Some E-Payment options

With thousands of online transactions happening every day, there are many payment options one can choose to purchase online. Here are some that can be useful.

Credit cards
Credit card is the most trusted source for a transaction. A credit card has a spending limit per month. After that you cannot spend until you pay the bill. If something goes wrong with the security measures, card holder will only loose the limit of purchase and he or she can cancel the credit card.

E-Checks
A consumer can buy e-cash and store it in a digital wallet in a hard drive. This is electronically linked to the consumer’s bank account and can be re-stored with e-cash at any time. E-cash is pre authorised and anonymous. This method is often used to pay for electronic goods received over the Internet. Forms of E-cash can be purchased online and can be emailed to the recipient. The recipient can use it to purchase products that accept e-cash payments.

Smart Cards
Smart cards are used to conduct everyday transactions. Low cost integrated microprocessor chip provides ability to do every day transactions mostly via ATM machines and cash counters. Use of smart cards or debit cards is not very popular in transactions carried through cyberspace.


Electronic Wallets
Electronic wallets are also referred as digital wallets. An e-wallet is a software program that contains a user’s payment information in encrypted form to ensure its security. For example, an individual’s-wallet could contain credit card numbers, bank account numbers, contact information, and shipping location. When a consumer is ready to make a purchase, they click the buy now button and the wallet server populates the required purchase information to the selected merchant’s online order form Users can get instant access to one-click purchase from their PC.

Process of the Electronic Wallet

Virtual Credit cards
This method is closely related to e-wallet. A virtual credit card is an image of a credit card placed on the computer desktop. Users must first register and they can choose versions of the service. With one click of the credit card image, the cardholder accesses account information and pays for online purchases. The credit card number and contact information is automatically entered into the checkout form, and the customer just need to enter an identification to authorize the transaction.

Answers to Success

In one of my previous articles, I asked three questions.

• What is the most important time?
• Who is the most important person?
• What is the most important thing to do?

I would like to thank Surjit, Andrew , Asis, Himarticles, and Mbhave who took the trouble to answer my questions. These questions play an important role in real life. And answers to them are secrets of success. Many people have answered in many different ways to these questions. You may criticize my answers or provide alternative suggestions. You are always welcome.
Let’s take the first question:

What is the most important time?

Almost everybody answered this question in the same way.
Now is the most important time. We cannot go back to our past. it is all said and done. We do not know what future will be, whether it will be there or not. The only time we have is now. Present moment. Do not delay to do the right thing what should be done now. It gives you, happiness, motivation and success.

Who is the most important person?

Almost everybody answered I am the most important person. Surjit said “you are the most important person”. Every time this question arise almost everybody answered I am the most important person. Well, in certain and most instants I am the most important person. The most important person is the person who is with you, right now. It may be your husband, wife, friend, business contact or any other person. Give your full attention and effort to that person. This is one success principle in nature.

What is the most important thing to do?

The most important thing to do is to care. Do everything with care. Care for what you are doing right now and care for the person who you are with. For an example if you are in a telephone conversation, care for the person who you are dealing with. A person who does something with extreme care always manages to succeed.

Plan ordering methods for your website

Everyone is not an experienced web surfer. Provide your customer with simple instructions on how to order products. Provide step by stem instructions on how to use a shopping cart.

Instructions on using a shopping cart

1. Click Brows Catalogue to view the product categories
2. Click on the category you want
3. You will be taken to the Product List page
4. Find the product(s) you want and change the quantity if ordering more than one
5. If you want to order other products, then click “Add to Basket” button
6. Click the “Browse Catalogue” link again
7. When you have finished adding items to your shopping basket, click the “basket contents” to check your order and make any changes.
8. When you are ready to process your order, click the “checkout” and type in your address information
9. Click the “Submit Order” button.
10. Next page will add the shipping charge to your order and will show your total charge.
11. Type in your credit card information on this page
12. Click the “Submit Order” button again to complete your transaction.
13. To clear your order, click the “Clear Order” button.

I have composed a short article and will be back with more options for shopping in my next article. Until then please answer my three questions and I will include a link to your blogs with the answer to my three questions.

Hi Friends

Hi Friends,

I am really busy these days with my project. I will come back with my answers to the three questions, and new articles in about two or three week’s time. Until then, Take care and God bless.

Are you going to open the store and wait for the customer to walk in?

Taking a business online does not guarantee success more than opening a store and waiting for your customers to walk right through the door. You must identify your customers. There should be a marketing effort. You have to determine customer needs and then develop methods of producing appropriate services and products.

Ask these questions and find answers to them first.
Who are my possible customers?
What do my customers need?
Where are my customers located?
What motivates my customers to buy?
When do my customers buy?

You need to identify marketing trends. You have to change with the changing environment and be prepared to change accordingly.

Branding your product or service is very important. People trust branded product or service than a product or service without proper branding.

