Ecommerce Solutions

Electronic Commerce (eCommerce) is the process of buying and selling products and services via an electronic medium, with the most common medium being the Internet. Most eCommerce is conducted over the World Wide Web, but will often involve other Internet tools such as e-mail.

eCommerce can be conducted on either a business-to-business (B2B) basis (e.g., commodity exchange) or a business-to-consumer (B2C) basis (e.g., Ebay).

True eCommerce requires more than just having a web site that features the products or services for sale. In order to conduct effective eCommerce, the web site should also be able to take customer orders, especially credit card orders. Otherwise, the web site is more of an online product catalog rather than an eCommerce web site.

In order to generate a real eCommerce web site, the following requirements must be met:

User interface
The user interface allows customers to easily navigate through an eCommerce web site and locate the products and services for sale. Some desired features of a useful user interface might include the search tool, category list, product/service prices, product pictures, etc. eCommerce sites that are difficult to navigate through will lose potential customers, have a high bounce rate, and/or have a low number of internal page views.
 
Shopping cart
The shopping cart is a tool that allows customers to add desired products and services to a virtual area (i.e., basket). These products and services are then available for final purchase when the customers are ready to checkout. Simply providing a phone number for customer support and ordering is insufficient for a true eCommerce web site.
 
Security (SSL, TLS)
Online security through cryptographic protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) ensures that customers can make online purchases without the concern that their confidential data (e.g., credit card numbers) are being read and/or stolen by malicious third parties, such as Internet pirates/hackers.

Premium features
While the user interface, shopping cart, and security features are absolutely essential for an eCommerce site, there are additional features that transform the basic eCommerce site into a premium web site, increasing that site's customer attraction and retention rates. An eCommerce site can be search engine optimized to attain a higher search engine ranking. The eCommerce site can also contain features such as a live chat tool, a Return Merchandise Authorization(RMA) interface, an order status interface, and a gift wrapping service.

Performing search engine optimization (SEO) through the implementation of options such as a site map, relevant keywords, custom URL, and custom page titles helps attract visitors to the eCommerce web site. Increased traffic leads to increased leads, critical customer information, and conversions. Having features such as live chat and a user interface may not help draw customers to the eCommerce site, but these features will certainly retain existing customers , making them into repeat customers.

myEcommerce Online Business Solutions

Ecommerce Solutions