- By OuterBox Web Design based in Akron / Cleveland Ohio

E-commerce stands for Electronic Commerce, which is in itself a broad term for selling on the internet. With the ability to process credit cards electronically on the internet, just about anything can be sold on the web. More and more people are buying online and enjoying the benefits of convenience and lower prices. Online stores are often able to reduce prices because they are able to eliminate overhead such as having to pay employees to run a brick and mortar store. In a busy world like ours, convenience is everything! Shipping times are so fast now that when an item is ordered online it can often be at the buyer's doorstep the next morning.

E-commerce websites are built differently, but they all use the same basic functions. The ability to accept credit cards is very important. The credit does not actually process through your website, for security reasons, but processes through a payment gateway. A payment gateway is a company that works with the credit card companies to be sure that all credit card transactions are processed securely. You must have an account with a payment gateway (we'll show you how to do this) accept credit card on your website. Although your transactions will process through a gateway, the viewer will never know or be directed away from your website. Your website will be guarded with 128-bit encryption, making fraud nearly impossible. When a purchase is made the money will be transferred directly into your businesses' bank account.

When an order is placed, the customer’s purchase and payment information will come into your administration section. You will login with your desired username and password to view this information. Through the admin section you will also be able to add new products, update products, and maintain your whole website.