Improve your customer awareness of your business by the appearance of your website and its association with desirable traits such as great prices and neat content.

Offer free stuff like e-books, software and offer something free if the customer purchases an item for a certain value. You can also offer gift certificates, prizes and free samples. For items like software, free trial versions will be very effective. But keep in mind that software must not effect other applications in the customer’s computer. Your customer will not return to you if that happens.

Provide how to information, and easy to use help

Ask customer feedback and suggestions about how to improve your service.

Create products designed to customer specification.

Offer an e-newsletter.

Provide each customer with an individual shopping experience.

Maintain a good and friendly relationship with your customers.

Customers will start to walk in through your door if you make the right effort. I wish you the best with your website.

Storefront services

Storefront services provide you with a number of services including software to build an online store instantly in your browser using onscreen instructions, Website building software, e-mail, transaction processing and Web hosting. Some of these services are so simple that you do not need special technical knowledge. Storefront services provide you with online tools such as selecting a suitable template for your website and also you can enter information about your products and services and select the products you want to sell. You can select payment and shipping options as well. These services may charge you with a set up fee and a monthly fee for hosting your storefront. Notice the storefront services provided by smallbusiness.miva.com. and merchandizer.com

To host and create a store using a storefront hosting service, you will have to complete a series of forms. You can create a serviceable online store in few hours if you have products to sell and can supply all the information about your company that the storefront service requires.

Once you have set up the store, you can do website maintenance such as editing and adding new content and pictures to your store using your browser. Your activities may depend on the plan you purchase. You can select plans which will suite you the most.

As payment options, you might not need to obtain a merchant account depending on the service you select. Some services provide you payment options as well as their services. These storefront services are ideal for small business people. You do not have to be a computer geek to perform changes in your store front.

The main disadvantage of using some storefront hosting services is the lack of design flexibility. In addition, not all services can be easily customized to meet the specific needs of every business.

MIVA Merchant, with Store Morph Technology™, provides you with Powerful Store Design Tools, Catalogue Management, Inventory Tracking and Product Merchandising, Order Processing and Customer Management, Shipping Calculation and Payment Processing, Data Access and Storage, Affiliate Programs and Marketing Services, Easy-to-Use Administration Tools, Modular Architecture and also Documentation and Support. This again depends on the plan you purchase.

Merchandizer.com also provides you with rang of services for a monthly fee that varies on the plan you select. They provide you with Setup Features, Customer Support Functionality, Store Room & Inventory Controls, Store Interface Features, Promotions, Order Management, Customer Management and Product Management. They provide you with different shopping cart solutions, and their Digital goods support enables merchants to sell non-physical items such as software, documents, graphics, or any product or service that does not require shipping.

These are two services I have noticed as good service providers. But you can select the service provider according to your requirements.

What is the most important?

Hi friends, I am a bit busy these days. I am trying to write at least two articles a week.
For the present, I would like to ask three questions. These questions will be important to you in your work and everyday life including business. Please write your answers in the comments area. This is not a challenge; I just want to know your answers. Please feel free to answer these questions

1) What is the most important time?
2) Who is the most important person?
3) What is the most important thing to do?

My good wishes will always be with you.

Preparing to go online

Always we talk about marketing and planning sticky websites. But before you set up an online store of any kind, you need to access internet and obtain a web host. If you are doing serious business you cannot depend on public computers. You have to have your own computer system. There are Internet Service Providers, (ISP) to connect your computer via a cable or telephone line to Internet. Secondly, you need to find a web hosting provider to store the pages of your website for users to access. Your website services depend on the web hosting provider you select. It is very important to do primary research before you choose one.

An Internet Service Provider (ISP) connects your computer to the Internet. ISP provides you with an e-mail address and limited or full features of the Internet depending on the plan you purchase. Some plans are for limited downloads and limited services. Other plans include unlimited access. If you are doing serious business, unlimited access is the best plan you should choose.

Web hosting company that hosts a web site is a ‘web hosting provider’. You can select your ISP to host your website or select a different company to be your web host. Most Internet Service Providers give you limited amount of storage for your files that make up a website. But they do not provide you with necessary e-commerce facilities. You can set up a free website with a free web hosting service such as Free Server. But again you will not be allowed to conduct business on these free websites. They are limited in space and you might be allowed to have only two pages. It is advisable to select a web host carefully. It may depend upon what you really want to do with your website and the facilities your web host allows you according to their different plans. For example, Network Solutions describes the different plans that are available with them. You can select the plan according to your need.

Using web hosting services, you can create you web pages and upload them to your website using your computer. Your website is stored on the server, (web hosts computer) and connected to the internet. FTP is the commonly used protocol for exchanging files over internet. There must be two computers involved, your server (Web host), and your computer (Client). Once connected, you can do a number of operations such as uploading files to the server and downloading from the server including renaming and deleting files using your secure code. A full web hosting service will allow you to use CGI scripts. CGI script is a custom written common gateway Interface used in connection with other computers such as ordering information. Many web hosting services also provide multiple e-mail accounts, Shopping carts and a secure server to handle credit card processing. They also provide you with web page templates so that you can quickly create your own site. Other advantage of having a web hosting service is that you can have access to technical support when you need it.

