/ SOLUTIONS / THE BASICS OF E-COMMERCE

What are the basics of an E-commerce web site?

E-commerce, short for "electronic commerce," is the selling of products or services over the Internet. E-commerce can be as simple as displaying a product on a Web page and asking visitors to send you money through the mail. Or it can be much more sophistocated, utilizing a shopping cart for order tracking, a payment gateway to process credit card payments in real time, a secure SSL certificate to collect sensitive payment information, and a customized storefront that keeps track of product inventory. The e-commerce solution you use will likely fall somewhere in between these two extremes.

This is what you will need to get started:

Component	Explanation
Domain Name & Website	A domain name, also known as a web address, or URL, is your "home on the web." Consider establishing your own domain name now (like www.yourcompany.com) if you are serious about e-commerce. An easy-to-remember domain name, coupled with creative marketing and promotions, can be your ticket to online success!
Secure Server or SSL Certificate	There is a lot of concern about security on the Internet. To make sure your customers' transactions are safe, follow established conventions in Internet security, which means using a secure server for online transactions. A secure server runs software that establishes a secure connection with your customer's Internet browser using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology to encrypt transmitted information. You know you are on a secure server when your browser shows https:// on the browser address bar and a lock icon on the status bar. You can get your own secure certificate or use our server wide secure server to host your web site.
Payment Gateway	Payment gateways provide a link from your Web site to the credit card processing company. If you want to process credit cards in real time from your site, then you'll need a payment gateway. The gateway takes the credit card information and sends it to the credit card processor to determine if the sale can be authorized. Once a sale is authorized, the funds from the credit card are deposited into your merchant account. CartXpress can be easily configured to accept payments through the Authorize.net payment gateway, among others.
Merchant Account	A merchant account is required before you can begin to process credit cards on the Internet. If you already have an Internet merchant account, CartXpress can interface directly with it. CartXpress is enabled for easy automation with your existing Merchant Account. Setup is quick and easy, and can be completed in minutes through CartXpress' Payments Module.
Shopping Cart	In order to conduct business over the internet, you need to present your products and prices, calculate sales tax and shipping costs, and collect credit card or electronic check information. Making all these tasks occur seemlessly is critical to creating a carefree experience for your buyers. However, the process involves a complicated piece of software. That's why we offer CartXpress, powered by osCommerce. With CartXpress, the most difficult part is already take care of, and you are off and selling in no time!