Do you want to Sell on-line?

For many established businesses, as well as startups, eCommerce presents huge opportunities.

However, many business owners are somewhat daunted at the prospect of launching an eCommerce business and how to go about creating an online store.

Smiling Spiders webs design has created many on-line stores and is an expert in this area.

eCommerce websites allow customers to buy services or products online. Whether it’s a booking system or a shopping cart, standard or non-standard we can do it. We can advise in the best way forward to suit your business. It has become easier and easier to sell online, and with Smiling Spiders expert help, the process is absolutely painless.

We will will look at two options you can have on your website –  from very simple to a more advanced robust option

Buy now buttons

These are simple payment buttons which are placed on a website which allow a business owner to take payments. They don’t provide any other functionality. The process of taking payments happens through a provider such as PayPal or Google Checkout. It involves placing a HTML code snippet on a webpage which, when clicked, brings a buyer to a third party site where payment can be made.

“Buy now” buttons are simple and cost effective to implement. There is no need for credit checks or paperwork. Businesses, or merchants as they are often called, can get paid quickly. There are no set-up or monthly fees, just a cost per transaction.

However, buy now buttons tend only to suit businesses with very low sale volumes. They do not work with large volumes and it can be costly to create a large site as all the buttons need to be inserted individually for each product. There is no back office or stock management with this approach.

Full eCommerce Website solution

An eCommerce solution on a website is composed of the following elements:

• Catalogue. The core of the application will be a catalogue of products including an image, description and price of each product. Behind the catalogue is a database which stores all the product information. It may also contain all the other data needed for the store to function, such as order and customer data.
• Online storefront. This is a user interface that allows the customer to find and put products into a ‘shopping cart’ and calculates the total value of the order, adding any tax or delivery charges that apply.
• Checkout and payment. When a user wants to pay for the items in their shopping basket, they will be taken to a virtual checkout where they will enter delivery and payment information. The eCommerce application will then connect with a payment gateway to verify the payment information and finalise the transaction.

More advanced eCommerce solutions will have order management functionality, which will include managing order status, email communication with customers and web analytics. Some eCommerce platforms will allow integration of your eCommerce with your accounting system so that online payments are recognised by your financial system.

There are a many eCommerce solutions on the market, which vary in terms of their features, functionality and their pricing. Smiling Spiders uses WooCommerce. It is an ideal accompaniment to WordPress and is an excellent secure system.