"10 Things for Small Businesses to Consider When Setting Up a Web Storefront".[1] Will E-Commerce e-commerce, commerce conducted over the Internet, most often via the World Wide Web. E-commerce can apply to purchases made through the Web or to business-to-business activities such as inventory transfers. Benefit my Company? Almost any business that sells services or products in a brick-and-mortar store or through a catalog catalog, descriptive list, on cards or in a book, of the contents of a library. Assurbanipal's library at Nineveh was cataloged on shelves of slate. The first known subject catalog was compiled by Callimachus at the Alexandrian Library in the 3d cent. B.C. can expand their sales over the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the . [2] Test the Waters If you don't want to jump into a big up-front investment, try a less expensive, lower-risk option before fully committing. [3] What Else Do I Need? If you don't already have an email account email account email n → compte m (e-)mail , that's priority #1. You'll also need to decide on a host for your site. If you're starting from square one, consider a company that can provide all three services -- email, hosting and e-commerce. [4] Building Your Store Hiring a designer can be very expensive. If you're on a budget, look for a service with an integrated store builder. [5] Is Customers' Info Safe? To maintain trust in your company, you should make sure your customers' private information is kept secure. Ask your provider what steps they've taken. [6] Back-office Integration Make sure your new electronic operations fit in with your existing inventory and accounting systems. Switching Systems Switching systems (communications) The assemblies of switching and control devices provided so that any station in a communications system may be connected as desired with any other station. mid-stream can be costly and time-consuming. [7] Getting Paid What forms of payment do you want to accept? Accepting credit cards online is the best option, but it's not the only one. You can also accept checks and purchase orders, or process credit cards offline. [8] Online Credit Card Processing To process credit card transactions online in real time, you'll need an online merchant account and a gateway. Unless you have time to do some legwork leg·work n. Informal Work, such as collecting information or doing research in preparation for a project, that involves much walking or traveling about. , look for a provider that's integrated this into its service. [9] What's a Merchant Account? Even if you have a brick-and-mortar or telephone/mail order merchant account, you'll need an online sales merchant account to process credit cards online. It can be expensive to apply and difficult to get approval, so look for a provider that's done the legwork for you. [10] Why Do I Need a Gateway? It's the secure conduit conduit /con·du·it/ (kon´doo-it) channel. ileal conduit the surgical anastomosis of the ureters to one end of a detached segment of ileum, the other end being used to form a stoma on the between your customer's money and your bank account. It's the only way to ensure a secure transaction. |
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