E-Commerce, or Electronic Commerce, refers to selling or
distributing either products or services over the internet.
There are many elements of a successful e-commerce website.
These include:
Web Server
E-Commerce sites have special needs. I would recommend your
e-commerce site be hosted on a dedicated server, with a
whole range of available applications. As a start, I would
suggest MySQL, php MyAdmin, Perl, SSL, CGI bin, Dada Mail,
Email, and very high bandwidth limits. You should be able
to find a dedicated server package with these requirements
for around $150.00 per month. I personally recommend either
Westhost or Rackspace.
Credit Card Processing
In order to process credit cards, you will need a payment
gateway and processing software. The processing software
allows you to process credit cards on your computer terminal,
and the gateway is the intermediate between the the credit
card companies and you. I recommend IC
Verify for the processing software and Nova
Information for the payment gateway.
Fraud Prevention
After you have processed a few fraudulent credit cards,
you know what to look for in spotting fraud. Warning signs
include:
Different ship to address-espcially Indonesia or Nigeria
Customer requested overnight or second day on large order
Multiple card numbers on order
Repeat orders, close together, and large dollar amounts
Your products are easy to sell on ebay
Phone number is fraudulent
If you see any of these warning signs, do yourself a favor,
and call the credit card company. They all have a fraud
department, and are usually happy to determine if the credit
card is suspect or not. They deal with this every day. Take
advantage of their experience.
Shopping Cart
The shopping cart is one of the most important aspects of
your website. In order for your customers to buy from you,
it must work perfectly. It must be secure, and also integrate
with UPS or USPS shipping services. I recommend Quikstore.
Their shopping cart is relatively inexpensive, is customizable,
and is a one time purchase. A lot of the higher end shopping
carts charge monthly transaction fees, which can really
add up to a lot of money. It's even worse if your site is
not selling a lot of products, because they all have monthly
minimums. More info on shopping
carts.
Design Elements
All e-commerce sites tend to look alike. There's a reason.
Most are built around a database, and are dynamically generated.
But there is a bigger problem. The dynamic url's are difficult
for the search engines to crawl and index. As a result,
it's much harder for e-commerce sites to get indexed.
I recommend instead, a static site. With real html pages,
and easy to crawl links. Make it obvious where your customers
can find what they want. With a good call to action, and
enticing graphics.
Tip: Make your site about your customers. Easy
for them to find things, easy for them to understand, and
easy for them to buy.
Order Fulfillment
Until your e-commerce site gets to a certain daily order
level, I recommend that you handle your own fulfillment.
Set up a few shelves in a spare room, and carry a minimal
amount of inventory. If an order is larger, you might consider
having the distributor drop ship for you. Be prepared for
some additional handling charges. It might be worth it if
you can reduce inventory carring costs.
Shipping
Do you offer free shipping? Or charge a flat fee? Are you
going to ship internationally?
There is a lot to consider when choosing your shipping options.
Anyone with a computer terminal can now print out shipping
labels, and drop off their packages everyday at the UPS
store or the Post Office. When you get to a certain level
you can also set up an account with UPS, FedEx, or DHL,
and have daily pickups. You can also negotiate discounts
on your account, based upon the number of packages shipped
via expedited premium services. Be proactive.
Customer Service
On the internet, as in traditional stores, customer service
can be a big advantage for you. Get an 800 number, and display
it prominently on every page of your website. Maintain regular
office hours. Respond to emails quickly. Have a returns
and privacy policy on your website.
