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FAQ - ECOMMERCE
1. What should I look
for in an E-Commerce Plan?
2. What E-Commerce Plan
is right for me?
3. How do I get started?
4. What do I need for
E-Commerce?
5. What is E-Commerce?
6. Can I get a Merchant
Account with you if I reside in another country?
7. Can I take orders
with eCatalog Order system and not use credit cards?
8. What security options
do you offer?
9. What are the
advantages of Online/Electronic Transactions?
10. Can I use eCatalog
Order system with my existing merchant account?
11. What is the
difference between a web site and an e-commerce web site?
12. I already have an
E-Commerce Store, I want to now change my Hosting Provider, what do I
do?
13. When am I charged
the set-up fee and how long does the approval process take?
14. I have secure
server access on my account, do I still have to pay secure gateway fees?
15. Do you include
Merchant Accounts with your Web Hosting Services?
16. Do you provide
Shopping Cart software?
17. What is an
Electronic Shopping Cart?
1. What should I look for in an E-Commerce Plan?
Examine the following key parameters before deciding on any e-commerce
plan:
Functionality
Scalability
Reliability
Customization
Cost of implementation (monthly fees plus additional costs for
Merchant Accounts etc.)
Cost and ease of maintenance
Security Options
2. What E-Commerce Plan is right for me?
It depends on numerous factors like:
Are you a beginner? Or do you have a certain amount of experience
with e-commerce?
What are your requirements? - Single category with limited products
to sell or multiple product categories with multi-user and multi-store
capabilities?
Once you have decided what your marketing strategy is, go ahead and
chose any plan from our wide array of options.
3. How do I get started?
Everyone is talking about the great potential of doing business over the
Internet, but the biggest question for numerous individuals/businesses
is "how to get started?" The best suggestion is start with one
of our simple entry-level plans and then grow exponentially. The
advantage here is that you have time to get comfortable with this new
selling channel and also test drive the chosen application model for
your business. We offer highly scalable integrated solutions for
starters as well as small to medium size businesses.
To help you get your business off the ground we provide you complete
solutions: from domain name registration, web hosting, e-commerce
capabilities, web site development tools, Merchant Accounts and lots
more.
First things first, you will need to register your domain name, for that
we offer discounted domain registration services. Once you have
submitted your application, we will provide you with an ecatlogorder
site Username and password so you can to start setting up your store in
our secured servers. Then you need to setup your departments or
categories and products specifications price etc (product profiles etc)
using our easy web based entry system so that prospective customers can
view your products/services when they access your catalog site. Then you
need to decide how you want to accept payment for your products.
Depending on your decision; for real time credit card processing you
will need to sign-up for a Merchant Account and install a Payment
gateway. Now that you have successfully completed all the steps you are
ready to start selling.
We also offer additional tools to help you succeed like the GIF reducer
(so your customers can access the graphics on your site faster),
Promotion tools like the search engine submissions, training and
development tools and many others.
4. What do I need for E-Commerce?
A. Chose Payment Options:
Off-line Credit Card Processing
This is a good option if you currently have a Merchant Account with
a local bank. Your customers' credit card information is captured and
stored on our server for later authorization and transaction
processing through a traditional card swipe terminal or through a
computer. If you are clearing more than 100 transactions a month, you
may want to consider the real-time payment processing option.
Real-Time Payment Gateway Processing enabled by Merchant Accounts
To process credit cards transactions in real time through your web
site you need to:
Open a merchant account with a financial institution
Sign up with a payment gateway, for example Card Services or
CyberCash. Merchant Accounts give you the ability to take Credit Card
information from your prospective customers over the Internet. All the
Miva products (E-Commerce Software) offer seamless integration with
our online payment gateways providing you with a completely integrated
E-Commerce Solution.
Merchant Accounts are issued through an Authorizing Bank. A
Merchant Account is like a Drivers License. Though you have a driver's
license you can't move around without a vehicle. Similarly for you to
use your Merchant Account you need a vehicle to move the information
around. For example you could ask your web site prospects to call you
on the phone to place their orders. Now the phone is your vehicle to
move their Credit Card information.
B. Online e Catalog Order
Online e Catalog Order is another example of a vehicle to move Credit
Card and ordering information. Your customers can efficiently order 24
hours a day. Also an e Catalog Order solution eliminates some potential
for error as there is only one human involved in the process rather than
two.
The e Catalog Order solution is a vehicle that enables you to:
Get the ordering information from the customer
Verify via email to the customer that his order has been placed
Deliver the notification and ordering information to the seller
The more information the shopping cart can collect, the wider its
application can be.
5. What is E-Commerce?
Simply put Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) is any business transacted
electronically. Electronic commerce is the buying/selling of product
and/or services over the Internet.
To conduct business on the Internet you need an e-commerce web site. An
e-commerce web site can be as simple as a catalog with an order form, or
it can be a complex multi-media enabled web site with real-time credit
card processing capabilities. The Internet has enabled merchants to
offer their goods and services to potential customers around the world
24 hrs a day, 365 days a year. E-Commerce offers customers the
opportunity to browse, select and pay for goods in real time from the
comfort of their own home or office.
