Web Design for E-Commerce

The Basics

To enable you to sell goods over the Internet, we will build your web site with the following features.

First, a catalogue: this is a database of all the items for sale, with as much detail as possible about each item, including images. Customers should be able to browse your catalogue in various ways, such as, by category.

Next, a shopping cart: this allows a customer to select several items for purchase before proceeding to the virtual checkout. The customer can add items to or remove items from the shopping cart at any time. If you only have a few items to sell, you may just need a simple 'buy now' button for each item. This takes the customer directly to the checkout without permitting multiple goods to be selected.

Finally, payment processing: the web site will have one or more payment schemes built in, allowing payment by credit card, debit card, or even a simpler cheque payment scheme or cash-on-delivery.

In general, your site needs a secure communication path for receiving or sending customer details, credit card numbers etc. The technology is known as SSL (Secure Socket Layers) and basically encrypts information before sending it out over the Internet. However, SSL is only possible if a digital certificate is installed on the server. The cheapest solution is to use the certificate of the hosting server, but the most flexible solution is to buy your own. We can advise which solution is best for your business.

However, if you delegate payment processing to a bureau service, PSP or P2P (more on these later), it is their web server (and therefore their certificate) which is used in the transaction of secure information, so you don't need to obtain a certificate of your own.

Payment Processing

The term 'payment processing' refers mainly to processing of credit and debit card numbers, which together form the bulk of payment methods in e-commerce. In effect, payment processing takes the place of the 'swipe machine' (PDQ machine) which is used in retail outlets when the customer is present.

To backtrack just a little, you could sell goods over the Net and avoid automated payment processing in a number of ways: For instance, you could require that customers simply phone with their card details, or supply a web form for customers to fill in, which emails you with their card details. Either way, you would still need a physical PDQ machine to process the payment. Similarly, you could collect payment via cheque, posted by the customer before the goods are dispatched. However, for maximum flexibility and customer convenience (which after all translates into more sales) you need automated payment processing.

Just as you need a merchant account for processing card payments in the physical world, so you need an Internet Merchant Account to process cards online. The payment area of the web site collects the customer's card details, then sends them to the acquiring bank for verification, via a secure server. If the customer's credit is good, then payment is authorised and the merchant's account credited. The sale is confirmed by emails sent out automatically to customer and merchant.

PSP: The most popular method of processing payments is to use the services of a Payment Service Provider (PSP). This acts as an interface between the customer and the acquiring bank (i.e. processes card transactions) but still requires you to have your own Internet Merchant Account. Examples are WorldPay BankDirect, VelocityPay and proTx VSP.

BUREAUX: There is an alternative to having an Internet Merchant Account: use a bureau service. There are many organisations offering to do payment processing on behalf of the merchant. For example, WorldPay WorldDirect, NetBanx, SECPay. In effect, the merchant uses the Internet Merchant Account of the bureau. The merchant does not need to process card numbers or have a business account that can accept online payments - the bureau does all this. One consequence is that it is the bureau's name, not the merchant's which appears on the customer's credit card statement. The bureau service can be more expensive in the long run, but is often considered a good starting point for a new e-commerce venture, especially one which has no trading history.

P2P: Another service, similar to payment bureaux, is the 3rd party processor, also known as a person-to-person or 'P2P' pre-payment system. Examples are PayPal, NoChex and FastPay. These are often free to set up and reasonably cheap to operate, and can be ideal for low-value transactions. One disadvantage is that the customer has to sign up with the P2P service in order to make a payment. Also, the P2P may hold on to funds for a certain amount of time.

The final choice and cost of payment scheme depends on many factors, for instance: multiple currencies, turnover, number of products for sale, average transaction value.

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