How do I find dependable e-commerce hosting?

You've heard of ecommerce and maybe even ecommerce hosting, but you're not positive about what it is, or if you actually need it? Simply stated, ecommerce is a fancy term used to refer to the ability to provide online shopping, to actually sell your products online. Sometimes the terms ebusiness and etailing are synonymous with ecommerce. The place where your shopping cart program and files are stored or hosted online is called ecommerce hosting.

With ecommerce, your customers have direct access to all of your products online 24 / 7. This includes the ability to see product descriptions, provide customer information, and render instant ordering options.

Prior to diving in to the ecommerce world, there are a few more advantages that you need to be aware of.

Shopping Carts. When you hit the grocery store for your weekly shopping trip, the first thing you grab is a shopping cart or basket. Your customers can do the same thing on your website short of actually pushing the cart around the aisles. With ecommerce, your customers can use the shopping cart to change orders, increase or decrease the quantities of the items in their cart, and keep a running account of the amount they are going to shell out at the end of the purchase.

Online Payment. Because there isn't a checker at a register to check out your customers at the end of their shopping trip, take and count their money and hand them a receipt, you web site will have to work a little differently. We know people shop online for the ease and convenience. Sending a check and then waiting for an order report isn't simple enough or fast enough for most internet shoppers. Ecommerce provides the customers the option to pay using a credit card or PayPal account, and receive immediate confirmation.

Order Status. When your customers finish their purchase, there are certain things they are going to want to know, like when the item(s) be shipped, and when their package be delivered. Ecommerce provides a way that you can automatically provide email to confirm what was purchased and on what day, and shipping information, like who will be delivering it, and the projected delivery date.

Welcome Back. One of the great things about shopping at your corner market is that when you walk in, they probably know who you are, and could even know the things you are most interested in purchasing. With some ecommerce programs, you can do the same for your customers. By tracking previous times they shopped at your website, the items they looked at and purchased, and customer ID information, you can provide an experience that is that much closer to the corner market in their hometown. With the right program, you can welcome your customers by name when they sign in, give them access to sale items and last chance items that they might be interested in, and when it comes to check out, much of their information will already be filled out.

OK, so you know you need ecommerce on your website, what's next?

First, you will need web hosting designed for ecommerce. As you may have guessed this is not your everyday cheap hosting. If you plan to have a shopping cart and sell a lot of products you will need more web space and more band width. Our Just 10 bucks hosting plan will handle a smaller shopping program nicely. And incidentally, you can always move up to our $15 or $20 ecommerce hosting plan as your site gets more images and more customers.

Second, you will need a ecommerce (shopping cart) program. We have the perfect program available that's easy to setup and easy to use, or you can choose from one of the hundreds of great programs available online.

Third, you will need a merchant account so you can process credit card orders. Again there are many merchant account providers available online, and some can have your merchant account setup in just a few days. Our ecommerce program integrates nicely with all of the major card processors.

Now that you are ready for ecommerce hosting, click the link below to make it happen!