E-Commerce Software Solutions

How To Sell On The Internet A Simple Step By Step Guide To ECommerce Websites Last Updated: April 2009

1. Select the goods and services you want to sell.

The first step in the ecommerce website creation process is to decide what goods and services you are going to provide. The goods can be tangible products such as televisions, hats or chocolate; or downloadable products such as software, movies or music. Or you can sell services such as insurance, advertisement, information or advice.

2. Gather detailed product information.

It is very common for buyers to browse the internet for information before they part with their money. For this reason you must provide as much information as you can about the products and services you are selling. Sources for this information could be the manufacturers, distributers, other online stores, service providers and the general internet.

The information can be in the following forms.

• Name and description of the products
• Price, delivery, warantee and servicing information
• Detailed specification
• Experts' and customers' reviews
• Manuals and user guides
• News and advertisments

Gathering and storing this information in your files or database manually could be an enormous task. Apart from the time and energy it consumes it could be inconsistent, incomplete and erroneous. For this reason VisioSoft has developed a software tool to automatize this product information data entry process. Of course, manual checks and some minor intervention are always needed but most of the work will be done by the tool. Configuring and running this tool for your specific ecommerce website is included in the Advanced ecommerce software solutions package. See the price list on the right.

3. Decide which online payment method you are going to use.

Accepting online payment is the number one challange for any ecommerce website. You have to accept all major debit and credit cards, it has to be totally secure with an SSL certificate and very easy for the buyer to perform.

There are mainly two types of payment options available:

• Through an Internet Merchant Account

  If you expect a fairly high number of online sales this is your best option. You need to open an Internet Merchant Account in a bank and sign up with a Payment Gateway Service Provider.

  Internet Merchant Accounts are provided by some banks. Technically we call these payment acquirers or acquiring banks. In the UK some of these are Alliance and Leicester, Bank of Scotland, Barclaycard Business, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, NatWest/Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank. They usually charge a percentage on each transaction for the service they provide. Visit their websites for more information.

  Payment Gateway Service Providers are companies that sit between you and an acquiring bank. They collect customers' card and address details, and check if the card is ok and the funds exist. Then they pass the details to the acquiring bank and the bank transfers the money from the customer's account to your merchant account. These companies usually charge a fixed monthly fee. A few well known UK payment service providing companies are: SagePay (PROTX), PayPoint, Netbanks and HSBC.

• Through a Payment Processing Company

  If your online sales are not going to be that high or you don't want to deal with a merchant account, a bank and a payment gateway service provider then you can use a Payment Processing Company such as PayPal, WorldPay or Google Checkout. Usually it is free to join and easy to set up. Your customers pay easily and securely.

4. Design, develop and deploy the ecommerce website.

Now that your products are ready and you have worked out the best payment option, you are ready to design and build your website.

To do this you need ecommerce software and you have three choices:

• Sign up with a ECommerce Service Provider

  This is the easiest way of setting up an ecommerce website. Ecommerce service providers are the companies which host an ecommerce software application and provide the necessary infrastructure, usually for a monthly fee. All you have to do is to sign up. They will create your account and provide you with an 'Administration' application to set up and manage your online store. The rest is your responsibility. That is: entering all the products and price information, creating categories, and arranging or selecting payment and postage methods. The web design is template based. You choose the most suitable template and customise it to suit your online shop. Advantages: Easy to set up and manage. Disadvantages: Inflexible and limited both in the design and functionality. You can configure it but cannot change it because you don't own the software.

  VisioSoft works with a selected number of ecommerce service providers and offers installation and customisation services.

• Use an ECommerce Software Package

  If you want more control over your ecommerce application without investing a substantial chunk of cash then this is the option for you. You can either use free open source software such as osCommerce or pay for a licence to use proprietary software developed by a company. Proprietary software offers limited scope to customise the software but generally you cannot change the code. In practice this means you can't make substantial changes to the way your website functions.

  Open source software, however, allows you to customise your website design and also to change the main code for any functionality you want. For this reason VisioSoft recommends using open source ecommerce software osCommerce. We offer comprehensive services to install, configure, customise and modify it for your specific needs.

• Develop your own ECommerce Software

  If you want to have total control and functionality that 100% matches your requirement this is the best choice. This option is widely used by medium to large sized retailers. It is considered the most expensive option in the short term, but it offers value for money in the long term.

  VisioSoft offers professional ecommerce software development specifically for small businesses and individuals. Our understanding of small business and our wealth of experience in ecommerce allows us to design bespoke software that is maintainable and expandable. We offer training and support for self-sufficiency in IT, and we ensure that our expertly designed software can easily adapt to your growing business.

Speciality ECommerce Applications

Restaurants

• Make your details available online and display your menu.
• Have an online booking system to take reservations or food orders.
• Have a full blown online take-away restaurant with secure payment.
• No need to keep a computer. A mobile phone is enough.

Bed and Breakfast

• Advertise your services on the web with pictures, videos and customer feedback.
• Attract visitors by connecting to local services and places of interest websites.
• Have a single point of booking sytem for ease of use and to avoid double booking.
• Have a secure online payment system.
• No need to keep a computer. A mobile phone is enough.