customer service agent wants to communicate an idea to the tech team, and feels like it has to cross a guarded moat to do so.

• WePay Stores: If there’s any idea left in E-Commerce that might make someone smack themselves in the head for not thinking of it first, this could be it.  WePay Stores is an E-Commerce solution that handles both the setting up of the storefront and the processing of payments.  It’s been so many years that this has been split between different companies that the whole of the internet seems to just have assumed that this must always be the case.

• Having fun: Let’s recognize that this is something that many startups have in the early years, only to lose it in the grumpiness of bloated corporate middle age.  We’re interested in the now, though, and right now… well, how can you not at least chuckle a little bit at a company that trolls it’s competitor’s conference with a 600 pound block of ice embedded with money as a symbol of the accounts PayPal has wrongly “frozen”?

Not there yet

These advantages notwithstanding, it’s not all smooth sailing for WePay just yet.  While so far they are appealing to a lot of the things that PayPal has dropped the ball on, their Goliath still has upwards of 80 million customers to call on.  The daily worry over at WePay is that PayPal will decide to alter their services one day and offer the same group payment architecture that WePay is focused on.

There is also the economic consideration that WePay’s services come at a price.  Their 3.5% transaction fee is high for the industry.  Scanning the comments that we saw in some of the articles about this company, there are still a lot of customers who are willing to deal with PayPal’s corporate deficiencies if it means saving a few bucks.  This is a hard line to walk, and with so much of WePay’s revenue coming from investments, one would not be irrational for being concerned that these guys are being a little too loose in rolling the dice.

As good a chance as any

Then again, when facing off against a behemoth like PayPal, does one have the luxury to not take any chances?  While things are riding hard and fast over at WePay headquarters, so far there doesn’t seem any sign that it’s moving faster than they are capable of handling.  PayPal is vulnerable, and Aberman and co-founder Bill Clerico just may have struck at the right time in the right way.  We can’t predict the future, but we can say that so far from what we’ve seen, it’s possible that we could be in the beginning phases of the passing of a great torch in the world of online payments.

Related posts:

• September 28, 2010 – Ecommerce Site Building Checklist
• July 9, 2009 – Introducing the nopCommerce Shopping Cart
• May 20, 2009 – Factors to Consider for E-commerce Hosting
• April 8, 2009 – Open-source Shopping Cart Options
• October 5, 2011 – What to Look for in Your Shopping Cart Software
• September 1, 2011 – Budget Web Hosting: Is It Worth the Buck?
• June 24, 2011 – Preventing e-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment
• June 20, 2011 – eCommerce Shop for Specialized Web Hosting
• June 13, 2011 – An Expansion of eCommerce Web Hosting in the United Kingdom
• May 12, 2011 – Essential Shopping Cart Attributes

Eliminate the basics

Let’s first go through a list of what features you should always expect.  It should, for starters, place no limits on the amount of products and categories you can create: imagine getting 90% of the way through entering in your information and discovering that you can’t go any further.  It also should be as easy to use and as cheap to purchase as possible: for the former, check web reviews, as this is naturally a thing you can’t know until you try it.

Now the list

Even this is just a long list, so we’ll try to restrict it to ones that are important but that the software package you are looking for may or may not include.

• Customer product feedback – This is critical these days.  Ecommerce is becoming more and more social, and one of the main elements that customers use to decide on their purchases is what others are saying.  Most packages offer this, but not all.  Check also to see if it supports product ratings and polls.
• Immediate shipping calculations – Only about half the packages on the market include this feature, and not all of them give you shipping amounts via different methods.  Shipping rates for the United States Postal Service are common to find.  For Australian and Canadian rates you’ll have to look harder.  If you want Federal Express it’s even harder, and it’s rare to find the package that will give you shipping rates for DHL.
• Instant search – This is where you type something into a search bar and it makes suggestions before you even finish.  It’s a wonderful little feature that we’ve already gotten used to, but only about half of the products we surveyed currently include it.
• Social bookmarking – Reference the above statement about the importance of ecommerce as a social event.  The line between networking sites and shopping is so frayed as to almost not exist anymore.  You’ll want this feature for now, and you’ll want it even more in the future.
• Returns – There’s one you might not think of, but is obvious once you hear it.  Just try to picture working with a sales system that’s electronic and a returns system done on paper.  This is another feature that you’re only about 50-50 likely to get.
• Larger images – Most of the available packages out there seem to have this, but that makes it all the more important to notice if yours doesn’t.  This is when you click on a product image to bring a separate window up with a larger, more detailed picture.

