eCommerce Introduction

eCommerce has revolutionized global trade and can be generally defined as:
1. The buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet
2. The transfer of funds through the Internet

There are three steps in the process:

1. Getting Your Products Online
2. Securing Your Website
3. Accepting Payments.

If you only sell one, or a few products, you may not need a shopping cart. Rather, a simple, one-page order form that allows visitors to purchase your products will do the trick.

The process is simple. You create your product information page and display a 'buy now' button which sends customers to your order form.

2. Shopping Cart

A shopping cart is an alternative system that allows you to sell multiple products and services on the web.

A well-planned, secure shopping cart should make it easy for visitors to purchase from your website.

Shopping cart software typically consists of three components:

1. A Product Catalogue, which organises all of your products and services into categories on your website
   
   
2. A Checkout and Payment System, that allows shoppers to securely register their details and process payments
   
   
3. An Administration Area, that allows you to manage the day-to-day running of your business (e.g. fulfilling orders, managing inventory, adding and removing products and so on).

The Product Catalogue

The product catalogue allows visitors to:

• Browse and view detailed information about each product.
• Add, remove and change the quantity of items in their cart.
• Calculate total prices including taxes and shipping.
• Review purchase policy information such as the refund/return policy.

The Checkout Process

The checkout process refers to the steps a customer must go through to purchase goods from your website.

A typical checkout process may involve a customer:

1. Adding a product to their cart
2. Opening an account by providing their contact information
3. Processing their payment

The Administration Area

The area of your website that is viewable by your customers is known as the 'front-end' of your site.

The administration area of your store allows you to manage the day-to-day running of your business and is known as the 'backend' of your website. This area of your site requires a username and password to log-in and is not visible to the general public.

In the backend of your website you can manage tasks such as:

• Fulfilling orders
• Managing inventory
• Adding and removing products
• Changing the design of your store

To generate sales on your website you still need to do two things:

1. Drive quality traffic to your website
2. Have a sales system in place to convert browsers into buyers

Without these two components, the process of collecting the money (eCommerce) is irrelevant.

And that's why many eCommerce sites fail - they jump the gun by worrying about all the 'bells and whistles' before developing a plan to generate traffic to their site.

Clearly, the most successful eCommerce sites are not the ones that just come up with a great 'idea' but the ones that build their businesses around a pre-existing demand in the marketplace.

If you're ready to enter the exciting world of eCommerce, contact us today and we'll do our best to help make your project a success.