E-commerce can involve electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, e-marketing, online marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), automated inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems
Customer service software applications and customer service solutions range from simple to complex. Some businesses have a greater need for customer service software than others. Build customer loyalty providing faster, responsive customer contact. While consumer service is a vital issue, it needs to be handled in different ways for different organisations. The most worthwhile customer service software should provide all of these attributes in a knowledge base system that allows you to easily have access to all of your client communication in one place.
When we plan to start an online business, we will need to find a reliable web host that meets our requirements. Searching for a reliable and cheap web host is not an easy task. But if know what we are looking for, it makes our task simpler. Because by a good host we can accomplish our business goals in an easy manner. So what is then E-commerce hosting will help?
We can trust a cheap web host only if it meets our business requirements. The process of verification comprises of some common issues and some other issues specific to our business.
A major concern is the quality of support provided by the host. We could e-mail a cheap Reseller Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Shared Hosting plans – CPWebHosting company a few times to get an estimate of the response time they provide.
We should also try to analyze the quality of the answers provided by hosting company. Are the answers really in depth or do they just cover the basic things? Make inquiries about the various methods of support. Most web hosting companies offer online support personnel, message boards, and help desks.
Storage Space is an important parameter to begin our search for a reliable web host. We require at least 100 MB space for even a simple site. Most good web hosts offer a minimum of 1 GB space to their customers.
Bandwidth is another important part of the verification process. Most good web hosts offer 25 to 50 GB Bandwidth.
Support System as discussed at the beginning of the article, it is the most important point to check.
Secure Servers is an essential requirement if we are selling products/services online. We have to look for web hosting companies providing SSL encryption since this will guarantee security for all money transactions conducted on our site.
Private CGI-BIN is a good scheme to have a private CGI-BIN directory for the safety of our files. This is where we store our binary scripts and interactive programs including shopping carts and payment processing.
Web Log is would help us a lot to keep track of various statistics for our business. These statistics aid us to develop new strategies to retain our present customers and attract new customers.
Operating System and Program Language Capabilities all reputed web hosting companies allow front page on either a UNIX or Windows-based system. Many web hosts provide both Windows and UNIX based hosting but the rates may differ.
A very practical and useful method to find a good web host is to discuss with people we know that have websites. Enquire about their experiences with their current and past web hosting services.
E-commerce tools manage and promote online sales.
E-commerce tools are useful in online marketing.
E commerce tools is useful in online marketing or exchange of products and services electronically.
You need to automate everything if you want to be successful in measuring customer satisfaction. Surveying your customers is a great way of measuring customer satisfaction but if they take too much time away from other important work, it will fall by the wayside. Automate both your requests for completing the survey and your collection and reporting of the data. Some service desk software will do this for you. If yours does not, consider customisation that will enable it — it's worth the investment.
The main determining factor is your number of products. If you have only one or two products to sell, you may be able to get by without any type of shopping cart, just a simple order form.
If you have a number of products arranged across a multi-page site and want your customer to be able to browse your pages, picking items at will with the selections stored for check-out at one central screen, it would be a good idea to have some sort of “shopping cart.”
Technologies for E-commerce Based website
you must get some SQL supporting hosting plan, as I think, it is a must for applications such as e-commerce. SQL server is one of the most widely used database engines available today. SQL server is designed to let you build any type of Internet application. Microsoft SQL is capable of handling hundreds of thousands of transactions per day and is a widely used database in corporations requiring large, high-use databases coupled with high reliability.
Depends on which platform you want to opt for first off.
If you want to go the Microsoft route, you will want to be looking at ASP.net combined with MSSQL server. However, if you'd prefer to go the Linux route to lower costs, you're much more likely to utilise a PHP/MySQL setup.
E-Commerce solutions can run on other platforms, though anything mainstream will run on either of the above.
Online transactions can actually be undertaken by a third party provider. For instance, Paypal thru its Express checkout can take care of the bulk of your processing. Similarly, this holds true for Google Checkout.
Merchant account number
Actually, unless you have bad credit, getting a Merchant Account in order to take Mastercard, Visa and American Express are not that difficult. It can, however, be daunting trying to find someone who can offer you a merchant account. Most banks and financial institutions do not offer their small business customers merchant accounts for “mail order” or “on-line” sales because they consider these high risk. You can find many companies offering this service but it is often expensive or complicated to set up. Also, there is, unfortunately, some “fly by night” operations that only stay in business long enough to take your substantial deposits.