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An E-Commerce site is one that is designed to sell right off the web page. It’s essentially a shop on-line. Good examples of e-commerce sites are Amazon.com and e-bay. However, this doesn’t mean that an e-commerce site has to sell lots of physical products, or even be dedicated to selling large numbers of products. It can be a site set up to promote just one product or service, but gives visitors the opportunity of buying on-line.

E-commerce involves a slightly different approach to the normal informational type sites. It requires an on-line ordering and payment system that’s linked to an effective order processing system. It has to be effective and secure to ensure that orders placed on-line are actually delivered to responsible people in your organization who will ensure prompt dispatch of ordered products.

For certain product categories (such as e-books and software) delivery can also be undertaken on-line immediately after purchase. In some instances, a web site may be offering a subscription service, which can also be activated on-line immediately after purchase.

Services can also be sold via an e-commerce site (Expedia.com is a prime example). Such sites can be extremely complex due to the fact that they have to link to numerous service providers such as Airlines and Hotels. But to the average site visitor, all they see is a nice simple reservation page where they can book and pay for air tickets, accommodation and car hire.

E-commerce sites extend well beyond the pages that site visitors actually see on screen. behind those pages are a host of programming functions that make sure orders are received and processed correctly, and provide numerous management reports to the website owner. They will also incorporate secure payment systems linked to a merchant account with a major credit card processor, or one of the numerous payment providers established to service e-commerce sites (Pay-Pal etc.)

If you are contemplating an e-commerce site, you must entrust the creation of your site to a professional. You must also allow additional time for your site to go on-line as there will often be a need for extensive systems testing before going live. But don’t let this put you off the idea. The cost of developing an e-commerce site can often be less than establishing a physical presence in a major retail centre. For smaller businesses, a simplified e-commerce site is also possible at reasonable cost by combining a simplified order and payment system with a less extensive automated processing/reporting system. Essentially, your orders and payment confirmations can be delivered by your website to your email address. You then have to fulfill the order and generate your own reports manually.

Trisel has great experience of developing and implementing e-commerce websites for a diverse range of industries. If this is the type of site your are contemplating, we recommend you contact one of our consultants for an initial discussion. Check out our contact page for further details on how to get in touch with us.

 

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