eCommerce Website

As the web site pyramid continues to grow add on the eCommerce or online shopping cart is the next logical step. While to many eCommerce may appear to be a daunting undertaking, selling products and services on the internet has gotten much easier and much less expensive.

Just a few years ago, an organization could anticipate spending $20K-$30K on an eCommerce enabled web site. Today like many things to do with the internet, constant innovation around eCommerce development has brought the implementation cost, in some cases under $2,000.00

eCommerce web sites provide a way for users to actually purchase those 1000+ products from the comfort of their office, recliner or backyard. Based on the work done during the previous 2 phases, this is a relatively easy add-on (as long as the first 2 phases were created correctly).

The eCommerce system can be configured by the web developer to automatically process credit card transactions or directly accept PayPal payments. If a business is already accepting credit cards using a keypad system, an eCommerce website can work with the same merchant processor by incorporating a merchant gateway. After a purchase, a company representative can log into the site, and download or print out order information required to fulfill the order.

The one important thing to keep in mind when creating an eCommerce site is that the server storing your data MUST utilize strong security to protect the credit cards of the web site's users. This is best done by utilizing encryption. Simply put encryption, takes letters and numbers and converts them into long strings of letters and numbers based on a super secure code. It is worth mentioning that there are different levels of encryption available and it is recommended to consult with a web developer and the web site hosting provider to ensure the site is properly protected.

An additional important point to mention is that eCommerce is not isolated solely to selling products. Today, businesses can invoice clients, collect payments for services, track shipments, make reservations for events, or a number of other business critical tasks all from a web site - all of which until recently would have been accomplished "off-line."