While the online shopping experience is generally straightforward from the consumer's perspective, how complicated is it for SMEs to get up-and-running with a shopping cart? Here are a few steps to help you get started.
What do I need?
There are three main methods of receiving payment to consider when adding eCommerce functionality to your site: credit cards, debit cards and online accounts such as Paypal.
To begin trading from your website you will need the following:
- eCommerce software, such as a shopping basket and checkout facility.
- A secure website in order to accept payments safely.
- A way to process the payments, such as a merchant facility with your bank to accept credit card payments.
Checkout software
There are plenty of eCommerce software packages out there, and ISPs (internet service providers) and software suppliers can provide eCommerce templates that allow their clients to accept payments in a secure environment. These templates integrate shopping cart software and checkout facilities into webpages.
Some online firms such as Yahoo also provide this service, and for a fee you can get an eCommerce service that includes web space, web design and secure payment facilities. However, it may be best to draft in an expert to set up your online store if you are unsure of how to configure such applications to fit in with your site.
Accepting payments
Once you have your shopping cart up and running on your website, you will need a way to accept payments from customers. In order to do this, you must use either a merchant account or a third-party payment processor.
A merchant account is a commercial account with a bank or payment processor that allows you to process credit cards, for which you are responsible. If you are accepting credit cards over the internet, you need a "card not present" account that will allow you to accept cards without PIN authorisation or a signature from the customer. Having your own merchant account can give your business a certain appearance of professionalism, and the transaction costs are also usually fairly low - although the initial fees can be high when first setting up the account. These kind of accounts can be difficult to acquire, however.
A third-party payment processor - such as WorldPay (which is part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group), Realex Payments or Paypal - will accept payments on your behalf and then transfer the money into your bank account. Such services are usually charged for on a per-transaction basis. It is easier to get an account such as this as the criteria for acceptance are usually much less stringent than for a merchant account. In addition, these accounts can be more convenient to use - especially if you are not processing a large amount of transactions or are just testing the water with your online store.
Your choice of payment processing solution may also be influenced by how you are planning to handle the transaction - i.e. letting a third party provide all the software and handle the payments for you, or keeping as much of it in-house as possible.
Some third party payment processors offer a choice: paying customers can be redirected to the payment processor's secure hosted site to enter their details, or you can accept their credit card details on your own website and then submit them to the payment processor. The latter method is used by Irish-based Realex Payments.
Outside options
If you would rather let someone else handle your eCommerce facilities, it can make things simpler for you.
You could go for an all-in-one solution, such as that offered by PayPal, which is ideal for smaller shops that may not need to process a large amount of payments. Businesses just need to sign up for a PayPal Business Account, verify their information and then set up the Website Payments Standard option on their account in order to start accepting credit cards.
If you haven't already set up a shopping cart, a PayPal account can also provide this service - letting you log in and specify the name, price, and other details of items you wish to sell. This information is then used to create customised HTML code for the shopping cart, which can be pasted onto your website.
In-house solutions
If your business has the funds and the capability to handle the credit card payments in-house, there are a few things you will need in order to set up a secure payments service.
To start, you will need a secure server, which uses encryption to keep data secure, and a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate, which can be applied for online. Companies such as Verisign offer SSL certs to customers.
Once you register your website with a digital authentication service, like Verisign, it gives your customers the added confidence that they are dealing with the correct website, that the business they are trusting with their financial details is a reputable one, and that their information will be transmitted securely across the internet.
Security is paramount. Shoppers won't flock to your online store if they fear their credit card details could be made public. Make sure your site has the "https://" prefix and that your security policy is easily accessible.
Once you have set up your cart and established your payment processing method, you are free to start accepting payments online.
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