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Whats involved in ecommerce?
If you want to sell online you need an ecommerce enabled website
This will enable you to:
- display your product details with images if required
- allow customers to make their selection and pay for the goods securely
online
- keep track of orders and customer details
- have the ability to process credit cards or have links to an online
payment systemn
- maintain the store with an online product administration system
- allow for product options
- have a search facility for customers to use
- have sophisticated stock analysis defining numbers in stock, out
of stock messages etc
- have flexibility over prices to allow for discounts
Ecommerce sites invariably work with a customer choice and selection/buying
features commonly called 'shopping basket' and 'checkout'
Why have an ecommerce program?
All the diverse elements outlined above are best controlled by a specialist
programme.
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loaded onto the
users server and controlled by the site adminisrator.
You can buy these programs at prices varying from a few hunded pounds
up to a thousand pouds or so.
eg Clickcartpro or Shop
Factory or OSCommerce
or Actinic Catalogue
uploaded onto the
users server but most of the shop hosted remotely via an ecommerce
company eg Clickcartpro
or CybershopUK or Netstores
You pay a monthly fee for the hosting of your account
with all
the ecommerce facilities built in to the page structure. These can
be customised tio the owners corporate image - this is the ecommerce
templates approach |
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