Electronic Commerce - Ecommerce

[Kalyan]

eCommerce

Electronic Commerce or eCommerce is essentially the system involving buying and selling of different products and services over electronic systems like the Internet.

So when you are buying that book on amazon.com or selling your used bicycle on eBay, you are essentially participating in electronic commerce or eCommerce.

As such, eCommerce has begun and grown exponentially over the past 10 years. It has now become a major focus of revenue generation for millions of businesses world wide. The main advantage is that almost any small and large business owner can participate in eCommerce activities, provided they have a website which is eCommerce enabled.

The fact is that Electronic Commerce is currently responsible for over billions of dollars of revenue generation across the globe. And as the role of the Internet grows over time, this revenue will, naturally, increase.

To put it mildly, having an eCommerce enabled website is akin to creating a global store front and a global access to your store (a place where you sell your products and services).

Great! I want an eCommerce Website. Where do I begin?

Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have now recognized the various benefits of providing eCommerce enabled hosting solutions to their customers. Logically, that would be the place for you to begin building your eCommerce website.

Why do ISPs want to do that? Well, most ISPs recognize the value of providing these solutions to their customers, because of the simplicity of use of these solutions and the inherent value addition that these solutions create for their customers. This means that a customer of the hosting provider can now concentrate on creating his website in a hassle-free environment while generating a good bond with his service provider. It also distinguishes the ISP from other access-only providers.

The next step involves having a look at what kind of eCommerce solutions are being provided by the hosting solutions provider. They must be compatible with the services you are planning to provide / incorporate within your website.

The most basic thing you need to check is for what is called a 'Payment Gateway'.

'A Payment Gateway' is a service that will authorize payments for the money transactions carried out via your website. This means that people who buy your products and services online will be able to pay for them using their credit cards or bank accounts.

The 'Payment Gateway' enables you to check online if the card or account contains sufficient funds. And when it ensures that the account does hold sufficient funds, the transaction is accepted. The data received during the course of these transactions is quite sensitive, and so is encrypted by the Payment Gateway itself. Thus, you are saved of the hassle of checking if the client can pay for your product or service. And the best part is that all this happens online within a matter of a few seconds.

There are a variety of Payment Gateway solutions available, many of which are free to use. Depending upon your specifications, you need to understand and choose the right payment gateway for your website.

Once you have figured this out, the next thing to do is create the website and the necessary content for your online store. This includes product / service descriptions and pictures, any other product / service information and prices of the products / services.

Again, there are a variety of solutions out there which you can use for doing so. A content management system which is tailored to fit your needs will enable you to create and manage your online store effectively. Most hosting solutions providers will often provide pre-installed content management systems which will solve this problem for you. All you have to do is activate / install the CMS of your choice on your domain.

Usually, these CMSes have an easy to use interface for creating the pages of your online store. And they can be seamlessly integrated with the payment gateway that you have chosen.

Once your website is ready, you will be a part of the booming and growing global marketplace via the Internet.