Even among basics features there are still a lot more things to look for, such as site membership, coupon support, and site maps.  As you are looking through each package, go through the full list of what they offer.  You’d be surprised what good features exist that you may not have thought of, and what necessary features exist some products didn’t.

Related posts:

• June 24, 2011 – Preventing e-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment
• June 13, 2011 – An Expansion of eCommerce Web Hosting in the United Kingdom
• May 12, 2011 – Essential Shopping Cart Attributes
• April 6, 2011 – Using Free Shopping Carts for Your E-Commerce Website
• January 5, 2011 – Why Hosting Companies are No Longer Offering eCommerce Hosting Plans
• October 30, 2010 – Review of Volusion – Professional eCommerce Shopping Cart Solution
• October 26, 2010 – Effective E-Commerce Ideas
• September 28, 2010 – Ecommerce Site Building Checklist
• April 1, 2010 – Selecting an Ecommerce Shopping Cart – What to Look For
• March 25, 2010 – Setting Up an eCommerce Website With Ease

But then again, no matter how cheap it is, you’re still shelling out moolah, and there’s no money tree growing anywhere in the world. You must then want to know if you’re going to make the most out of every penny with budget web hosting.

It may be worth it because

• You can already run your website for, well, a few bucks.

Sure, business owners can stick with generic domains such as wordpress.com, posterous.com, or blogspot.com. They can also choose to build a fan page in Facebook or sell their wares in Multiply and eBay, but if they want to build credibility and are planning to be doing online marketing forever, they have to learn how to invest.
A domain is often viewed by search engines, which Internet users usually utilize to look for information as well as products and services, as a testament of your commitment, professionalism, relevance, and even to your legitimacy. That’s why domain-hosted sites rank better, especially in Google, than public-hosted ones.

• It’s so easy to set up.

One of the most common attributes of budget hosting options is they’re so convenient to set up. This is because they normally market them to first-time small and home-based business owners. A lot of them are actually very apprehensive to wet their feet into any more complicated than a blog, which is, of course, a full-blown website.
But how easy is easy? It’s not uncommon to across a budget web host you can set up in less than 30 minutes—that fast!

• You don’t end up spending more than you should.

Budget hosting packages have very limited bandwidth. Though it’s way smaller than those offered by these options’ relatives, you really don’t need much when you’re starting out. You cannot consume a lot of storage or even bandwidth during the early days of your website, unless you’re going to pepper the pages with plenty of photos and videos. (This is not highly recommended, though, as these types of files can definitely slow down the loading times of your web pages.)

• You aren’t really short changed with other services and features.

Unless you’ve chosen your web hosting company so badly, you don’t end up getting crappy customer service just because you decide to go for a budget web host. You may even find many of them offering free domain, server monitoring, multiple domain hosting, SSL technology, and even a money-back guarantee up to 3 months.

• They can provide scalability.

This simply means you can expand your website with great ease. You’ll discover that the more you spend time online and sell your products and services, the more your website grows. You add a few more pages, a number of videos and audio, a Contact Us page and other content-specific web pages, as well as a shopping cart.
Not all budget hosting packages have a lot of room for hundreds to thousands of pages, but a number allow you to host several domains, including international ones.
But it’s not the most perfect setup either . . .

• You can expect to share your bandwidth with not just one but several other websites.

If you’re opting for budget web hosting, then you should be very much aware that you’re not going to have any dedicated server. You’ll share one with several others. That would have been fine—if these sites don’t eat up majority of the space and bandwidth. Worse, these may be sites that gain a lot of traffic, which may mean plenty of downtimes for you.

• You may be dealing with an incompetent reseller.

