Articles & Case Studies

We often advise prospective clients on the theme of starting an online shop or business venture and we strongly believe that part of our role is to offer the best advice we can based on our experience.

There are many things to consider when opening an online store or launching an eCommerce website, so in order to help you make an informed decision based on your needs, we have decided to publish a series of articles aimed at covering some of the main issues. This part focusses on the services which you may need to launch an online shop.

1. A Business Bank account

Contrary to popular belief, it is not essential to have an Internet Merchant Account in place from day one, although we recommend that you open a business bank account immediately. Keeping business finances separate from personal is common sense and can save work and problems later.

That said, some of the available online payment options do require an Internet Merchant Account (e.g. one into which the bank will permit receipt of direct online payments). If you wish to accept credit card payments directly through your site (e.g. without sending the user to the payment providers website to complete payment), then you should make enquiries about an Internet Merchant Account.

Shop around carefully, as different banks will levy different charges and have different free banking periods. If you are eligible for membership of the Federation of Small Businesses, you may wish to consider joining, as there are often special offers available to members.

2. Payment Processing (Payment Gateway, Payment Provider)

The myriad of options for accepting online payments can be baffling, however there is a fundamental decision which should be made as soon as possible:

Do you want to offer integrated payments or not?

By integrated, we mean - would you like users to be able to make payments within your website, or are you happy to direct them to a payment page hosted by the payment provider?

There is no doubt in our mind that integrated payment forms carry huge benefits in terms of customer trust, however, it is also more expensive to do so - you will need to join Streamline (or an equivalent service), which carries further fees.

You can always add integrated payment later, but you should make sure you understand any extra costs which will be incurred if you do - there may be development charges as well as banking or service implications. We offer an easy upgrade path on our eCommerce packages, but you would still need to have a Merchant Account in place.

3. Shopping Cart / eCommerce shop system

Of course, you are going to need a website with eCommerce functionality (often referred to as a 'shopping cart', although in reality it can contain many other elements as well). Again, there are many choices and we advise you to do your research carefully. Ensure you select a provider whom you can work with to achieve the results which you want.

There are also packages which allow you to build your own site, although if you are undertaking a serious or full-time business venture we would advise against using these - after all - you wouldn't build your own shop if you were opening in bricks and mortar, would you?

4. Domain Name and Web Hosting

Depending upon what is included with your shopping cart package, you may need to purchase a domain name and/or a web hosting package - we make arrangements for both of these, but not all providers do (with a DIY solution, you may need to do everything).

These are typically paid for yearly (although domain names can be renewed for longer terms, depending on the type of domain).

5. SSL - Secure Sockets Layer

If you accept direct payments, you will need to have an SSL certificate in place to protect your customers. Your shopping cart provider should be able to advise (with our shopping cart system, this is included when required), but there are two types available - shared and dedicated SSL.

The former will cause the URL (web address) displayed to users to change when they are on secure pages, which may look less professional and can be potentially damaging to customer trust, however it is significantly cheaper than a dedicated SSL certificate which is used only for your own site.

We only recommend using dedicated SSL certificates, as we believe a professional image is essential to building customer trust.

Conclusion

Sounds simple, doesn't it!

These are only the basics - you will need a lot of patience and perseverance to get going - and to grow your business. As you build, you will need your service providers to be able to grow with you - there is nothing worse than establishing a potentially successful venture, only to discover that you have outgrown the capabilities of your shopping cart system, or that your payment provider has placed limits on your account.

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