There are countless options for selling products on your website, whether virtual products such as downloads, subscriptions, or tangible goods. The E-commerce solution that is right for your business depends mainly on the number of products you have, the type of products you have and the payment options/methods that you would like to implement.

BASIC SERVICE

The most basic of our E-Commerce services implements paypal shopping cart, buy now or subscription service into your website. This service is good for business on a budget. Shopping carts are free and easy to add if you have a Paypal Merchant account set up.

How do merchant services work? I will use Paypal as an example. A Basic Paypal merchant services allows your customers to click items on your website to buy or add to cart. When ready to checkout the customer will be directed to Paypal’s website to process payment.

ADVANCED SERVICE

If you do not like your customers being directed to another website for payment processing, then you need to consider getting a plan with a gateway. A gateway will allow you to accept credit card payment directly through your website. If you have a business checking account with a bank, your bank probably offers gateway services. There are many other gateway providers; even Paypal offers the Payflow Gateway. You can expect to pay for gateway services plus you will need to purchase and install an SSL Certificate to offer secure transactions for your customers. Hosting providers sell SSL Certificates and your website developer can incorporate it into your website.

An advanced E-commerce solution is recommended when selling many products. The main advantages of using a gateway includes direct processing of payments into your business bank account, the customer won't leave your site for payment processing, and more flexibility. For more information, contact a bank about their gateway service for accepting credit payments online.