A common reason why there are so many web hosting packages online is the growth of resellers in the industry. In order to generate more income and expand their market, big-time hosting firms offer some of their web hosting products to resellers, who, in turn, sell them to small or home-based business owners. Resellers do manage their clients’ accounts, but they don’t own the equipment themselves.
It becomes a huge hassle and headache for you once these pieces of equipment start to bog down. There are not a lot of things they can do for you, except perhaps to offer you advice once the fix has already been done. But that’s not the worse. The worst thing is your reseller doesn’t do anything at all on your behalf. They don’t pressure the main web hosting company or they don’t inform you of the real problems. They may not even answer your call.

• Their scalability has limits.

Again, they’re budget web hosting packages. As mentioned, thousands of web pages may be close to impossible since you’ll be sharing your space to several other website owners, who may also have a gazillion pages.
But how do you make it worth the buck?
We do believe that a budget web hosting package is an excellent investment, mainly for small and home-based business owners. Their needs are pretty basic, so there’s no need to spend $10 for almost the same features.
But that doesn’t mean all budget web hosting companies are great. They are not created equal. Some of them should be out of business ASAP. So you don’t end up wasting your money, choose those that

• Are reliable

Their uptimes are around 97 to 99 percent. Otherwise, you’re bound to lose a lot of potential clients or customers for your business. It’s not enough they offer contact details. They should be accessible.

• Secure

The last thing you want to happen is for someone to steal all your website information and content, including your customers’.

• Are well reviewed

You can visit Geeks best Budget Hosting page to find out which budget hosting options come highly recommended by users.

Related posts:

• August 16, 2010 – Shared Hosting – How Much Can You Afford to Share?
• September 7, 2011 – Pros and Cons of Shared Hosting
• May 12, 2011 – Essential Shopping Cart Attributes
• January 16, 2011 – Web Hosting and its Types
• January 13, 2011 – A Sundry of Options for Web Hosting
• June 8, 2010 – Rules for Choosing a Great Domain Name
• May 6, 2010 – Managed Web Hosting For Novice Users
• April 30, 2010 – Domain Names and Search Engine Optimization
• April 15, 2010 – Domain Name Selection – A Business Changing Decision
• January 28, 2010 – The Power of Branding: What’s in a Name?

Many online merchants assume that once a potential customer drops an item in a shopping cart that it’s basically a done deal and calculate it prematurely as a finalized transaction.  Recent stats among large online retailers, however, reflect a shopping cart abandonment rate of over 70%.   Not only are these stats troubling to large online ventures, but small online endeavors also feel the financial wrath of shopping cart abandonment issues.

The Indecisive Shopper

Although shopping cart abandonment is among one of the largest marketing hurdles for online retailers to overcome, there are proactive steps online merchants can take to make the checkout process more user-friendly.   Of course there are some influences that are simply beyond their control such as the inevitable event of potential customers changing his or her mind before completing the online transaction.  Unfortunately, this is a factor that is entirely dependent on the customer’s needs as well as a strong marketing strategy to sell a product or service.

Real Time, Real Support

Perhaps the greatest way to prevent shopping cart abandonment is by offering real time customer service support.  Often many customers encounter technical difficulties during the online transaction process.  It’s not only frustrating for customers, but also to online merchants facing the potential of a missed opportunity.  Reliable and efficient customer support is an effective solution to walk customers through the online purchasing transaction should issues arise.  Ideally, live chat and toll-free phone support are the best options to provide immediate assistance to answer questions in real time during the actual transaction.

No Registration Required

As an online merchant, it’s imperative to cater to customers to allow them a quick and easy transaction without first having to register with a website or signup for a newsletter.  While it’s a great way to track visitors and sale leads, for many potential customers it’s an automatic turn-off as they may not have the desire or time required to fill out registration information.  Instead, offer customers the option to make an online transaction as a guest.  Once the customer has completed the information in the purchase transaction, merchants can easily obtain any required details.  Remember time is still an ageless commodity.

Details in the Fine Print

It’s also important to provide visitors with any necessary information clearly visible on the website before customers proceed to check out with their purchase to avoid shopping cart abandonment.   Information such as money back guarantees, exchange and refund policies, shipping and handling fees, privacy policies, applicable state taxes, accepted payment methods and customer support contact information.  By providing the above information posted in conspicuous sections of a website allows customers to make a more informed buying decision before finalizing the transaction.