Some companies with technical and financial resources, host their own website because they need high volume transactions. They also have sufficient staff to maintain their entire system.

E-Commerce Challenges

Although most companies are anxious to develop an e-commerce strategy, they also have to be informed about possible pitfalls. There are both advantages and disadvantages in e-commerce.

Challenges faced by most web developers are creating a website that would keep the customers on the site until they make a purchase. If the Website is difficult to navigate, products are not described well, and Forms are not easy to fill out. Links are broken, pictures take too long to load or have disappeared; harder it would be to keep the customer. A website that keeps the potential customer entertained is called a sticky website.

Although starting involves some expenses, a brick and mortar store will benefit from a user friendly website and the website will gain recognition to the business not only locally, but round the world. It will be open 24 hours a day and every day. Online presence is an advantage for any business to be recognised.

Traditionally many businesses operate as middle men between a business and the consumer. Agents, brokers, and sales representatives are all examples of middlemen. Authority of these middlemen are fast being made obsolete because consumers can go directly to a company’s web site and purchase products and services without help from an agent or other intermediary (disintermediation).

Intermediation is not going to finish yet. While traditional intermediaries are made obsolete, a new kind of cyber intermediaries that could not have existed before the internet has immerged. Cyber intermediaries include auction sites, payment – processing sites, and web site store front services.

When a website displays a Buy it! Button and a customer clicks on the button, credit card information is processed by an online processor company and the vendor pays the processing company a transaction fee. This is a Cyber intermediary

For E-Commerce, There is no world wide standard established yet. From a vendor’s point of view, a website is an advantage to advertise worldwide. A website can reach narrow market segments regardless of location. E-transactions can reduce costs related to processing orders. Internet presence can streamline business operations by incorporating business to business transactions and form virtual communities.

High start up cost is a disadvantage. Difficulty of keeping data current and upgraded can be another disadvantage; this becomes more when there are few available trained employees. E-Commerce transactions are sometimes difficult to combine with current systems. Language barriers might cause difficulty in doing transactions. Government tax regulations are different from country to country, and it always is confusing. Identifying a world wide standard is the main solution to these problems.

Tips to enhance your sales on eBay

There are certain criteria that will increase your popularity as a good seller. To get there it takes time and dedication. There are certain tips and tricks in the web to enhance your sales. If you follow these tips you will be able to win your customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is your key to success. These tips and tricks are as follows.

Take a good picture
A good quality picture can enhance your sales. Better the quality, better chance for a sale. Before uploading the image, take a look at it and ask yourself if I see this picture listed, will I be tempted to investigate? A good picture is one thing that will start earning the trust of your customers.

Clearly list the item
Describe the item in short sentences. Use bullet points. Do not make your bullet points into paragraphs. This will confuse the customer and draw attention away. Use bold and underlining only when necessary.

Be truthful and state the condition of the item clearly
Your customer will always trust you once satisfied. If you are selling an item that includes additional accessories, be sure to mention that. If you are selling software or related product, make sure you describe in what type of programmes it is compatible with. Always keep your tone positive and buyers will trust that their business with you will be positive.

Clearly state your terms and conditions
Always state your return policy. If your policy is no returns, put that in your return policy. Always win your customer by stating the truth. Do not hide anything. State the payment method. If your price includes the shipping cost, say no shipping cost. If you have not included the shipping cost, state that shipping cost will be added. And include a shipping cost calculator of some kind so that your customer will not get a shock when they see the final cost.

Include a currency calculator
A currency calculator is very helpful to calculate the actual amount a customer will be spending on his or her currency. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and sure you will be really happy and confident to do a purchase.

Include shipping details
As described above; include the shipping cost, include the carrier that you are willing to use and describe whether you wish to insure the item or not.

Be flexible on payments
Always make sure that you provide multiple options of payments like PayPal, Cheque, Money order, Credit card and any other methods at your disposal so your customers will be at ease.

Careful packaging and shipping after payment
After making a sale, you have to maintain the customer’s faith. Developed customer faith will bring you sales many times and they will introduce others to your website also. Carefully pack the item and ship it as quickly as possible to reach the customer within the days promised. If your item is broken when it reaches your customer or you fail to deliver in time. This will be a disaster. Higher a good carrier and always take care in delivering the item.

Maintain a friendly relationship with your customer
When dealing with customers, you must always make sure that you send polite e-mails and your communication with the customer is maintained in a friendly manner. Buyers that have good buying experience will leave a positive feedback. Buyers who have had poor buying experience with you will leave a negative feedback and they will never buy from you. So be careful and always maintain a friendly relationship with your customers.