Ecommerce and Integration

Ecommerce Systems Overview With Explanations of Terms Often Used.

Ecommerce systems are sophisticated secure payment services, designed to enable the transfer of money and goods in the easiest possible way. Some of the terms can be a little daunting to the uninitiated, but often installing them is not as difficult as it seems.

The Three Main Terms

The three main terms you will come across when talking about ecommerce and integration are;

* Shopping Cart

* Payment Gateway

* Merchant Account

The Shopping Cart

The shopping cart is the database that enables your customers to pick different products as they browse and store them ready for purchase. This also means shoppers can pay for many items with a single transaction by storing them in the cart until they are ready.

The Payment Gateway

The payment gateway is the component that provides secure credit card processing, it checks the credit card information and completes the order. Security is important as there is no way to "swipe" the card, as is the case for an ATM or retail merchant account.

The Merchant Account

The merchant account is your own special bank account that has been set up to receive payments from the payment gateway. Some standard banks are offering this service, but many do not, so an intermediary is required, (the merchant service, to handle your online payments).

The Three Main Types

Similarly, you can roughly break down the main types of ecommerce and integration solutions in three ways.

* Simple and Cheap

* Pre-built Software

* Customised Database

The Simplest and Cheapest

The first, or simplest are the ready made, plug in and go solutions from PayPal and 2checkout.com. Basically you add some code on your pages for "pay now" buttons that connect to a remote site for processing of sales. The simplest ecommerce and integration systems do not use a shopping cart or a merchant account. The credit card is processed by a payment gateway service that uses their own merchant account and sends the money on to your normal bank account, often processing on a weekly basis.

The Pre-Built System

Next are the dedicated software solutions that are prebuilt, and offer a complete ecommerce and integration solution out of the box. To choose a solution that suits you, browse through the features and make sure there is enough flexibility to suit the products you have in mind. Some systems will add to your existing site, while others will be the basis of your whole web site.

The Customised Database

And thirdly, you can have a complete database system built from the ground up, with all the customising you want. Expect to sell your house to pay for this one. Why reinvent the wheel?

All In One Tools

These are completely integrated ecommerce and integration solutions. They offer the three main components in one package. Shopping cart, payment gateway and merchant account.

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