Ecommerce Hosting Made Simple

Ecommerce hosting takes on many forms in the world of online commerce, as there are many combinations of services and features that typical business require, but not necessarily online or connected to their hosting account. Dealing with a web host and trying to launch a commerce site can be tricky, if you are unprepared for opening shop. Know what you need before you settle with a hosting plan, and have your financial options arranged or planned before setting up your inventory.

First and foremost determine what methods of payments you will allow on your web site and online store. Whether it be personal accounts, bank wires, credit card payments, checks through ACH or PayPal-like services. The more options you allow for opens your doors wider to a larger base of clients, however do not go overboard and select payment types that will cause you trouble down the road. In the same breath, do not limit yourself to too few options. Only accepting PayPal (cash) and neglecting credit card payment options, may work well for a fledgling business – but it is also a sign of infrastructure weakness if it is the only thing you accept and have been in business for more than a year.

Once you have determined what payment options you will accept, you can then proceed to obtain those services from an e-business specialist company. Obtaining these services before you have your site functioning is important for two reasons. Firstly, with your financial obligations lined up you are ready to open your doors as soon as you have tested your site. No waiting on a final application or bank confirmation – wasting time and losing potential sales. Secondly many merchant account providers and payment processors have free shopping cart software or preferred means of processing, which you will need to know about before you launch your web site. Using optional software from your processor may save you money from having to purchase an application add-on from an ecommerce company.

Next you should set up your online store with reliable database and backup system. Testing the procedures for backing up your data, and restoring your information will mean the difference between a few minutes or hours without a functioning register, and a few days of rebuilding your data from paper records. Your inventory management should be updated and current for online customers so that they do not make a purchase that will eventually be refunded. Also keeping your data in an updateable fashion so that your business does not rely solely upon your Internet access from the office. You should try and remove any sole objects that can take down your operations. These obstacles are known as Single Points of Failure, and can ruin business momentum or sales.

Most inventory applications also assist you in maintaining the status of orders placed and shipped, and orders waiting to be shipped. Why is this important when you may have other records as well? If you have an inventory management application that can also tie into your billing, you will be in an ideal situation for keeping clients happy. Educate yourself on product fulfillment and understand both your rights and the rights of your customers. Most product and services websites cannot bill a credit card until the product or service has been shipped – or tendered. This is different in the case of long term care, however you are not allowed to accept money from your customer’s credit cards until you have your product ready to ship.

Another aspect along these same lines is to know how to deal with your credit card processor and host. Most processors have rules regarding credit charge statistics, and beware of the dreaded “charge back". A charge back is when your customer contacts his or her credit card company and disputes a charge. In actuality a customer can dispute a charge for any reason and almost immediately receive a refund from the processor. Your processor then informs you of this refund and gives you an opportunity to resolve the situation or refute the charge back. Your processor is able to make payments on claims using funds already collected from previous transactions that were stored in a special account called a “Reserve". The reserve is a pre-set percentage from each sale that is set aside to be used to help in repaying clients that may be left high and dry if you were to fold up shop and bail on your responsibilities. The Reserve is returned to you,and is not lost revenue – however it is put into a revolving schedule, and each month’s percentage is returned six months after it is collected.

As you can see, there is as much going on outside of your web hosting for ecommerce sites as there is inside the hosting. You also see that they are all intertwined and need to be addressed before you promise the first delivery on your online products and services. Your web host will be able to assist you with many of these aspects, however do your research and find out your exact needs. It will pay off in huge dividends in the future.

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