Alternative Online Payment Systems

Written by Godfrey Heron


One ofrepparttar most frequently asked questions I get as a webmaster is "can you setup an ecommerce system for our company?"

For most businesses venturing into ecommerce, e-payment means accepting credit cards. This involves setting up a complex system including a SECURE order page/shopping cart software, a merchant account (basically a bank account that receivesrepparttar 108987 credit card proceeds), and a credit card processing service. Care has to be taken to ensure thatrepparttar 108988 shopping cart is compatible withrepparttar 108989 authorization service. Allrepparttar 108990 various elements need to be compatible and interface with each other.

Whilerepparttar 108991 bulk of Internet ecommerce is still transacted using credit cards, there has been steady inroads being made by alternative methods of settling e-transactions. These Web Payment Services (WPS) have ingeniously utilizedrepparttar 108992 most popular application onrepparttar 108993 internet "e-mail", to appeal to customers.

By using an existing platform to launch their services, WPS providers have enjoyed wide appeal with customers worldwide. The largest of these, PAYPAL, has approximately 11 million users, processes 150,000 payments per day, and attracts over 20,000 new users each day.

But are there any advantages of using these alternative payment systems over credit card merchant systems? To help you deciderepparttar 108994 following criteria will be evaluated:

(a) SetUp (b) Maintenance Costs (c) Ease of Use/Convenience (d) Cash Flow Effect (e) Customer Perception

SETUP As mentioned aboverepparttar 108995 setup of a credit card merchant system is complex. The setup of a merchant account may take up to two weeks or more for final approval to be granted fromrepparttar 108996 financial institition involved and verification ofrepparttar 108997 integration of various components completed.

WPS services onrepparttar 108998 other side ofrepparttar 108999 scale, are incredibly easy to setup, almost laughably so. For example, Paypal, which isrepparttar 109000 largest WPS just requires a merchant to go torepparttar 109001 Paypal site to register their account. This whole process may take 5 -10 minutes. There is no transaction processing software to install, and importantly, no shopping cart to rent or buy. Paypal simply generates a HTML code which you can place in your site next to your inventory items.

A click on these buttons takesrepparttar 109002 customer straight to Paypal's secure server. When customers want to make a payment they send a message to Paypal, and then Paypal,repparttar 109003 middleman, doesrepparttar 109004 rest.

MAINTENANCE COSTS

Want Bigger Profits? Think of Your Web Site as a Catalog, Not a Store

Written by Al Bredenberg


For years people have been talking about web sites being storefronts. The truth is, web sites have little in common with traditional stores. Thinking of your site as a web storefront can take you downrepparttar wrong path fromrepparttar 108986 start.

This is a topic I delve into in my new book "Profitable e-Marketing: Success Strategies That Pay Off."

Look at how customers use stores. It is a social experience for many. Teens go torepparttar 108987 mall to be seen. A work-at-home parent may go torepparttar 108988 store just to get out ofrepparttar 108989 house. People like to touch items and talk torepparttar 108990 clerk. I even see some entire families going torepparttar 108991 store so they can argue with each other over what to buy. A store is more than just a place to get supplies -- it's a social, entertainment venue that only works repparttar 108992 way it does because it is a real place with real people.

How does that change whenrepparttar 108993 store moves online to cyberspace? People use a web site very differently, much more likerepparttar 108994 way they use a catalog thanrepparttar 108995 way they use a store.

Customers are almost always shopping alone, and anonymously. Suddenly other factors become important. For example, people want a deep selection. Unlike Kmart and Walmart, which tend to have just a few choices in a great many product categories, web sites can offer a big and varied number of choices in a single product area. Walmart might give me a choice of three different toasters. A kitchen appliance site could easily extend that selection to 20 toasters. Or maybe your site features only three toasters, but those three are unusual and not available in stores.

Just as in catalogs, customers want product photos and detailed descriptions. They also like to read what other people who have purchasedrepparttar 108996 item are saying about its usability and reliability. Give those who ownrepparttar 108997 item a chance to log their comments online for all to see. Don't worry, those who have purchased usually say good things about their decision to buy.

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