Pointing the Way

Finally, as a last attempt to prevent shopping cart abandonment, progress indicators that guide customers through the purchase process from adding items to the shopping cart to the final checkout are helpful.   Online merchants should strategically place progress indicators on the top center of checkout pages.  Indicators should be numbered in the order of purchase sequence and highlighted as each step is completed.  Also, customers appreciate the option of being able to return to the previous page without being required to re-enter information.   As a general rule, the entire checkout process shouldn’t exceed three steps to complete the transaction.

Related posts:

• March 25, 2010 – Setting Up an eCommerce Website With Ease
• January 14, 2010 – Three Steps to Choose an Ecommerce Hosting Plan
• April 8, 2009 – Open-source Shopping Cart Options
• February 23, 2009 – Popular Shopping Cart Scripts
• October 30, 2008 – What You Need in E-commerce Hosting
• October 5, 2011 – What to Look for in Your Shopping Cart Software
• June 13, 2011 – An Expansion of eCommerce Web Hosting in the United Kingdom
• May 12, 2011 – Essential Shopping Cart Attributes
• April 6, 2011 – Using Free Shopping Carts for Your E-Commerce Website
• January 16, 2011 – Web Hosting in Today’s World

Partnering with Magento

The press release indicated that Nexcess is hosting provider that specializes in eCommerce hosting. As a result, the company has become an official partner of Magento, an online shopping cart software platform. Unfortunately this addition to its Magento product line is only available to customers in the U.K. For those in other regions, a new set of low-end hosting options featuring the Magento platform will be available.

The SIP-100 and SIP-200 Hosting Packages

Nexcess’ SIP-100 and SIP-200 Magento hosting packages were previously exclusive to United States-based customers. These lines were developed for small Magento stores that do not have the same requirements as large enterprise users. SIP or Secured Isolated Platform is a customizable hosting environment for all eCommerce websites using Magento. All hosting packages are within a PCI compliant environment.

Unfortunately, the SIP-100 and SIP-200 hosting plans do not include CDN access. The cost is $47.95 and $129.95 per month, respectively. All packages are currently powered by Nexcess servers that are located in a Surrey, United Kingdom data center.

Three High-end Magento Hosting Packages

In addition to the lower-end packages, Nexcess is offering three high-end plans that include two dedicated server offerings for those that require more resources. Luckily all plans are cost-effective and customized for eCommerce startup businesses in the United Kingdom. As a result of the recent expansion from the United States, the company has witnessed a positive response. However, one major concern from the European customer base was the lack of service offerings in the United Kingdom.

Data Center Locations

The United States data center location is in Dearborn, Michigan. The next data center will be located in Southfield, Michigan which is planned to open in late 2011. The information technology corporate office is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Magento is a popular shopping cart and eCommerce solution that is growing amongst online retailers. By only offering eCommerce web hosting plans, Nexcess has found a niche with few competitors. The recent expansion to the United Kingdom should make them an industry-leader in the European marketplace.

Related posts:

• April 8, 2009 – Open-source Shopping Cart Options
• October 5, 2011 – What to Look for in Your Shopping Cart Software
• June 24, 2011 – Preventing e-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment
• May 12, 2011 – Essential Shopping Cart Attributes
• April 8, 2011 – Site Building Applications – A Central Component of eCommerce Hosting
• April 6, 2011 – Using Free Shopping Carts for Your E-Commerce Website
• January 14, 2011 – Free Ecommerce Solutions
• January 5, 2011 – Why Hosting Companies are No Longer Offering eCommerce Hosting Plans
• October 30, 2010 – Review of Volusion – Professional eCommerce Shopping Cart Solution
• October 26, 2010 – Effective E-Commerce Ideas

Ability to Up-sell

Anyone who has had even a small amount of experience in the retail or food service industry will already understand the importance of up-selling. When you up-sell you are offering customers something more than what they came for by enticing them to do so. For instance, if a customer comes to your website to purchase a gaming system then a good up-sell would be additional games or optional accessories. A comprehensive shopping cart will include a feature which allows the web master to group different products by category into an easy to use form. This will enable customers to simply check a box for upgrades or additional items. When the customer has reaches the check out point then everything the customer has chosen will be totaled up neatly and payment will be quick and easy. This feature is vital to providing your customers with the service they need but will also help to increase your sales.

