Setting up a Secure E-Commerce Site
Feb 1, 2008
Whether your e-commerce operation involves selling an entire catalogue of items, a small collection of goods or even just one product, the simple reality is that unless people buy the items for sale on your Web site, you won't make any money.
And while the last few years have done a lot to make consumers more comfortable with the idea of shopping online, a significant effort is still necessary, on your part, to convince potential customers that they will be doing business with a secure and trustworthy operation.
Because you'll have to employ some form of remote payment, you'll need to do business with some type of transaction-processing business. Even more than your customers, your billing solution partners will demand some assurance that your operation is secure before they involve themselves in your transactions.
To put it simply, in the e-commerce business, securing trust in your company is essential to your success. Trust is as important to a potential customer's purchasing decision as the products you offer. And an essential element of building that trust, with both customers and partners, is the assurance that your e-commerce operation meets the demanding security standards required of organizations handling sensitive financial information.
Setting up a Storefront
A big part of building trust with your customers is your presentation. That they're even browsing your online store is a good indicator that they're familiar with the possibilities of online shopping and are prepared to consider buying. What you do to convince them, and the effectiveness of your efforts, may be the deciding factor in a possible sale..
The shopping interface you introduce to customers is arguably the most important piece of your e-commerce site's presentation. A familiar, easy-to-navigate interface can go a long way toward establishing the trust you're after. Seasoned online shoppers will know what to expect from an e-commerce site, and meeting those expectations is a good way to gain their confidence. Novice surfers will probably be more comfortable if your online store closely resembles the major e-commerce interfaces they might have encountered.
Building a storefront compatible with your customers' expectations is one of the more obviously beneficial features of using an e-commerce software product such as those provided by Miva (www.Miva.com), BizCrafter (www.BizCrafterCorp.com) or eCartSoft (www.eCartSoft.com) to build your site. Most of these programs will help you to build a simple, effective and familiar shopping interface that can include pictures, shopping cart functions and a number of useful security features.
In addition to helping you build an attractive online shop, most e-commerce software has features allowing it to help manage your inventory, interact with your payment processing systems, simplify your relationships with suppliers and affiliates, and even promote your site.
E-commerce software can usually be purchased online from the maker. But it is also quite often included as part of a specialized e-commerce package from any of the many Web hosts that support such operations.
Posted bySite Admin at 11:26 AM
