What to Look For in a Shopping Cart Software
June 28, 2009 by Matthew Hunt · Leave a Comment
There are many different Internet Shopping Cart software and services available to e-commerce businesses, but how do you know if you are choosing the right software platform for your website business…? Below we will cover some questions you may want to ask yourself before getting set-up a specific shopping cart software.
3 common innocent mistakes that new e-commerce businesses make:
- The obvious is to make sure the shopping cart services are (SSL) Secure Socket Layer Certified – which is used to encrypt and protect data usually on an order from an online merchant’s website. Once the order has reached its destination the encrypted data is decoded. Merchant account providers will require your shopping card service to be SSL certified before approving your applications.
- Make sure know your shopping cart solution is compatible with your gateway provider which also needs to approved by your merchant account provider. It’s usually best to find your merchant account service provider then your gateway and lastly your shopping cart solution. Many e-commerce businesses do it backwards only end up having to re-do it all because each system doesn’t work with their merchant account providers.
- Another major mistake some online entrepreneurs make is they want to create and write their own shopping cart scripts or purchase ownership to one, but it is always better to invest in a service package instead, due to the “if not, you break it you fix it” and online merchants need to pick their battles.
You will want a service package or program that offers a (WYSIWYG) “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” editor. You also do not have time to write code for every new item you want to put up for sale. You also want to make sure it operates in html code so the search engines can read it and index your cataloged of items for sale.
Other important questions you want to ask and make sure your potential shopping cart system has:
- Does the service have an automatic site map generation?
- Does cart have customer order management: Can it automatically email customers? Allow customers to follow shipping? Shipping & Tracking
- Can it help you cross sell other similar products?
- Does it allow special features like VIP Clubs, Groups, Memberships, Quality Discounts, Kit/Gift Sets?
- Does it track inventory to help prevent out of stock issues?
- Can it list detailed product attributes?
- Does is have an affiliate module?
- Can you easily edit orders for customers/clients that have made a mistake ordering?
- Can do an order search? By phone number, zip/postal code, etc.
- Does it have a customer notes section?
- What payment gateways does it work? Are those payment gateways approved by the merchant account providers you are interested in using?
- Can the shopping cart service give statistical reporting: Sales reporting? Product breakdown? Shipping breakdown? Affiliate sales? Most popular sales? Best customers? Referring logs?
If your shopping cart service can do all the above then you are working with some powerful services and should be quite comfortable about your websites check out experience for both your customers and for your administration.
Gateway
April 8, 2009 by Matthew Hunt · Leave a Comment
Very simple post today.
Some folks have asked, “What a Gateway is?”
It’s when a computer server serves as a Gateway node, the gateway node also operates as a firewall and a proxy server. A firewall is a system created to prevent unauthorized admission into a private network. A proxy server is located right between a client application such as a web browser and the real server. The proxy server sees if the client applications requests can be carried out by the real server.
A payment gateway is an e-commerce application service provider service that authorizes payments for e-businesses, online retailers, bricks and clicks, or traditional brick and mortar. It is the equivalent of a physical point of sale terminal located in most retail outlets. Payment gateways encrypt sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, to ensure that information passes securely between the customer and the merchant.
Essentially you need one between your shopping cart provider and your merchant account provider to make most online transacting to work.
Send Payments with Twitter
March 4, 2009 by Matthew Hunt · Leave a Comment
These days I have am watching closely mobile payments and I also have been following Twitter too. This led me to find Twitpay.
Twitpay is a new way to send funds using Twitter which is a messaging system that allows people to communicate in 140 characters or less. They announced yesterday that they are “out of beta and putting it out there for everyone to use.“
Twitpay is currently powered by Amazon Payments which allows users to send money online to any mobile number or e-mail address. They have some other really interesting features too, but this post is about Twitpay and not Amazon Payments.
“Twitpay was created during Atlanta Startup Weekend 2, an experiment in entrepreneurship designed to conceive, develop and launch a fully functional company within 54 hours.” – from Twitpay’s FAQ’s
Right now you can use Twitpay by sending payments in any increment between $0.01 and $50.00. They charge a nickel everytime you make a Twitpay over $.99.
