 |
| Internet |
 Getting Online - E-Commerce - It's Just The BeginningBy Tanis Arcuri - Arvis Search Services Inc. This article will not be filled with reasons why you should implement e-commerce into your business. Frankly, you see e-commerce benefits in catchy marketing slogans every day, and it is safe to say that 99% of the public completely ignores all of it. So, the next three of my articles in Rising Women will settle on the idea that when it comes to e-commerce, you need all of the hard facts and none of the ‘fluff’. Let’s begin under the assumption that you have an expressed interest in using the Internet as a revenue tool. Notice I said revenue tool and not marketing tool. Marketing is great, but if you are not collecting the money the marketing is generating, then you have lost your online battle. The overall question is not whether you want e-commerce capabilities; the question is do you need it? E-commerce is not simply your web site. It is, in its purest form, the introduction of your ordering and payment systems to your online medium (your web site). To be more precise, in Canada, e-commerce is about processing credit card transactions online in Real-Time without human intervention. Every order is a paid order. Security always remains one of the major reasons businesses believe that e-commerce is unattainable. If you choose the right e-commerce components and secure your web site properly, you will not have security issues. It is very difficult to capture any data while in transit, no matter what the marketers say. You will see that in some cases your web site will never actually have access to that sensitive information (such as credit card numbers) which you hear is susceptible to being stolen. Starting to sound safe, isn’t it? The only technological component you will need is a working ‘shopping cart’ or accounting program to bring your customers through the ordering and payment process on your web site. The best part is that shopping carts are everywhere; there is no need to be a computer programmer. If the best plan of action for you is to buy individual pieces of the E-Commerce Chain and make them all work together, then so be it. The E-Commerce Chain consists of four components: Merchant Accounts, SSL certificate, shopping cart, and the Processing Gateway. If you are an existing business, it will be best to get some Merchant Accounts. Merchant Accounts are given by your bank to allow you to accept credit cards on your existing bank accounts. If you already have credit card processing capabilities through a point-of-sale machine, then you already have Merchant Accounts. The next link on your four-part chain is an SSL certificate. This will protect you and your customers by encrypting your web site and order information. You can buy these online from your web host or Internet Service Provider. What you are actually purchasing is a piece of code that does an amazing job of keeping information hidden from all those who might be trying to see it. Next, find a suitable shopping cart or accounting program. Shopping carts do not need to be fancy or complicated. The less complicated they are, the easier they are to integrate to every other system you have. Find one that works for you. Lastly, you will need a Processing Gateway company that will physically pass the order information collected from your web site to your credit card company, and back once again after the credit card is processed. There you have it: an action plan for the common businessperson to integrate e-commerce easily into their everyday transactions. A few topics will be revisited in greater detail in the next two issues of Rising Women. Therefore, keep your eyes open for more insight into the exciting world of Merchant Accounts and Processing Gateways. Tanis Arcuri is the marketing director of Arvic Search Services Inc., which helps individuals & small businesses get online & stay online through domain registration and e-commerce capabilities. Reach Tanis at tanis@arvic.com , or look at their services at www.arvic.com |