Free Business Webs - E Commerce Website design and self build websites

E-Commerce Website Solutions

So, what is E-Commerce?

In simple terms, e-commerce is defined as the online transaction of business where an online seller (business) enters into a transaction with the online buyer (consumer), using computer systems (either a personal computer, Laptop, mobile, handheld e-pad or other internet/intranet connected device). Electronic transactions involve the transfer of ownership or rights to use a product, service or facility. As the use of the internet has become common place, most people have become familiar with e-commerce or business-to-consumer electronic business (B2C). Prime examples of e-commerce sites include ebay, amazon, waterstones and, in more recent years, the supermarket giants have established their online presence via e-commerce

E-commerce can be divided into:

Business-to-business buying and selling (B2B)
- Most commonly is E-tailing (a twist of the word retail). E-tailing involves the build and design of a website 'storefront' where internet users browse the 'virtual store' as they would a catalogue. e-buyers then add items to a 'virtual cart' and pay for the product(s) when they checkout.
Business-to-consumer selling (B2C)
- Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the business-to-business exchange of data
  e-mail and fax and their subsequent use as media for reaching prospects and established customers (for example, with newsletters, email contact and information/marketing campaigns).

Am I ready to start my own e-commerce website?

Before establishing an e-commerce site you should carefully consider whether an e-commerce website is the right solution for you. If you have done your research and established that their is a market for your product then you are probably ready to establish your own e-commerce website. If you haven't tried selling before, we strongly suggest you give ebay a try and see if there is a market for your product. This will also enable you to identify the other costs that go along with online sale i.e. transaction charges, website charges and so forth.

So what can e-commerce do for you?

An e-commerce website can help or build on, your online business identity. More importantly, it will provide the facility for you to execute online transactions and establish a portal where customers can return for repeat business (should that be one of your targets).

What about e-commerce hosting solutions?

When establishing your e-commerce solution, you will need to ensure that you e-commerce hosting solution is just as robust as the e-commerce design and web design itself. Running an e-commerce website will require a database backend to hold all the information about your products, prices, clients and so forth. For this reason, we recommend you opt for a secure e-commerce hosting solution with SSL as a minimum. Whilst choosing a secure e-commerce hosting solution over a standard e-commerce hosting solution will be more expensive, it will provide you and, more importantly, your clients with piece of mind that your and their data is secure. Taking shortcuts on your e-commerce hosting solution will only lead to pain later.