Customer Feedback and Reviews

Generally speaking, people are more apt to purchase a product if they are able to read and look over user reviews from your past customers. It is important to remember that above all “word of mouth” is still your best selling tool, even with an online business. If customers can become confident that others have found your product and services satisfactory then they will feel more at ease shopping with you. This is why having a shopping cart feature that allows users; not only to read previous reviews but to leave their own is so important. In addition, user reviews are often indexed giving your site an even higher probability of receiving traffic.

The Importance of SEO

Search engine optimization is absolutely vital to your online business. If people cannot find you then they are not going to shop with you, it is that simple. This is why it is so important to be sure that your site is rich in high quality content with the right keyword density. But it is equally important to be certain that your shopping cart includes a feature that will enable it to automatically generate URLs that use the right keywords in order to index your site properly and bring you to the top of the list when it comes to searches. If you have good SEO with your site and your shopping cart is designed to automate this process then your chances of achieving success are far greater.

Perks and Discounts

Shopping online for most people is a method of purchasing things at the best price possible. There are a wealth of websites on the internet that are specifically designed for the purpose of providing customers with discounts and coupons of a variety of services and products. If you are promoting a product that is featured on other sites then it is imperative that your shopping cart come equipped with a bot that enables coupon and promotion input to be utilized. If people come to your site and are unable to use their coupons then there is a very good chance they will go somewhere else that will allow them to. Remember, as an online business owner you are facing a lot of competition. When you run an online business you are competing with thousands of other vendors that sell the same product as you. Make sure that your shopping cart can keep up.

Related posts:

• July 16, 2009 – Know What to Look for in a Shopping Cart
• October 5, 2011 – What to Look for in Your Shopping Cart Software
• September 1, 2011 – Budget Web Hosting: Is It Worth the Buck?
• 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
• January 5, 2011 – Why Hosting Companies are No Longer Offering eCommerce Hosting Plans
• October 30, 2010 – Review of Volusion – Professional eCommerce Shopping Cart Solution
• October 26, 2010 – Effective E-Commerce Ideas
• September 28, 2010 – Ecommerce Site Building Checklist

OsCommerce

OsCommerce has consistently been one of the most popular shopping cart applications available, primarily because it is user-friendly yet provides robust functionality. OsCommerce is particularly effective in providing an enjoyable and convenient shopping experience for the customer, which thereby increases conversion rates and improves customer satisfaction. The shopping cart has integrated shipping and processing, pre-order, product review, and automatic e-mail components that simplify the job of the webmaster by automating redundant tasks related to customer follow-ups and billing. OsCommerce is also compatible with a variety of payment processors (including PayPal), which allow you to accept credit card payments securely.

CubeCart

CubeCart is one of the most customizable, yet user-friendly free shopping carts. The application utilizes theme-based design allows you to quickly adjust the appearance of the shopping interface on-the-fly. CubeCart is also one of the few shopping carts that automatically generates product catalog page URLs that are optimized for the search engines. CubeCart lets your customers use coupon codes and certificates for discounts. To simplify the check out process for site visitors, CubeCart has an integrated shipping and tax calculator, and is compatible with a variety of world currencies. If you plan on selling digital items online, you’ll be pleased to learn that CubeCart has secure download delivery features, and also has integrated e-mail marketing functionality.

ZenCart

Although not quite as popular as the two aforementioned free shopping carts, ZenCart is extremely suitable for novice webmasters. ZenCart is more than just a shopping cart, it is a shopping cart/content management system hybrid that allows you to create custom checkout pages using a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor with a basic user interface. ZenCart is also equipped with product catalog creators the let you easily upload product details and images, and then organize this content into specific categories to create a convenient shopping experience for your site visitors. ZenCart is extremely easy to install, and includes a developer’s toolkit that can be used by novice webmasters to find specific code strings for editing.

Related posts:

• January 14, 2011 – Free Ecommerce Solutions
• June 12, 2009 – Power Your Store with Open-Source Shopping Carts
• April 8, 2009 – Open-source Shopping Cart Options
• October 5, 2011 – What to Look for in Your Shopping Cart Software
• 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
• May 12, 2011 – Essential Shopping Cart Attributes
• January 5, 2011 – Why Hosting Companies are No Longer Offering eCommerce Hosting Plans
• October 30, 2010 – Review of Volusion – Professional eCommerce Shopping Cart Solution

Ecommerce

Building an ecommerce website from scratch can be quite difficult and expensive. The shopping cart and payment modules are very difficult to implement. This type of software is very flexible as it’s possible to make the ecommerce website behave exactly as required. However, coding your own website from the bottom up will be very time consuming and could also be expensive if you outsource the development.