E-Commerce supplements the traditional selling channels and attracts
customers that you never knew existed. The Internet revolution is
affecting every company, no matter its size. Business of all sizes can
equally share in the benefits of e-commerce, but they are all equally
vulnerable to being left behind if they do not adopt the new business
models.
6. Can I get a Merchant Account with you if I reside in another country?
We can provide you with a Merchant Account subject to your status. You
would have Merchant Account with ProNet International and will be able
to accept credit card payments either in various currencies or in a
single-currency.
7. Can I take orders with the e Catalog Order system and not use credit
cards?
Yes. You can have customers place orders through your web site and
process them only after receiving payment by any means you desire,
either by cheque, or by wire transfer, etc.
8. What security options do you offer?
One of the biggest concerns today's consumers have is " how safe is
it to shop online?" It is our goal to ensure that as a business
owner we provide you with security options to make your customers feel
comfortable about shopping online at your web site. SSL (secure socket
layer) is the standard encryption used on the web today. Users can see
if a page is secure by looking at the bottom left side of their browser.
If there is a closed lock or a solid key then the page is secure.
We can provide you with our 128-bit SSL shared super certificate from
Thawte
for free
The cost of installing a Thawte certificate for your own domain is
$325 which covers the first year fee and $125 for every additional
yearly renewal.
9. What are the advantages of Online/Electronic Transactions?
Reduces Errors: No need to enter transaction amounts at both the
cash register and processing terminals.
Creates Transaction Database: Stores transaction information in your
database for as long as you want. You'll never have to search for lost
transaction information.
Increases Accountability: It is easy to confirm whether you have
received the proper amount of credit for each transaction.
Minimizes Fraud: Performs address verification (AVS), and eliminates
the chance of shipping to someone using a stolen credit card, saving
you from a charge back.
Quicker Transactions: Allows you to send multiple transactions as a
batch, thus reducing authorization time to as low as three seconds per
transaction.
Eliminates Equipment: Multiple registers can share a single modem,
and phone line, thus saving money.
Lowers Transaction Costs: Electronic processing is faster and less
expensive than paper processing.
Faster Billing: Makes it easy to build and process a batch of
transactions as often as needed; great for recurring billing.
Recurring Billing: Schedule transactions to be processed according
to your specific billing requirements.
10. Can I use e Catalog Order solution with my existing merchant
account?
Yes. e Catalog Order will work with your existing merchant account.
11. What is the difference between a web site and an e-commerce site?
An ordinary web site presents prospective customers with only
information and the only purchasing options available are off-line. On
the other hand an e-commerce site not only presents all the required
information but also provides secure options to complete the sale right
there.
An ordinary web site is like a copy of your printed catalog, only
presenting information, whereas an e-commerce web site is a new business
unit that complements your existing traditional selling channels and
accentuates an entirely new sales/distribution channel.
An ordinary web site offers limited security options. On the other hand
e-commerce sites provide options for high levels of security by
encrypting data and transferring it over secure servers.
An ordinary web site operates entirely outside your existing business
system. All orders have to be manually entered into the system and
processed off-line. Whereas an e-commerce web site integrates into your
existing system for inventory control, order processing and order
fulfillment. A fully integrated e-commerce web site automatically ties
into your existing business process and acts like an extension to your
existing sales force.
12. I already have an E-Commerce Store, I want to now change my
Hosting Provider, what do I do?
You will need to submit a domain modification/transfer request to the
registry you originally registered with. Within 72 hours your domain
name will be transferred to our servers. But in the mean time you can
upload all your files to our servers using the information you receive
once you have signed up as an e-commerce hosting customer. The best way
to avoid any downtime for your store during the transfer is to make sure
that you don't cancel your account with your current hosting provider,
until all your files have been uploaded to our servers and your site is
live and ready to go.
13. When am I charged the set-up fee and how long does the approval
process take?
You will be charged a setup fee at the time of application. Should your
application be rejected, then you will be refunded your application fee
minus $50 for administrative charges. Suffice to say that unless your
application is fraudulent, there is a very high probability that you
will be granted a Merchant Account.
14. I have secure server access on my account, do I still have to pay
secure gateway fees?
Yes. We provide all accounts with access to secure servers so customers
can order your product/services over a secure server.
The Secure Gateway Fees are for the secure transfer of information
between your web page and the bank for processing the orders your
customers place through your web site. Hence you need to pay the Secure
Gateway Fees.
15. Do you include Merchant Accounts with your Web Hosting Services?
Yes. Our web hosting services provide a home for your web site and
online store. As an option, you can also be assigned a Merchant Account
subject to your status.
16. Do you provide Shopping Cart software?
Yes we do. We offer
eCatalogOrder
software solution shopping
cart system which is highly customisable and can be integrated with your
website design very easily.
17. What is an Electronic Shopping Cart?
An Electronic Shopping Cart works the same way a shopping cart does in
the physical world. As customers browse through your online store, they
can place products they intend buying in their virtual shopping cart,
which keeps track of the products placed in it. When they are ready to
leave your store, they click a "check out" link which shows
them what they've placed in their virtual shopping cart. Here they have
the option to remove items they are no longer interested in purchasing.
Then they enter their shipping and payment information to process the
order.
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