What is E-commerce?

Electronic Commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services across the Internet. An e-commerce site can be as simple as a catalog page with a phone number, or it can range all the way to a real-time credit card processing site where customers can purchase downloadable goods and receive them on the spot. Electronic commerce merchants can range from the small business with a few items for sale all the way to a large on-line retailer such as Amazon.com

Why your Business Needs a Commerce Enabled Website:

• Over 20 million people are currently buying products and services through the Internet.
• In 1998, on-line retail shoppers are expected to spend $4.8 billion, and by 2001, on-line retail sales are expected to top $17.8 billion.
• Currently, the frequent on-line shopper spends an average $672 per year on-line and this is expected to grow to $773 per year by 2001.
• Consumers are gaining confidence in the security of the Internet which will further increase the growth in sales.

The Internet is maturing, and merchants who experiment today have the opportunity to grow with the web and become the giants of tomorrow.

What is On-line Payment Processing?

When a customer purchases an item with a credit card, a two step process begins.

First, the merchant or the website requests an authorization from the customer's credit card account to ensure that the card is valid and the customer has enough available balance for the purchase. the customer's bank sends an authorization number back to the merchant or the website and the order is "captured".

Next the merchandise is sent, and the merchant informs the bank where they have a merchant account. The bank deposits funds to the merchant's account while the customer's account is debited for the amount of the purchase. At that time, the customers' bank takes out the required fees and the transaction is complete.

Credit cards are an important part of enabling Internet commerce. The easiest process to integrate into an existing business is an off-line authorization and settlement process. For more advanced web merchants who are processing more than 100 transactions per month, real time credit card authorization becomes economical. With a link to a Processing Service Provider such as Automated Transaction Services, Inc. Cybercash or PaymentNet, the website generates an authorization request when the customer places the order. If the merchant is selling hard goods which have to be shipped to the customer, that order is saved securely for later settlement. Once the goods are shipped, the merchant can settle the order, and the transaction is completed. If the merchant is selling downloadable media, software, or site memberships for example, then the order can be authorized and settled in real time, without any intervention by the merchant.