Ecommerce Systems

Instead of building a website yourself, it is possible to use a pre-made ecommerce system. Ecommerce software packages include all of the modules that you need and can easily be integrated into your website.

There are many different ecommerce packages available. Some of them are quite expensive and can be difficult to customise.

Freeware Ecommerce Systems

There are also freeware, open source ecommerce packages which are available. One of the most popular is OSCommerce. There are also other examples of open source ecommerce packages including CREreloaded and ZenCart, both of which are based on oscommerce.

Magento and Joomla also have their own ecommerce modules which makes it possible to use them as online stores.

Installing OsCommerce

OsCommerce is very easy to install. The easiest way is to install it through Fantastico which can be found in the cPanel hosting control panel. Other hosts will also have their own automated installers for ecommerce software.

If this isn’t possible then it’s also an option to download the installation files from the internet. These files will need to be unzipped to a folder on your computer. Then using an FTP client the files can be uploaded. It’s then simply a matter of following the installation instructions in your browser.

Setting up OsCommerce

Once OsComerce is installed on your web hosting account, you then need to customize the software. It’s possible to use template systems such as the Simple Template System to adjust colors, buttons, and background images.

There are a number of different add ons which can be installed to your Oscommerce installation. These will add extra features and customizations.

Security

If you are running an ecommerce website then you will need to collect sensitive information from your customers. To give them confidence in your site it is important that you use SSL security certificates. This will ensure that all the information is encrypted so that the data is not at risk.

Promotion

Ecommerce sites are very popular because they provide a convenient way to buy anything. This means that if your business is run properly then it can make a lot of money. However, with so much competition you will need to work hard to promote your business properly.

Related posts:

• April 6, 2011 – Using Free Shopping Carts for Your E-Commerce Website
• July 15, 2009 – How to Install osCommerce and Activate SSL Through cPanel
• June 13, 2011 – An Expansion of eCommerce Web Hosting in the United Kingdom
• June 12, 2009 – Power Your Store with Open-Source Shopping Carts
• April 8, 2009 – Open-source Shopping Cart Options
• January 12, 2009 – The Essentials of E-commerce
• November 21, 2011 – The WePay Surge: Why They May Dethrone PayPal
• October 5, 2011 – What to Look for in Your Shopping Cart Software
• September 25, 2011 – Linux and E-Commerce: The Top 5 Best Hosts for Two Long-term Trends
• September 1, 2011 – Budget Web Hosting: Is It Worth the Buck?

If you’ve recently been shopping around online for an eCommerce hosting solution, then you’ve probably noticed that virtually all hosting providers have stopped offering what are known as ‘eCommerce’ hosting plans, and instead are now providing ‘business class’ plans instead. This industry change has come as a surprise to some, and has caused confusion in others. The following information attempts to explain why hosting companies are no longer offering eCommerce hosting plans, and what is replacing eCommerce hosting.

Marketing Mindset

In actuality eCommerce hosting plans, as they were called, were actually geared towards novice webmasters that needed an all-in-one solution for their online storefront aspirations. However,as major booms in the hosting market have declined slightly, and hosting companies have amassed a more steady and experienced client base, many people have stop purchasing eCommerce hosting plans. In essence, all of the features offered with eCommerce hosting plans can also now be found in business class, VPS and dedicated hosting plans. These features include shopping carts, payment processing capabilities, SSL certificates and store builders, all of which are being offered with conventional premium hosting plans. In fact, there is no discernible difference between eCommerce hosting plans and business class plans.

Concept of Competition

One of the reasons why few are offering eCommerce hosting plans anymore is because of the concept of competition. When one hosting provider makes a change to their marketing and sales material, it is not uncommon to see all of the other major players in the industry follow suite. This is because hosting companies have to maintain certain similarities in order to compete. The term eCommerce is not as appealing to some as the term ‘business class’, hence the change. Likewise, when a company changes their prices, their competitor must also change their pricing in order to compete on an even level. It is not clear which company decided to eliminate eCommerce hosting plans first, but it is evident that the change was initiated by one pioneering hosting provider at the top of the chain, which inspired the competition to do the same.

