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 eCommerce is more than just setting up an online shop
Set up an online shop, sit back and watch the money come rolling in.
Wrong. The online shop is just the start. You also need to consider how your business is going to cope with the physical aspects of trading online - order processing, order fulfilment, refunds, enquiries, stock control etc. For some businesses this means serious changes to the way the business operates.
When we are asked to develop an online shopping site we initially consult to decide whether or not trading online is actually viable for the client. If it is we will advise on the most appropriate and cost effective way to implement it.
PayPal Integration
One of the simplest and cost effective ways of starting to trade online is using PayPal Buy Buttons or a PayPal Shopping Cart linked to online payment through PayPal. Cost starts from around£100 and the facility can be added to an existing website very quickly.
PayPal is ideal for a company just starting out with online shopping. It provides a low cost entry allowing a company to test the water without spending a fortune before moving on to more sophisticated solutions.
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Online Payment
We recommend two online payment systems. PayPal offers a low start us cost option, ideal for companies just starting out with online trading. PayPal doesn't require a merchant account and there are no set up costs.
PayPal has moved on significantly over the past few years and now offers enough facilities to be taken seriously as an online payment system.
For companies that have a merchant account, a payment gateway is required to move payment from the eCommerce system's shopping cart to the merchant account. There are a number gateways on available. We normally recommend Protx which requires no start up costs and a flat fee of £20 per month which covers up to 1000 transactions per month.
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eCommerce System
For companies who require a more sophisticated system because they have a large range of products to sell online, a full blown eCommerce system is the best solution. All our eCommerce systems are based on one of two open source platforms.
For companies that require a site that is primarily online shopping, we usually develop the system using Zen Cart. This provides a good online shopping catalogue for customers with a shopping cart and online payment integration. The shop owner is provided with an administrator's account with comprehensive facilities to manage the shopping catalogue - add/delete/products etc. - plus facilities to track orders, send out receipts, manage stock plus much more.
For companies that need a comprehensive website plus online shopping we usually use VirtueMart. VirtueMart is integrated with the content management system Joomla. The combination of the two provides a very full range of facilities for managing the content of the website plus a full range of eCommerce facilities similar to Zen cart.
For companies who have had a website developed by us recently, we can usually add a VirtueMart shop as a seamless extension to the existing site.
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Like to Know More?
Call us on 0845 071 2223 or complete the form below and well be in touch as soon as possible. |
eCommerce