Simple and I must say brilliant!
I have continued to claim that I believe the payment processing industry will eventually operate from our mobile devices and this is just one more nail in the coffin for these old out date POS Terminals/debit cards/credit cards to be retired for good.
Twitter, messaging, and micro-blogging is what our younger generations are comfortable with (and us old folks will get comfortable with these technologies too). Services like Twitpay are current and I think we will only see more options like this the future.
Twitpay jokes on their FAQ page that they built this business because “Because Silicon Alley Insider said it was a billion dollar business. A billion dollar business sounded good to us.” this fictional insider may just be right. I know I wish I thought of the idea!
BTW, if you are a Twitter user (if you not you probably will be soon) you can follow us at: @card_processing
Internet Merchant Accounts – What You Need to Know!
September 27, 2008 by Matthew Hunt · Leave a Comment
There are three main components to make a E-commerce Payment Processing Solution work.
- Shopping Cart
- Payment Gateway
- Merchant Account
The Shopping Cart
The Shopping Cart is the Database that enables your customers to choose what products they would like to purchase on your website. When they are ready to purchase a item they will click on the shopping cart icon, which will lead them to your Secured Gateway Page. Most Web-hosting providers offer and shopping cart feature that can be provided for your website.
WARNING: Before choosing your shopping card service provider, make sure you know who your ‘Gateway’ and ‘Merchant Account’ providers will be and that they approve your shopping card service. I have seen many frustrated Small business owners design their sites and make their agreements with a shopping cart service only to later find out that the shopping cart service is not a approved vendor from the ‘gateway’ provider. Not usually an issue because most ‘gateway’ services approve many shopping cart service providers, but it is always better to work backwards before implementing into your website.
The Payment Gateway
The Payment Gateway is the component that provides the secure credit card processing. The Gateway will check to make sure the credit card information is correct and processing the order securely. Usually handled by the Merchant Account Provider depending on what Shopping Cart System you are using. Gateway services usually have a monthly fee of $20 – $60 a month depending on the service provider and sometimes a transaction fee too.
The Merchant Account
Merchant Accounts are your own specific account numbers that have been set-up to track and your processed payments for your credit cards, such as, Visa, Master Card, & American Express. Rates can vary on E-commerce Merchant Accounts from as low to below to 2% to as high as 4%. (High-risk accounts can be as high as 4-12%). Discount Rates are traditionally higher then their sister retail rates due to the fact that cards are not present for the transaction and it creates a higher risk for credit card fraud. In the industry this is called ‘Non-Qualified’ rates.
What You Must Have On Your Website Before A Payment Processor Will Accept Your Internet Merchant Account Application?
If your website is not built then there is no point in submitting an application for internet merchant accounts. You also need to have the following clearly listed on every page of your website particularly on the check-out pages:
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Use
- Refund Policy (you don’t have to provide refunds, you must state what your policies are.)
- Shipping Policy and costs (it is not enough to simply state there are shipping costs – you must show exactly how much.)
- Your whois info must match the same information on your application
- Your contact numbers found on your website must match the same contact numbers as on your application
- Your business must not fall under the ‘restricted list‘ of business models
- a SSL Shopping cart
Now your site may not be ‘live’ yet, but you must provide a guest login so the merchant account underwriters can review your site for the above aspects. If your credit checks and you meet all the requirements above you have good chances at getting approval. Now you approval may be conditional on ‘going-live’. What this means is they will approve your account and give you all the goods to connect your merchant account to your gateway and shopping cart, but will not deposit any monies to your account until you show them this all ‘live’.
Canadian Internet Merchant Account Services
September 27, 2008 by Matthew Hunt · Leave a Comment
There are basically 2 types of internet merchant accounts.
- Third Party Payment Processors – like PayPal, Google Checkout, 2CheckOut, etc.