The New eCommerce Hosting

Since web hosting providers realize that the majority of webmasters are actually engaging in eCommerce, it became counter-intuitive to market eCommerce plans, which appeared as gimmicks to the trained eye. As more people began to notice the benefits of dedicated servers and VPS hosting, it became obvious that eCommerce hosting was simply a hyped up version of shared hosting with a few added features. Now, since eCommerce hosting plans are no longer being marketed by the major companies, business owners are turning to more powerful solutions like cloud VPS and dedicated hosting.

Related posts:

• October 30, 2010 – Review of Volusion – Professional eCommerce Shopping Cart Solution
• October 5, 2011 – What to Look for in Your Shopping Cart Software
• June 24, 2011 – Preventing e-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment
• June 13, 2011 – An Expansion of eCommerce Web Hosting in the United Kingdom
• May 12, 2011 – Essential Shopping Cart Attributes
• April 8, 2011 – Site Building Applications – A Central Component of eCommerce Hosting
• April 6, 2011 – Using Free Shopping Carts for Your E-Commerce Website
• December 14, 2010 – Electronic Payment Processing: The Key to a Successful Business
• October 26, 2010 – Effective E-Commerce Ideas
• September 28, 2010 – Ecommerce Site Building Checklist

Design Features

ShopSite Pro is one of the few browser based shopping cart solutions that does not require you to download or install anything. Surprisingly, even though the software is not installed on the web server, it gives you extensive control over the design of the checkout process. No HTML or coding skills are needed to operate the user-friendly administrative interface that includes a tool bar complete with customizable images, fonts, colors and other design attributes. The software also automatically generates reports that give you a good idea of your progress based on sales statistics that are gathered during the checkout process. Perhaps the most attractive design aspects of ShopSite Pro are its categorization benefits, which let you easily organize your product catalog without extensive experience or internet skills.

Administrative Control Features

One of the most notable features in the administrative panel is the power edit feature, which lets you edit multiple products simultaneously using a variety of  criteria. This feature is especially useful when managing large amounts of inventory. The admin panel gives you easy access to preferences like shipping options, checkout procedures, merchant processing setups, and inventory display options. Although ShopSite Pro lacks extensive control of back orders and partial shipments, it is easily one of the most robust shopping cart solutions available. As a web site administrator it is important that you ave access to all of the tools needed t keep your store operating smoothly and to maximize your sales for greater profits. ShopSite Pro gives you supreme control over all administrative functions to ensure the steady growth of your business.

Marketing and Security Features

ShopSite pro is perhaps the best option when it comes to marketing because it gives you the ability to maximize your profits through up-selling and cross-selling automatically during the customer’s checkout experience. The program also allows for affiliate program integration and setup, the generation of comprehensive sales reports, and the ability to send a bulk promotional newsletters to your customers for increased conversions. One of the new features in ShopSite Pro lets you integrate your eCommerce site with social networks for maximized profits. Using ShopSite pro you can attract customers from networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The program also incorporates the usage of SSL as well, which will give you the security needed to continue operating your online storefront without worries or risks associated with insecure web pages. If you need a secure and competent solution for your online storefront then you may want to consider the seemingly endless benefits that ShopSite Pro has to offer.

Related posts:

• October 30, 2010 – Review of Volusion – Professional eCommerce Shopping Cart Solution
• January 12, 2009 – The Essentials of E-commerce
• November 21, 2011 – The WePay Surge: Why They May Dethrone PayPal
• October 5, 2011 – What to Look for in Your Shopping Cart Software
• September 1, 2011 – Budget Web Hosting: Is It Worth the Buck?
• June 24, 2011 – Preventing e-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment
• June 13, 2011 – An Expansion of eCommerce Web Hosting in the United Kingdom
• May 17, 2011 – Ecommerce Tutorials from Allied Wallet
• May 12, 2011 – Essential Shopping Cart Attributes
• April 6, 2011 – Using Free Shopping Carts for Your E-Commerce Website