E-Commerce has created the wealth of business opportunities and competition where, with quality products, the quality online experience also offered. The look-and-feel, design, and functionality creates the first impression, engage customers and keep them coming back.
E-commerce web hosting
E-commerce hosting is a web hosting service which basically fulfills the requirements of e-commerce websites. E-commerce web hosting plans offer web hosting and with this, it also offers software, tools, and other solutions for online merchants. E-commerce web hosting plans also known as business hosting plans allow merchants to track inventory, accept orders, create online catalogs, and secure payments for goods and services online.
All the hosting plans are not appropriate for e-commerce web hosting. Features which are needed by e-commerce website are included in most of the web hosting plans, whereas other web hosts focus on e-commerce web hosting.
What are the requirements for E-commerce web hosting?
The requirements of E-commerce web hosting are divided into two categories-General or basic E-commerce web hosting requirements and Specific E-commerce web hosting requirements
E-commerce sites have basic web hosting requirements
A domain name: A domain name is an identification string or alphanumeric string, used as an address for a computer network. Domain name system (DNS) contains some rules and procedures and by following the same, domain names are formed. Any name registered in the DNS is a domain name. Generally, a domain name represents an Internet Protocol (IP) resource, such as your personal computer by which Internet can be access, any website, a server computer hosting a website. For eg. gov – Government agencies, edu – Educational institutions, org – Organizations (nonprofit), mil – Military, com – commercial business.
Next requirement is obviously a website that displays the products or services for sale, some useful links, videos, audios, text, images and other useful important information from the point of view of both owner of the website and customers or users of the website.
Databases are also needed to store the data category wise on the website, as provider offer you different types of products, so it will maintain the details of one product like its features, price, benefits, limitations, image etc .at one section of the site and of other product in some other section or location on the site. This is done, so that customer can easily explore the required information, in just one click.
Most important is Technical support, which the entire web hosting provider needs to provide to run the website of the user on their server.
About-us Page: Reflects the brand company or individual values. The page provides the founders, directory and team profiles, a video or infographic for the dynamic introduction. The page includes a phone number, physical address, email, and social media accounts
Live Online Help Chat with personnel 24.7 personnel availability
Mobile-friendly Responsive: Adjust content automatically based on customer's device
Eye catchy deals banners: Customers responds to discounts, slashed prices or sales and encourages purchases.
Intuitive navigation: Easy product browsing, search box, drop-down menus
Pages for FAQ, Privacy Policy, Term and conditions (T&C), return policy, shipping options, and package tracking.
E-commerce web hosting has specific needs
A shopping cart: Not a shopping cart, actually e-commerce web hosting need electronic shopping cart which is an e-commerce tool or software, serves as a user interface for the customer to shop at online stores. It allows their customers/users to keep items in a “shopping basket”, and the cart remembers these items for a certain period of time.
A merchant account: To run any business especially online business, you need a merchant account which is a type of bank account that allows a business to accept and process debit and credit card transactions. There are different types of merchant accounts. For instance, some merchant accounts are particularly designed to handle online purchases.
A payment gateway: Another need is of payment gateway which is an e-commerce application service provider service that authorizes payments for e-businesses, online retailers, bricks, and clicks. It also protects your credit card details by encrypting confidential information i.e. by passing information in a secure way between customers and merchant and between payment processor and merchant.
A dedicated IP for SSL: IP Address is also required, which is a numerical sequence that serves as an identifier for an Internet server. An IP address is a series of four groups of numbers separated by dots. The first group contains a number between 1 and 255 and the other groups contain numbers between 0 and 255.
An SSL certificate: SSL encrypts information as it is transferred across the Internet. SSL certificate is installed on a website, which makes you feel safe and secure for the information enter by you because it is only accessed by the organization that owns the website. SSL certificates are provided by Certificate Authorities (CAs).
Trustmark: A green colored SSL seal reassures customers that site uses encryption for privacy and security. It has become the recognized Trustmark for any e-commerce portal. The other TrustMark include:
- BBB-Accredited Business for sites as per Better Business Bureau’s standards
- PAYPAL Verified indicates payment information protected by SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
- McAfee SECURE, Norton SECURE: Performs regular security auditing and vulnerability testing to detect viruses, malware, or malicious downloads.
A web analytics program: This program is designed for measuring web traffic and collection, analysis, measurement and reporting of web data for understanding and optimizing web usage.
The last requirement of e-commerce web hosting is a mailing list program which sends newsletters and announcements.
We can easily observe the rapid increase in numbers of online shoppers. Today you can find each and every product through online shopping. With the rising demand for online shoppers, the E-commerce hosting has grown too.
Web hosting has become useful and profitable as websites present on the Internet that provide us the knowledge for what exactly, we are trying to search or what kind of site we want to build. It also helps in storing web pages in bulk that are made available for visitors on web servers.The availability of plenty of server space is one of the primary aspects of establishing a website. Good bandwidth provided on the server also enables hassle-free functionality of a website.Higher bandwidth helps in loading the page faster to quickly respond to the visitor. India has become a leader in providing various web-based applications among which website hosting is popular.These services have become an integral part of making websites accessible easily on the Internet.
In short, E-commerce means electronic commerce. It involves buying and selling goods and services online.There's No learning curve to get started selling on your online store – just sign up and go! E-commerce changes the idea of business. All physical store converted to eCommerce so that significantly reduced the price of the goods.
Many people going online every day and purchase the products through the internet because various e-commerce solutions are available. A report will help you to find the most relevant professional website which increases your information skills about the e-commerce.
eCommerce hosting is essentially a hosting service that hosts a website while also providing facilities for cataloging and shopping.Features include storefronts, product catalogs and inventory management, shopping cart, invoice delivery application, merchant accounts and a secure payment system.
Before you decide on an eCommerce host provider, make sure to compare features and prices between different service providers as you would with regular hosting services.Some eCommerce hosts also offer free domain name registration as a draw, but it is always best to do so in person.Directly registering your domain name ensures that your name registered as the owner. Take the trouble to go through user testimonials to verify if the security measures taken by the host are adequate. E-commerce hosting websites are the key to the online business potential. Many eCommerce hosting sites come with shopping cards.