1. Payment method (PayPal, merchant account, etc)

   To get the full advantage of a eCommerce website you need to be able to process payments in real-time. This means using PayPal (or similar) or accepting credit cards directly through your website; using a payment gateway. While you can accept cheques or money orders there is no way to process these until they arrive usually by mail then they have to clear your bank account before you actually have the money. Most people start off with PayPal and then get their merchant accounts and start accepting credit cards directly once they have been established for awhile. If you already have a merchant bank account for your business it might be less expensive to take payments that way than using PayPal, which takes a percentage of every transaction.

   Products like OSCommerce, CubeCart or Zencart have many payment gateway provider modules so you are able to choose the best one that suits you without having to get a module written for you.

2. Online presence

   Your online presence is more than just your website it is more closely your websites ability to represent your company. A website can be more than just a collection of information about what you do, where you are located and how long you have been in business. With an eCommerce component it can become an integral part of how your company makes money and controls costs. The effective use of your “online presence” will separate you from your competition and set you apart as the leader in the field. Likewise not having an excellent online presence (poor website design, cumbersome to use, unhelpful etc.) can result in failure. The key parts of this are:

   1. hosting account – BCwebnet business website hosting we will meet your needs for now and well into the future. Additional space and traffic, advanced servers such as virtualization and dedicated servers are easy to upgrade without downtime.

   2. domain name – what’s in a name? Well everything… it should be short, easy to spell and remember, plus if possible have some relevant, to SEO, term in it.

   3. website/cart software – One of the products I recommend is ZenCart but phpCOIN might also server your needs.  Either product is good and there are many others and they each have their advantages.  I plan on writing a review of them shortly so what for that.

Lets start with the basic requirements. You will need a domain name and website hosting account. Using a product like OSCommerce, CubeCart or ZenCart means you don’t necessarily need a website designed for you as these offer a complete website in of themselves. BUT customization of their interface is required and most of them have a templating system to allow you to your eCommerce business unique and attractive to your customers. So once you have a domain name and website you will need some form of payment processing. PayPal is the most common and it has its advantages and competitors but for more details on payment gateways please check out this article. It also has information about dealing with payments and the various options.

There are some technical requirements as well such as a dedicated IP address for your website and an SSL certificate. Right now is not the time to bore you with what these items are but they allow your website to securely transmit and encrypt payment information over the Internet. Simply put a dedicate IP is a fixed address on the Internet and an SSL certificate makes the secure transaction possible. The added bonus is that these are provided by a third party so you customers have some assurances you are a legitimate company. There is more about this in SSL Certificates Explained.

So a domain name, hosting plan, eCommerce application, payment processing system, dedicated IP and SSL certificate. You will also need a name for your business and some idea of what it is you will sell.

What is eCommerce?

eCommerce, or Electronic Commerce, is the exchange of goods and services over the Internet. It is one of the most important business process improvements since the invention of the telephone. eCommerce allows people to buy and sell to one another anywhere on the planet at any time of the day or night. eCommerce is the usage of, and exploitation of, the interconnectivity of various business and information systems plus an application that provides a catalog and a shopping cart. We go into more detail on these components in the next few sections. There are few barriers to entry so armed with only a computer and an Internet connection you can start selling almost anything you want.

Why eCommerce?

How would you like a salesperson who could answer all your customers and potential customer’s questions, take their orders, suggest similar items of interest, provide billing and shipping information in real time and do all of this for pennies a day; 24 hours a day? With eCommerce you can have such a sales person. Granted this sales person is a collection of computer software applications designed to work together, communicate together and more importantly automate the buying and selling process. These applications are web-based and as such are available to anyone with a connection to the Internet.

There are low infrastructure and start-up costs as most hosting companies provide a basic eCommerce hosting package for less than $50 per month. PayPal is the most commonly used form of payment on the Internet and costs nothing to get a merchant account. You have a global market that you can sell to and buyers can choose the payment method that suits them best. eCommerce can also help increase sales for your physical store, commonly called a bricks-and-mortar operation, and and eCommerce website open 24-7.

So why eCommerce? Simply put it is the least expensive way to sell goods and services to people anywhere in the world at anytime of the day or night. This is because it automates and simplifies the commodity exchange process. It also provides a sinlge point of entry for clients to find all the relevent information about the products, services they are interested in and all about your company and why to buy from you. So detailed information, ease of transactions and sell to anywhere to anyone at anytime make eCommerce the most affordable business improvement tool since… well, ever.

So is eCommerce right for you?  We’ll answer that in Part 2.