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eLink focuses on complete e-commerce solutions that fit your
business challenges. Our e-commerce packages improve sales
performances, customer satisfaction, and marketing initiatives
undertaken by a company.
Whatever your business, eLink can help you market and sell
your products and services more cost effectively. With designs
that stand out from the crowd, we offer small businesses and
corporate enterprises innovative and unique ways to sell on
the web.
eLink total ecommerce websites include a customized storefront
and website, catalog and shopping cart, variety methods of
shipping options, and more. This is the ideal solution if
you have numerous products to sell and need a complete product
and order taking management system.
The following
information is to help you better understand what is
involved with starting an ecommerce website. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions
or to learn how eLink can help you get started.
What is Ecommerce?
Simply put, Electronic Commerce (Ecommerce) is any business
transacted electronically. Electronic commerce is the buying
and selling of products and/or services over the Internet.
To conduct business on the Internet, you need an ecommerce
website. An ecommerce website can be as simple as a
catalog with an order form, or it can be a complex
multimedia-enabled website with real-time credit card
processing capabilities. Ecommerce
offers customers the opportunity to browse, select, and pay
for goods in real-time from the comfort of their own home or
office.
How to get started.
 Website (Storefront, Catalog, and Shopping Cart)
Website Development: Website design and development
costs will vary according to the amount of products that
you want to include on your website. We will provide a
firm price after reviewing how many products you want to
add as well as how much information you want to include
on your website.
Hosting: Web hosting is the term that refers to the service
involving the placement of your website onto the
Internet through a computer server. Once this is done,
anyone, anywhere in the World is able to access those
web pages and view the information that is provided
there for them.
Online
Shopping Cart: This is software that is hosted on a
server along with your website. The shopping cart is
the vehicle that enables you to get the ordering
information from the customer. It offers a powerful
array of features for any size store that is affordable
and customizable.
Credit
Card Processing
You must have a bank account, usually either a checking
or savings account, where funds can ultimately be deposited
from the sales generated from your ecommerce website. Fees
involved will vary by banking institution.
Offline
Credit Card Processing: This is a good option if you
currently have a Merchant Account with a local bank.
Your customer's credit card information is captured and
stored on our server for later authorization and
transaction processing through a traditional card swipe
terminal or through a computer. However, if you are
clearing more than 100 transactions a month, you may
want to consider the real-time payment processing
option.
Real-Time
Payment Processing: If you want to accept credit
cards, you will need to obtain a merchant account. A
merchant account is what transfers funds from the
shopper's credit card to your bank account. To process
credit card transactions in real-time through your website, the following is required: Open a merchant account
with a financial institution. eLink recommends e-onlinedata. You will also need to sign-up with a
payment gateway. For example, Card Services or CyberCash
Merchant Accounts give you the ability to take Credit
Card information from your prospective customers over
the Internet and securely transport the information to
your Merchant Account.
Secure
Server for safe online ordering.
One of the biggest concerns today's consumers have is "How
safe is it to shop online?" It is our goal to ensure that as
a business owner, we provide you with security options to
make your customers feel comfortable about shopping online
at your website. SSL (secure socket layer) is the standard
encryption used on the web today. Users can see if a page is
secure by looking at the bottom right side of their browser.
If there is a closed lock or a solid key, then the page is
secure. eLink will help you with the ordering and set-up
if you choose to obtain a personal SSL certificate.
Contact us to learn more about
our ecommerce services.
Questions? Contact Us
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