- True Merchant Accounts – through a Bank or a Merchant Account ISO
Side Note: Google Checkout is currently not available to Canadians
Third Party Payment Processors:
- Do not perform credit check
- Rates are not negotiable
- They can not be used with a separate processing gateway
- The Third Party Processor’s name appears on your customer’s credit card statement
- You can discontinue the relationship at any time without incurring a penalty
- It can take up to one month to receive any deposited funds
- Discount rates can be as high as 6% and $1 per transaction
- Purchasers have to go to a separate site for payment processing
- Promotes Third Party Processor’s business
True Merchant Accounts Processors:
- In applying for a True Merchant Account you’ll undergo a full credit check
- High risk businesses will pay much higher rates (usually 4%-12%)
- Rates are somewhat negotiable
- A Merchant Account can be used with a separate processing gateway (Most of the time, but some providers do require certain security standards and will only approve certain gateway providers.)
- Your Business Name appears on your customers statements
- You may be locked into a multi year contract (usually 3 years)
- Funds are usually deposited into your bank account within 1-3 business days
- Discount rates can be lower then Third Party Processors (usually 2-3%)
- Purchasers don’t have to go to a separate site for Payment Processing (major benefit – less shopping cart abandonment.)
- Appears more reputable & have ownership of the relationship with your customers right down to purchasing
Both Third Party Processors and True Internet Merchant Account Processors have their ‘pros‘ and ‘cons‘. Most Internet start-ups do not survive beyond two years. If you are only testing the waters then you may want to just start out with PayPal, where you will have no contracts and approvals are instant.
For those that are committed to building an online business then you will require true internet merchant accounts and the savvy merchants will offer both – they will let their clients choose which way they’d prefer to check-out. There are no rules saying, you can only have one type of processor when it comes to internet merchant accounts.
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Canadian Merchant Account Services
September 27, 2008 by Matthew Hunt · Leave a Comment
There are basically only five different types of merchant account services available in Canada. Choose the solution that best describes your business needs.
- Retail Merchant Account – This is where most of your sales are face-to-face. You will use a Point-of-Sale Terminal, which is often referred to as a ‘Debit Machine’ in Canada. This type of solution is appropriate for restaurants, retail stores, chiropractors, dentists, massage therapists, grocery stores, convenience stores, etc. This section goes in detail about retail payment processing options: POS Terminals, rates & fees, and what to ask merchant account providers. Click on the following link to learn more about: Retail Merchant Account Services
- Wireless Merchant Account – Wireless merchant accounts are for businesses that want all the benefits of a retail merchant account, such as the face-to-face low card-present rates and the convenience of being completely mobile. Your Point of Sale Terminal goes where your business goes and can accept all debit and credit cards. This type of solution is appropriate for businesses that have delivery, mobile pet groomers, mobile massage therapists, taxis, etc. This section goes into detail about wireless payment processing options: Cellular POS Terminals, rates & fees, and what to ask merchant account providers. Click on the following link to learn more about: Wireless Credit Card Machines
- Internet/E-commerce Merchant Account – Internet merchant accounts are for businesses that want to be able to accept credit cards as a method of payment on their websites. This section goes into detail about internet payment processing options: credit card processing, gateways, shopping carts, rates & fees, how your site must be set up to be approved and what to ask merchant account providers. Click on the following link to learn more about: Internet Merchant Accounts
- Office Virtual Terminals - This is a merchant account solution that is appropriate for businesses that only require credit card processing and want an easy-to-use system where they log in through a secure website to process sales. One highlight to this solution is its automatic recurring billing option. This solution would be perfect for business professionals, B2B type businesses and business that have recurring billing like a Gym or other kind of specialty membership business. Click on the following link to learn more about: Virtual Terminals
- Phone Processing – This is often referred to as the MO/TO (mail order/telephone order) solution, where a merchant can process credit cards by getting authorization through dialing into a 1-800 number. Perfect for the business that is on the go and only requires credit card processing. Click on the following line to learn more about: Phone Credit Card Processing.
